Gluten-free Brownies

I have a perfectly good excuse for not posting my Valentines dessert on Valentine’s Day! Instead of a romantic dinner with our boyfriends my friend and I treated each other to the “Death by Chocolate” buffet at the Bengal Lounge. Which was absolutely out of this world amazing! I believe I fell into a sugar comma last night and am happy to report that I somehow managed to wake up this morning. Imagine the most decadent, gourmet chocolate desserts with the highest quality ingredients from around the world and you will be where I was last night!

Speaking of decadent chocolate desserts....these brownies are to die for! These are pretty much the best brownies I have ever had. They have a fudgy melt in your mouth consistency that is sure to please your friends especially those with gluten allergies. If you were serving these as an after dinner dessert you could dress them up with a drizzle of berry compote and a scoop of vanilla gelato. You would be crazy not to make these!

Meat and Potatoes

I am often asked If I ever crave meat or more specifically a nice, juicy steak. The answer to that question is YES! I know I might be looked down upon in the vegetarian community for saying this but I feel that life is too short to deprive yourself from what your body is asking for. My blog is based on the premise that anyone and everyone can cook vegetarian dishes on a daily basis. You don't need to have a vegetarian friend show up for dinner to finally embrace a meal without meat. I think that incorporating more vegetarian dishes into your week not only makes for a healthier lifestyle but a healthier planet. Since I have embraced vegetarian cooking I find myself craving meat less and craving some of my favorite vegetarian recipes more and more often. With that said I will admit that when I can't seem to get steak of my mind I will go ahead and eat that steak (feel bad about it) and carry on with life! I consider myself to be mostly vegetarian since 93% of the food I eat does not include meat.

I titled this post "Meat and Potatoes" because that's exactly what this dish poses as. The patties are actually chickpea patties from my favorite cookbook "Veganomicon" drizzled with an outstanding mushroom gravy which I have provided below and completed with a side of parmesan garlic roasted potatoes. I recommend baking not frying the patties as I have tried both methods and find the baked version to be far better then the fried.

Mushroom Gravy

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• pinch of freshly ground salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp cooking sherry

1. Mix the flour into the broth until dissolved and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp grapeseed oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. Sauté shallot in frying pan, until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender.
4. Add the garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and sauté for another minute.
5. Deglaze the pan with sherry and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. 
6. Stir in broth and turn down heat to medium and cook until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.