Holiday penguin and mice cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mice-cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/perfect-marzipan-penguins

Chocolate molten cake

Update on Joanne Chang's Molten Chocolate Cake recipe for the poor grad student...In all fairness, she does say to use 62% to 70% cacao... I ended up just using the ghiradelli chocolate chips because they're substantially cheaper.  I also don't own a stand mixer.  

Adding in 1/4 cup of ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder definitely helped bring out the chocolate flavor substantially. It also helped with the texture. Still, if one is left to supermarket quality chocolate and does not have a stand mixer, I like my molten cake recipe more...


However, to be fair, here is the cliff notes version of her original recipe--it may come out substantially better if one can buy the high quality chocolate and use an electric mixer instead of doing it by hand.


10 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
8 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract

• Position rack in center of the oven, and heat until 400 degrees F.  Butter ramekins, pour sugar into them to coat them, then turn sugar out into the next ramekin, etc.
• Melt chocolate
• Whisk in butter until well mixed
• Use a stand mixer fitted with whip attachment and beat eggs on low speed to break them up.  Turn up speed to medium and slowly add 3/4 cup sugar.  After incorporated, beat for 6-8 minutes until mixture is thick and pale. Add salt and vanilla, and beat to incorporate.
• Pour chocolate butter mixture into eggs and beat for 1 minute or until combined.
• Remove from mixer stand and whisk vigorously by hand to make sure all of chocolate is incorporated.  Mixture will deflate but should still be frothy.
• Divide batter among mugs, filling them to within at least 1 inch of rim. 
• Mugs/ramekins can be covered tightly and refrigerated up to one day.
• Bake 20-26 minutes (on shorter side if batter is fresh).
• Edges should be firm but if you poke your finger into the center, it should be gooey.  Gooey center should be less than or equal to the size of a quarter.
• Let cakes set for 3-4 minutes.
• Run knife around edge of mug to loosen.
• Invert.

Week of December 12

Garlic roasted potatoes with cheese "fondue"
Inspired by my friends Alison and Jess's wedding that involved hors d'oeuvres that included a croquette served over a truffle cheese fondue in a shot glass...

I made garlic roasted potatoes and served them with a four cheese fondue served in a shot glass
(Parboiled diced potatoes, threw into oven with salt, pepper, and unpeeled garlic cloves and baked until golden)
(Made a roux with melted butter, whisked in flour, milk, and Trader Joe Four Cheese blemd)


Ginger mint themes:
Ginger and Mint Teat
Boiled fresh ginger with fresh mint--absolutely amazing with sugar or honey for tea


Ginger and Mint Poached Pear
Peeled a pear, cut into thirds, cored it, and then boiled it along w/ ginger mint mixture and brown sugar

Ginger Pear and Mint Gin Cocktail
Reduced ginger mint sugar mixture over high hight, added syrup to gin, topped with tonic

Reduced Ginger Pear Basalmic Vinaigrette 
Boiled part of ginger mint syrup with basalmic vinegar...kept on heat until volume was reduced.
Blended with garlic and olive oil in food processor

Grilled portobello mushrooms:
Marinade: few cloves of garlic, soy sauce, basalmic vinegar, olive oil; blended in food processor
Destemmed and washed mushrooms, marinated for an hour
George Forman Grill

Molten Chocolate Cakes: by Flour
Substituted bittersweet chocolate chips for the chocolate
Was missing pizazz...and the chocolate chips didn't have as high as a cocoa content as the recommended one...  would add additional chocolate next time or use different brand of chocolate
However, I labeled one of the ramekins with rosemary...the flavor seeped in--I am definitely in love with the chocolate rosemary combo.  Will deliberately enhance the rosemary flavor for next batch.

Potato Latkes and Homemade Applesauce

I thought I started a post when I made these on Dec 4, but evidently forgot...and now I can't remember what I did so I can do it again.  Grrrrreat.
Two potatoes
Shred 'em!
1 egg
teeny bit o' flour
fried onions
orange juice
Colander

Fry by spoonfuls


Applesauce
...great way to use apples that accidentally got left around ripe bananas and starting to get mushy.

Core and dice apples
Boil with apple cider
Delicious!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/18/dining/20101118-sides.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/dining/10chefrex4.html

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/18/dining/20101118-sides-5.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/081crex.html

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/18/dining/20101118-sides-8.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/dining/194srex.html

Butternut squash, pecan, and currants
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/dining/10chefrex2.html

Lemon Confit Shortbread:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/16/dining/20101117-pie.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/dining/311lrex.html

Spicy mac and cheese with swiss chard and cornbread crumb topping

Cheese Sauce:
Used mushroom and onion base (see below)
Whisked in butter and soy milk
Added half a bag of Trader Joe's four cheese shredded mix
Added the majority of the bag of swiss and gruyere shredded mix

Separate pot:
Boiled water
Dropped in swiss chard for a few seconds and removed
Put in half a box of macaroni
Boiled until al dente

Buttered glass baking pan, poured in macaroni, swiss chard, and cheese mixture; mix well

Crumbs:

I'd saved the cutout portions of my jalapeno cornbread and frozen them; pulsed them in food processor to get crumbs

Heat butter in flat pan, pour cornbread mixture in, until golden 

Sprinkle onto mac and cheese pan

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes