Faux-jito

I don't drink alcohol. But I do enjoy a good drink. So this is my current favorite. We made a few years ago when I was in a Gourmet Club in NYC. I brought it out again for a Cinco de Mayo Mocktail Party this year. It was the favorite.

So instead of the Mojito ... here is my favorite Faux-jito.

15 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp. Raw sugar
1 oz. Fresh squeezed lime juice (or more depending on your preference)
½ oz. Simple syrup
ice
4 oz. Chilled Ginger Ale

In a glass, muddle/crush the mint, then add sugar, lime juice and syrup.
Add ice. Top with Ginger Ale. Garnish with a fresh lime wheel and
a sprig of mint. Enjoy.

Simple Syrup

• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part water

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water, stirring constantly.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat. (Note: Do not allow the syrup to boil for too long or the syrup will be too thick.)
4. Allow to cool completely and thicken.

Amaranth, Quinoa and Dark Chocolate Cake

It was my friend Tara's baby shower today. We surprised her today at the park. I made the flourless chocolate cake. But knowing my friend, who loves healthier foods, I found this recipe and HAD to try it simply because there was Amaranth flour and Quinoa flour. And since I had both on hand, I was in.

I think this turned out to be the favorite for most people there. Yes I had to make two flourless chocolate cakes. This one and another traditional one from The Best Recipe. (Which I'll post one of these days.)

This has a very hearty nutty and delicious flavor.

Thanks to the Washington Post for this recipe. I will make it again. But I'll add strawberries next time.

From Beatrice Peltre's blog La Tartine Gourmande

Ingredients
4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, about 70 percent
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons amaranth flour (1 ounce)
3 tablespoons quinoa flour (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup pecans, chopped coarsely (1 ounce)
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a springform pan and line it with parchment paper. Butter the sides and the paper.

Melt chocolate with the butter.

Separate egg yolks from whites.

Beat yolks with sugar and vanilla until very light in color.
Add the melted chocolate to yolk mixture and mix until well incorporated. Add nuts and flours to batter until smooth in texture.

Add a pinch of salt to egg whites and beat them until you have stiff peaks. Gently fold into cake batter, making sure not to overmix and deflate.

Pour the batter in the mold. Surround it with foil and fill the foil with boiling water about halfway up the outside of the pan and cook for about 35-40 minutes. Check if cake is done by inserting the blade of a knife or a skewer. It should come out almost dry, but not totally (the cake is moist).

Remove the cake and let cool slightly before unmolding. Let cool on a rack.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with Mint Fudge Sauce

Okay so I promised for about two months that I would make chocolate lava cakes for bookclub. I sampled 2 different recipes. Ugh. Overcooked by 2 minutes. It was too spongy anyway. I tried recipe #2 and there was only a 10 second window to either over or under cook. I tried cooking this one three different ways. No luck.

Melissa was distraught when I told her two days before that the lava cakes weren't going to happen and immediately said she knew of a great recipe. Unfortunately she gave it to my husband the next night at an activity that I couldn't attend. Charlie failed to tell me and assumed I'd just find it on the desk. He was right. I found it ... ONLY 45 MINUTES BEFORE SHOWTIME!!!

So with the Chocolate Raspberry Tart already made as well as Briana's Shortbread already prepared and ready for a last minute pull together fondue, I decided ... What the heck. So made them extremely last minute and tried them first to make sure they worked.

I was more than surprised. And this fudge sauce makes a huuuge difference.

SAUCE
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
1/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp peppermint extract

Stir both chocolates on top of a double boiler, or in my case, a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. Once melted, add the remaining ingredients. Remove from water and cool slightly. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat before serving.

LAVA CAKES
5 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
10 Tbs unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large eggs yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat to 450 degrees. Butter 6 3/4 ramekins or whatever else you choose to serve them in. Stir chocolate and butter over medium heat. Cook slightly. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes. (Can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny. 11-14 minutes. WATCH CLOSELY. You can run a small knife around the edges to loosen it and turn it upside down if you'd like. I served min in the ramekin with a scoop of vanilla ice cream right next to it and aaaaalll drizzled with the yummy fudge sauce.

Briana's Shortbread

I went to a very inspiring Funeral last week of Briana Blackwelder. It was a celebration of her life on her 29th birthday. I took notes on how I need to be a better woman just from listening to her closest friends and family talk about her life. She was a lover of fine foods like myself. They passed around this recipe as one of her favorites. After making these, I wish I had her whole cookbook!

These are from Tartine one of her favorite bakeries in San Francisco. I must go there next time I am there. I made these cookies for bookclub last week and they were almost entirely gone by the end of the night.

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 Tbs unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup +2 Tbs cornstarch
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup super fine or granulated sugar for topping

Yields one 6 by 10 inch pan, about sixty 2 by 1/2 inch bars
or a gazillion tiny little cookie cutter sized one bite cookies.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a glass baking dish.

Mix the soft butter and salt so it dissolves completely. Add the sugar to the butter mix until just combined. Sift the flour and cornstarch together in a separate bowl and then combine just until a smooth dough forms.

Pat the dough evenly into a prepared dish. It should be no more than 2/3 inch deep. I then cut out little cookies and put then on top of my silpat.

Bake until the top and bottom are ever so slightly browned, about 30 minutes. The middle of the shortbread should remain light. Let cool.

Sprinkle the shortbread with the sugar.

If you made a baking dish of them, use a very sharp thin knife to cut into rectangular fingers. If they are too cold, they will not cut well. The first piece is the trickiest.

They will keep for two weeks in an air tight container.

Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Pecan Crust

YUM! So easy and YUUUUUM!! Did I say that already?

I tried to make Chocolate Lava Cakes for bookclub recently. After two failed recipes, I resorted to Gloria's delicious treat. (Turns out I found a lava cake recipe 45 min before the party started and ended up making that too! Both were winners.)

Raspberry-topped Chocolate Tart
with Pecan Crust

2 cups pecans (about 8 ounces), toasted
6 Tbsp. (packed) golden brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup butter (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup whipping (heavy) cream
6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ½ pint baskets raspberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely grind, pecans, sugar & cinnamon, in processor. Add butter and process until moist clumps form. Press dough into bottom and up the sides of 10 inch tart pan or 4 4-inch-diameter tart pans with removable bottoms. Bake crust until golden brown and firm to touch, about 30 mins. Transfer to rack to cool completely. Bring cream to a simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; sir until melted and smooth. Pour mixture into crust, dividing equally. Chill until set, about 1 hour. (can be made ahead. Cover and
chill.)

Arrange raspberries over tops of tarts.

Arugula Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

Inspired by a new blog I may consider stalking when it's recipe hunting season is Sutterbean. It is where I found this recipe and modified it a bit for my tastes.

Arugula Salad with Strawberries & Goat Cheese

• 1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bunches arugula, washed, dried, and trimmed
• 1/2 cup toasted pecan halves (or sugared almonds in my case)
  
• 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles (sooooo worth it)
• thin slice of red onion, chopped
  
• a quarter of a red pepper chopped
  

Put pecans on baking sheet and toast in the oven at 350F for 8-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, toss 1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered, with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; let sit 5 to 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together another tablespoon balsamic vinegar with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

To the strawberries, add vinaigrette, 1/2 cup toasted pecan halves, and 2 bunches arugula, trimmed and thoroughly washed and dried. Toss to combine, and serve. Add a bunch of goat cheese crumbles to push it over the top!

Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Red Beet Chips

Okay sometimes a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. I know it's usually Pizza and Movie night on Friday night like tonight, but we've had two birthday parties in two days and one more tomorrow where I'm sure pizza will be served once again. So I broke tradition more than 100% and went with an absolute kid un-favorite.

But knowing their little bellies were plenty filled on cupcakes, tootsie rolls, peanut butter cups and juice boxes, I had no problem serving this soup, knowing they wouldn't eat it. At least they were extra ready for bed after coming down rapidly off of their sugar high. =)

But as for me, I thought this soup was heavenly. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. It is rich and smooth and a very full flavor. My cousin gave this recipe to me over a year ago. (The same cousin who once tried out for America's Next Top Chef.) It was time I gave it a try.

(And just so you know, tonight I just made the soup and not the beet chips or the fancy floret toppers. Come on! I've got three little kids. Never enough time.)

CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP with RED BEET CHIPS
(adapted from Keller’s “Ad Hoc”)

1 head of cauliflower
2 T butter
3/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1/8 tsp curry powder
kosher salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 + 1/2 cups water

peanut oil for frying beet chips
1 beet
1 tsp white vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
black pepper, freshly ground

Make the soup….
Remove the leaves and core of the cauliflower, separate about 1 cup of good-looking florets, not larger than a quarter, and reserve them. Chop the rest of the cauliflower in chunks of similar size. Melt 1.5 T of butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onions, curry powder, and cauliflower, sprinkle 1 tsp salt, and cover. Cover the saucepan with its regular lid, cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower starts to get tender.

Add milk, cream, and water to the pan, and simmer for 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender, and blend until fully smooth. Adjust the seasoning.

Make the red beet chips….
Peel the beet (wear gloves) and make paper-thin slices using a mandoline. Ideally, you want to use only nice, full circles (good luck!). Heat the peanut oil (about 1 inch of oil in a deep pan), and once it is hot but not smoking, add a few beet rounds. Fry them until they stop bubbling hard, it should take a little over 1 minute. Place them on a baking sheet over paper towels, seasoning with a little salt right after frying. If needed, keep them warm in a 200F oven.

Cook the reserved florets….
Bring some salted water to a boil, add the teaspoon of vinegar, and cook the reserved florets until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain them. Right before serving, melt the remaining 1/2 T butter in a small pan and allow it to get dark golden. Watch it carefully, because burned butter is nasty, and tastes bitter. Once the butter is turning a nice golden brown, add the florets and saute them until golden too.

Serve the soup….
If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little water. Ladle it into a bowl, add some cauliflower florets in the center, and a few beet chips on top. Serve more florets and chips alongside.