Best Friends and Tequila, part 3...

Chocolate Molten Cake

I knew I wanted to indulge on Saturday night, albeit reasonably, so I was good all week, saved my points. and was it ever worth it :)  We had our Skinny Ritas, and Creamy Guacamole with baked tortilla chips, hummus with baby carrots and whole grain crackers, and sweet and spicy wasabi peanuts.

 The final indulgence for the evening was a chocolate molten cake...think gooey brownie and you know what I'm talking about.  I have been wanting to make something like this for a long time, but for some reason thought it would be difficult or time consuming.  Then I found Mark Bittman's  article and video in the NYT and knew the time had come.  (As a side note_ I love Bittman and his straight forward approach to cooking).

This recipe requires only five ingredients and is incredibly easy to make.  Pay close attention to the baking and don't do as I did- at seven minutes it didn't look done enough so I gave it the nine.  The interior was still very soft, but not "molten" as had been my desire.  That aside, this cake was deliciously sinful and worth the points hit I took.  I will be making this again for the family, but may cut the amount of sugar a bit to get more of the dark chocolate bitterness that we (okay. I mean me) love so much.

Molten Chocolate Cake
Makes 4 individual cakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the molds
4 ounces dark chocolate chunks
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar (or equivalent substitute)
2 teaspoons flour, plus more for dusting the molds

Put the butter in a medium bowl and melt it in the microwave. Add the chocolate to the hot butter and stir until melted.Crack 2 eggs into a bowl, and add 2 more yolks (reserve the extra whites for another use).  Add the sugar, and beat or whisk until light and thick, about 1 minute.  Add egg mixture and 2 teaspoons flour to the melted chocolate; beat until combined.

Butter and lightly flour four 4-ounce molds or ramekins (make sure not to miss any spots, or the cakes will stick). Tap out the excess flour.  Divide the batter among the molds. (At this point you can refrigerate them for up to 3 hours; just bring them back to room temperature before baking.)

When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Put the molds on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cakes have puffed up a bit, the tops are barely set and the cakes still jiggle slightly when shaken, 7 to 9 minutes (better underbaked than overbaked).  Let sit for 1 minute,  Put a plate on top of the ramekin and (with a potholder to protect your hand) carefully invert the cake onto the plate.  Let it sit for 10 seconds, then lift up the ramekin.  Serve immediately, with ice cream, sorbet, whipped cream, or just a simple dusting of powdered sugar.

WW PontsPlus - Each cake is 11 points.  Using stevia instead of sugar would bring it down to 10 points.

I've never done this before...

Salade Lyonnaise and Stuffed Mushrooms

I have never poached an egg before.  I can fry a beautiful egg with a runny center, but have always found the idea of dropping that same egg into simmering water to be a bit intimidating.  An article by Mark Bittman in The New York Times (and the luscious photo) about Salade Lyonnaise convinced me that I had to give this poaching thing a try.  

I prepared the dressing, had the greens ready, stuffed mushrooms (courtesy of the Kroger produce department) and bread in the oven, table set, drinks poured...yes, you get the idea, I was putting off poaching those darn eggs.  Well, it got to the point where there was nothing left to do, so I got the water simmering (per Bittman's instructions) and dropped in the first egg, and Eureka!, it came out okay...better than okay, it even LOOKED good, with the white very nicely formed around the yolk...Bittman advises that fresh eggs keep their shape better, so my eggs must have been REALLY fresh :)

My first poached egg...not too bad :-)

Feeling much better about the whole thing, I started poaching them two at a time.

This experience was a success, and before dinner was over Ben was talking about poaching eggs in wine as we had seen one of the Iron Chefs do (can't remember which one).  Since I was serving this as a dinner salad, rather than a first course, I modified the quantities given in the original recipe.  This salad is a definite keeper, despite making a poor choice a greens...I was school shopping at Meijer, and not wanting to make another stop, picked up the best they had to offer, spring greens, which were much too delicate for the warm dressing and eggs.  But the taste, oh the taste, was rich and decadent, and also reminded me of the simple greens of my youth wilted with a warm bacon dressing, uuummm...

Salade Lyonnaise

adapted from Mark Bittman

16 oz.s torn frisée or other strong-tasting, sturdy greens
 3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
12 oz. bacon, diced
4 tbs. finely diced red onion
4 tbs. sherry vinegar
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
6 eggs

Put greens in large salad bowl. Put olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot, add bacon and cook slowly until crisp all over, about 10-12 minutes; remove to a paper towel lined plate, reserving most of the drippings in the pan.  Add the onion and cook until softened and turning golden, 4-5 minutes. Add vinegar and mustard to the skillet and bring just to a boil, stirring, then turn off heat.

 Meanwhile, bring about two inches of salted water to a boil in a small, deep skillet, then lower heat to barely bubbling. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl and slip them into the bubbling water. Cook eggs for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towel.  If necessary (it was for me and my procrastinating), gently reheat dressing, then pour over greens (they should wilt just a bit), toss and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each portion with a handful of the reserved bacon and 2 eggs, serve immediately. Each person gets to break the eggs and let the yolk run over their salad.  I did not use all the bacon and tucked it away in the fridge for another use.

This made three dinner sized salads.  Make sure to serve with some nice crusty bread to wipe up your plate, because you dO NOT want to leave any of this behind.

Minimalist Artichoke...

Artichoke braised in butter and lemon

with a bit of grilled steak.

"Minimalist Artichoke," sounds like an artwork or something, doesn't it?  I cooked this big beautiful artichoke using Mark Bittman's, aka "The Minimalist," method.  I love Bittman's approach to food, few ingredients and simple preparation that brings out the most in whatever is being prepared.  If you aren't familiar with him, I suggest you get yourself right over to The New York Times and check him out.

Braised Artichokes

4 medium artichokes (I used 1 huge one)

4 tbs, butter (I used 2)

chicken stock, as needed Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon (I used 1 sliced lemon)

 Cut each of the artichokes in half; remove the toughest outer leaves, use a spoon to remove the choke, and trim the bottom.  Put 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. When it melts and foam subsides, add artichokes, cut side down. Cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add stock (it should come about halfway up the sides of the artichokes), bring to a boil, and cover; turn heat to medium-low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until tender, checking every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure there is enough liquid in the pan, adding more stock if necessary. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and transfer artichokes to serving platter.  Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a sauce. Stir in lemon zest and juice and remaining tablespoon butter; taste and adjust seasoning. Serve artichokes drizzled with sauce.

I added the sliced lemon to the stock when I was simmering the artichoke (I love lemony flavor), and increased the cooking time for my over-sized thistle.  I think this recipe would be amazing using the little baby artichokes that you can eat whole. Make sure you have some crusty bread handy to sop up any of the juices left on your plate (I had steak and the lemon butter sauce on my plate, oh my :).

Summer bounty...

 Blueberry and Nectarine Crisp

with vanilla ice cream

Yesterday was pretty dismal around here...dreary, humid, and threatening to rain the whole day (the rain held off UNTIL Ben stepped outside to use the gas grill and then the sky opened up).  Not feeling up to time outside, but not particularly motivated to dive into my list of projects (sigh), I decided to just spend the day puttering around he kitchen, and I'm so glad I did.  Summer offers and abundance of fresh and delicious produce to create with, with seemingly endless possibilities and variations.

I made cucumber salad again, which Christopher promptly ate up at dinner time.  Next year I shall have to grow my own cucumbers so that I can keep up with the boy's appetite  for this simple salad.  I braised a big beautiful globe artichoke, using Mark Bittman's method, and had it with a small grilled steak for dinner (the lemony, buttery goodness is the inspiration for the chicken piccata I am making today).  I made a blueberry and nectarine crisp that we enjoyed after dinner with some vanilla ice cream (and Chris had for breakfast, sans the ice cream).  I'm not a big maker of sweets, so this one made the family VERY happy.  For later in the week, I used some summer sweet corn to make succotash, as well as a corn and black bean salad- readers outside Ohio may not know that we grow some of the best sweet corn ever.  I also used the ubiquitous zucchini (who doesn't have an abundance of that in the summer) to make a roasted zucchini pasta sauce.  Over the next few days I'll be sharing some of these dishes with you; the true beauty of these dishes is that they are completely adaptable to what you have on hand, there are no rules here other than using what is fresh and delicious...

Blueberry and Nectarine Crisp

1 pt. blueberries (or raspberries, blackberries, or mulberries)
4 ripe nectarines (or peaches, or apricots)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tbs. cornstrach
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 cupall-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Using some of your stick of butter, very generously butter a small baking dish; set aside.  In a bowl, toss the blueberries, pitted and sliced nectarines (keep the skins), the 1/4 cup brown sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice to combine.  In another bowl, combine the flour, oats, remaining sugar, and salt.  Cut in the remaining butter (7 tbs, or so) until the texture of coarse crumbs.  Spoon the prepared fruit evenly into the buttered baking dish, then cover evenly with the crumb mixture.  Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until bubbly and the top is golden brown; baking time will vary according to the "juiciness" of the fruit, and the surface area of your baking dish.  Let cool a bit before serving.  Best served warm, with a bit of vanilla ice cream, if desired (slightly sweetened cream would be good too, whipped, or not).  Note: when I make this again, and I have been instructed that I WILL make this again, I am going to decrease the flour to 3/4 cup, while increasing the oats to 3/4 cup, to achieve a more "crumby" topping.

 Oh my!!  Doesn't that look good?

I love the New York Times...

Bihari Green Beans Masala over white rice, 

Tandoori Pork, and Grilled Naan

Every morning I read three "news papers" online, two local and one national, The New York Times.  I love the Times, not only does it sits well with my somewhat (okay, very) liberal tendencies, it employs some wonderful food writers; I particularly like Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, and Pete Wells, of Cooking with Dexter fame. I have a binder filled with recipes I have printed out, and am a daily reader of theDiner's Journal food blog, which is where I found this recipe for Indian green beans last week.  Unlike the Indian broccoli recipe I made a few months back, the family loved this one, and I can't wait to try this treatment with other veggies.  I served these saucy beans over white rice, with Tandoori Pork and grilled naan on the side.

Bihari Green Beans Masala

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 lime wedges
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

 Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the almonds and cook until golden.  transfer the almonds to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the oil in the pan, and set aside.  Add the onion and spices and saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the coconut milk and green beans, mix well and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook, covered, until the beans are tender, about 6 minutes.  Serves the beans with lime wedges and sprinkled with the almonds.

Easy salads for busy days...

 Image courtesy of the New York Times (online edition)

 Warm weather means salad several times a week, and I don't mean the simple chopped romaine that we eat several times a week, year round, but salads made with just about anything, salads as main courses,salad, salad, salad.  Last year I posted a New York Times article by Mark Bittman that gave ideas for 101 simple salads for the season, and I am reposting that here.  Give this a look and I am sure you will be filled with inspiration.

Last week Bittman had an article about the loser lettuces romaine and iceberg.  As I said above, we eat romaine weekly, but iceberg we have rarely (it is all I ever had as a salad green growing up).  The wedge of iceberg with bleu cheese dressing did look good, however, so we had that as a side salad a few days ago.  The iceberg was a nice crispy contrast to the creamy richness of the bleu cheese, and we certainly have this again.  Just top a cold wedge of iceberg with a good quality dressing, homemade or purchased, and sprinkle with additional bleu cheese crumbles and a few grindings from the pepper mill.

Monday night I really wanted fried chicken, but this is not something I make, not liking the whole "frying" aspect of it.  My compromise is the fried chicken from the Kroger deli, which the whole family enjoys, hot or cold (great for picnics).  And, at $5.99 for 8 pieces, it is a bargain in my eyes for not having to fry it myself.  To go with the chicken I just threw together a simple macaroni salad, but not the limp,  mayo drenched macaroni salad of my youth, but a lightly dressed one full of crunchy veg.  This one is no more complicated than elbow macaroni cooked al dente, diced bell pepper (I used orange), diced red onion, and frozen peas (don't bother to thaw them).  Toss these together with just enough of your favorite ranch dressing to lightly coat, and again, the quality of the dressing is important.  I had added some sliced ripe olives, but they added nothing to the salad, so I won't use them again, although some crumbled crispy bacon would have been really good.  Since there is no mayo in this salad, it would be perfect for a picnic (along with that cold fried chicken :)