Belly of the Beest

 

There was a period of time this year, maybe about a month ago, where I had time to experiment and try some recipes that I’ve had bookmarked for ages, but hadn’t been able to try. This is the first of a series of recipes like that.  I think this was my favorite of the dishes I tried. It is a creamy polenta with roasted mushrooms and kale chips! The BEST part about this dish is how fast it is! If you don’t add the kale chips or already have them made, it is even faster! And this dish also has a fried egg on top, which to me, is equal to heaven.

Here is the original link to the recipe.

It says it serves 3, but we just made two fried eggs and had a little left over polenta.

Parmesan Polenta with Eggs and Roasted Mushrooms
Serves 3 (main course portions)

1 lb mushrooms
1/8 c olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper flakes
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/2 c polenta
1 c milk
1 c water
pinch salt
1/2 c shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
3 eggs
chives for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 475.
2. Chop mushrooms into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Toss mushrooms with oil, pepper flakes, and salt on a baking sheet.
4. Spread in single layer and roast until browned, about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, whisk polenta, milk, water, and salt together in saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, covered.
6. After reaching a boil, turn heat to low and let sit with lid cracked for 15 minutes.
7. While polenta is cooking, heat nonstick skillet over medium heat and crack the eggs so that they are sunny side up.
8. Cook about a minute and then add a few tablespoons of water to the skillet. Water will sizzle – cover so the yolks steam and set to your liking. I like mine somewhat viscous so I wait for the steamed yolks to ‘skin’ over with egg white. This will happen naturally with the method above.
9. Mix Parmesan into polenta, plate on a dish, spoon mushrooms over and top with egg. Garnish with snipped chives. Eat and enjoy!

 

I added the kale chips because we had a big bunch of it and I had been meaning to try making the chips for a long time! It complimented the mushrooms perfectly and I’ve become obsessed with making sure I get veggies, protein and carbs with every meal now because I want our little baby to grow nicely. So far she/he seems to be growing at a good pace and also seems to have gotten enough protein because she thinks she is a boxer. She is frequently kicking and punching me while I’m editing pictures or replying to emails, while I’m driving or while I’m reading. I don’t think she likes to sit still either! Anyway, this dish was a hit with me, with the pozor (that’s what we call the baby) and with Nick. You should make it tonight!

 

 

 

 

The recipe for these light little cookies came into my inbox at just the right moment! I had told my sister-in-law that I would make a dessert for her son’s baptism and I had originally planned to make my sugar cookies  and cut them out in the shape of crosses and then decorate them with his name and the date, that kind of thing. But it seemed like a lot of work and I have made those cookies so many times, I didn’t want people to get sick of them! So when Martha Stewart’s daily cookie email came, I knew I had to make these instead.

 

 

They are light, fragrant and tasty! I encourage everyone to make these at least once a year. They would be perfect for Easter, baptisms, baby showers, wedding showers, or even just an everyday cookie. They freeze beautifully so they are great to have on hand for lunches or a last minute dessert!

 

 

I have translated the recipe here because the one I have the link to doesn’t really tell you how to measure the flour properly. That is the one draw back to Martha Stewart recipes, you have to read them carefully before you start baking or you’ll find yourself yelling in the kitchen, “What the hell am I supposed to do with the ¼ cup flour? Eat it? throw it away? And what with the egg whites, Martha? When do I add those?!”

 

I don’t think her copy editors get paid enough or something, but there are frequently mistakes in her recipes so if you do end up subscribing to her daily cookie email or any of her holiday newsletters, proceed with caution. The recipes are delicious, but need to be proofread! Here is the link if you want to see the original.

 

 

 

And now, the recipe!

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ounces sliced almonds, about 1 1/4 cups
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Zest of 2 oranges, finely grated, about 4 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds, crushed
• 3 large white eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a food processor, blend 3 1/2 ounces almonds (about 1 cup) with a 1/2 cup of the sugar until almonds are finely ground. Transfer almond mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in flour, orange zest, and crushed anise seeds.
3. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to soft glossy peaks. Fold egg-white mixture into dry ingredients until just blended.
4. Spoon level tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using remaining 3/4 ounce almonds, arrange 3 sliced almonds on each cookie. Sift confectioners’ sugar over cookies. Bake until cookies are lightly browned along edges, about 12 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from sheets with a spatula.

 

When I get invited to a barbecue I immediately start going through my list of recipes: potato salad, macaroni salad, lentil-beet salad, tofu burgers, etc. I love all of these recipes, but they have to make room for one more because this spring I found a perfect picnic salad recipe in the Veganomicon—Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango.

 

The wonderful thing about this recipe is how flexible and quick it is to make. You can use any left over grains, beans or fruit you have in the house. Lately we’ve been using a lot of quinoa though because I need the extra protein, but imagine Israeli couscous, bulgur or wheatberries would also be nice!

 

It is perfect for picnics because there is no dairy, it is fast and tastes better at room temperature than it does chilled.

 

And now the recipe!

 

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it

1 cup chopped scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

¼ tsp salt

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled*

1 (15oz) can black beans drained and rinsed

Spinach

 

Combine the mango, bell pepper, scallion and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt, and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans. You can serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.

We also added two handfuls of spinach just because we had it on hand. I think it is best to add the spinach right before you serve it so it doesn’t get too oily or wilted.

 

*if you don’t already have some cooked quinoa, don’t fret! It is very easy. Just bring 1 cup of dried quinoa and two cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Once it has started to boil, lower the heat so it is simmering and cook for about 15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. Then remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Set it aside and let it cool while you prep the other ingredients for the recipe!

June is always a month that is full of family gatherings for us. 3 out of 5 nieces and nephews have their birthday this month, several in-laws have their birthdays too. Then there is Father’s Day and usually at least two barbecues with family too.

 

This year was no different, but in a lot of ways it was. Nick and I are about to become parents and people will soon be coming to our house for birthday parties. Father’s Day and Mother’s Day take on a whole new meaning because we’re no longer just giving cards, we’re receiving them. While I was sitting watching the hoard of shrieking 5-year-old girls run around the backyard at my niece’s 5^th birthday party, I thought about our little baby and his/her future parties and the thoughts are so bittersweet.

 

You know that by bringing a new life into the world you are giving up part of your own. You’ve taken a huge part of yourself and placed it into a new tiny vessel and then you cross your fingers and hope that you get a nice little person who brings you more joy than pain. As we get closer and closer to the due date I find myself reflecting on all this more and more frequently. I guess like anything that is worth doing, parenting will be hard and the adjustments will be challenging, but then I look at this photo and all those little sad thoughts sort of fade into the background and I remember that we’re in store for many beautiful, touching moments too.

 

Anyway, no recipe today, just thoughts and a cute photo of my nephews toes after they got into the birthday girl’s cake.

 

Back to recipes tomorrow!

 

 

I don’t know how this is possible, but Memorial Day is THIS WEEKEND! How did 2011 go by so quickly? I can’t believe we are already ushering in summer with barbecues and tiny American flags.

 
I am always on the look out for easy, delicious recipes for veggie burgers. There was a day in early May when the weather was nice and we wanted to grill, but I didn’t have enough lentils for my fall back veggie burger recipe so I had to consult the internet and I’m so glad that I did! These tofu burgers are amazing, simple and sure to please meat eaters and non-meaters alike. Nick and Martin both loved them. The recipe was originally vegan, but I added an egg to help bind the tofu and other ingredients together.

 

 

 

 

That day we also grilled a bunch of veggies including some fiddlehead ferns that Martin had found in the backyard! For dessert we had grilled pineapple dipped in cinnamon sugar and coconut milk and s’mores. It was a delicious way to start the grilling season.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the recipe for the tofu burgers:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb extra firm tofu
• 1/4 c each: whole wheat flour, fine corn meal & quick oats
• 1/2 c parsley tops or fresh basil leaves, washed & dried
• 2 tsp each paprika, coriander, cumin
• 1 tsp dried basil or thyme
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp salt or soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp ground onion
• 1 Tbsp ground garlic
• 1 egg

• Directions:

1. In a large bowl mash the tofu by hand or with a potato masher, and then add the spices, the fresh herbs and then the soy sauce. At this point you can taste the mix to see if it is seasoned properly. Once you like the way it tastes, mix in the egg.
2. Form into eight 3 – 4 inch patties
3. If you are grilling these, place a sheet of oiled foil (olive oil or vegetable oil works) onto the grill and brush the burgers with oil too. They won’t stick to the foil that way and it makes flipping the burgers much, much easier.
4. Grill each burger for about 8 minutes per side. Try not to flip them before that or you will end up with torn up burgers. They should be cooked over a medium-hot flame, toward the edge of the grill.
5. If you do not want to grill these, grease a large skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side.

I found the original recipe for these tofu burgers, here.

 

I doubled the spices, added a few more, and these turned out beautifully. This recipe makes about 6-8 burgers depending on how big you make them. Enjoy and Happy Memorial Day!

 

This was a wonderful dinner party with lots of great recipes! I will cut right to the chase with those now!

 

 

First, the drinks. Martin was in charge of these and came up with two amazing and entertaining drinks. Since I can’t booze it up these days he made this version for me and for himself (the recipe in his words):

For the non-alcoholic cocktail at the party, I just made some simple syrup (going a little heavy on the sugar and a little light on the water, and then adding a teaspoon or so of honey for flavor) and added about a tablespoon of anise seeds, a little under a tablespoon of fennel seeds, five or six black peppercorns, a couple of pieces of candied ginger, a few shakes of dried rosemary, and maybe a tablespoon of lavender.  I brought it to a boil and then steeped it in a covered saucepan for like an hour, then strained it.

The drink is two shots of the syrup, plus a drizzle of orange juice (I used caracara oranges; Meyer lemon is also good, but I couldn’t find any) and topped all that off with club soda.  I’m happy with the result!

For the rest of the party he made a very boozy drink that he set on fire! Here is the recipe for that, again in his words:

Here is the alkie version of the cocktail, which is known as the “Maestro’s Apprentice,” and which came from here:

http://chrischurilla.com/werkshop/?p=208

2 1/2 oz. of gin

3/4 oz Cointreau
1 tablespoon of sambuca
3 coffee beans (preferably a very dark roast)

1 star anise

Put the sambucca and coffee beans in an Old Fashioned glass.  Put the remaining ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Have another Old Fashioned glass full of ice at the ready.  If you have long hair, tie it back.  If you have bushy eyebrows, make a gin and tonic instead.  Now light the sambuca — I used one of those long-nosed grill-lighting thingies that looks like a gun — and roast the beans while you shake the shaker.  You might want to do this in the dark, b/c the flame will be blue and difficult to see.  Add the star anise to the lake of fire and let it burn for a few seconds — unlike the coffee beans, the star anise will catch fire and stay lit — then pour the entire flaming contents over the ice in the other glass.  (Note that the flaming glass may be a little hot to the touch.)  At this point, the flames should go out.  If they don’t, panic.  If they do, pour the contents of the shaker over the ice, stir, and drink with relish.  Figurative relish.  Literal relish from a jar would be really gross with this.

 

An amazingly addictive trail mix brought by Ms Heather Charles followed the drinks.

 

Pistachio Dried Cherry Trail Mix
Ingredients

* 2 cups Pistachios
* 1 cup slivered almonds
* 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
* 6 tablespoons pure Grade B maple syrup
* Coarse salt
* 1 cup dried cherries or cranberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In a large bowl, toss the pumpkin seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds and the syrup until evenly coated. Spread the nuts and seeds out, in an even single layer, on the lined baking sheets and season with salt to taste. Bake the nuts, stirring several times with spatula or wooden spoon, until just golden, about 20 minutes.

Katie and Nick brought another appetizer that featured bell peppers and sunflower seeds.

 

Roasted Red Bell Peppers with Sunflower Seeds

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds (I used unsalted raw seeds)
• 2 yellow bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 2 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sunflower seeds 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted.
3. Place the pepper halves cut side down on the baking sheet. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Brush peppers with the olive oil mixture.
4. Roast peppers under the broiler 5 minutes, or until slightly charred. Remove from heat, peel, and slice. Toss with the toasted sunflower seeds to serve.

For the main dishes we had a lentil soup that Nick and I made. I pulled the recipe from an issue of Saveur. That recipe can be found here.  The soup was called Lentil Soup with Caraway and Minted-Yogurt.

 

 

The second dish Nick and I made was inspired by a recent trip to Corsica that I took for Saveur. A lot of their cooking involves mint and wild greens so I had to stretch a little bit to make this one qualify for the seed party, but here is what is involved:

Wild Greens, garlic and Onion Pie

1 package of puff pastry

1 bunch dandelion greens (as fresh and young as possible to avoid overly bitter greens)

1-bunch collard greens

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ c chives, chopped

¼ c mint, chopped

Salt and pepper

1-2 tbsps of milk and about a tablespoon of melted butter (to help bind the ingredients)

½ c green pumpkin seeds (you can leave these out of you aren’t bringing this pie to a seed themed dinner party)

Pre-Heat your oven to the temperature indicated on the puff pastry box. Wash, chop and de-stem the greens, then steam until soft. While you steam the greens arrange your thawed puff pastry in the bottom of the pie pan and save the second half for the top of the pie.

When the greens are soft, drain them and if you have a salad spinner use it to get the greens very dry before putting them into a large mixing bowl. If you don’t have one, use a dishtowel to pat the greens dry.

Add the butter (so it will melt) and then add the chives, mint, garlic, salt, pepper, pumpkin seeds, and the tablespoon of milk to the bowl. Stir the ingredients to combine them.

Pour the mix into the prepared pie pan and then add the second piece of puff pastry on top and seal it with milk. I brushed the top of the pie with milk and added poppy seeds on top to make it more appropriate for the seed party!

Bake the pie at the suggested temperature for 25-35 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown. Enjoy!

 

I don’t have the recipe for the pot pie that Kristi and Chris brought, but it was another delicious dish that featured corn, cream and butter. YUM!

 

To round out the evening we had two great desserts that complimented each other very well! Kathy brought a Lemon Poppy Seed Cake and Heather made Black Sesame ice cream.

First, Kathy’s recipe:  Poppy Seed Cake with Custard Filling and Coconut Buttercream

Cake:

3/4 cup ground poppyseed

1 cup milk

1.5 cups butter

1.5 cups sugar

4 egg whites (save yolks for custard)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

 

Custard Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1 heaping TBSP cornstarch

1 cup milk

4 egg yolks, beaten

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

1 one-pound box confectioners sugar

1 stick butter

milk

shredded coconut

Method:

Cake: Place poppy seeds and milk in bowl; soak for 30 minutes. Cream butter and add sugar gradually. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to creamed mix. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and poppy seed milk to creamed ingredients. Add vanilla. Pour equal amount of batter into two 8-inch round cake pans that have been greased, floured, and covered on the bottom with parchment. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans. Cool completely before putting in custard or frosting.

Filling: Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, add milk, beaten egg yolks and salt. Cook over low heat stirring frequently until it is thickened. Add vanilla. Cool and spread between layers.

Frosting: soften and cream butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and enough milk to make it creamy. Frost cake. Sprinkle all over with coconut.

Now Heather’s:

Black Sesame Ice Cream

Ingredients
* 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds crushed and roasted
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 2 cups whole milk
* 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 4 eggs
* ice cream maker

Combine the Cream and Sugar
In a medium saucepan, add cream, milk, and half of the sugar. Whisk them together, turn the heat on high, and bring the mixture to boil. Then turn the heat off.
Make the Egg Yolk Mixture
Crack the eggs over the side of the bowl, and separate the egg yolks and egg whites into two separate containers.

In a small saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well combined. Turn the heat on low.
Combine the Egg and Cream Mixtures
Add yolk egg mixture to the cream mixture and add sesame seeds. Turn the heat on low and cook for 5 minutes, or until the mixture achieves a custard-like consistency.

Pour into your ice cream maker, and follow the instructions until it is ready. Serve your ice cream with fruit or jam.

 

The party was great and we get to celebrate spring with our next ingredient: Peas!

 

This post, along with the last two, is kind of a series: the cake in the cake pops was used in the cookie monster cupcakes and the chocolate chip cookies used for the cupcakes made me really want more chocolate chip cookies, which lead me to ask a friend for her amazing version of the most basic cookie.

This recipe is from my friend Liz, who also happens to be a talented photographer, check out her work here! Her chocolate chip cookies are the best cookies I have ever eaten. I finally asked for the recipe and made them for Easter this year, mine were good, close to Liz’s cookies, but not quite right. I think I need to practice more. Mine were just a tiny bit flat.  The key with these cookies seems to be pulling them out of the oven at just the right moment. The first pan was a little too soon, second pan a little too late and the third pan was just about right. Maybe Liz can offer some trouble shooting tips if she has time between taking care of her two cute kids, packing for a cross country move and various photo shoots this month….We cookie fiends can only hope she has time for us.

Liz’s recipe, as stated by Liz via email.

 

“It’s my dad’s recipe — a bit of a twist on the old tried and true Nestle recipe on the back of a bag of chocolate chips.”

Preheat oven to 375.

You have to mix things together in this order or they won’t turn out. And you have to mix everything by hand.  This is the only recipe I have memorized!

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick melted butter
2 cups flour (give or take)
3/4 cup (give or take) chocolate chips
1/3 cup toffee chips (these are hard to find in Chicago.  You really want the kind that does not have chocolate on them – just Heath toffee bits.  Sometimes they have them at Jewel or Dominick’s around the holidays, but I have a hard time finding them elsewhere).
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

I often make them without the toffee or pecans and they are definitely still yummy.

Place them several inches apart on a cookie sheet.  I make mine big, so the balls on the sheet will be about the size of an egg.  You can obviously make them as big or small as you want.  :)

Bake for around 12-14 minutes.  The key is to take them out right as the edges start to brown but while the center is still a little soft. That way they will be perfect once they cool.

Immediately take them off the sheet and place them on a wire rack to cool.

They are best served warm with cold milk and good company.

Another tip:  Use a single sheet, flat, non-stick cookie sheet with sides, not the kind that has the air pocket in between two sheets — they will run all over the place and be a deflated, crunchy mess.

My nephew had his first birthday in April and I was in charge of making his smash cake and the cupcakes for the rest of the guests. His mom picked a cookie monster theme so I came up with these cupcakes and they were delicious! The recipe is the same as the base for the cake pops and the frosting pretty basic so these can easily be adapted for any kind of cake or cupcake you may need.

 

I dyed the frosting with gel dye because the color is more vibrant and doesn’t thin out the frosting. The cookies are the standard cookie recipe off the back of the Nestle’s chocolate chip bag so they are straight forward too. I guess you could use store bought cookies for these, but home made just tastes so much better.

These were really easy to make and look so cute! I can’t wait to make cakes for our baby!

 

Here’s the cake recipe again:

 

Dark Chocolate Cake — I made a double batch and had enough for a small 4 inch cake and 48 cupcakes. A single batch will get you the small 4 inch cake and 18 cupcakes. Or if you want to make a traditional cake it will yield two 9-inch rounds or three 8-inch rounds.

2 cups white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans, or three 8-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. Mix in boiling water – the batter will be quite thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then tap the cakes out of the pans. Cool completely before frosting.

 

 

Frosting recipe:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 bag of powder sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp milk (as needed)

 

Cream the butter and slowly add the sugar. The frosting should be fairly stiff because you need the hair to stand up. Frosting these takes awhile so it might be a good idea to bake the cupcakes the night before and then frost them in the morning.

 

Other items you will need:

Chocolate chip cookies

chocolate chips (for the pupils of the eyes)

White chocolate disks (for the eyes–you can buy these at Michaels)

Oreo cookie pie crust or oreos for the mouth on the cake. I bought the pie crust because I hate oreos and didn’t want a whole bag left PLUS if you buy that you don’t have to worry about the white part getting in with the cookie bits!

 

 

 

Cake pops have been all the rage for a long time now, maybe they have already reached their peak and are now considered somewhat blasé. I, however, just made them for the first time in February. They were a birthday/Valentine’s Day treat and they were delicious!

 

Cake pops are very condensed balls of cake with the frosting inside and dunked in chocolate. I would say these are for special occasions only because they are truly a pain to make. You bake the cake, crumble it up, put the “frosting” in, freeze them with the sticks inserted and THEN you dunk them in chocolate and let them cool. They aren’t hard to make, but they certainly take a little pre-planning and are easier to make if you bake the cake/make the batter the night before so that they have plenty of time to solidify.

Bottom line: I would make them again, but only if I could share them with others! A little goes a long way.

 

Here’s the recipe! I found it here:

Cake Ball Mix

What you need
1 batch Dark Chocolate Cake (the recipe is at the bottom)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk (or more, as necessary)

Bake the cake and let it cool completely on a rack. This is a very moist cake, which is ideal for this recipe. It’s best to let it cool overnight at least. When it is completely cool, break the cake into a large bowl. Crumble it with forks or your fingers until it is in fine crumbs.

 

In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and milk together until smooth. Pour into the cake crumbs and mix with a spoon. Then continue mixing with your fingers, kneading and mixing until fully incorporated into the cake. Check to see if it will roll into a ball. It should: this makes a very malleable, easy-to-handle cake mixture. But if it needs a little extra moisture, add milk a spoonful at a time.

When the mix is completely done, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. (See what I mean about this taking a lot of time??) This will make several dozen cake pops.

Making Cake Pops

What you need
Lollipop sticks (found at Michael’s, JoAnn’s, or other craft stores)
12 ounces white chocolate bark
Colored sugars, candies, and other decorative sprinkles

 

 

How to make the balls
Prepare two large baking sheets by covering with wax paper or parchment. Take a bit of the cake mixture and roll it into a smooth ball. If you want to use the lollipop sticks, stick one into the end of each ball, pointing upward, as you put the ball back down on the sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up all the mixture. As each sheet fills up, put it in the freezer so that the balls harden.

 

How to decorate the cake pops
Melt chocolate or white chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. Dip each ball into the chocolate until covered. Make sure you get the chocolate coating all the way to the stick or the cake might fall off when inverted. As you dip them you should decorate them with sugar, coconut, sprinkles, little candies, whatever. If you wait until you are done dipping all the cake pops the chocolate will have hardened and it will be too late.

 

Don’t refrigerate these; it will cause the coating to weep or melt. They can be frozen, however.

 

 

Dark Chocolate Cake
makes two 9-inch round cakes or three 8-inch round cakes

2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans, or three 8-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. Mix in boiling water – the batter will be quite thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then tap the cakes out of the pans. Cool completely before frosting.

 

 

I’ve been in and out of Chicago for the last few weeks and when I got back from the last shoot I ended up getting sick, losing my voice and my will to cook. I just started feeling better last week so I’ll have some things to post! More on the travels later, but for now I want to tell you about last night.

 

Last night I went to Girl and the Goat with Nick, Kathy and Martin and to say it was the best meal of 2011 would be an understatement. I had been to the restaurant twice before on different photo shoots and had sampled a couple bites from different dishes they brought out, but this was the first time I actually got to eat there. Wow.

 

We shared 7 dishes between the four of us and had two desserts. What we loved about the place (besides the food) was the friendly atmosphere, the kind and informed wait staff, and the spacing of the tables. That last one sounds kind of weird, but it really was perfect. We could hear each other talking not the people sitting next to us and while the restaurant was crowded it didn’t feel like it.

 

 

When I asked Nick if it was worth the hype he said, “Nothing is worth hype.” We’ll all have to keep that in mind in September, but he did love the meal and declared it his favorite restaurant ever. He found nothing to criticize, which is really saying something.

 

These photos are outtakes from a shoot I did for Saveur for the magazine’s first restaurant review! Check it out here. And click through the gallery for a peak at more photos.  Their review is probably better than mine could ever be, so if you aren’t convinced by these photos then read the review.

And if you haven’t been yet, go. Make reservations today because you won’t be eating there for several months. Also, Girl and The Goat is up for a James Beard award for best new restaurant and if they win, it might get even harder to get a reservation.