Let's cook. And eat.

This one is a guest post - an exquisite black forest cake. It is curated, because my dear friend shared a generous piece of this cake with us (yes, I am blessed to be surrounded by some very caring and generous friends). I have to say - this is quite possibly one of the best black forest cakes I have had. And believe me I have had my fair share over the years. Here is her recipe as she wrote it down for me:  Ingredients:  2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder 6 eggs (separate the yolks and egg whites) 1/2 cup melted butter 3/4 cup water 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 2 cups whipping cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar 2 cans Dark sweet Cherries (Oregon brand) Good chocolate (used the Guittards semi sweet) Chocolate chips For the cake - - Take the separated egg yolks and beat with a hand mixer - Add the water, melted butter and vanilla - Add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating - Thereafter add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder - This will form a thick

When you don’t feel like cooking, you make Ramen.  Start with 5 cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of sesame oil. Sauté for a few, then add your veggies - I used sliced mushrooms, carrots, and some bokchoy. Sauté for a minute. Next add a 32 oz  box of Ramen broth. I found mine at Whole Foods I think. Let everything come to a boil. Add any seasonings at this point - soy sauce, pepper etc. Also some cut cilantro and green onions. Cook till the veggies are done - al dente.  When ready to eat add boiled egg and cooked noodles. You can also add some cooked chicken or fish for protein instead of egg.  Top with some more green onions and cilantro. You can never have too much of them.  Pour a hearty portion in a bowl and you have a meal! 

There were some leftover egg yolks from another recipe I had made and some leftover cream. So creme brûlée is what came to mind.  The recipe is simple - Preheat the oven to 325 F. Put water to boil in a pot for a water bath for the ramekins. You whisk 4 egg yolks vigorously with 3 tbsp sugar till it’s a pale yellow. Heat up 2 cups of cream (or half and half) till it begins to steam and there are bubbles of the edge - just warm, not hot. Switch off the heat and stir in 1.5 tsp of vanilla essence. Slowly add 1/2 cup of cream to the yolks while mixing continuously. This tempers the yolks and they do not scramble. Add the remaining cream and keep mixing. Sieve the mixture and pour into ramekins.  Put it into a hot water bath (ramekins should be half submerged in water) and move to the oven at 325 F for 40-50 minutes. Take them out when the edges are firm but the center a little jiggly.  Cool the ramekins on a wire rack and then cover and move to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.  Righ

Everyone in the family loves focaccia. And with a sourdough starter at hand, it was not long before I got tempted to make a focaccia using the starter.  The recipe for focaccia was:  https://foodgeek.dk/en/sourdough-focaccia-recipe/ I would say it was pretty reliable but you can use any basic focaccia recipe. And then just go crazy with any colorful veggies you like to create your gardenscape.  (Tip: I played with the design and veggies on a flat baking sheet and then transferred it to the dough quickly once I had dimpled it with the fingers)

It’s a simple-quick recipe.  https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/asparagus-soup-with-lemon-and-parmesan.html I did not have stock/broth so I used water. And I added cashews for some creaminess. Master S lapped this one up with gusto. 

What I really liked about this recipe was how quickly the paneer tikkas that go into the roll came about. There was no marination required - hence no planning beforehand. Added bonus was Master S and I enjoyed grilling the skewered kebabs on the flame stove. This one is definitely a winner. We used store bought methi theplas to make the rolls.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKF1F6XfgrY

At the very beginning of the quarantine, my neighbor Mr. M (we’ve talked about him before) came to share some happiness in a jar. It was a sourdough starter. Many months prior, I had mentioned to him that I would like to bake with a sourdough starter. I forgot soon after but he remembered. Not only did he share the starter, he shared with me a zillion videos and tips. The process itself seemed so intimidating I bugged him with my questions for almost 2 weeks before I decided to venture a bake with the starter.  These are the 2 links/videos I followed. The first is a start to finish recipe by Patrick Ryan. And the second is a list of tips for sourdough baking.  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2FVfJTGpXnU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BJEHsvW2J6M&t=168s The results after the bake: Update (7/29/2020):  Patrick Ryan's recipe is working great for me so far. There are a couple of changes I have been doing that have resulted in better and more consistent results.  Ingredients: Water 460

A gracious neighbor shared some home grown plums, so I went looking for a  plum torte recipe and found this.  Followed it to the tee -  https://www.teeniecakes.com/rustic-italian-plum-almond-cake-torta-di-prugne-e-mandorle/ Somehow my plums sank to the bottom during the bake - after I had poured the batter in, I realized that I had put the spring form of my pan top side down. Ah well. It did taste wonderful though. 

One of my favorite things to do with left over pizza dough is to make pizza rolls.  You break up the dough into small balls of flour, roll it out. Put some filling, pinch back together and then bake. And then eat it with some marinara.  For filling this time I modified an Ottolenghi recipe - a little bit of sour cream, a small piece of Brie, some chopped basil, a couple of semi dried tomatoes and topped with a Parmesan.  (Semi dried tomatoes - take cut grape or cherry tomatoes, toss them in oil and salt, and bake them cut side up at 375 F for about 45-50 minutes) Put the balls seam side down in an oil sprayed  pie dish. And brush them with butter infused with garlic salt. Bake at 425 F for about 20 minutes.