So, for my second post, I promised myself I would do something a little more challenging than my pitiful caramel corn recipe. So, I ventured into the slightly intimidating realm of layered cakes.... On the cover of the most recent issue of The Best of America's Test Kitchen (2010), there is a glorious vision of chocolatey decadence one wouldn't think is humanly possible.... A flourless chocolate cake topped with a silky chocolate mousse then topped with a white chocolate whipped concoction THEN topped with chocolate curls. Behold this glorious vision!














So, last night, my husband and I had invited some friends over for a Bible Study. I figured I would at least attempt to be hospitable by trying to make something for all of us to eat (putting out cheetos like in college seems no longer adequate, I guess unless britney spears was my friend). However, there was like a 60% chance that my creation would have looked more like this...



and less like the angelic vision above. This certainly wouldn't have surprised me, given my penchant for general mediocrity in the kitchen (and in life, really). Alright enough of my grandstanding and self-flagellation, onto the recipe and results.





Alright, get ready, it took me roughly 2 hours to make this dessert (with a few pee breaks, don't worry I washed my hands).


Ingredients
Base Layer
6 TBSP of unsalted butter
7 ounces of bittersweet chocolate (CI says Ghiradelli is the way to go - if you're willing to take out a second mortgage on your house to pay for fancy chocolate then go for it, otherwise Baker's is just fine)
3/4 tsp instant espresso powder
1&1/2 tsp of vanilla
4 large eggs (separate those suckers)
pinch salt [sic] Pinch OF salt, Cook's Illustrated needs to get some copy editors stat
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Middle Layer
2 TBSP of cocoa powder (Dutch-processed or otherwise, I personally hate Dutch processed CP)
5 TBSP hot water
7 oz of Bittersweet chocolate (chop it up!, anyone else watch Dave Chappelle?)
1&1/2 cups heavy cream
1 TBSP sugar
1/8 tsp of salt


Top Layer
3/4 tsp gelatin
1 TBSP water
6 oz of white chocolate (CHOP IT FINE!)
1&1/2 cups of heavy cream
chocolate shavings.... use a soft chocolate like hershey's bar or something

Alright people its go time... 1. Oven 325 degrees. grease a 9 inch springform pan. Melt butter, chopped up chocolate and espresso powder in double boiler until smooth. remove from heat and let sit 5-6 min. then, whisk in vanilla and egg YOLKS!


2. In your mixer, WHISK (at medium speed) egg whites and salt until frothy (30ish sec). Add 1/2 of brown sugar, beat for 15 seconds, then add remaining and beat on high until soft peaks form. using a whisk, fold 1/3 of foam into chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining with spatula until no streaks remain. Put that puppy in the oven and bake for 13-18 minutes... until center has set. I baked my for 14 minutes in my gas stove. Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour.

Alright, tier 2! Combine cocoa powder and hot water. set aside. Melt chocolate in double boiler. once smooth remove from heat and let sit for 5-6 minutes. Alright, time to clean out the stand mixer, because you need to whisk together the cream, sugar, and salt until it begins to thicken. Increase to high and whip til soft peaks form. Whisk in cocoa powder mixture into chocolate then fold 1/3 of whipped cream into the chocolate (use spatula). then fold in the remaining until no streaks remain. Smooth out the top of the mousse and refrigerate at least 15 minutes... I personally say you should refridgerate for 30 minutes.


Home stretch... final layer.


Sprinkle gelatin over water in small cup. set aside for 5 minutes at least. Place white choc in medium bowl. bring 1/2 cup of cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium high heat. remove from heat and then dump gelatin mixture into cream and stir it all up. then pour the cream/gelatin mixture over the white chocolate and stir that all up (until no lumps, my lumps, my lovely lady lumps, remain). Let that cool for about 8 minutes.

Alright clean out that stand mixer again, because you need to whisk the remaining cream on high. Once you get soft peaks, fold 1/3 of mixture into chocolate. then fold in the rest until no streaks remain. spoon over bittersweet layer and let the cake sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Garnish this with delicious chocolate curls... or in my case, chocolate flecks.

Voila! My latest creation. (My springform pan was too big, so my layers aren't as big as the picture above, but it still tasted delicious and everyone liked it. Hurray for my ego!) Sarah - a slice of this will be waiting for you on your doorstep tonight... along with Lars and the Real Girl. Thanks for letting me borrow... official review: quirky, weird, likeable.

Okay. . . I'll admit it. I don't cook as much as I should or would like to. . . but right now, at this exact moment, I actually have an excuse. My new kitchen is an absolute wreck (see image at left). This photo is actually from moving day one. I can not tell you how much more disastrous it looks at this point, after a week or so of moving things in and trying to find a happy home for everything in a kitchen which has surprisingly much less drawer space than the old apartment did.

Also of note, I am now having to become accustomed to cooking on a dreaded ELECTRIC stove. Who ever thought of electric stoves? Can anything really replace an open flame underneath your pot?

That being said, I have made my first attempt at cooking something in the house other than microwave lasagna or ham sandwiches. It was, of course, a classic. . . Sauce Piquante. There are, sadly, no pictures of the food - because who knows where the camera is now? It's probably buried under the lawnmower in the middle of the living room floor. . .

Anyhow, here's my recipe for Sauce Piquante, passed down from mom. She adds sausage to hers now, but I left that out since I am no huge fan of sausage. I've seen other recipes that are much more complicated. . . but why bother when this is so good and so simple?

Sauce Piquante
2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 cans Rotel
1/2 onion, diced
1 T. Vegetable oil
1 small (8 oz? 6 oz?) can of tomato sauce

Heat the vegetable oil (or butter if you've stupidly left the oil at the old apartment) and toss in the onion. Sauté the onion until it starts to wilt. . . turns translucent. That's it. Then, toss in the stew meat, and I always sprinkle some Tony Chachere's on it, but not too much, otherwise it'll all be too salty. Brown the meat, then lower the fire (or pretend fire if you have an electric stove) to low. Add the Rotel, and tomato sauce and mix well. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about two hours. Spoon over rice.

This is one of my comfort foods, and always reminds me of home. It's also one of the few dishes that my dad cooked when I was growing up. . . Sauce Piquante, roast, brisket, and bbq. I guess it has enough meat in it to count as man food.

When I was studying abroad, I remember my Italian flatmate's total confusion when I brought sweet potatoes home. My Chinese flatmate, on the other hand, was as excited as I was to have them. We threw them in the oven and then ate them with a spoon right out of the skins. Simple, delicious, and very nutritious.

Happy New Years, everyone!

Hello world!

It is with great joy and honor that I present to you my very first post on Sarah, Shelly and Brett's illustrious cooking blog. I enter this format with much trepidation, so please do not pulverize me in the comments section (or I'm afraid my ego will never let me come back). However, needless to say, I'm pleased to bring you a scrumptuous, little recipe for caramel corn!

To be totally honest, I'm kind of bummed this is my first post. I was hoping for something a little more culinarily challenging, but when you've procrastinated past the point of apologies, this is what you're reduced to. So, CARAMEL CORN it is!



Ingredients
12 cups of popped corn
1 cup of roasted pecans
1 cup of M&Ms (optional)
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 large brown paper grocery bag

I'd like to preface the instructions by stating you can use whatever kind of popcorn you'd like. Precooked popcorn, microwave popcorn, stovetop cooked popcorn. I personally cooked my corn on the stovetop in oil (cheapest!).

Instructions
1) Place popcorn and roasted nuts in brown paper grocery bag. Shake it up a little to combine (If you'd like, you can add pretzels too!)

2) Melt butter in microwave for approximately 1 minute. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture for about 30 seconds to a minute, and then placed back in the microwave for 2 more minutes. The mixture will bubble and boil. Do not be alarmed!

3) Add baking soda to sugar mixture. It was get foamy, but once it starts to do this... carefully pour it on top of the caramel corn. Fold over the paper bag and start to shake!

4) Throw it back in the microwave for another minute. Take it out and shake again. Then another minute in the microwave. Open the bag, add the M&Ms and shake for 30 seconds one last time!

Voila! Just spread it over a cookie sheet and let it get crunchy! You can break it up and start munching on it within 5 minutes.

Here's an idea: For an inexpensive Christmas gift, I put mine in Christmas-themed Chinese take-out boxes. Good for coworkers or neighbors!

Either way, this is such an easy snack to make... I hope that you enjoy!

Okay. . . maybe I'm the only one here, but I'm sort of wishing that I had some of the recipes from last weekend's party. . . so if you're reading this, you should post your party food recipe. In the meantime, here is the recipe for the dish that I brought. I'm too lazy to get up and retrieve the recipe for the Chocolate Pecan Pie, but if somebody wants it, let me know, and I'll go dig it out. I have to say that I did like this recipe, but it seemed like a lot of work for what it was. It's a shame frozen pie shells don't come in a mini size. . . Then again, maybe I should not attempt to do this sort of thing after working a late shift at the library.

Leek and Onion Tartlets

2 T. butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (I didn't have thyme, so I used Herbes de Provence)
1 pound leeks, thinly sliced
2 ounces Gruyère or Emmenthal cheese, grated (I live in Podunk, America, so I had to use Parmesan)
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. light cream
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and ground black pepper

For the pastry
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
6 T. cold butter
1 egg yolk
2-3 T. cold water
1/2 tsp. salt

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
2. Beat together the egg yolk, water and salt, pour into the well and combine the flour and liquid until it begins to stick together. Form into a ball. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Butter six 4- inch tartlet pans. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick (which I found to be an IMPOSSIBLE task), then using a 5 inch cutter, cut as many rounds as possible. Gently ease the rounds into the pans, pressing the pastry firmly into the bottom and sides. Re-roll the trimmings and line the remaining pans. Prick teh bottoms all over and chil in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 375. Line the pastry crusts with foil and fill with baking beans. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden at the edges. Remove the foil and beans and bake for another 2 minutes, until the bottoms appear dry. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Reduce the oven temp to 350.
5. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and thyme and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is just softened, stirring frequently. Add the thinly sliced leeks and cook for 10-12 minutes, until they are soft and tender, stirring occasionally. Divide the leek mixture among the pastry crusts and sprinkle each with cheese, dividing it evenly.
6. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Place the pastry crusts on a baking sheet and pour in th egg mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until set and golden. Transfer the tartlets to a wire rack to cool.