Chocolate Rum Babas

This little cake was quite tasty eaten with Earl Gray tea. We especially enjoyed the slightly crispy top, like the edge of a brownie. It tasted great with whipped cream. I recommend the fresh stuff because we just knew the canned stuff we had resorted to using wasn't nearly as good as fresh whipped cream could have been. The whipped cream nonetheless made it ever bit more enjoyable since the cake was quite dense. The syrup, however, helped make this into a dense moist treat. That might have been because we estimated the amount of chocolate we put in, and it might have been a little bit more than the recipe called for.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 envelope of rapid rise dry yeast
pinch of salt
1 T of superfine sugar
1 1/2 oz of semisweet chocolate (grated)
2 eggs
3 T lukewarm milk
4 T butter (melted)

Syrup: 4 T honey; 2 T water; 4 T rum

To serve: whipped cream; unsweetened cocoa (to dust); fresh fruit.

1. Lightly oil 4 individual small ring pans / ramikins. Sift flour and cocoa together into large warmed mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, salt, sugar and grated chocolate. In separate bowl, beat the egss, then add the milk and butter and beat until mixed.

2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture. Beat until blended. Will be the consistency of sticky bread dough. Divide mixture into pans (about half way).

3. Place on cookie sheet with damp dish towel over it (I put it in a warmed oven) until dough rises almost to top. I waited about an hour. Then take off towel and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes.

4. For syrup, gently heat honey, rum and water in a saucepan. Drizzle syrup over done babas. Let sit for a while to soak up syrup. It says 2 hours. but i waited more like 30 minutes because I'm impatient like that.

5. Fill centers with whipped cream or off at sides. Sprinkle cocoa over top for looks and serve with fresh fruit if desired.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Tuna Noodle Casserole... just the name of it conjures up images of stale 50s housewives and canned cream of mushroom soup. I think the especially negative images I had about it piqued my curiosity and prompted me to try this particular recipe that sounded less bland and flat.

The results were quite good. I enjoyed the texture of the frozen peas that did not turn mushy if sprinkled in just before baking. I also appreciated the light silky creaminess of the sauce. mmm... the parsley and thyme added a nice herby freshness to the dish that I loved. Making this in the future is definitely not out of the question.

Ingredients:

Bread Crumb Topping
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used whole wheat bread, and that tasted just fine)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tb of unsalted butter, melted

Pasta
6 Tb of unsalted butter
salt
12 oz. dried fettuccine (break into thirds for easy eating and spreading in the casserole dish)
10 oz. white button mushrooms (slice into 1/4 inch slices with stems taken out_
2 medium onions, minced
ground black pepper
1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup whole milk
1 Tb lemon juice (fresh)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 Tb chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 (6 oz) cans of water packed white tuna
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

1. Topping: Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Mix bread crumbs, salt and melted butter in a baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes. Set aside.
2. For the pasta, increase oven temp to 450. Butter casserole dish or a 13" by 9" baking dish.
3. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add a T of salt and add pasta to water when comes to a rolling boil. Cook until al dente. Save 1/4 cup of pasta water, then drain pasta and return to pot.
4. Heat 2 T of butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onions and saute. Stir frequently until onions soften and the liquid evaporates (7-10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in bowl and set aside.
5. Melt 4 T of butter in clean skillet over medium heat. When foam subsides, whisk in the flour and cook and whisk constantly until turns golden (1-2 minutes). Gradually add chicken broth and milk while whisking constantly. Increase heat to medium high and simmer until thickened (5 minutes). Off heat, whisk in 1/2 tsp salt, lemon juice, parsley and thyme.
6. Add the sauce, mushroom mixture, tuna and peas to the pasta and mix. Season as needed.
7. Put mixture into buttered baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs andbake until crumbs brown and mixture is hot and bubbly (10 minutes). Eat immediately!

Dish still tastes good the next day, but obviously not as good the first night.

Chicken Piccata

With a small salad and mashed potatoes, this turned into an amazing dinner. The lemony sauce on this chicken piccata was tangy and tasted great. It was also pretty easy to assemble once all ingredients were there. I highly recommend this if you want to impress family or friends. My dad saw this for $27 on the menu at some restaurant, and I def spent less than $10. btw, pounding the chicken flat was likely necessary in getting a really tender and keeping it moist. Leftovers still taste good, but the texture is of course not the same because the crunchy breaded outside tastes so good when it first comes out of the oven.

Ingredients:
4 skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1 cup all purpose flour
2 xl eggs
1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs (i used the fine canned kind)
olive oil
3 T unsalted butter, room temp
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons), hold on to the lemon halves for later
1/2 cup dry white wine (all I had was a chardonnay, and that worked out)
chopped flat leaf parsley for sprinkling on top before serving (i didn't bother with this this time around)

Preheat oven. Line sheet pan with parchment paper (protect the pan fro getting all sorts of crap on it).

Pound each breast half between plastic wrap or parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.

Mix flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in shallow plate. Beat eggs in another bowl/shallow plate and add 1 T of water. Place bread crumbs in another plate(tupperware worked great). Dip each first in flour, shake off excess, then in egg, then in bread crumbs.

Heat 2 T olive oil in large saute pan over medium/medium-low heat. Add breasts two at a time and brown each side. Place on sheet pan and do the rest. Bake in oven 5-10 minutes.

Sauce: Melt 1 T of butter in saute pan and add lemon juice, white wine, reserved lemon halves that were juiced, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Boil over high and reduce by half (2 minutes). Off the heat, add 2 T of butter. Discard lemon halves. Spoon over finished chicken! yummers.

Pesto and Peas Pasta

This recipe came off the tele, and it came out quite well... I loved the peas in this (I used frozen ones from Trader Joe's), and I don't usually even like peas (other than ones like fresh snap peas or snow peas). My one complaint was that the pesto recipe I used was quite oily. Well that's what pesto is... oily. But this recipe even called for putting 1/4 cup of olive oil on the pasta to prevent it from sticking. So I left that out and it still ended up being a bit much for me. The flavor was great, but I just couldn't eat more than a little bowlful with out getting that feeling that a greasy film was coating my throat and stomach. I'd make this again though, but it's a definite side dish considering how oily rich tasting it is.

3/4 pound fusilli pasta (I just used all bow ties)
3/4 pound bow tie pasta
1/4 cup good olive oil ( I left this out)
1 1/2 cups pesto, packaged or see recipe below
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 cup pine nuts
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil (I wouldn't do this if I were you. There's enough, if not too much, olive oil in the pesto to take care of the pasta). Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pinenuts, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Pesto:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated ParmesanPlace the walnuts, pinenuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Longan: Dragon's Eye

A case of this tropical fruit that grows in southern China, Indonesia and Thailand among other places was brought to my house because it was not fit for being commercially sold (white stuff on the outside skin). But they were still edible. It has a similar texture to fresh lychee. And just like lychee, they have an inedible skin. By the name "dragon's eye" you might notice that there is a dark black pit in the center that shows through the more transparent fruit flesh. Who needs peeled grapes in a bowl to be your bowl of eyeballs at Halloween when you can get your hands on this stuff? Most people eat them fresh. They can also be cooked with. The flavor is difficult to describe. While sweet, the longan has a fermented taste to it that many might not find too pleasing. I thought maybe I had a bad batch, but even the dried versions had a similar flavor. I still found myself though popping them due to the curious taste.

Companies have been trying for years to get this fruit imported from Thailand, and they finally succeeded this past year (2007). The first couple shipments were great. The longan were plump, fat and round. But the past few have not been of such high quality (thus resulting in an entire case of defective longan ending up in my kitchen). It's something new to try... maybe you'll even want to throw it into a fruit salad along with some almond gelatin.

Kru

I finally got a chance to eat at the restaurant that my friend cooks at. It's called Kru and is located on J Street in Sacramento, California. I ate and drank myself silly from 4 pm to 8 pm.

-kobe beef sashimi - I picked this off of my neighbor. I loved the seasoning (ginger, garlic, chives, ponzu, pink hawaiian sea salt, and seared with hot sesame oil). the jalapeno slice might have been too hot for me... I would eat one between two slices of beef (but i'm a big baby. I need milk for mild salsa).
- house made pork gyoza - I picked off my neighbor again. They get points for making their own. They were also quite tasty, but nothing special.
- sashimi tapas - yum! variety is great. loved the real wasabi. bbq salmon... eh. loved the walu.








-lobster tempura in spicy lemon ailoi - yesssss! and loved the aioli. i've never had it before with tempura and it's so good i'd get it again and again. a totally different tempura experience.



-scallops and foie gras - oh god. so good. melt into buttery nothingness as soon as it hits your mouth. This is the menu description: jumbo scallops from hokkaido japan, topped with medallions of foie gras, crispy smashed potatoes, and a soy-mirin grastrique.



-one of the specials of the day/week... pan fried walu or something. it was so delicious I forgot to take a picture of it until I was almost finished. i've never had walu before this experience, but i love the texture. firm but buttery.





-The last savory dish was a special of fried squid. They were older than what one would use for calamari, so they were a bit tougher. Flavor wise they were quite tasty.



And what meal would be complete without dessert. My friend had personally made and come up with this chocolate panna cotta with blackberry sauce. He likes to experiment with different ideas. I should tell him about this jasmine tea infused chocolate mousse. Apparently the desserts are always changing and the servers let customers know what they have that night.All in all, the best (i.e. decadent) meal I've had in a looooooong time.e quite tasty.

The Dirty Dozen

Here is a list of produce that usually test the highest for pesticide concentrations... so get these organic when you can. Did you know apples' natural pesticide is arsenic though? If I studied plant biology, I'm sure I could tell you more and what should be done about the dilemma of natural pesticides (that develop in the absence of ones applied by humans) v. chemical ones. But here you go...

Peaches

Apples

Sweet Bell Peppers

Celery

Nectarines

Strawberries

Cherries

Pears

Grapes (Imported)

Spinach

Lettuce

Potatoes