Recipes from Reviewed Books

Double-Fudge Frosted Brownies

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hours

This ultimate brownie is from Tish Boyle’s “Diner Desserts” (Chronicle Books, $18.95). She points out that the iced brownies can be wrapped individually and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for a month. Just bring them to room temperature before serving for maximum flavor.

BROWNIE

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into tablespoons, plus more for greasing

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

* Line 8-inch-square baking pan with foil so that foil extends 2 inches beyond the 2 opposite sides of pan. Lightly butter bottom and sides.

* Cook 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar and semisweet and unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and chocolate melt and mixture is smooth. Transfer to medium bowl.

* With wooden spoon, stir in granulated sugar. Stir in eggs, 1 at a time, until there is no trace of yolk. Mix in vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix vigorously until mixture is shiny and smooth. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.

* Bake brownies at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes. Do not over-bake. Place pan on wire rack and cool 45 minutes. Using 2 ends of foil as handles, lift brownies out of pan. Invert onto cooling rack and peel off foil. Cool completely (brownies will be frosted on smooth side).

FROSTING

3 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoons

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 ounce milk chocolate

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Salt

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, for garnish, optional

* Heat butter and unsweetened and milk chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer to bowl of electric mixer. While mixing on low speed, add half of powdered sugar, dash salt and half of cream. Blend in remaining powdered sugar and remaining cream. Beat in vanilla. Beat frosting on medium speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.

* Spread frosting over uncut brownies as smoothly as possible. Garnish top with chopped walnuts, if desired. Cut into 18 squares and serve at room temperature.

18 brownies. Each brownie: 315 calories; 138 mg sodium; 65 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1.68 grams fiber.

Braised Duck with Apples

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 2 1/2 hours

For those who like their duck paired with a little something sweet, Tom Colicchio recommends this from “Think Like a Chef” (Clarkson Potter, $37.50). The combination of duck and apples is turned in different directions in the book: There’s also a roast duck with root vegetables and apples; root vegetable soup with apples and duck ham; duck, root vegetable and apple terrine; and root vegetable and apple ragout with duck crepes.

2 tablespoons oil

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

4 duck legs with thighs (2 pounds)

4 duck wings, tip joint trimmed off (1 pound)

1 large onion, quartered

3 carrots, coarsely chopped

3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprigs fresh tarragon

About 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 Granny Smith apples, quartered

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

* Heat oil in large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat until oil shimmers. Salt and pepper duck legs and wings on both sides, then, working in batches, brown duck, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside. Repeat until all duck has been browned.

* Pour off all but enough fat to coat skillet. Add onion, carrots, celery and a little salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften and begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sprigs of thyme and tarragon. Cook until vegetables are almost tender, 3 to 5 minutes more.

* Arrange duck, skin-side up, over vegetables. Add enough stock to cover vegetables but not duck. Bring stock to simmer.

* Add apples and transfer skillet to 350-degree oven. Gently simmer--just an occasional bubble--basting occasionally, until duck is very tender and well browned, about 2 hours.

* Remove duck from pan and cover loosely with foil. Strain braising liquid, pressing vegetables and apples with wooden spoon. Discard vegetables and apples and return liquid to skillet. Bring to simmer and skim off fat.

* Whisk butter and chopped thyme and tarragon into braising liquid. Return duck to skillet, heat through, then serve.

4 servings. Each serving: 999 calories; 730 mg sodium; 207 mg cholesterol; 78 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 48 grams protein; 5.63 grams fiber.

Red Chile Brunch Enchiladas With Spicy Potatoes and Fried Eggs (Almuerzo Enchilado)

Active Work Time: 35 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

This dish from Rick Bayless’ “Mexico One Plate at a Time” (Scribner, $35) takes a little time to put together, but it holds wonderfully, making it easy to prepare the day before and serve for brunch. Included are Bayless’ notes from testing.

SAUCE

4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded (2 ounces total)

4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded (1 ounce total)

3 cups very hot water

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Salt

* Heat dry heavy skillet or griddle over medium heat. Tear ancho and guajillo chiles into flat pieces, then toast a few at a time: Use metal spatula to press chile pieces flat against hot surface, skin side up, until aromatic and lightened in color underneath, about 10 seconds. (If heat is right, you’ll hear a slight crackle when you press down, but you shouldn’t see more than slightest wisp of smoke.) Place in bowl, cover with hot water, lay small plate on chiles to keep submerged and soak 20 minutes to rehydrate.

* Use tongs to transfer rehydrated chiles to food processor or blender. Measure 1 1/2 cups soaking liquid and add to chiles along with garlic. Blend to smooth puree, then push through medium-mesh strainer into pie plate. Consistency should be like that of canned tomato sauce. Taste (sauce will be little rough on tongue at this point) and season highly with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. Set aside 1/4 cup sauce for potatoes.

POTATOES

4 boiling potatoes, scrubbed and cut into rough 1/2-inch cubes (1 pound total)

Salt

2 tablespoons oil or rich-tasting pork lard

1 small white onion, chopped

* Simmer potatoes in salted water to cover until just barely tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.

* In large (12-inch) skillet (preferably nonstick), heat oil or lard over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring regularly, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and continue cooking, turning and scraping up any browned bits, until richly browned and crusty, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup sauce and cook another 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

ASSEMBLY

Sauce

8 corn tortillas

Oil or rich-tasting pork lard

Potatoes

4 eggs

2 loosely packed cups sliced (1/4-inch) curly endive or other lettuce--use romaine if you prefer

1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (cider vinegar works nicely here)

Salt

1/3 cup grating cheese, such as Romano or Parmesan

* While potatoes are cooking, make enchiladas. Place sauce and tortillas near stove with baking sheet beside them. Set small (8-inch) skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil or lard. When oil is very hot (just beginning to smoke), dip both sides of 1 tortilla into sauce, then lay in oil. Let sear and sizzle about 20 seconds, then use small spatula to flip it over. Sear other side another 20 seconds. Transfer to baking sheet, laying flat. Adding oil to skillet as needed, continue dipping and frying remaining tortillas, wiping out skillet occasionally. Lay tortillas on baking sheet in groups of two, about half overlapping each other.

* Divide potatoes among chile-seared tortillas and place in 350-degree oven to warm, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and dry large skillet and set over medium to medium-low heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil or lard. When warm (not too hot), crack in eggs, cover pan and cook until eggs are as done as you like, about 3 to 4 minutes for set whites and slightly runny yolks.

* While eggs are cooking, toss lettuce in small bowl with vinegar and a good sprinkling of salt. Put an enchilada-potato stack on each of four dinner plates and top with 1 fried egg, then a portion of dressed lettuce and generous sprinkling of grated cheese.

4 servings. Each serving: 620 calories; 698 mg sodium; 253 mg cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 79 grams carbohydrates; 22 grams protein; 8 grams fiber.

Khmer Fish Stew With Lemon Grass

(Samla’ Metchou Peng Pa)

Active Work Time: 20 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 50 minutes

Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid explain in “Hot Sour Salty Sweet” (Artisan, $40) that samla’ are “wet dishes,” somewhere between a stew and a hearty soup. They are the standard accompaniment for rice in Cambodia, hot and tasty, often sour and usually loaded with lemon grass and other aromatics. The most common samla’ is made with fish from the river or from the Great Lake, the Tonle Sap.

This fish samla’ is easy, needing no special broth and no long cooking. It’s a close cousin of canh chua, the Vietnamese sour soup so common in the delta, but heartier. Perhaps canh chua is originally Khmer, or maybe it’s an inevitable combination, because a lightly sour and lemony broth goes so beautifully with fish.

Serve this from a large bowl at the table, ladling it into individual small bowls, accompanied by rice, and perhaps a simple vegetable stir-fry, to make an easy meal.

Tamarind pulp, fish sauce, fresh culantro or sawtooth herbs, Asian basil and rice paddy herbs or Vietnamese coriander can be found at Asian markets.

4 cups water

4 stalks lemon grass, trimmed and smashed flat with side of cleaver

3 tablespoons tamarind pulp

3/4 pound fish steaks (catfish, tilapia or other freshwater fish of your choice)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons Cambodian or Thai fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound green or half-ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into scant 1/2-inch pieces

2 small green onions, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths

4 leaves fresh culantro or sawtooth herbs, coarsely chopped

12 Asian basil or sweet basil leaves, coarsely chopped

4 to 6 sprigs rice paddy herb (ngo om) or Vietnamese coriander, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste

* Bring water and lemon grass to vigorous boil in large pot. Boil 5 minutes, half-covered, then reduce heat and simmer over medium heat a few minutes.

* Once broth is simmering, scoop about 1 cup liquid into small bowl. Add tamarind pulp to bowl, stir well to dissolve thoroughly and set aside.

* Rinse off fish. If using large steaks, cut into roughly 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces. If using small steaks, cut in half. Add to broth along with garlic, bring to a boil, and simmer until fish is opaque, 3 minutes. Add fish sauce and salt. Place sieve or fine strainer over soup and pour tamarind liquid through it. Use back of wooden spoon to press tamarind pulp against strainer, then discard remaining seeds and pith. Stir stew well and simmer several minutes.

* Add tomatoes, green onions, culantro, Asian basil, rice paddy herb and sugar to stew and simmer 5 minutes. Serve hot.

4 servings. Each serving: 132 calories; 764 mg sodium; 39 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 1.45 grams fiber.