TWD: Boca Negra

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe featured a perfect dessert for Valentine's Day: an incredibly rich, decadent, chocolate cake that is reminiscent of fudge. This cake is nearly flour-less (containing a scant 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour in the batter) and is given a flavor boost from the addition of bourbon. Booze and chocolate are a fantastic combination.

The best part about this recipe? It was the easiest cake I have ever made in my life. Paul and I stayed in for Valentine's Day (we were kind of forced to since Mr. Matthew had a stomach bug) and made a simple dinner of curried mussels. Paul handled the mussels while I worked on getting this cake into the oven so we could enjoy a slice for dessert. Mussels normally take less than 15 minutes to make, start to finish, and I had this cake sliding into the oven at the exact same time that Paul took the pot of mussels off the stove-top  The batter is simply given a couple of good pulses in the food processor and then dumped into a greased, parchment lined cake pan and baked for 30 minutes.  Voila! Warm from the oven, the cake develops a crackly, brownie-like crust that, once broken into, reveals a chocolaty interior akin to the molten center of a lava cake. I actually enjoyed the cake best after a 24-hour chill in the fridge, after which time it took on the texture of an excellent, perfectly smooth fudge. So delicious.

The recipe calls for the cake to be served with a white chocolate cream that is simply  made by melting white chocolate in hot cream and then adding a generous dosage of more bourbon before heading to the fridge for a 24 hour rest. Paul and I made the cream and ended up whipping it slightly since we did not care for the texture of the cream right out of the refrigerator. However, the flavor really did complement the cake beautifully although honestly the cake was decadent enough without the extra garnish. Next time, I would probably just eat the cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to cut the richness a bit. Or some plain whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Overall, I really enjoyed this recipe for its ease and simplicity. It would make an excellent, no-fuss dessert to impress some dinner guests. If you would like to give the recipe a try, head over to Cathy's Blog.

Mac and Cheese the Panera Way

After nearly six days of fever, puke, sleepless nights, and obsessive amounts of disinfectant, the plague has left our household and our little 3-year-old is finally back to his normal self. It was a rough couple of days as this virus just did not seem to want to leave his system. I was getting a little worried about Matthew's noticeable weight loss from not eating much for a week but, as of this morning, his normal appetite has returned.

He even requested his weekend latte. He takes his morning pick-me-up very seriously.

He drank it voraciously. I have a feeling that he missed his coffee more than anything during his week of starvation.

"Stop taking pictures and let me drink my coffee in peace, Mom!!!"

In honor of Mr. Matthew feeling well, I would like to share with you one of his favorite dishes in the whole wide world: Macaroni and Cheese. Now, it took me a while to convince him that homemade Mac and Cheese is just as good way better than the orange powdered cheese stuff that you buy in the grocery store (although in a pinch that stuff is awesome). However, once I got the little twerp to actually try a bite of the homemade stuff, he loved it. Of course.

This particular version of Mac and Cheese is the same recipe used by Panera Bread. There is probably only one other person in this world who loves Panera Bread more than I. And that would be my son. He is obsessed with Panera. Whenever he sees the familiar logo while we are driving through town, he points to it and proclaims: "Nera bagels and coffee!" This may or may not be entirely due to my taking him there with my Mom when he was merely a week old for his very first outing as a newborn! He usually requests simply a sliced Asiago bagel and a chance to watch a couple customers fill their coffee mugs (it's an addiction). While I have never ordered their Mac and Cheese in the cafe, I have seen many, many patrons enjoying it and the smell has always been so enticing. When I saw that Panera published the recipe on their website, I gave it a try. Both Paul and Matthew were in melty, cheesy heaven. Paul especially was singing my praises (then again, it really does not take much to impress him). This was one of the last "cheese meals" before our "Lent without Cheese" began last Wednesday.

There are so many different variations of Mac and Cheese out there, but this one is particularly good due to the particular combination of cheese and the addition of a generous amount of Dijon mustard. It really elevates the dish.

Panera Mac and Cheese
adapted from the Panera website


16 oz small shells, macaroni, or nuggets pasta
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
4 oz white American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces
8 oz extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar, shredded
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (more or less to suit your tastes)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Frank's hot sauce

In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain well.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat.  When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour.  Cook for 1 1/2 minutes, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.

Remove saucepan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more.  Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce.  Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta.  Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce.  Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through.  Serve hot in bowls with spoons.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter

For years and years, I could not stomach the idea of a peanut butter sandwich. I hated straight peanut butter spread so much that the smell of it would make me gag. I think this reaction stems from memories of long car trips in the back seat of our 12-passenger van, situated uncomfortably between two of my smelly brothers (sorry guys!). I normally was overheating because the air conditioning was completely ineffective to anyone sitting beyond the second row of seats, and the commingling smells of Fig Newtons and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches rendered me utterly nauseated. Occasionally, Dad would open a bag of Bugles which would bring some relief (I still love Bugles. Do they still make those? Anyway, I digress).

I still cannot face a Fig Newton, but luckily during my pregnancy with Matthew my acceptance of peanut butter returned. When out for a day-long hike, my favorite power sandwich to bring along is Peanut Butter and Banana on Oatmeal Bread. Delicious and very, very satisfying.

With my rekindled love for peanut butter, I began tasting different varieties that are available at our local grocery store. I fell in love with the Peanut Butter & Company variations - including Dark Chocolate Dreams, The Bee's Knees, and White Chocolate Wonderful. Out of all of these, the White Chocolate Wonderful makes me swoon, especially when paired with orange marmalade and sliced toasted almonds on homemade bread.  A delicious sandwich reminiscent of a Creamsicle.

The only problem with my White Chocolate Wonderful? It costs about $4.00 for a fairly small jar. A bit of a splurge even if I end up stashing the jar in the back of the pantry to eat by myself with a spoon when the hubby and child are not watching (Shhhhh...). However, ever since Paul gave me a food processor for Christmas last year, I have been making many different spreads and butters and figured that it could not be too difficult to replicate the sweet, creamy indulgence of White Chocolate Wonderful.

Just a few ingredients, a couple spins in the food processor, and this emerged...

And it was good.

Dangerously good.

Give this a whirl! And if you do...please make a sandwich with orange marmalade and toasted almonds. It's transcendent. And that's from a former hater of all things peanut butter.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter

2 cups roasted, salted peanuts
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3-1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted (I like the 1/2 cup personally...)
1 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of a food processor, process peanuts until completely broken down and slightly creamy. This may take up to 3 minutes. Just let it go while you melt the white chocolate in the microwave (on HIGH for 60-90 seconds, stirring with a spatula every 20 seconds or so). Add the canola oil through the feed tube and continue to process until smooth.  Add the white chocolate and vanilla and continue processing until completely combined and delicious. Taste and add more oil for a smoother texture or more white chocolate if you like it sweeter! Transfer to a Mason Jar and store in the refrigerator.

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

In preparation for the upcoming arrival of our second child, I have been cooking and baking like mad to ensure that we have plenty of sandwich bread and quick meals at our fingertips once the craziness that defines life with a newborn begins again! I far and above prefer homemade sandwich bread to store-bought and have been baking a few loaves of this buttermilk bread in addition to a few others a couple days each week. One of these loaves has been this beautiful, delicious oatmeal bread.

Now, Matthew is a huge carb lover and always begs to have the first slice of bread hot out of the oven (surprisingly, he really does not get that you have to let bread cool to room temperature despite all the lectures I have given him about structural integrity of gluten development!). If I had to choose a single loaf of bread that he liked best, it would be this oatmeal bread. It is mildly chewy, hearty, and slightly sweet and makes the ideal PB&J sandwich for my active little guy. Plus, it is probably one of the easiest homemade breads you can ever make!

The original recipe does call for rolled oats and they do work best. However, I have substitute quick oats before and while they definitely change the texture of the finished bread, the loaf was still delicious and held up well to slicing. You can also switch out the sweetener for whatever type you like - honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, molasses - whatever you have! My personal favorite version is using honey as the sweetener and adding a very finely diced, peeled apple to the dough. Seriously yum!

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread
adapted from Nick Magieri's How to Bake

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup warm water (about 110º on an instant read thermometer)
2 1/2 teaspoons dry active or instant yeast
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sweetener of choice (brown sugar, honey, etc)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, cut into about 12 pieces, plus more for greasing bowl and pan

Grease a 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" loaf pan with butter and set aside.

Pour boiling water over oats in a bowl. Stir and set aside till cooled to room temperature.  Meanwhile, put warm water in a small bowl and add yeast. Stir and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, brown sugar and salt and stir to combine. Fit mixer with dough hook and add oatmeal, yeast mixture and butter pieces. Knead dough on low for about 5-10 minutes till smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed so the dough is not too sticky. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a ball on a lightly floured countertop. Place dough in greased bowl, flip a couple times to coat all sides with butter, and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise till dough doubles in bulk, about one hour (While making the dough, I like to preheat my oven to 200 degrees, let it warm for 10 minutes, and then shut it off. When the dough is ready to rise, just stick it in the warmed oven and it will rise beautifully and quickly!).

Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Deflate dough with the palm of your hand. Form dough into rectangle, slightly longer than pan length. Using the end closest to you, roll tightly into a cylinder, pressing on the seam with your fingertips as you roll it up. Pinch the seam and ends together after rolling and place the cylinder, seam side down, into prepared pan. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise till doubled, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic from risen dough and place pan in oven. Immediately decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped and the internal temperature reads 195 degrees. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Slice when cooled to room temperature.

TWD: Focaccia Pizza with Tomato-Basil Topping

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe challenge was for Focaccia, a traditional flat Italian bread normally topped with a generous serving of olive oil, fresh herbs, and coarse salt. However, the uses for a fresh loaf of focaccia are endless - split a slice in half and fill it with your favorite sandwich ingredients, top it with a generous amount of cheese before baking to make an irresistible appetizer, or make a sweet focaccia topped with grapes, blueberries, or blackberries and some coarse lemon sugar.

I chose to try to turn this project into a meal for my family by making a focaccia pizza. My husband and son are pizza fiends and since we are once again giving up cheese during the fast-approaching Lenten season, I figured it would probably be kind to make them as many cheese filled, topped, stuffed, or sprinkled items as I can before the fasting begins.

I have made focaccia many, many times before and this dough was much more stiff than any recipe I have tried previously (the dough is practically pour-able in most other recipes). It really did remind me of more of a pizza dough than a focaccia. However, after a lot of hand kneading and a couple rises, the dough really did form a lot of the bubbles characteristic of a focaccia. The dough was pleasant to work with, not too sticky, and rose beautifully both inside and out of the fridge.

After a 24-hour rest in the fridge, I carefully spread the dough onto a baking sheet sprinkled with semolina and topped it with a quick tomato-basil topping along with some fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The bread/pizza monstrosity baked up beautifully in the oven and the aroma that filled the kitchen had my husband coming in from the study to check on the progress of the meal every few minutes (as I have mentioned before, he gets rather restless around feeding time).

 

The end result? It was delicious! It rose up pretty nicely for the most part. The edge pieces were rather thin, but that was probably my fault with stretching the dough too thin in those areas. However, this made a very tasty sheet pizza. My hubby and son devoured 3/4 of it in less than 20 minutes and were singing my praises. We'll see what they have to say about my cooking when they are eating nothing but lentil soup and quinoa salads during Lent.

I've included the recipe for the pizza topping below just in case anyone would like to try making it. It really does make a fabulous topping for pizza.

If you would like to try the focaccia recipe, head over to Sharmini's Blog.

Quick Tomato-Basil Pizza Topping
adapted from Cook's Country


1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon table salt
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (roughly 2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Sea Salt for Sprinkling



Place tomatoes in a colander, and drain REALLY well.  In a medium bowl, combine drained tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, and salt and set aside. In a second bowl, combine mozzarella and Parmesan. Set aside. Sprinkle cheese mixture over the dough, leaving 1/2-inch border on all sides. Top with tomato mixture, and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Bake until well browned and bubbling. Slide pizza onto a wire rack, sprinkle with basil, and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve.

Sweet and Salty Cake

I have a love for layer cakes. Not particularly for eating them, but rather for making them. They are always such a project, which is why they can only be reserved for the most special of occasions. Every year for Paul's birthday, I ask him to pick out the cake of his dreams and then set out to make it for him. In the past, I have made both Matthew and Paul separate cakes for their birthdays even though they are a mere 24 hours apart. This year, however, I wanted to simplify things a little bit (plus we never eat all the cake...not even close!) and figured that they could share a cake. Poor Matthew would just have to like whatever flavor Paul chose to indulge in this year.

Now, Paul has a history of picking the most outrageous and complicated cake concoctions he can find. It is never something as simple and traditional as "lemon cake," "carrot cake" or even "German Chocolate Cake."

As an example, take last year's request:  "Can you try to recreate that one cake we had in Helena with the Earl Grey mousse and I think it had Earl Grey in the cake too?" So there is a ton of research involved (because heaven forbid that the cake should FAIL by either not tasting good or imploding) before the actual baking/decorating of the cake can be done. But again, it's a fun process that I actually enjoy. For that Earl Grey Cake in particular, I actually ended up talking to the owners of the bakery about the cake in order to extract a few hints about how it was done. Their tips proved very useful and the cake ended up being a success!

This year, Paul spared me the research and instead chose a cake from the book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking that I received as a gift for Christmas: The Sweet and Salty Cake. The cake itself is a triple-layered monstrosity that utilizes a rich Devil's Food cake layered with a salted caramel filling, sprinkled lightly with fleur de sel, and then lathered with a silky whipped chocolate ganache. The finished product is a beautiful, sophisticated cake that is very rich but not in a cloyingly sweet way.

I made the recipe in stages, which always simplifies the composition of layer cakes.  Three days before assembly, I baked, cooled, and froze the cake layers. I made the salted caramel filling the night before decorating and composed the whipped ganache immediately before decorating. Had I chosen to make this cake in one shot, the task would have been a bit overwhelming as a bit of babysitting was required for each component. However, splitting up the tasks this way made the the whole process quite simple and the end result was awesome.

The cake appealed to both the children and adults alike! We did end up packaging up a large portion of the cake for friends otherwise I know Paul and I would have devoured the whole thing. If you would like to make this cake, I will gladly email you the recipe or you can try performing an internet search. It has been published on many, many websites and I am just feeling a bit too lazy to type it up at the moment (it's a bit lengthy and may result in carpal tunnel).

This was definitely a special occasion cake, but I cannot wait for the next opportunity to make and share this cake with others!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Earlier this month, our sweet little Matthew turned three years old! I can hardly believe how he has grown from the tiny, wailing baby I used to walk up and down the hallway all night long to the happy, playful, loving little boy he is today. He has brought Paul and I more joy than we could ever have imagined and continues to make us smile and laugh ever single day. I thank God every day for the gift of motherhood and I would not trade a single moment that I have had the privilege of spending with my Matthew for anything in the world. Currently, his favorite activities include coloring, painting, reading Thomas the Tank Engine themed books with Mommy, making kettle corn with Daddy, and snuggling under a fleece blanket while the whole family watches a Disney movie together.

I reviewed the photos from his previous two birthday celebrations and it simultaneously saddens and delights me to see how he has grown over the past couple years.

From our plump little baby who was scared of the frosting on his birthday cupcakes...

To a toddler just beginning to express his love of everything chocolate...

To our newly-turned three-year-old boy, celebrating his birthday with pizza, cake, and three of his closest friends...

We love you, dear Mr. Matthew and are very proud to be your parents. As the years go by and you continue to grow up, our hope is that you will forever stay sweet, vivacious, and curious. And remember, no matter what, you will always be my baby boy and I will never stop being your mommy!