Wednesday Night Chocolate Cake

Last week Susie, very correctly I might add, said that cake is a good way to say "hey, I like you." Cakes can be big or small, with lots of layers or just a few, and made with all manner of frosting, filling or ganache, but anyway you slice them, a cake will instantly let someone know that they are important.

Cake doesn't always need to be a big event or a big celebration though. Cake can also be a simple, quiet celebration, a good way to say "hey, I like me."

I am a firm believer in treating yourself, but I also believe that treating yourself doesn't have to involve a ton of dishes, hours of labor, and epic baking battles. I love a good challenge, but on a Wednesday night after a long day at work that was maybe a bit of a bummer, forty-five minutes is all I need to bring it back together.

Think of this cake as a meditation on dessert, an exercise in simplicity and subtlety. One bowl, one pan, and dessert can be an everyday affair, or maybe just a way to congratulate yourself on making it through the week.


Wednesday Night Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
3/4 + 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, plus some for pan
3/8 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus some for pan
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

1) Heat oven to 350°F. Grease one 9-inch round baking pan with oil, sprinkle in some flour and shake around to coat. Discard excess flour. (or make it really easy and spray with cooking spray with flour).

2) Stir together dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients (eggs, milk, oil and vanilla); beat with a whisk or wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pan.

3) Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Serve with fresh berries, a spoonful of jam, a dusting of powdered sugar, and/or a tall, ice cold glass of milk.

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The Heart of Darkness

I love mole. I mean I REALLY love mole. I love all kinds of mole - red, yellow, black, sweet, savory, spicy whatever. I would consider bathing in mole if possible. I bet it would be great for the skin, if you didn't mind being slightly orange I mean.

As with most things in my life, I prefer not to settle when it comes to my mole. I'll give most restaurant's "mole" a try once, sure. But I'm not going back for seconds if it doesn't pass muster. When it came down to what to have for my birthday dinner I knew it was going to be mole, and I knew I was going to have to make it myself.



I have made mole only once before and it required a small army of assistants and an ENTIRE day. It has taken almost 5 years to take it on again, not necessarily because I was intimidated, but because if a sauce, not even a whole dish but a sauce, takes that much effort you need a pretty good reason to make it. I think my own birthday is reason enough, and this time I am older, I am wiser, and I have a lot more practice. With Chef Rick Bayless behind me I decided I was ready, and this time I was going to be going it alone.

I am not going to lie, this is by no means a "simple" recipe. This isn't even the REALLY involved Oaxacan black mole (some with upwards of 28-30 ingredients), it is only a mole rojo - a comparatively "easy" variety with only 18-20 ingredients. It is not, however, a very difficult recipe. Time consuming, maybe, but not difficult. I promise if you read it through, break it down, and take it slow, it can be done.

And it will be worth it.



Mole Rojo Clasico
Classic Red Mole
Adapted from Rick Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time

10 ounces (5 medium or 3 large) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 1/3 cup (about 6 1/2 ounces) sesame seeds
1 cup rich-tasting pork lard or vegetable oil, plus a little more if necessary
6 ounces dried mulato chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
8 ounces dried pasilla-ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 cup (about 5 ounces) whole almonds, with skin
1 cup (about 4 ounces) raisins
1 teaspoon Mexican canela, or regular cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
1/4 teaspoon cloves, ground
1 bolillo or firm white roll, darkly toasted and broken into several pieces
2 ounces (about 2/3 of a 3.3-ounce tablet) Mexican chocolate
3 quarts chicken or vegetable broth (I only used 2, but good to have the full amount)
Salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar

Prep the Ingredients
1) Measure out and prepare all your ingredients. I cannot stress this enough.

2) Stem and deseed the chiles and tear into large pieces if not already complete.

3) On a rimmed baking sheet or small baking pan lined with foil, roast the tomatillos 4 inches below a very hot broiler until splotchy black and thoroughly soft, about 5-10 minutes per side depending on size and broiler temp. Scrape into a large bowl.

4) In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, stirringly continuously, until golden, about 5 minutes. Scrape half of them in with the tomatillos. Reserve the remainder for sprinkling on the chicken.

Brown and Soak the chiles
Turn on an exhaust fan or open a kitchen door or window for this part.

5) Fill a kettle with water to its highest level and put on to heat.

6) In a very large soup pot (I used a 7-quart enamel cast iron pot), heat your fat over medium.

7) When the oil is hot, fry the chiles, three or four pieces at a time, flipping them nearly constantly with tongs until their interior side has changed to a lighter color, about 20 or 30 seconds total frying time. Don’t toast so darkly that they begin to smoke—that would make the mole bitter.

8) As they’re done, remove them to a large bowl (not the tomatillo bowl), being careful to drain as much fat as possible back into the pot. Cover the toasted chiles with hot water from the kettle and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to insure even soaking.

Brown the Other Ingredients
9) Remove any stray chile seeds left in the fat. With the pot still over medium heat, fry the garlic and almonds, stirring regularly, until browned (the garlic should be soft), about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to the tomatillo bowl, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot.

10) Add the raisins to the hot pot. Stir for 20 or 30 seconds, until they’ve puffed and browned slightly. Scoop them out, draining as much of the fat as possible back into the pot, and add to the tomatillos.

-Set the pan aside off the heat.

11) To the tomatillo mixture, add the cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, bread and chocolate. Add 2 cups water and stir to combine.

Blend, strain, cook
12) Into a large measuring cup, small stockpot, or pitcher, tip off the chiles’ soaking liquid. Taste the liquid: if it’s not bitter, reserve about 6 cups of the liquid. (if you’re short, add water to make up the shortfall). If bitter, pour it out and measure 6 cups water.

13) Scoop half of the chiles into a blender jar, pour in half of the soaking liquid (or water) and blend to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard the bits of skin and seeds that don’t pass through the strainer. Repeat with the remaining chiles.

14) Return the pot to medium heat. When hot again, pour in the chile puree—it should sizzle sharply and, if the pan is sufficiently hot, the mixture should never stop boiling. Stir every couple of minutes until the chile puree has darkened and reduced to the consistency of tomato paste, about a half hour.

15) In two batches, blend the tomatillo mixture as smoothly as possible (you may need an extra 1/2 cup water to keep everything moving through the blades), then strain it in to the large bowl that contained the pureed chiles.

16) When the chile paste has reduced, add the tomatillo mixture to the pot and cook, stirring every few minutes until darker and thicker, 15 to 20 minutes.

Simmer
17) When the chile/tomatillo mixture has reduced, add the broth to the pot until it is the thickness of “cream soup.” Briskly simmer the mixture over medium to medium-low heat for about 2 hours for all the flavors to come together and mellow.

-If the mole thickens beyond the consistency of soup, add in more broth. If more liquid is needed to retain consistency, add water.

18) Taste and season the mole with salt (usually about 4 teaspoons) and the sugar.

Serve
Pour over cooked chicken or turkey (I used shredded chicken to make it more party friendly/taco ready) or you can cool, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use. When you're ready to use the mole, rewarm over medium-medium-low heat.

*This recipe can easily be adapted to be vegan/vegetarian by using vegetable oil/vegetable broth. Serve over Tofu, seitan, or your protein of choice.

**Rick suggests using a splatter screen to prevent some of the clean-up. I don’t have one, but I can heartily agree with his suggestion – I am still finding errant splatters of chile more than a week later.

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Veggies with Flair

Not to get to stereotyped here on The Rose on Fire, but I thought that in honor of Cinco de Mayo I would post the instructiones for enchiladas. My most recent batch was vegetarian and sinfully delicious.



The best part about enchiladas is that they are so adaptable, and adaptable is my favorite kind of recipe. This time I used spinach, corn, black beans, and green sauce. Next time I may use chicken, cheese and red sauce. Vegetables, meat, cheese, sauce, the possibilities are endless.



These are great for a party or a potluck, but are easy enough to be weeknight meal friendly. If you aren't making these to share you will receive the added bonus of leftovers. Don't feel too bad when you then find yourself the envy of the lunchroom. It's the little things that help you make it though the day.

Veggie Verde Enchiladas

This is really more of a method than a recipe. I am giving the specifics for the batch that I made but switch out any of the ingredients you like. Each enchilada will hold a just over a quarter cup of filling.

12 standard sized corn tortillas, yellow or white
1 15 oz can of green enchilada sauce
2 small onions (or 1 medium, or 1/2 large), 1/4 dice
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 jalepenos, fine dice
10-16 oz (1 1b) spinach
1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 7.5 oz can corn kernels, drained
1 tsp chile powder
8 oz cheese
Oil, vegetable, canola, or corn

Extras:
Cilantro
Salsa
Guacamole or Avocado
Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt
Black Olives

Create the filling
1) Begin to soften the onion over medium heat with a tablespoon or two of oil in a large frying pan. When onions begin to turn translucent, add garlic and jalapeno cook until all ingredients start to soften.

2) Add cleaned (and torn if necessary) spinach in large handfuls and cook until thoroughly wilted. Turn off heat.

3) In the frying pan if large enough, or in a large bowl add drained and rinsed beans and drained corn kernels to the spinach mixture and thoroughly combine.

Build the enchiladas
4) Spread a little oil and enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. A couple heavy handed table spoons of each, to give yourself a base.

5) Heat a few more tablespoons of oil in a clean frying pan. Dip a tortilla in the oil (heated) for a few seconds on each side to soften it. The tortilla should be pretty pliable, but not falling apart. This may take some trial and error.

6) Place the heated tortilla in your baking dish flattened out and spread approximately 1/4 cup of the vegetable mixture somewhat evenly in a line across the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle on slightly less than a tablespoon of cheese.

7) Roll the tortilla around the filling and rotate so it lies seam side down. The rolls should be tight, but not too tight. You don’t want the filling to come out, but you don’t want the tortilla to break either.

8) Repeat steps 5-7 until your pan is filled.

Bake
9) Finish the pan by pouring your sauce (warmed a little is good) over the pan of enchiladas (make sure it is well covered, it is okay if you don't use the whole can). Sprinkle your remaining cheese on top.

10) Bake in the oven at 350F until the cheese is bubbly and melted and the edges turn a little brown.

Serve with your choice of toppings including cilantro, salsa, avocado, olives and/or sour cream. Leftovers can be reheated in the oven or microwave, or they can be pan-fried the next day and eaten for breakfast.

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Adventures Closer to Home

Friday night found me facing a quiet weekend at home for the first time in a few weeks. No classes, no social obligations, no work woes, and as I curled up on the couch with Jamie Oliver and a glass of white wine, the prospect of a weekend finishing up art projects and playing my guitar sounded pretty good.





Come Saturday afternoon I had succeeded in morning one of sleeping in and not much else when I get a call from this guy asking if he can crash on my couch before the Oakland Marathon on Sunday. Being an obliging sort of girl, as well as a supporter of athletes, and generally lacking in company for the evening I agreed. You won't regret it he says. Adventure and fun await he promises. There will be froyo he tells me. This all went against my homebody plans, but who turns down froyo?



Well adventure and fun did await, and I did not regret it. At least not until I had to get up at 7am on Sunday to get my friend to the race on time. First, we were off to a divey Alameda establishment hosting the first ever performance of "the Beatles." It was an art/music experience the likes of which I can honestly say I've never seen or heard before. After meeting new friends and coercing old friends to leave the comfort of their homes, we traveled onward and upwards to margaritas, froyo, and yet another questionable East Bay establishment, but really how questionable can you get in Alameda. A good time was had by all.



I ultimately failed in my own artistic and musical endeavors, but margaritas and froyo are ALWAYS a good idea. Plus, I did succeed in accomplishing a few things on Sunday so you can't say I was completely unproductive.

1) I got my friend to the race on time and picked him up again. Navigating downtown and the street closures around the lake really made this an accomplishment.
2) I ordered my new glasses. Considering that my current glasses are almost three years old, this is also quite the accomplishment.
3) Finally, I made a pretty dern good batch of waffles for marathon boy and his girlfriend Lyssette.



They weren't my favorite waffles, for that you need the Joy of Cooking and a LOT more butter, but these were a pretty good "healthy" substitute. Especially covered in syrup and served with a side of bacon.



And now I will reward you for your patience with the recipe.

Recovery Banana Wheat Waffles
Adapted from this recipe.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed banana (two large overripe bananas)
4 egg whites

1) Combine both flours, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl.
2) In another bowl, beat egg yolks, milk, oil, and vanilla until just combined. Add mashed bananas and beat slightly longer to break up any remaining chunks of fruit.
3) Pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix until just combined.
4) In another small (very clean/grease free) bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Preferably with a mixer, but can be done by hand with patience.
5) Gently fold egg whites into the batter being careful not to over-mix.
6) Pour batter into your waffle iron according to manufacturer directions (amount of batter and grease vs. no grease). Bake according to the manufacturer directions with your iron. Makes hella waffles.

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Sad Veggie Soup

I don't hold back on here so I am going to show you something most bloggers wouldn't, and its not going to be pretty. These veggies came out of my fridge on Friday. Before that they came from my CSA - three weeks ago.



Admit it, you've seen vegetables like this in your fridge. You bought them at the grocery, or the farmer's market, or were gifted with over abundance from a friend's yard and had the best of intentions that they would soon be a part of a delicious meal. But then work happens, and life happens, and take-out happens, and newer, fresher vegetables happen and suddenly you open up the vegetable drawer and find those sad, limp, brown around the edges shells of their former selves.




Not to worry though, these veggies may be sad now, but they will perk right up with a little tender loving care and a quick trim from a sharp knife. If you really needed to sharpen them up a quick shock in ice water can also help out, but for our purposes today I don't think that's necessary.



This recipe isn't much of a recipe. It is, as many of the things I cook are, extremely flexible and much more of a rough guide. I used leek, potato, and romanesco because its what I had.



If you have broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, corn, asparagus, or celery I am pretty sure it would work just as well. Just try to keep like veggies together, and go with your gut as to what would taste good. Corn and pepper would work well together for example.



Milk doesn't necessarily go with every combination, so you may exclude it if you like. If you don't use a starchy vegetable, like potato, you can thicken your soup with a mix of equal parts flour and butter (try one tablespoon of each to start) mashed together and mixed in to the hot soup after it has been pureed in the blender.




Sad Veggie Soup
2 Leeks, greens and any wilted layers removed
1 Small Head of Romanesco, trimmed
1 Medium Potato
3/4 cup Milk
1-2 tsp Dijon Mustard
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Chile Powder
Jerk Seasoning*

*My Jerk mix is predominantly thyme with sugar, salt, allspice and chile. The combo added oomph to my soup that I wasn't getting, and worked with my veggies. Feel free to add whatever flavors float your boat and will go with your veggies. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and any of the other green herbs are good places to start.

1) Clean and prep the vegetables. Wash, trim off any wilted or brown areas, and cut into smaller pieces to speed cooking.
2) Cook your veggies. Drizzle the leeks and romanesco with olive oil, salt and pepper liberally, and roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cook the potato in a sauce pan with the milk and enough water to cover the potatoes. Simmer over medium heat until fork tender, approximately 10-15 minutes.
3) Blend the soup. Put the potatoes, leeks, and romanesco in a blender with a few splashes of the potato cooking liquid, enough to lubricate the mix. Go slowly, pulse on a lower setting before adding more liquid and speeding it up. Be careful as hot liquids expand in the blender and may explode or cause injury. Add liquid and blend until soup reaches the desired consistency.
4) Season and Serve. Add the blended soup back into the potato pot and season to taste with mustard, chile powder, jerk seasoning, and additional salt and pepper. Enjoy.

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Bread.

Fresh. Baked. Bread.



Smell it. Taste it. Say it with me now...
Fresh Baked Bread.
Its like a little prayer. Well, it is for anyone who isn't avoiding carbs anyways.



I don't know what too me so long. This recipe has been floating around the internet for almost FOUR years. Where was I? Drooling over the thought, and lamenting my lack of appropriate cookware.




No knead bread was introduced to the the world by Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery via Mark Bittman of the New York Times, though its based off of recipes that have been around for ages. Its got 4 ingredients, 5 if you are me and you like to mess with things, and is so easy a 4 year old can do it.



There were two problems with this recipe that do put it out of the reach of some (including me for so long). One, this recipe takes time. By trading out the physical effort, one must put in almost a whole day of waiting. So hard!



Secondly, one needs a large pot that can be put in a very, VERY, hot oven. My new baby came in handy in this capacity, but, as this is a fairly recent acquisition, I was ill-equipped before now.



If you have the hardware, and you have the patience, please make this bread. Its so good. Fresh baked bread is pretty much always good, but THIS bread is really good. It's chewy, full of big holes for filling with butter, and has a crispy crunchy golden crust. Do it. Do it now. What are you waiting for?


No Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

(I made mine with a bit of whole wheat flour from my farm, but if you don't have any or don't want to use any, just use all all-purpose flour)

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast (like Fleischmann's RapidRise)
3/4 tsp kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Special Equipment: a large (6-8 quart) heavy pot with a well-fitted lid.

1) Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2) Slowly pour in the warm water.
3) Stir into a gooey, sticky mess of dough, cover, set aside. It will look wet. It's supposed to.
4) Ignore the dough for 8-10 hours.
5) Uncover, and with wet hands, lift the dough out of the bowl and fold over on itself several times. Just flop it around, this is not kneading, this is just poking it. This helps, I promise. This will help get more of those delightful big bubbles.
6) Put the dough back in the bowl, cover, ignore for another 8-10 hours.
7) Sprinkle some cornmeal or flour on a board, and with wet hands, lift the dough out of your bowl and drop on the board.
8) Fold it over and flop it on itself a couple more times and shape as best you can into a ball-like shape.
9) Place the ball of dough onto a floured towel (NOT terry cloth) or piece of parchment paper. Place back in the bowl and let it rise another 1-2 hours.
10) 30 minutes before the dough is finished with its final rise, place the pot in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
11) When your dough has finished its final rise (it should be about double the size), quickly open the oven, lift off the lid of the pot, drop your dough in the pot, bake for 30 minutes.
12) Remove the lid of the pot and bake an additional 15-30 minutes. The bread should look brown, shiny, and thump when you tap it.

Let cool, slather with butter, enjoy!

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The Sophmore Slump

Nearly a week without cooking anything of consequence. How is a girl supposed to keep her blogging up if there isn't anything to blog about? Well, to be fair my parents were in town and we went out to eat quite a bit. I was hoping to regale you all with visually stunning photos of what I ate, but 1) I forgot to take pictures of most of it, and 2) I think the best thing I had all weekend was a martini at Scoma's in Sausalito. Gin. Extra dry. With an olive. Mmmm... nothing like raw oysters and a big fat Martini to make everything right with the world.

So instead of showing you, I will tell you about the one thing I did make (which I also conveniently failed to take a picture of), Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk. It was so good. Go make it. Go. Right now. No, seriously. You need to have made this for yourself yesterday because it really is that good. It is also incredibly simple.

I pretty much never follow a recipe explicitly unless I am unfamiliar with the end product or cooking technique, or if I am baking. This recipe is so simple, straightforward, and practically perfect that the only thing that could be adjusted is one of the cooking instructions. The recipe calls for the lid of your cooking vessel to be off the entire bake time, but another blogger made the accidental discovery that its even better if you leave the lid on for the first hour and then take it off to finish for the last 20-30 minutes. Leaving the lid on for the majority of the cooking time prevents the delicious sauce from evaporating and turning into charcoal at the bottom of the pot, and makes the chicken that much more moist and juicy.

So that is all I have to show for the last week. I'll come up with something better next time, I promise.

P.S. Jamie Oliver just won the 2010 TED Prize to pursue his desire to help revolutionize the way we teach children about food and eating. His work goes hand in hand with Michelle Obama's new Let's Move campaign to fight childhood obesity. There are so many things I could say but I think that these inspiring people and their projects can speak for themselves. Please click on the links to these sites to learn more about these projects, and, if you would like to become more involved, find out ways that you can offer your support.

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