Erythrosine's Sour Cream Fudge Cake

From The Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition
Makes 8 servings

This not-too-sweet chocolate cake has a tender, soft grain. Excellent gussied up with chocolate frosting or ganache; remarkably satisfying served plain with coffee.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8x8-inch pans or two 9x2 inch round pans or one 13x9-inch pan, or line the bottom(s) with wax or parchment paper.

Melt in the top of a double boiler or in a microwave oven on medium just until melted and smooth:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

Sift together into a large bowl:

1 3/4 cups cake flour (that's 1.75 cups)
1.5 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Add and beat on high speed for exactly 2 minutes:
1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Add the melted chocolate along with:
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup hot water or coffee (0.25 cup)

Beat for exactly two minutes. Scrape the batter into the pan(s) and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes in square or round pans, 25 to 30 minutes in a 13x9 inch pan. Let cool in the pan(s) on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan(s). Invert the cake and peel off the paper liner(s), if using. Let cool right side up on the rack. If desired, frost with Chocolate Satin Frosting or ganache, or serve plain, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or accompanied with whipped cream.

Chocolate Ganache, also from The Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition
Makes about 1.5 cups

The sleek, rich chocolate coating on a European torte or an elegant restaurant dessert is apt to be chocolate ganache, as is the center of a rich chocolate truffle. Ganache is a French term that refers to any combination of chocolate and cream.....

Bring to a boil in a small saucepan:

3/4 cup heavy cream

Remove from the heat and add:

8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Stir until most of the chocolate is melted. Cover and let stand for ten minutes. Stir or whisk very gently until completely smooth.

Stir in:

1 tablespoon liqueur, or more to taste (optional)

For a pourable glaze, let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until the mixture cools to 85° to 95°. For frosting, let stand until spreadable. If the frosting becomes too stiff, set the pan in a larger pan of hot water and stir until softened; or remelt and cool to 85° to 95° to use as a glaze. This keeps for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 1 week refrigerated. Or freeze for up to 3 months. Soften or melt before using.

Li's Good Reads

Just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Absolutely heartbreaking. It's one of those books that really lingers in your mind--I even dreamed about it last night. What impressed me is that it's written in the first person and the narrator is a very limited person both in what she objectively knows about her situation and also in her emotional self-awareness, yet Ishiguro manages to let the reader know what's really going on. I will definitely give this a second read.

I also recently read Life of Pi, and while I enjoyed most of it, I hated the ending. It bugs me when writers set up a terrible tragedy and then wimp out at the last minute, not going through with the logical ending because they become too protective of their characters. (not a problem in Never Let Me Go).

Another one I finished recently was The Mysterious Case of the Dog in the Night-time. I enjoyed it when I read it but once I put it down I never thought of it again. Not sure why it didn't stay with me. I think the author reached for more than he could deliver.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies by Always Chaotic

3 Cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

(1 tbs instant coffee granules--optional. Sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups pecans

Preheat oven to 350 (I usually do 375, though). Melt 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, all the butter, and the unsweetened chocolate. Stire until smooth. Remove from heat.

Beat eggs, sugar, coffee granules, and vanilla together. Add melted chocolate mixture and stir.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into batter. Fold in the remaining 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and the pecans. Drop by tablespoonful onto baking sheets lined with parchment (or nonstick baking sheets). Bake 8 minutes until crackled and shiny on the outside and still soft inside.

This recipe is best when the weather is not humid. Usually I use semisweet chocolate chips for the melted chips, but bittersweet for the chocolate chips added at the end.

More on Chicken Stock by bookseller

I read recently about a product that is going to be seriously helpful in my stock-making adventures: The Soup Sock. It's basically a muslin bag that you fill with all your bones and veg. You make your soup, and then, instead of having to strain it (hugely messy) and drip bits of greasy chicken everywhere, you just throw the sock away. Or, if you're being super-responsible, you dump the contents of the sock into the garbage, and wash and re-use the sock. Anyway, I'm definitely going to give this thing a try. Amazon sells'em for about $3 apiece.

Chocolate Martini by Grizzled Adams

Everyone gets tired of clams sometimes...

CHOCOLATE MARTINI

1/2 oz Frangelico
1/2 oz Stoli Vanil
1/2 oz Godiva Chocolate cream Liqueur
1/2 oz Godiva Original Chocolate Liqueur
1/2 oz Baileys Irish Cream
Lemon twist garnish

Rim Martini glass with chocolate syrup
Shake ingredients with ice strain into glass Garnish w/ lemon twist ... Sweeeeeeeet!

Crusty Bread by kat167

Crusty Bread Recipe

The only complicated part is timing. You need 3 hours the first day, overnight refrigeration, then 5 hours the second day.

DAY 1

Put into your cobalt blue KitchenAid:

2 cups bread flour (you can taste the difference) 1 cup water, room temp ¼ teaspoon yeast.

Using dough hook, mix at low speed until it looks mixed. Dump into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap for 3 hours, then refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 24. [overnight]

DAY 2

Take out your dough from DAY 1 and leave it on the counter.

Put into your cobalt blue KitchenAid:

3 cups bread flour 1 ¼ cup water, room temp 1 teaspoon yeast

Using dough hook, mix at low speed until it looks mixed. Stop, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Then, unwrap plastic (heh), add DAY 1 dough plus 2 teaspoons salt to KitchenAid bowl mix, and mix at low speed for 1-2 minutes. Turn up to next click on KitchenAid, and beat for 3-4 minutes. Dump dough into a big bowl, re-use your two sheets of plastic to cover, then let it sit on counter. [Write down the time!—it’s easy to forget how many times you’ve turned the bread]

1 hour later: turn the dough by folding top down one third, bottom up one third, then turning it over from left side onto right (into halves). Basically, work it gently. Re-cover with plastic.

1 hour later, repeat.

1 hour after that, gently scrape the dough onto a floured surface, pat into 9-10 inch square, then fold left corner down to middle, right corner down to middle, then top part over so it looks like a big fat loaf of bread. Using dough scraper, slice down the middle into two loaves, then gently and quickly shape them into rough loaf shapes. Place on parchment paper, slide onto peel or flat cookie sheet, flour tops LIBERALLY, and re-use that same old plastic to cover them.

Meanwhile, put baking stone in oven on rack so that bread is close to the middle of the oven but has room to rise, and set oven to 500 degrees.

An hour later, take off plastic, slash bread, dump some cold water on ‘em, and slide parchment paper’d loaves onto baking stone. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temp to 400 degrees and spin loaves around. They’ll bake for another 20-30 minutes. Cool on racks.

---

Various Cabbage Recipes by bookseller

Very lightly creamed cabbage (sauteed with a lot of onion, small amount of cream hard-boiled down) with good balsamic vinegar stirred in at the end off-heat is one of my favorite things ever. Even better, of course, with bacon, but then, so many things are.

Slivered raw cabbage tossed with curried mayo (cook curry powder in a small amount of fat to release oils, add to mayo), peanuts, and peas is a great thing. I stole the recipe from Formaggio Kitchen in Boston about 20 years ago, and sometimes I throw some carrot in there as well.

Lazy-person's stuffed cabbge (just layer the cabbage leaves with the filling, as if you were making lasagne) is just as delicious as stuffed cabbage rolls, and a lot less work.

Finally, colcannon -- chop cabbage, steam till tender, mix with mashed potatoes -- is one of my favorite cold-weather dinners. And there is a classic Italian recipe for buckwheat pasta with cabbage and cheese that is lighter than it sounds (it's not baked) and is absolutely wonderful.

ETA you might also think about making a basterdized version of lion's head casserole. Traditionally, this is a Chinese dish of large pork meatballs served with a "mane" of greens (cabbage or bok choy). I've made it very successfully with chicken rather than pork, I like the meatballs smaller (bite-size), and I use a ton of cabbage. I would just look for a recipe for lion's head, sub chicken for the pork if you want to, and double or triple the amount of greens.

Cabbage Soup by ivy

Saute onions, garlic, carrots, lots of cabbage, whatever veggies in a bunch of butter and olive oil (or just olive oil if you must). Add water and/or stock, cook long egg noodles in the soup. Extra: add egg to make it egg-drop style.

Braised Cabbage and Carrots by GaudyNight

2 slices bacon, diced
1 t. butter

Melt butter in large fry pan or heavy sauce pan; sauté bacon until crisp and lightly brown. Add:

1 large onion, sliced
2 large carrots, grated coarsely
½ t. savory, thyme, or marjoram
1 bay leaf
½ t. salt
½ t. freshly ground pepper


Fry all this gently, uncovered, 3-4 minutes.

Add 6 c. shredded cabbage (about ½ head).

Cover and braise 10-15 minutes over low to medium heat; stir occasionally. Uncover. Add:

1 t. lemon juice
2 T fresh chopped parsley
(Additional salt to taste)


I think Mr. Night sometimes uses vinegar instead of lemon juice, but I like the lemon juice better.

Sauteed Cabbage by curly and MollyDunlop

Cabbage sauteed in butter (or bacon fat, I imagine) until it is so, so tender and little bits of it are starting to turn brown and carmely is wonderful. You can add onion, cumin seeds, I like about 1/4 tsp of turmeric for flavor and color. You can also add thinly sliced apples.
[curly]


I generally heat some butter and olive oil to a fairly high heat, added sliced cabbage and toss it to coat with oil, put on the lid and cook for a few minutes at medium heat, then finish with some grated nutmeg. I tend to use nutmeg with any cabbage-related vegetable.
[Molly]

... it's actually more like Molly describes. You sautee for a few minutes to coat the cabbage in fat, then cover and let it steam slowly for a while. 10-20 minutes seems to be a safe time range, depending on temperature.
[curly]

Sweet Potatoes by Erythrosine

Not as delicious as oven roasted, but very efficient to make: one large sweet potato, quartered lengthwise and then sliced, tossed with one tablespoon of olive oil, covered and microwaved three minutes, shaken, then microwaved until soft, which took another three minutes.

Thai-Style Chicken Curry Variations by Bookseller

Li, as with all stewy things, you can play a lot here. For example, you could add some minced fresh ginger and/or garlic to your rub for the chicken. You could cut some of the fat by using chicken broth for half the amount of coconut milk (in that case, you'd probably want to thicken the sauce some at the end: Stir 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into 1-2 tablespoons of water, until it dissolves, and then stir this mixture -- known as a "slurry" -- into the sauce; bring the sauce to the boil, stirring all the while, and the cornstarch will thicken it). You could use shrimp or white fish (like cod or scrod) instead of chicken, or you could substitute firm tofu or pork loin. You could cut up eggplant or winter squash (like butternut or acorn) into 1" chunks, toss the chucnks with a small amount of oil and a little salt, and roast them. When they're tender, throw them into your curry, along with your other veggies. You could add some fruit, like pineapple (fresh or canned -- well drained) or even bananas or mango or papaya with or instead of your veggies. You could nudge the whole thing in the direction of Vietnam by adding chopped fresh mint and basil to the cilantro at the end. You could toss everything, right before serving, with a couple big handfuls of bean sprouts, for a really good crunch. If you like the idea of serving mango on the side, you could toss the cubes of mango with some fresh lime juice and a little salt and chili powder, for a serious kick; maybe throw in some chopped red onion as well.

Pretty Fast Thai-Style Chicken Curry by Bookseller

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into half-inch chunks
1 heaping teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sugar (brown sugar, ideally)
1 teaspoon red chile flakes or minced fresh jalapeno
1 tablespoon minced lemongrass*
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (not olive) or peanut oil
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
3 scallions, white part only, chopped fairly fine
1 cup chopped cilantro

*Lemongrass comes in long stalks that look sort of like dry grass. Cut off the bottom inch or two, and you will see that the stalk is actually made up of rings, like an onion. Peel off the outer two or three of those rings, exposing the relatively tender heart (there may be a dark pink circle toward the middle -- that's fine). Using the back of your big knife, bash the exposed bit so that the fibers open up -- this will make it much easier to mince them. This is probably the most difficult part of this recipe, because lemongrass is surprisingly tough, so you'll have to use a little elbow-grease to mince it fine.

1. Toss the chicken chunks with the chile, the lemongrass, the curry powder, the sugar and a big pinch of salt. Wash your hands well (always, after handling raw poulty -- and don't forget to wash the knife you used to cut up the chicken).

2. Put oil in nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the chicken, and cook the chicken, stirring it around a little (no need to go nuts) until it stops looking raw and starts looking like cooked chicken. Throw in your veggies (see below), turn the heat to high, and cook, stirring often, until the veggies get limp. They will probably give up some liquid as they cook (that's what makes them limp), and you want to boil away that liquid, which will otherwise make your sauce watery.

3. Pour in the coconut milk and cook for another two or three minutes, until the sauce thickens a little bit. Add the fish sauce and nuts, and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Taste it -- depending on the brand of fish sauce you used, you may need to add a little salt (and next time you make it, add the salt to the curry powder and sugar that you toss the chicken with). Take the pan off the heat, spoon the curry over rice or noodles (or -- yum and so healthy -- maybe slices of baked sweet potato?), and sprinkle with cilantro and scallions. If you want to freeze it, lave out the cilantro and scallions, and add them when you reheat. I'd serve it with some cut up fresh mango on the side.

Notes: Veggies: You can really go to town here. Me, I'd probably add a big handful of stringbeans (with the heads and tails cut off, and the beans cut in half), a red pepper cut into strips (scoop the seeds out first), and maybe some frozen peas (no need to thaw'em, just toss'em in frozen). Snow peas would work, too, as would broccoli florets, slivered carrots (both of these are somewhat "hard" veggies, meaning you'll need to cook them longer than others), spinach or other greens like slivered kale (my fave) or collards.

I really would use chicken thighs rather than breasts. If you use skinless, as here, the fat content is not significantly higher, and they stand up MUCH better to both cooking and freezing.

If you can't find lemongrss or don't want to deal with it, you can use a little lemon zest (that's the yellow part -- not the white -- of a lemon rind). Just grate it into the bowl and don't worry too much about the amount. I'd probably use the rind of a whole lemon.

It's tough to say how many people this will serve -- it really depends on appetites and what you use by way of veggies. I'd say 4 -6, but if Boy's a big eater, he could easily eat 2 portions without being at all piggish. And you could certainly increase the amount of chicken by perhaps 50% without boosting the coconut milk (do increase the curry powder/lemongrass/sugar, etc., though), if you want a healthier balance of protein to fat. FWIW, I don't really like "lite" coconut milk; it's basically just cut with water, and I'd rather use less of the real thing and another kind of flavorful liquid, with some thickening at the end.

Also look under Hints and Tips for ways to modify this recipe.

Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup by Pagan Mama

Serves 4

2 cups uncooked brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms (about 4 cups), stems removed, thinly sliced
6 cups store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
One (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Two (5-ounce) bags baby spinach leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


1. In a large saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Stir in brown rice and return to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or Dutch-oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth and rosemary; bring to a boil. Cover, and remove from heat.

3. Check rice after 30 minutes; if it is not yet tender, cover and continue cooking, up to 10 more minutes. Stir 2 cups cooked rice (reserve remaining rice for another use) and chickpeas into broth; return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking for 5 more minutes to allow flavors to blend.

4. Stir in spinach; cook, uncovered, until just wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cheese; serve immediately.

Yules' Good Reads

I just finished Kate Atkinson's Case Histories, I thought it was quite good (if rather depressing). While I haven't even bothered with Infinite Jest, I thought DFW's Interviews with Hideous Men was pretty good--the short story format enforces some much-needed discipline. And if I may be allowed to plug a fellow Albanian, Ismail Kadare's The Successor is worth checking out (though I don't know if it's out in paperback yet).

Erythrosine's Good Reads

Charlaine Harris's Grave Surprise, a sequel to Grave Sight (which should be read first). Kind of weird and creepy, but I love the main character's point of view. Very matter-of-fact and oddly humorous.

Dan Savage's Skipping Toward Gomorrah. I can't read political polemics no matter how much I agree with them, but the moderate amount of ranting in this book is at just the level I can handle, and the exploration celebration of the seven deadly sins in America has many humorous moments.

Mostly I've been reading all of Ngaio Marsh's mysteries, in publication order—I've gotten up to 1949 now, I think—and a lot of books on watercolor painting, and I'm currently midway through The Secret Life of Germs which has many interesting points but is not quite good enough to recommend.

Two science books to recommend, which are not easy reading: Jaren Diamond's Collapse is much more interesting and much less depressing that I expected. Truly an excellent book, and yet I have not finished it yet. Richard Dawkins The Ancestor's Tale is excellent and is worthwhile even if you only read a few chapters.

Sammy's Good Reads

Eric, it's been mentioned by many Otters here before, but if you haven't read it already, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a haunting and beautiful book.

For nonfiction, I enjoyed reading House by Tracy Kidder, about the building of one family's first house. It was alot of fun to read because you got the different perspectives of building this one home from the view of the owners, the builder, the architect, and so on. It read almost like a mystery.

Kat's Good Reads

Eric, I enjoyed Interpretation of a Murder although my sis tells me it's more or less a genre book. It's a nice mix of Freud, Shakespeare, and murder mystery.

And you know I'm still singing the praises of (non-fiction) A Good, Good Pig.

You might also enjoy (non-fiction) I'm Not Buying It, a year in the life of a really smart woman committed to not spending money frivolously (well, that's an oversimplification, but you get the idea). I was skeptical when I picked it up.

Tamarind's Good Reads

I rather liked The Life of Pi, which I just finished, and am reading Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek right now.

On Spices by curly

For spices, I've learned a few basic starting places that are fine by themselves and provide a nice launching point. For example, a stir fry starts with minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, and chopped scallions. For generic spicy food, I'll often start with cumin, garlic and maybe some turmeric or brown mustard seeds (they don't have much flavor, but I like how they look). For not spicy things it's garlic, onions, maybe a bay leaf and then thyme, oregano, basil or whatever smells right when I open the jar. Curry paste is a great tool, because it's a premade collection of spices that you can put in and then don't have to think about what other spices are needed.

The basic spice combinations are fine by themselves. You don't have to jazz them up. At the same time, once you have a base of flavors it's easier to think about what you might want to add to that, rather than making it all up at once.