Ok I admit that title is soooo lame and corny. But I’m excited because i got my kitchenaid artisan mixer today!!! I missed it yesterday when i was in the office but today when i was parking i saw the UPS guy about to leave again!!! So i ran out and stopped him and got my package…. The sad thing is i get so much random junk delivered from UPS that the UPS guy knows me…. He waves to me when he sees me randomly on the street or driving around. Anyways, this means that i’m going to be baking…… The first thing i’m going to make will be a Pavlova! I’ve always wanted to make one for SOOOO LONG you won’t even imagine. I’m gonna test out a few recipes to see if i can find a good one. Then i’ll top it with some nice fruit and cream.
Another thing is about the molten chocolate cake. I made two last time and saved one. Of course the inside of the chocolate solidified and wasn’t molten anymore, but!! I’ve come up with a crazy idea. I was thinking of making cookies this way…. The day old cake was crispy, soft and crunchy on the outside… (if it could be all those things) and it was really soft and moist in the inside. So you could pick it up and throw it around like a cookie but the inside was a really moist brownie like cake. This was a day old too! So my brain thinks that these “cookies/brownies” could last a few days and retain it’s moist center and crispy outside. Maybe i’ll try making cookies with the recipe and see what happens!!! Maybe i’ll be selling Mark’s Famous Chocolate Cookies and put Nabisco out of business!!! (I wish)
MMMMmmmmmmmmmmm….. Chocolate!!!!! Everyone loves chocolate!! Especially ME! And i love molten chocolate cake! I love the one they have at Pacific Rim in Ann Arbor. They have it with sake-macerated cherries and a coconut-Kahlúa ice cream…. (Sometimes which i need to learn how to make). Though i can’t get the sides to it i can make the chocolate cake!!! I made this and it was soooo goood. I ate it with some Vanilla ice cream. I was trying to find coconut ice cream but i couldn’t find any good ones. Basically you can make the batter way ahead of time and put it in ramekins. Ramekins are the custard bowl like things. You can google it and see. I used 4 inch ramekins but i’m pretty sure any size will do. You might have to adjust the cooking time accordingly though. I’ll stop rambling and let you see what it looks like. It’s soooo simple that anyone can do it in very little time!
Now doesn’t that make you want to get in your car, buy the ingredients and make it yourself?????!!!!!!!! Just writing this makes me want to make it again
The ingredients are so simple..
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (i used the Penzey’s dutch processed)
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet baking)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
That’s all the ingredients!!! So the first thing to do is preheat the oven to 350F. Then mix the sugar and the cocoa powder together in a bowl. Then melt the semisweet chocolate and the butter in pan in low heat. You want it to slowly melt. While it melts mix it to a nice smooth consistency. After it all melts and it’s a nice smooth liquid take it off the heat. Then whisk in the cocoa powder/sugar mix. After you whisk in the cocoa/sugar mix whisk in the egg yolks first. Then whisk in the egg and the flour. Whisk it good and try to keep it as smooth as possible. Butter up the ramekins so that the cake comes out really easily and doesn’t stick. Throw in the ramekins into the oven and let it sit there for about 10 minutes. Mine were in there about 10-11 minutes for 4 inch ramekins. This should make 2 small 4 inch cakes or 1 large 4 inch cakes. If you have 3 inch ramekins you could probably make 2 larger ones. After 10-11 minutes take out the ramekins from the oven. (BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF). Then gently loosen the cake around the edges of the ramekin. The knife should glide around the ramekin. Turn them over onto the serving plate and voila! You have now made molten chocolate cakes. For simple toppings i used confectionery sugar on top and scooped some vanilla chocolate on the side. There are recipes for a nice mint-fudge sauce and such which maybe i’ll try another time. When cherry season comes i’ll maybe try the sake-macerated cherries or some other type of cherry sauce. BON APP!
I’m gonna pull an all nighter in the office working with my sidekick the angry china man (people may figure out who i’m talking about). I’m writing and analyzing code for an imaginary machine with an imaginary compiler with an imaginary ISA with imaginary hardware. This means yet another night no cooking ;( *cry* Oh well! I think this weekend or friday or something i’m gonna cook me a storm (maybe bake). I’m gonna definitely show the Moelleux au Chocolat (AKA Choco Lava Cake)!!! I’ll do the best sauce and extras to make it suppper good! Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to make myself some Poached Spiced-Pears With Mascarpone Cream & Caramel Sauce. I’ve had this at Pacific Rim and i love it. I want to make it for myself. Anyways… CRY! O well. I’m listening to SomaFM indie Radio if anyone wants feel like they are in my shoes to be shoutcast listening
So I was thinking what to eat this week. Usually i plan 1-2 days ahead what i am going to cook. So when i’m slacking off or have nothing else to do i browse the web and my recipe books for something that looks good and easy. First I was thinking Eggplant dish but then i realized i made a lot of eggplant dishes 4-5 weeks ago because i got these beautiful eggplants from the farmer’s market so i didn’t want do that again. Then i thought first thing to do is pick the protein. Since the last dish i made i was thinking steak! So i decided on a couple sirloin dishes. A little preview is a sirloin bok-choy noodle, steak and cheese on a baguette with arugula (probably others just haven’t thought that much!). So while looking up steak stuff i saw LAMB. Lamb is my favorite meat. I don’t know why but it is. Anyways i saw this really nice looking lamb with couscous dish and thought i have to make it. So that will be coming up. If i buy lamb i’ll probably make that and some lamb chops with mint sauce. So that’s looking good. I was also going to make some greek salads this week too! Zingerman’s has some really nice feta cheese. I’m pretty sure it’s real feta feta not fake wannabe feta. It’s in a brine behind the counter so you have to ask for it. Usually i get a square cut in a pint cup which is enough for 2-3 salads depending on how much feta you eat. But Greek salads are really nice with a nice homemade vinaigrette.
On a side note i went to the Farmer’s market today. It happens wednesdays and saturdays but today was pretty lame. Last week was not that bad but today there was only 2 stalls :<. I went there hoping to score some nice herbs and veggies but didn’t see much. Sad thing was I was so turned down i forgot to buy pears. I was going to make a nice spiced pear for dessert ;( Also sometime next week i’ll make some Moelleux au Chocolat (AKA chocolate lava cake). Mmmmmmm.
So enough about cooking, I was at Sam’s Club today and saw Guitar Hero 3. Originally I thought i should buy it for the PS3 because online is free but I play halo 3 on the 360 quite a bit when i’m bored and thought i should buy it for that cause of all the extras. I did resist the urge to buy it though. I can’t decide whether to get the wireless guitar with the PS3 or the wired one with the 360!!! Tough choice. I’ll have to think it over some big battle halo 3.
