Chocolate Gateau

I LOVE making this cake. I first had it at a potluck three years ago and demanded the recipe from a rather surprised looking stranger (or, shall we say, new friend!) It's not hard to make, is easy to gussy up, and, most importantly, is very chocolatey. It made an appearance at Mom's 60th. Today, it turned up at the Glaucoma Center of (culinary) Excellence for a friend's birthday and received such a warm reception that it decided to appear on this blog, as well. Enjoy!

Chocolate Gateau
Adapted from Cooks.com
Preheat the oven to 350.
Melt 12 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use chips), 2/3c (5oz) unsalted butter, and 3/4 c sugar in a microwave proof bowl, stirring occasionally (~3"). Semi-sweet chocolate works fine, too, just cut the sugar to 1/2c or so.
Allow this to cool (a few min is fine).
Meanwhile, separate 5 eggs.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Whisk the egg yolks, 1/3c flour, and a little salt into the chocolate mixture.
Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, stirring vigorously.
Then, add the chocolate mixture into the rest of the egg whites (or vice versa, depending on which bowl is bigger.)  Take care not to smush all the egg whites with all that tasty chocolate: pour the chocolate down the side of the bowl if you can.
Fold the egg whites into the chocolate gently just until you no longer see white streaks/clumps.
Butter/spray a 9.5" round springform pan.  A regular round cake pan would work fine, too.  Consider lining it with parchment paper or aluminum foil for easy removal of the goods.
Bake for 35" or so, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely, several hours.

Surprisingly, I do not recommend topping this cake with chocolate. It's pretty dense as is. In fact, you should make sure to have some prophylactic milk or coffee on hand to manage the flavor burst you are about to experience. I top it with sliced strawberries, a cascade of raspberries, and/or a dusting of powdered sugar.

By the way, if anybody was looking for something to put in Dapper Dan's Easter basket, this would be a good place to start.

End of Winter Soup

I realized that the frig contained two glasses (~3 oz each) of bad chianti classico that I hadn't been able to finish the two previous nights. I threw the wine into the crockpot, atop 16 oz. tomatoes, 32 oz. veg stock, 1 T good balsamic vinegar, 2 or 3 T. of salsa, 1 cup of mixed pinto and black beans (soaked), a leek, a bunch of celery, 3 carrots and 1/2 of a vidalia onion - - the last 4 items having been sliced in the FP. Nice.

Happy Birthday, Suzanne!

Suzanne and Michael come back from Venice and Florence tonight, having celebrated her birthday 5 days ago at Carnivale in Venice. Joel explains that "carnevale" signals the advent of Lent with its translation of "meat farewell." This cake is definitely not for mardi gras, there being no gras in it. The meringue and cake bake in pans together. The cake layer consists of 1 c. eggbeaters, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 t. vanilla and 6 oz. roasted almond oil, mixed. This is in lieu of Joy's "Cream Merinque Tart Cockaigne"'s butter, egg yolks, and cream. Mix in the recipe's 1 c. cake flour, 1 t. baking powder and 1/4 t. salt. Line the pan and pour this in. Whip 1 c. eggwhite, then add gradually 1 c. sugar and 1 t. vanilla. Whip some more, then spread this on top of the cake batter. I had to use my fingers to do this. Sprinkle roasted slivered almonds on top of one layer and bake both for 40 min. If you ignore the distinct possibility that the meringue will rise and forget to allow ample separation between your oven racks, you can let the pans sit there, glued to the rack above, after the cake is cooked, with the door open, and let the meringues deflate. Not ideal. Meanwhile, in the blender chunk up 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate with 1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar. While running the blender, pour in 3/8 c very hot milk and 1/2 t vanilla, and 1/8 t. salt. Let it cool in the frig.

To assemble the cake, take the layer without the almonds and place it, meringue side down, on the cake platter. Then spread the cooled chocolate mixture on top. Then add the second layer, almonds up. Happy Birthday, Suzanne!

Crockpot privileges

Nice thing about the crockpot that I've enjoyed this winter: putting dishtowels on top to speed it up a bit, and then using the warm towels to dry my hands.

Fried Crucifers

I just tried this fabulous recipe for fried brussels sprouts from 101 cookbooks.   

Golden-crusted, she calls them, but we know she means fried.  Mmm.  

 I have been on serious a brussels sprout kick lately.  I suppose there are worse things to be enthused about, though.  I have also been on a serious blogging kick lately.  Turns out when the husband is away, I do crazy things!!  ...like cook brussels sprouts and then blog about them.

He leaves big pants to fill.  With cats.

I changed the recipe enough that I think it merits re-typing, so:


Fried Crucifers
Stem and then slice ~1/3 lb brussels sprouts in half, vertically.
Break ~1/3 head cauliflower into florets.  Slice the larger florets in half, vertically.
Heat ~1T EVOO in your largest skillet over medium heat.
Meanwhile, pour some other EVOO into a bowl.
Dip the veggies, cut side down (or just dunk the whole thing for the small cauli. florets), into the EVOO.
Once your pan is hot, place the veggies, cut side down, into it.  Make sure that each cut vegetable surface is in contact with the hot pan.
Sprinkle with salt.
Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid and check to see if the bottoms are golden brown (you can see it on the edges w/o moving the veggies). If they're not, allow the vegs to cook until they are. If/once they are, stir them around a little to lightly fry the other surfaces and then remove the pan from the heat.
Sprinkle with black pepper and grated parm.
Serve immediately.

Note: plan to serve this on a night when you're cooking for 1-3 people.  Because all of the veggies need to be in contact with the pan, you can only make so much of it at once, unless you're willing to wrangle multiple pans.  Furthermore, Heidi (101 cookbooks author) comments that they're best when eaten immediately, so you don't want one batch sitting around while the rest cook.

Update: I made this last night with brussels sprouts only.  It's way better when you have cauliflower in the mix, too!

A Trinacria Tribute

Mmm pasta

I recently 'discovered' the most fabulous market in my 'hood-- Trinacria.  It's this fabulous Italian grocery stuffed full of goodies.  There a pasta, house-made ravioli and prepared foods, fresh breads, sandwiches, house-cured olives, deli meats and cheeses, cookies, and cheap wine.  They even raise $ for BARCs (where Dapper Dan came from!) Anyhow, I bought a groupon there and decided to explore.  It has a very unassuming, almost sketchy store-front on a dodgy block.  I thought it might be abandoned when I approached. When I opened the door, I was met with a throng of people packed in between shelves of food.  In the two trips I've made there, I've sampled the house-made diavolo sauce, two types of olives (spicy mixed and rosemary garlic pitted kalamata), imported parm, fresh mozz, foccachia bread, wine, and stuffed peppers (goat cheese for me, prosciutto and mozz for M.)  I especially loved the olives, the cheeses, and the sauce.  The mozz didn't even taste like what I think of as mozzerella: it was so fresh and moist!  Ok, I'm starting to sound like a foodie, but seriously--check this place out. 

Above is pasta with diavolo (spicy) sauce, grated parm, fried Italian soysage, and fresh basil. Below is perhaps our greatest pizza night success yet, made with diavolo sauce, slices of fresh mozz, kalamata olives, and fresh basil.

Better ingredients, better pizza

Dan Cat makes a monkey tail!

Roast crucifers

Guess what, lucky reader? It's a two-blog day!

Tonight I made some delicious and simple roast cruciferous veggies. I purchased cauliflower and brussels sprouts the other day at the store with ambitions of making two separate dishes.  Naturally, I thought up a way to combine the two ingredients into one dish and save myself some time.  Time that I proceeded to spend taking pictures of the cat playing a kazoo:

O, don't mind Dapper Dan, he's just practicin' the katzoo

I usually steam brussels sprouts and toss them with a vinaigrette.  I use a delicious recipe given to me by a dear friend at my bridal shower that I should probably share with you in the future. I was curious if they'd taste good roasted, too, deducing that if other crucifers (like cauliflower) were delicious roasted, they would be, too.  Turns out I was right!  I still can't decide which recipe I like better.  This one is good for a cold winter's night when you want something hot and filling.  It is especially good for a cold night in late winter, when you're feeling a little frumpy after eating sweets all day everyday from Thanksgiving to Epiphany and beyond. The mustard gives them a nice tang.

So, without further ado: Roast Crucifers (Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower)

Preheat your oven to 400.

Rinse 1/2 head cauliflower and ~1/2 lb brussels sprouts
Cut the cauliflower into florets and place in a large roasting pan.  Don't worry if the florets are uneven in size--they'll cook unevenly, but it's nice when you have some little crunchy ones and some big soft ones.
Cut the stems off the brussel sprouts, cut them in half lengthwise, and add them to the pan.
Slice a sweet onion into medium sized wedges (a little < 1cm thick) and add it to the pan.
Drizzle with oil.  I used avocado oil. Enough to coat the veggies lightly.
Drizzle with mustard.  I used spicy brown.  
Sprinkle on whole cumin seeds.  Fun fact: these are super cheap in the Hispanic foods section of Walmart. 
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pre-tossing

Toss the whole thing to coat the veggies.
Roast for ~45" at 400 or until the cauliflower starts to brown and can be readily pierced with a fork. 
Toss occasionally as it cooks.
Juice it up to 450 if you're getting impatient at the end.