Sweet Onion Tapenade, Coleslaw, and Brownies

Today was my favorite football day of the year...in-state rivalry day.  Teams from each state match up each year on this day for bragging rights in the state until the next year.  We are UGA grads and we get to duke it out with the nerds..err, Yellowjackets every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  This year we invited family and friends over for a Low Country Boil.  I wanted to do a few things from the book to compliment the boil so I selected sweet onion tapenade as an appetizer, coleslaw to serve with the low country, and brownies for dessert.  Everything turned out great with the meal and I am happy to report that the Dawgs will have bragging rights for the next year in Georgia!

To make the tapenade, I started the process by having a good cry.  I am super sensitive to onions and this was a strong one.  I looked like something out of a horror movie with a mascara streaked face as I diced a red onion and the tears streamed down my cheeks.  I think I need to invest in those goofy onion goggles.  After managing to dice the onion, I cooked it over low heat in oil to soften the onion but not brown it.  The pictures I took aren't the best as I am having to use a cell phone until I get my camera back. 

After the onions were cooked, I added to a blender with milk, olives, capers, garlic, and olive oil.   The finished puree can be jarred and kept in the refrigerator.

  I served the tapenade with toasted bread rounds.

The coleslaw recipe was fairly easy.  You start by making a dressing of sour cream, mayo, champagne vinegar, dry mustard, and celery seeds.  

 You then mix the dressing in with shredded red and green cabbage, diced carrot sticks, and toasted sesame seeds.  The finished product made a pretty dish with the red and green cabbage and specks of orange from the carrot.  I normally make coleslaw using my food processor but it always ends up kind of mushy.  I chopped the cabbage into strips and then diced it and the consistency was more of a salad.

The highlight was the brownies.  For something that sounds so simple, they turned out to be great.  I started by sifting flour with cocoa powder and salt.  I then beat sugar and eggs together in my mixer.   Half of the butter (three sticks, of course they were good!) is melted and mixed in with the other half of solid butter.  This makes a creamy mixture with chunks of whole butter.  The dry ingredients and butter are added into the sugar and eggs and then a chopped 60% dark Godiva chocolate bar was added to the mixture.  I didn't take a lot of pictures through the process but here is the finished brownie.  They were sinful and the dark chocolate really hit the spot. 

Way to go brownies and way to go Dawgs!