Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Jim asked me to make him some brownies for a co-workers birthday a couple of weeks ago so I went searching online for a recipe when I found this recipe on http://evontherun.wordpress.com/. The brownies looked really good and the recipe is pretty simple and straight forward. I made two batches of these... one as a trial run, which the guys that were over watching football got to enjoy, and the second batch went with Jim to work for his co-workers birthday. The guys loved the brownies, so that is why I made the 2nd batch. The only thing I might change next time is to add some walnuts.

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon of flour

1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Grease a 9×9 inch square baking pan.
2. Combine cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth.
3. Stir 1/3 cup chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside.
4. Place the 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of butter into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 25 seconds and then stir. Repeat this until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Toss 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the 1 teaspoon of flour. This is so the chips don’t sink to the bottom while the brownies bake. Set aside.
6. Into the melted chocolate/butter bowl, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 2 eggs, then sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir the dry ingredients into chocolate until evenly blended.
7. Do not over mix. Add the flour coated chocolate chips and stir.
8. Pour half of the batter into the 9×9 baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer.
9. Top with remaining chocolate mixture (this doesn’t need to completely cover the cream cheese layer).
10. Using a knife, swirl the top chocolate layer into the cream cheese to make a marble pattern.
11. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is crinkled and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cool thoroughly. Cut into 12 squares. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

Fresh Figs

The most experience I have with Figs, is with Fig Newtons. Before last weekend, I had never had a fresh fig (thank you Central Market) and now I'm hooked. I have heard other people (Dawn, I'm looking at you) rave about figs, but it just took me awhile longer to try them out. I have two recipes in mind,,, one sweet and one savory. This recipe was pretty darn simple, which I liked. The figs were good, but they weren't as sweet at the Figs at Central Market. There were 4 or 5 types of figs, so I guess I chose the not as sweet variety. Overall it is a very simple way to serve a dessert that looks all fancy smancy.

Ingredients:
· 8-10 fresh figs
· 2 1/2 Tbsp of brown sugar
· 1 cup of fresh ricotta cheese
· 1 Tbsp of honey
· 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
· 8-10 mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Preparation:
1. Pre-heat the grill.
2. Trim fig the stems, if any, and cut figs in half length-ways.
3. Lightly butter a shallow baking dish. Place the figs curved side down in the dish. Sprinkle each fig with a little brown sugar. -- I didn't do this, I just put them directly on the grill
4. Grill figs for about 3-4 minutes or until the sugar starts to bubble.
5. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, honey and vanilla in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Forgot the vanilla, and I'm pretty sure that it would have been way better with the vanilla
6. Remove figs from oven and gently place on serving plates with a dollop of honey ricotta. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.