Mexican Chocolate Cake.

In honor of the Cinco de Mayo party I attended and the rare rise of the "super moon" , I baked a cake (well, actually two). I originally was going to use a recipe I cut from the Los Angeles Times, eons ago, but decided to do a quick search for Mexican chocolate cake recipes online.  This one popped up first from Baked Bree, who I met at Camp Blogaway, a year and a half ago.

Initially, what intrigued me about Bree's recipe was that she did not use the mexican chocolate tablets and she used balsamic vinegar in her cake batter. The cake is complex in flavor, but not over-powering.  The frosting is perfection, creamy, light and slightly sweet.  If you're looking for something special and unique, I'd definitely recommend giving this cake a try!

The Perfect Marriage.

What's the perfect marriage? When it comes to pairing foods, I think the victory belongs to Mr. Salty and Mrs. Sweet. Bake shops, food trucks and restaurants are taking a gamble on this perfect pairing with the likes of chocolate covered bacon, sea salted caramels, bacon brittle and more.

Like many of you, I have a little problem with a website called Pinterest and I recently tried a cookie recipe that was pinned - a chocolate chip and pretzel inspired cookie. I tweaked the recipe slightly, the original recipe included peanut butter chips and I'm not a huge fan of those baking chips.  Instead I added more broken pretzel chips and the results left friends happy and reaching for more.  Soft, chewy, sweet, salty, it satisfies all those inner kid cravings.

Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies (adapted from recipe found on Pinterest)

1 ½ c. all purpose flour

½ tsp. kosher or sea salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ c. unsalted butter, room temperature

½ c. light brown sugar

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. broken pretzel pieces

Sea salt

Directions:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl or stand-up mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).  On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract.  Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat until there are no more streaks of flour.  Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, if not longer. The longer, the better. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat mat.  Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle each cookie with sea salt. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie and bake for 10 minutes.  If you like a crisper cookie, leave in the oven for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! I'm so excited! Sing it with me, all you Pointer-Sister-big-hair-wearing foodies! :) I'm posting my very own creation this week here on Madame Munchies, but I am also pinning my recipe to Pinterest - Red Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad. What I love about this salad is how versatile it is! If you don't care for certain vegetables or are related to picky eaters, you can easily chuck it out for something you love or that appeals to your family's preferences. Even if you adore the vegetables I suggest, the farmer's markets will inspire you to change it up with vegetables at their peak.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) is increasing in popularity among foodies and health nuts. Not only is it recognized as a grain that is a high in protein, but I recently found out it's a complete protein too. This ancient grain (the Incas ate it!) is related to spinach and swiss chard. Enough facts, go out and buy some quinoa!


Red Quinoa & Roasted Vegetable Salad (serves 6-8 as a side dish)

1 c. quinoa, uncooked 
2 c. water 
2 zucchini, chopped
1 small eggplant, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. small tomatoes, halved
1 yellow, red or orange bell pepper, chopped
2 c. arugula, washed and dried


Herb and Shallot Vinaigrette

1 shallot, finely chopped 
1 lemon, juiced 
White wine vinegar, splash 
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (I used thyme and oregano)
Salt and Pepper
Scant ¼ c. of good quality extra virgin olive oil


Making the Quinoa: 
Besides, being a powerhouse grain, quinoa is an easy grain to cook successfully. Mark Bittman’s, How to Cook Everything, includes a user-friendly recipe for cooking quinoa. In a small saucepan, add 1 c. quinoa and 2 c. water. Do yourself a favor, add a good pinch of sea salt to the mix and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot slightly. It should take about 15 minutes for the water to absorb and then the quinoa is ready.

Roasting the Vegetables: 
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread your zucchini, onions, eggplant, bell peppers and tomatoes onto sheet pans in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and toss together with your hands. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the vegetables. Roasting time may depend on what vegetables you choose for this salad, but mine took about 30 minutes or so.


Making the Dressing: 
In a small bowl, add the shallots. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the shallots, add the lemon juice and a splash of white wine vinegar. I allow the shallots to swim in the lemon juice for a while to mellow out. Then add the herbs and the olive oil. Whisk together, taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.

When you are ready to serve the salad, choose a pretty big bowl, add the quinoa, cooked vegetables and arugula. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss together and serve.

Back to Baking.

Hello blogsters! It's been WAY too long since my lil' fingers have danced on the keyboard and written you a foodie love letter. For that, please accept my sincerest apologies. I didn't stop eating or cooking, but I did take some time to shift gears and re-focus on some health stuff. I haven't baked in a really long time and sincerely have missed it.  I missed the sweet sounds of my stand-up mixer beating butter and sugar together in a harmonious song. I missed the whisking of dry ingredients and I missed the sound of my jazzy turquoise timer going off, "it's ready, it's really ready"!

During this time de-blogging status, I bookmarked several recipes to try and when I read Luisa Weiss' post about donut cake, I just knew it would be the first thing I would bake. I rarely bake the same thing twice in one week, but this donut cake recipe is without a shadow of a doubt, worth baking more than once a week. Your friends, family and co-workers will forever be grateful, I promise. It's such a simple recipe (eggs, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, buttermilk, cornmeal, baking powder and nutmeg) and it delivers grand results.  Yes, your kitchen will smell like a donut factory, but who is going to complain about that? I wish I could've bottled up that smell into a fragrant candle. 

P.S. - If you don't have a springform pan in your cupboards (mine sadly passed away when I made the cake for a second time), a 9" round cake pan will do just fine.

Macarons.

When I was in Paris, I ate macarons. Alot of them. Cheerfully with wild abandon because that is what you do when you are in Paris!  Prior to going Paris, I had tried macarons at Europane Cafe + Bakery in Pasadena ( a block from where I work, it is one of my favorite lunch destinations and they are dedicated to fixing a sweet tooth).

Now I enjoy baking and macarons have been on my list to try, but they fall under the "scary" category. I've got a few books dedicated to the macaron as well but all I have done is tag flavor profiles that I love or would like to try at some point. (I learned that the recipes in I Love Macarons from Japan are crap, so if anything, it's a lovely coffee table book).  Les Petits Macarons is a lovely book on the subject matter too. Of course, the book that I am lusting after for is Pierre Herme's book on the subject, Macarons.

So like any smart girl who fears a recipe, I signed up for the Intro to Macarons class at The Gourmandise School of Sweets & Savories in Santa Monica, taught by Clemence Gossett (one of the school's owners). All 15 of us students were a bit wound up, Clemence could smell the fear on us and she instantly put all of us at ease.  With her laid back nature and encouraging teaching style, she was able to assuage our fears and voila - we made vanilla macarons with buttercream ( we flavored them with raspberry, citrus and vanilla) and/or chocolate ganache. Practice will make perfect...one day.

Turning 10.

Do you remember when you turned 10? There is something about a child entering the "double digit" years that is momentous.  A very special almost-10-year-old I know celebrated her soon-to-be birthday this past weekend. She and her mom planned a sweet bake shop theme.  The plan was for the birthday girl and her friends to decorate cupcakes, cookies and make other treats - chocolate covered marshmallows, strawberries, pretzel sticks and more. It was a blast to watch and sneak in a few decorated treats myself.

Of course, the kicker for me was that she asked me to bake a dozen of her favorite cupcakes - red velvet, for the occasion. In the meantime, I started to panic a little bit, I desperately wanted these cupcakes to be *perfect*. When someone asks you to make something for an event to be remembered, I tend to feel the added bit of pressure, so I scoured the Internet for the *perfect* recipe. 

I heart Tasty Kitchen. Bookmark. It. Now. It's one of my go-to-websites for recipes and suggestions. Test, tried and true, I have yet to make something from that site I didn't like and/or love. There I found several potential recipes, but honed in on one particular title that was rather confident - Red Velvet Cake To Die For. The reviews were glowing and I trusted my instincts on this one.  

They turned out fantastic and this perfectionist baker was quite pleased with the results. Moist, delicious, light and very very red. Mission accomplished. The original recipe is for a two layer cake, but I opted to lower the baking time (approximately 20-24 minutes, depending on your oven) and I was able to turn out 16 cupcakes.  I also think the trick here is a light hand and to mix everything by hand - so for those with control issues, this recipe is right up your alley!

I dream of....

...Paris. Constantly since returning from my trip last fall.  Everywhere I go there are little reminders of Paris that jump out at me. That city is in my blood now. One day I will go back to that magical place and explore more of its crevices (Lord knows there are plenty) but for now I rely on a lush bistro in Beverly Hills to take its place.

On a perfectly clear Sunday afternoon, I met my friend in the cleanest city within Los Angeles County for brunch at Bouchon. For two weeks, LA foodies have a opportunity to visit numerous restaurants for several fixed price menus - it's called dineLA week (it happens several times a year). 

The soup of the day was butternut squash soup with a hint of cream and cranberries. Delicate and smooth, the soup danced in your mouth like pale orange velvet. 

The croque madame - deja-vu, being back in Paris, enjoying the very same sandwich on St. Germain. French fries, crisp and perfectly salted.

And for dessert, a pot de creme with orange gelee and vanilla sugar-coated shortbread.  If culture dictated that licking inside the little pot would be acceptable, I gladly would've done so. Smooth, light and layers of citrus and vanilla perfumed your palette with every spoonful.  Looking forward to returning there soon for dinner, until then, au revoir.

Livin' on the Edge.

When you think of Friday nights, you probably think of grabbin' dinner with a friend, maybe meeting up with someone for a drink or even a hot date.  When I think of Friday nights, I think of baked kale chips. Please insert the phrase," foodie" nerd now. 

I have had Smitten Kitchen's recipe for baked kale chips bookmarked for well over a year and finally made a batch tonight. No excuses this time around. What inspired me to make it is the fact that Whole Foods sells bags of them for around $4.50 and while I was tempted to try a bag, I knew I could make it at home for less than 50% the cost (kale at the farmer's market is around $1.50-2.00 for a bunch).  I'm all about saving the "mighty" (or maybe not so mighty these days) dollar. 

I deviated from the recipe slightly - I used less olive oil (about 1/2 a tablespoon) and I sprinkled on a little cayenne before popping them in the oven to crisp up and meet their maker.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can really make it your own, season it up with some cajun spices or maybe some garlic powder.  Get crazy with yo' bad ass self and yo' kale chips, go on now!

Beet you to the punch.

I am going to "beet" you to the punch with what turned out to be one of the highlights at an intimate gathering of friends who craft, converse, eat, drink and were spreading merriment all on an overcast Sunday afternoon. This past week, Clothilde, from Chocolate & Zucchini posted a recipe for beet hummus. I am a sucker for hummus, whether it's homemade or I pick up a tub from Trader Joe's.  It's a staple in my fridge and my heart.

I wish I had taken a picture of the beet hummus I made yesterday, but thanks to the original blog post, you can find the recipe and an image, here. I bought my beets at the farmer's market yesterday morning and the beet hummus turned out bright and cheery looking, a real showstopper on the table.  Tah-dah! It screamed, "look at me, over, here, yeah, the pretty purple dip, yeah that's me, aren't I purty?"  The fact that it was pretty wasn't only appealing, it was a real sweet treat to spoon on top of pita chips or dip baby carrots in.  It would probably make an incredible spread on a grilled veggie panini too. Hmmmmm.....now I can't wait to finish the rest of what's left off.

Cooking in Paris: Part Tres

The moment of truth.  The moment you all have been waiting for.  And I supposed the moment I've been waiting for and I didn't actually know it! Remember in Part Une, I mentioned that Paule was featured on David Lebovitz' blog for her secret family tart dough recipe? Click here for more info. To say my jaw nearly hit the floor when I watched her combine butter, sugar, oil and water in a glass bowl and then placed the glass bowl in a hot oven for 15 minutes.  Need to read that again? Say what? Double take? This goes against every pastry recipe you've ever read.  I know, pick up your phone, make an emergency call to your sponsor, therapist, mother, boyfriend, girlfriend or anyone who cares. Carefully removing the bowl from the oven, Paule worked quickly to add the flour to the mixture until a ball was formed. Paule added the dough to her tart pan and lined the pan with the dough. She pierced it with a fork and baked it for about 15 minutes.

 

While the tart crust was in the oven, we made the almond cream and sliced 2 pints of the most beautiful figs you've ever seen. Generously, we spread the almond cream into the tart shell and baked for about 10 minutes, just until the almond cream set.  Then we put the final touch on the tart, the fresh figs and popped it back in the oven for another ten minutes.  

Before slicing into this heavenly tart, we sprinkled the tart with crushed pistachios for a finishing touch.  Presentation is everything.

The texture of the tart's crust was sandy, crumbly and oh so buttery.  The nuttiness of the almond cream complimented the natural sweetness of the figs, it was married together beautifully.  What's beautiful about this recipe is that the figs could easily be replaced with a variety of other fruits.  In the summer, fresh raspberries or blackberries will be fantastic (if you choose fresh fruit, you have to cook the almond cream in the tart for longer). It was so much fun making and even more fun devouring.

Cooking in Paris: Part Deux

My last post featured our stroll through the markets and the cheese souffle we made and devoured. This week I wanted to spend some time talking about the cheese plate we munched on while other ingredients were simmering, sauteing, and otherwise being prepped for the next steps.

A fair warning.....because of all the cheese I ate in Paris, I am forever changed. It's like I encountered Cheese Jesus firsthand and I have a hard time going back to just my usual routine when it comes to purchasing and eating cheese.  Truth be told, when I got back from Paris, I took a break from the cheese aisle. One of my intentions is to become more acquainted with the local cheese folks in my neighborhood, particularly the folks at The CheeseStore of SilverLake in hopes that I can come as close as possible to what I smelled, ate and loved in Paris.

To accompany our heavenly cheese plate, we sipped on a delicate white wine from Touraine,  these grapes are grown in the center of the Loire Valley. The wine was crisp, fruity and fresh.  

We had two different chevre (goat cheeses) - St. Maure de Touraine and Crottin de Chavignol, a Camembert, blue cheese (Fourme D'Ambert) and a Comte.  Prior to eating cheese in Paris, I thought I "knew" goat cheese, that my friends, was a grande illusion.  The goat cheese in France is not to be messed with, it's rich and creamy, yet subtle. It's three-dimensional.  I learned so many things about cheese - the fact that it has a seasonality to it, that the milk milked in the spring is different then the milk milked in the fall. Also, like wine pairings, when indulging in a cheese plate, there are "rules" to enjoying more milder cheeses and working your way toward the more intense cheeses.  It was hard to resist the plate, but we needed to save room for the rest of our French meal.


For the main course, we made stuffed veal with spinach and mushrooms. I'm not going to entertain a debate about veal and the "cruelties" associated with how veal is raised, it's a touchy subject and I can respect all sides, but dude, I was in France....I had to eat and help make the stuffed veal!

We sauteed chopped mushrooms, shallots and spinach in a generous pat of butter and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. Paule shared a fantastic tip about cooking mushrooms - mushrooms are known for absorbing and releasing alot of water.  Consider them fungi sponges. Paule began sauteing the mushrooms in the pan without any fat.  Yes, you read that correctly, NO FAT. Cooking the mushrooms without any fat allows the mushrooms to release their water content and you let them cook until a majority of the water is absorbed, then add your butter or oil. By doing this, when you add the fat, you will fully infuse the mushrooms with all the FLAVOR. Genius!

 We put about a tablespoon or so of the filling onto the veal cutlets and rolled them up.  Then we trussed them together with some kitchen twine.

These bad boys were cooked in a pan, in yes, more butter, til golden brown of both sides.

While the stuffed veal cutlets were cooking, we had numerous other pots and pans bubbling away with goodness. On a whim, Paule bought celeriac (celery root) to make a puree) and we braised endive in maple syrup.  The celery root was boiled with some potatoes - after they were drained, we mashed the celery root and potatoes together, then added creme fraiche, butter, salt and pepper. 

Maple syrup is the "hot" ingredient to use right now in Parisian restaurants - mainly because it's not available to source in their country. Usually endive is braised with butter, sugar and a little lemon, but we were being spontaneous by substituting the sugar with Canadian maple syrup. Who thought braised lettuce would taste so good, but it was divine, melted on your tongue, the sweetness of the maple syrup and the char of the endive leaves.

And we finished off the stuffed veal cutlets with a pan sauce.  Deglazing the pan with white wine, we added dijon mustard and creme fraiche.  Brought to a boil and reduced to perfection, we seasoned it with salt and pepper to finish.  This sauce is so versatile and would work beautifully with poultry as well as other cuts of beef.

Of course, you have to save room for dessert, stay tuned for Cooking in Paris: Part Tres featuring a fig tart with almond cream.

Cooking in Paris: Part Une

Typing the title of my post fills me with glee, yet again! Yes, I took a cooking class while I was in Paris.  Wouldn't it have been a sin against God had I NOT taken a cooking class there?!?! I think so.  That's why months and months before I went, I started researching cooking classes. My research led down the foodie road to Promenades Gourmandes and Paule Caillat.  Paule has been teaching cooking classes in her home for several years now, thanks to a blog post written by David Lebovitz. In this post, Paule shares her family secret for french tart dough. I'll write more about that later on in the post!

I booked several months in advance and on the day of class, 5 students (including me, the only American, I might add) met in front of Patisserie Stroher for a priceless stroll through the open-air markets to purchase some ingredients for the meal we were set to prepare. This particular street is loaded with history, Patisserie Stroher is the oldest store front patisserie in Paris (opened in 1730).

 Based on questionnaires that we completed before our class, Paule composed a menu, fir for the French: cheese souffle, stuffed veal with a dijon creme fraiche sauce, pureed celery root, braised endive and a fig tart.  Oh, and a cheese tasting too. After picking up ingredients for our meal, we headed to the Marais arrondisement where Paule works and lives. It's so stinkin' Parisian! :)

The first dish we started working on is the cheese souffle (my first savory souffle).

The base of any cheese souffle is a bechamel sauce, a classic French sauce. The bechamel sauce is made of butter, milk and flour.  You melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and whisk together, until it comes together as a paste. Then you add warm milk and continue whisking until it thickens (should cover the back of your spoon). Add the cheese to the bechamel sauce and incorporate til it melts.  In this case, our souffle was made of gruyere, comte and parmesan cheese.

Egg whites are separated from yolks and the whites are whisked together in a separate bowl until stiff.The egg whites were then folded into the bechamel sauce before added to individual ramekins and baked for 20 to 25 minutes. To give our cheese souffles a little crust, we sprinkled some grated cheese all around the ramekins before we added the souffle batter.

 And......Voila! I was quite surprised by the texture of the souffle - so light, airy and the luscious notes of the three cheeses perfumed your palette ever so gently. A beautiful first course to our meal! Stay tuned for Cooking in Paris: Part Deux.......

A Foodie in Paris.

Paris - it's been a dream destination for me (for quite some time) and how can it not be? It's a foodie mecca. What I loved about visiting many speciality food shops and open air markets is how much love, creativity and pride oozes out of each creation.  The storefronts alone are mini museums, displaying their crowned jewels of culinary perfection. 

Of course, Paris isn't exactly the new kid on the block, every major city in the world takes it cue from the French when it comes to food and drink.  For example, Patisserie Stroher is the oldest storefront patisserie in Paris (it's 281 years old and she looks good for her age). On one side of the store you can find every sweet delight and on the other, the savory treats beckon your taste buds.

Pierre Herme, macaron king, is a place not to be missed.  Extraordinary chocolates, speciality desserts, and above all else, the macarons. A small, sleek shop, it was packed with those suffering from a bout of sweet-tooth.  You know what I'm talking about.  The presentation is a work of art. Picasso eat your heart out.

La Maison du Chocolat (The House of Chocolate) is another worthwhile indulgence, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Studded in bronze, deep chocolate brown, and creams, this store looks good enough to eat.  I indulged in a box of their chocolate macarons and brought home several chocolate bars for those late-nights.

Poilane is one of Paris' finest boulangeries. In fact, Karen, from McCalls Meat & Fish Co. recently pointed out to me, that there are some photos of Poilane in the book My Life In France (a fabulous foodie read all about Julia Child's experience living in France and later intertwined into the film Julie & Julia). I bought a croissant here and a pain au chocolat for later. I am convinced that croissants are the epitome of happiness woven together with butter.

La Grande Epicerie is the specialty grocery store across from Le Bon Marche in St. Germain. It's the kind of experience that beckons you to deter yourself from ever shopping in a regular grocery store ever again. It's like Whole Foods on an Hermes level, but better. I was so overwhelmed with all the goodness here that I managed to forget the semi-snobbish attitudes of the cashiers (aside from the cashiers everyone else at the store was lovely).

E. Dehillerin was a lovely cookware store near O Chateau where I attended a wine and cheese tasting. Julia Childs used to shop at this tiny shop for all of her tools and other culinary accoutrements. And the guys who worked here were so friendly, helpful and overly excited about my tattoos. I went here with something very specific in mind to purchase, these top notch hermetically sealed food storage containers (will keep foods fresh for days longer).

P.S. - Many of these specialty shops were recommended in Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris, a must-have foodie destination guide should you find yourself hungry in Paris.

A Preview to Paris.

I don't think there are adequate words to describe how I feel about Paris. Photographs will have to suffice for now. This city is dreamy, magical and mysterious. It's ancient, modern and everything in between. I spent the first two days pinching myself to make sure it was actually REAL.   After seeing the city of lights as a backdrop in so many films, it was hard to believe I wasn't on a movie set. Here's a little taste of Paris for those who have been anxious to see some of my Parisian adventures (more posts in detail to come in the next few weeks, including an in-depth post on the cooking class I attended!).

Notre Dame from the bridge entering the Ile De Cite.

 The street up to our apartment in the Latin Quarter.

 The fountain at Place Monge on market day (5 minute walk from our apartment).

The Eiffel Tower, breathtaking. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

 A typical Parisian meal at a brasserie around the corner from the Eiffel Tower.

 St. Sulpice Church. 

 Heaven at Pierre Herme. The most beautiful desserts and the best macarons on earth.

 The Pantheon from our terrace. Roughin' it.

 A view of Sacre Coeur from the Metro station, Anvers.