Brown Butter Walnut Brownies

I haven’t been a big fan of Bon Appetit since it took over my subscription from the now-defunct Gourmet last year. But they get props for this incredible brownie recipe, featured on the cover of February’s edition.

What puts these over the top is the brown butter, which is new to me but not hard to prepare. You melt unsalted butter over medium heat and allow the milk solids to separate and sink to the bottom of the pan and brown.  It adds a rich, nutty flavor to the mix that complements the walnuts and earthy unsweetened cocoa powder.  And the texture is perfect: rich and chewy on the inside, slightly crispy on top.

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Beef Gulasch with Pumpkin Seed Spaetzle

Warm, hearty, salty and flavorful, this slow-braised beef shank atop a bed of homemade pumpkin seed spaetzle is the perfect winter weekend dinner.  The recipes — from the January issue of Bon Appetit — are a unique take on a classic Austro-Hungarian dish. I love the rich, complex, vinegary flavor of the tender beef and the unique nutty component in the spaetzle. Departing from the recipe, I cooked the dumplings in the beef stew liquid instead of in a separate pot of water.  Also, since I like my spaetzle slightly larger than the size produced by a potato ricer, I used my fingers to create the nuggets. (Roasted carrots and brussel sprouts make a great side!)

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Coconut Cake with Chocolate Chunks and Coconut Drizzle

This cake was my baptism into the world of Bon Appetit magazine. And as I’m sure any of its devourers can attest, the surviving sister of Gourmet Magazine offers up some pretty sweet stuff (no pun intended). The January issue names this recipe among its “top desserts of the year,” and while I might not go that far, it is indeed wonderfully decadent and delicious. The cake is moist, fluffy and coconutty, laden with scattered, irregular fragments of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate.  The top of the cake is an amazing minefield of toasted coconut, gooey chocolate and a creamy coconut glaze. I served it as a coffeecake for a brunch but it could easily have been a dessert course for a fancy dinner party.

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