I have two Ina Garten recipes to share today.

First is Curried Couscous which was chosen as the first June recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers by Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester. I wasn’t sure I’d like this recipe going in because I’m not 100% fond of curry all the time, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

This was an easy recipe to make and it only took a few minutes. I changed some ingredients to match what I had on hand and it turned out great, I think this is a very adaptable recipe. If you don’t like an ingredient, leave it out or replace it with something else you do like. I used heavy cream in place of plain yogurt and chives in place of scallions. I honestly thought of using Key Lime Pie yogurt when I realized I was out of plain, but the heavy cream was expiring first so I went with that. I’ve mentioned before that I avoid going to the store like it’s the plague, right?

The curry was not overwhelming at all. It was just the right balance of spices. There were a lot of different ingredients going into this but all of them stood out on their own. I loved the sweetness from the raisins, the flavors from the curry and onions, and the crunch from the carrots all against the backdrop of the couscous which is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to center a dish around. This dish is perfect as a side or would work as a meal.

I probably wouldn’t have ever made this own my own so thank you Ellyn for choosing it.

The Magnificent Ina Garten’s Curried Couscous
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup small-diced carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small-diced red onion
Click here for directions

And now for the second show…

Eva of I’m Boring (I can’t help it, I love the name of her blog…she’s definitely NOT boring though!) chose these Outrageous Brownies that I ending up missing back in May. I had never made Ina’s brownies before although I’ve heard lots about them. I’d say they are one of her most well known recipes as they are everywhere on the internet, have tons of ratings on foodnetwork.com and I’ve seen them compared against other brownie recipes a lot when people try out new ones. Now, these are not for the faint of heart. She doesn’t call them “outrageous” for nothing. They were super chocolately and I could only handle a small piece at a time or I was overloaded. I don’t like nuts in baked goods so I left out the walnuts, everything else I followed exactly except the baking pan. A few years ago, my good friend Lisa gave me a Longaberger Grandma Bonnie’s Pie Plate for my birthday filled with homemade brownies. I’ve baked brownies in it ever since – more than I’ve baked pies.

Well, I was a little late on the Outrageous Brownie train but I have finally arrived! It was a sweet ride.

Thanks to Eva for pushing me to test this recipe out. I see a lot of workouts with my Cindy Crawford tapes in the near future trying to work off all those delicious calories. Yes, I said Cindy Crawford workout tapes. Circa 1992 & ‘93 and still going strong, baby!

The Fabulous Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies
Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces
Click here for directions