Recipes Discovered

Little Hot Chocolate Cake Recipe

I bought a book called Chocolate: Discovering, Exploring, Enjoying at Williams and Sonoma recently. It’s a small book, but has a lot of interesting facts about the history chocolate, different types of chocolate, how it’s made and how best to enjoy it. There are a few recipes in the back, and one of them is for Little Hot Chocolate Cakes, also know as molten chocolate cake or chocolate lava cake. It’s not the simplest recipe, but the picture (featured on the cover) makes it look really good. The recipe starts by beating eggs, egg yolks and sugar with a hand held mixer for 10 to 15 minutes. I don’t know why it has to be a hand mixer, that seems to add a lot of work, but that’s what I did. It took about 12 minutes for the mixture to turn pale yellow, thick and very frothy. I cheated and had Seth’s mix the eggs though, while I melted the chocolate and butter over a double boiler. I could only find 60% chocolate, so that’s what I ended up using. After the chocolate melted and the eggs were beat, I added the egg mixture to the melted chocolate a little bit at a time. I always thought you were supposed to add the hot mixture to the eggs to tempur them, but this recipe doesn’t say to do that. The eggs didn’t curdle though, so I guess adding them a little bit at a time worked. >> Read more

Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe

Strawberry Syrup Recipe

Last weekend when we went out for breakfast, I had Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. I had never heard of such a combination before and was very hesitant (it doesn’t really even sound good), but someone told me I had to try them. I’m glad I did because I think they were the best pancakes I’ve ever had. They were light, fluffy, super moist, and they had this amazing lemony flavor. The restaurant served the pancakes with fresh strawberries and a thick strawberry syrup, which was a perfect compliment. After eating them, I knew I had to try to make them myself.

I started with the strawberry syrup. I wanted something really simple that wouldn’t overpower the lemony flavor of the pancakes. I found a recipe that is just strawberries, lemon juice, and maple syrup, which I thought would be perfect. The recipe said to puree the strawberries, but I just mashed them with a hand masher and then heated them in a small saucepan. When they were warm, I added the lemon juice and maple syrup and let it cool a bit while I made the pancakes. >> Read more

Prosciutto and Brie Panini Recipe

There is a sandwich shop in town that serves paninis and charges $15.00 for them. Now I realize that a panini is supposed to be a specialty sandwich, but come on, 15 bucks? That’s ridiculous. I don’t have a panini press, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t make a pressed sandwich myself.

Since a panini is an Italian sandwich, I went with the classic ingredients of ciabatta bread and prosciutto, which is just Italian ham. I also added brie and spinach to the sandwich. Any ingredients will work, and you can use whatever you like. I buttered the outside of each piece of bread, just like I was making a grilled cheese sandwich, layered my fillings inside, and topped each sandwich with a piece of buttered bread facing up. Then I made sure my skillet was hot and brushed it down with a little bit of olive oil. I added the sandwiches and to press them down, I put a large soup pot on top of them and weighted it down with a big can of tomatoes. I grilled the sandwiches for about 5 minutes and then flipped them over and put the soup pot back on top. After another 5 minutes, they were hot, melted and golden brown. They tasted just as good as the sandwich shop and they didn’t cost $15.00.

Mango Chutney Recipe

I have been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling in the last couple years, and this had greatly expanded my culinary knowledge. Several months ago, while eating at an Indian restaurant, I was introduced to chutney. It was served with flat bread and the flavor was divine. Chutney is similar to jam or marmalade in texture and consistency, but it’s generally made with vinegar, onions, and spices along with fruit to make it savory and sweet. The most popular chutney seems to be mango, which is what I had, but it can be made with a wide variety of fruits. In India, a spicy chutney is traditionally served with curry, while a sweet chutney is served with bread and crackers. Sadly, there is a lack of Indian restaurants where I am now, and store bought chutney just isn’t the same. My solution to this way to make my own. >> Read more

Individual Pear Crisp Recipe
Our favorite restaurant where we used to live had a fruit of the day crisp that was simply divine. It was served in an individual dish and topped with ice cream. The fruit of the day was usually apple, but one day we were there and the fruit of the day was pear, which happens to be Seth’s favorite fruit. Of course we ordered it and it was amazing and of course, they never had pear crisp on the menu again. For some reason, it has taken me until to realize that I can probably make a pear crisp.

For the crisp topping, I mix oats, brown sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon together. I reserve about a tablespoon of this mixture and then cut in cold butter into the rest of it. Sometimes I use a fork, but I find it easier just to crumble the butter in with my fingers. For the fruit, I use red anjou pears that are slightly under ripe. I tried making the crisp with ripe pears, but the fruit turned out pretty mushy. I core, peel, and dice the pears and then toss them with lemon juice and the reserved topping mixture. I divide the fruit between four 6 ounce custard cups, sprinkle them with the crisp topping, and put them in a 350 degree oven. I usually put the cups on a baking sheet to make it easier to get them in a out of the oven, and also to catch any filling that drips over.

It takes at least 30 minutes for the fruit to become thick and bubbly, sometimes 35 minutes. When they are done, I take them out of the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes or so. Then I top the crisp with a scoop of ice cream and serve. It’s not quite as good as the restaurants, but it’s a great treat anyway. Try making the crisp with apples, peaches, mangoes, or even a combination of fruits. They are all good and it’s fun to present everyone with their own little dessert.