Mexican Chocolate Cake

This cake is THE chocolate cake. If I ever baked you a chocolate cake, or you ever ate my mother's chocolate cake you know this cake. It is moist, light, but not too light, and super chocolatey. In my family we call it "Mrs. Gude's cake" (after the woman who gave my mother the recipe in 1967) or "mom's chocolate cake" or "the chocolate cake".

This weekend we were invited to a Mexican-themed BBQ at our friends' Jason and Caitlin's place (Caroline's bean dip and Jason's tacos al pastor were both dynamite!). I was assigned dessert and tried to think up a good dessert that would transport easily and hold in hot weather without detriment. The chocolate cake always traveled well, but how to make it fit the theme....add some cayenne and cinnamon and you get....

Mexican Chocolate Cake! Because there is a little kick to this cake, you definitely want to serve the cake with ice cream or maybe some whipped cream, too cool things off a bit. If you want a regular chocolate cake, just omit the cinnamon and cayenne and enjoy!

This cake is very forgiving, if you don't want a 9x13 cake, just halve the recipe evenly on all ingredients and make an 8 inch round or 9 inch square. However, since the cake freezes so well, just make the whole recipe and freeze it in single squares. It is yummy straight from the freezer, or defrosted.

For one cake, 9x13:

• Butter a 9x13 cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter up that too.
• Preheat oven at 350.
• Measure 1/2 cup milk and add a splash of cider vinegar, let sit while you prepare everything else.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 12 TBS butter
• 1 cup water
• 12 TBS cocoa powder (I use Hershey's)
• 2 tsp high quality cinnamon (I used Extra-Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon from Penzeys)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour milk (see above- milk plus vinegar)
• 2 eggs

Process

• On a sheet of parchment paper, sift together flour and baking soda, set aside
• Combine sugar and salt together into mixing bowl, set aside
• In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and water together
• When butter is completely melted, while mixture is still hot, immediately whisk in cocoa, cinnamon and cayenne
• When smooth, immediately add to sugar/salt in mixing bowl and whisk until sugar is melted completely and batter is smooth
• Either by hand or with an electric mixer (standing or hand held), mix in flour mixture until batter is smooth
• Pour in sour milk and beat until batter is smooth
• Beat in the eggs (if by hand, for 200 strokes or 2 minutes, if using mixer, beat for 1 minute)
• Immediately pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
• Test doneness by putting a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean/dry, the cake is done
• Let cake cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then turn out cake onto the rack, peel off paper, and flip over carefully
• Dust cake with a mixture of confectioner's sugar and cinnamon, serve with ice cream

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Although I always liked the concept of a Buffalo Chicken Pizza from a restaurant, I was frequently  disappointed in execution.  Most were a pizza with tomato sauce, unseasoned chicken, tasteless cheese and were soggy and greasy from being doused with buffalo sauce (which is really just a pepper-infused vinegar and melted butter...not exactly sauce so much as it is a vinaigrette).  And then, one day while perusing the cheese case at Whole Foods (some women shop for clothes...I shop for cheese), I came across a Buffalo Wing Cheddar made by Yancey's in upstate NY.  Now that I'm looking for it, I've seen the cheese at Stop and Shop, and my mom reports a sighting at Hannaford's in the sticks of NH.

So now that I had the Buffalo Wing Cheddar, I set about to crafting it into a pizza.  I knew I wanted there to be something sweet that would play off the spicy well, but although tomato sauce can be sweet, it can also have too much of a tangy bite that would compete with the spicy flavors.  I settled on one of my favorite bases for a pizza or panini: beermelized onions.  The Buffalo Wing Cheddar is super spicy (I mean it, don't over do it with this cheese!), and I knew I couldn't cover an entire pizza, for it would be overkill.  Solution: a few slices of fresh mozzarella to balance things out and give a gentle creaminess to offset the spicy.  Next question was how to prepare the chicken.  As I mentioned, many pizzas with chicken overlook a key component: seasoning of the chicken.  This small simple step enhances the flavor of the chicken so much, that it isn't just a boring piece of protein.  I settled on pan-cooking boneless skinless chicken thighs seasoned with salt, pepper, and ground chipotle.  Finished off with some Gorgonzola crumbles, and you have a great pizza to pair with your favorite IPA.

What you get is a complex pizza with a balance of sweet earthiness from the beermelized onions,spicy buffalo flavor, a touch of smokiness from the chicken, and a nice piquant kick from the Gorgonzola.  This is Matt's newest favorite.  He almost said it has unseated the spicy chicken sandwich....but then quickly made the distinction that they are two different dishes.  My vote?  This kicks the spicy chicken sandwich's butt.  Another benefit of this pizza?  You can cook the chicken and the beermelized onions any time before pizza assembly, and keep in the fridge for a couple days.  Then you've got a fast assembly before baking and eating dinner.

For the Chicken:

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat, and seasoned with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and ground chipotle
• With a little olive oil in a pan, heat pan over medium heat
• Cook chicken thighs one side at a time, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes total, but do not over cook
• When cool enough to touch, chop into bite sized pieces

For the Pizza:

• Upon your favorite pizza dough, spread out the beermelized onions as a base
• Scatter chicken pieces
• Place fresh mozzarella slices atop pizza next
• Place grated Buffalo Wing Cheddar on next
• Scatter gorgonzola crumbles atop pizza (see below for a picture to see pre-cooked distribution of ingredients)
• Cook as you would any pizza
• If you are Matt, serve with blue cheese dip for the crusts

Indian Spiced Yogurt Marinated Lamb Kebabs over Herb Salad

Visiting Mom this weekend for more wedding planning and we wanted to make something fun for dinner without having to go to the store.  She happened to have some boneless lamb shoulder, and suggested lamb kebabs.  I started looking at marinade options, and devised my own based loosely on a tandoori recipe.  Since summer has come early to NH, we also wanted a lighter dish, and didn't have any naan or lavash anyways, so served the kebabs over an herb salad (although if you wanted to make the meal heartier, or feel a necessity for starch, you can always have some warm naan or lavash on the side and roll up the kebabs with the salad inside too).

These kebabs would be stellar over a charcoal grill, but we were too tired to haul it out last night.  The broiler worked great, giving a slight char and keeping the lamb juicy and tender.  The kebabs will make good leftovers, either brought to room temperature or reheated gently.  Some of the spices may not be regular players in your pantry (tumeric, coriander, mustard powder), but it is worth buying a small quantity to make this dish.  Tangy, not too spicy, but very complex, mouthwatering and good for you too.  Try to find sustainable, all natural lamb for this dish.

For 4 people

Marinade:

• 1 cup 0% greek yogurt
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• 1/2 TBS sweet paprika
• 1/2 TBS ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 TBS milk

Kebabs:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean, boneless lamb shoulder or leg, trimmed of fat and cut into 2" chunks
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1 1/2" pieces

Salad:

• Small head of romaine lettuce, cut into ribbons
• 2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
• small handful parsley, roughly chopped
• small handful cilantro, roughly chopped
• juice of half a lime and 1/2 tsp lime zest
• 2 TBS olive oil

Instructions:

• Whisk together marinade ingredients in big bowl
• Add lamb chunks to marinade, coat thoroughly and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight (if refrigerating overnight, let lamb come to room temp before cooking)
• Thread lamb chunks onto metal skewers, placing two chunks of red pepper per lamb chunk alternately on the kebab
• Broil kebabs on foil, 3 minutes first side and 2 minutes on the second side for medium rare, then let rest for 5 minutes (if you have a charcoal grill, cook for same time over direct heat)
• While kebabs rest, assemble salad by tossing the lettuce and herbs with the lime juice, lime zest and olive oil
• Place kebabs atop salad, family style, or make individual plates, giving each person 4 to 5 lamb chunks and 8 or so red pepper chunks

Sage and Sausage Stuffed Chicken Bundles Braised in Beer

A couple weeks ago I was visiting mom and she was de-boning some chicken thighs for dinner.  She by chance remembered one time she made a surprise dinner for my dad years before my sister and I came along that involved using leftover breakfast sausage links rolled up inside the de-boned chicken thigh and then braised quickly on the stove top.  Well, Matt and I love chicken thighs, and we really love sausage (of all varieties).  So, I gave thought to how to dress up the dish easily (roasted red pepper) and a braising liquid that could boil down to make a savory, but slightly sweet pan sauce (beer and tomatoes).  Although sausage-stuffed chicken thighs are a common dish, what makes these a different take is the time-saving of using an already seasoned sausage link in the perfect size and shape instead of making a sausage stuffing.  To make this dish I give you options for short cuts, but if you have a few extra minutes, and want to save a buck or two that works as well. You can make this dish either with leftover sausage links from breakfast, or just thaw out some fully cooked "brown and serve" links.  I discovered that Wellshire farms makes a great classic breakfast sausage link.

Serves 4

• 4 large skinless, de-boned chicken thighs, fat trimmed (you can take the short cut and buy already boned chicken thighs, or save a dollar and bone the chicken thighs yourself, and then also make a quick, small batch of chicken stock with the bones)
• 4 breakfast sausage links, leftover from breakfast or thawed, either way, room temperature (classic flavoring, sage and black pepper, do not use maple-flavored)
• Fresh Sage, 2 tsp chopped for bundles, plus 2 tsp for finishing pan sauce
• Roasted red pepper, 4 1/2" by 2" strips plus 1/4 cup chopped  (roast a small red pepper oiled up under your broiler, turning regularly until charred all over, when cool, stem, seed and remove skin...or take the short cut and used jarred ones or ones from the antipasti bar at the store)
• Flour for bundles
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 6 ounces brown or red ale, something malty and nutty (as I've mentioned before, when I don't have Matt's homebrew, my go-to cooking beer is Smutty's Old Brown Dog)

Directions

• Layout the chicken thighs on a board, and where the bone used to be, place a single sausage link and roasted red pepper strip and 1/2 tsp chopped sage into each thigh.  Roll up each chicken thigh into a bundle and tie with butcher's twine.
• Lightly flour each bundle and season with salt and pepper.
• In a sauté pan that has a lid, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
• Add bundles, brown on all sides, then remove to a plate.
• Lower heat to medium low and add chopped onion.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add chopped tomato and stir until juices begin to release, about 2 minutes.
• Add chicken bundles back to pan and pour in beer.  Raise heat and bring to a boil, then lower heat to super low, put lid on and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
• Remove chicken bundles to a warm plate and boil sauce until thick and only a half cup, about 5 minutes.
• Pour pan sauce over chicken bundles and sprinkle on remaining 1 TBS of freshly chopped sage and 1/4 cup of chopped roasted red pepper.
• Serve with crusty bread or rolls

The dish also makes good leftovers, just remember to reheat slowly.  Enjoy!

Warm Lentil Salad with Pork (or Chicken or Tofu)

Invented this last week when I realized that I had few leftovers in the house and would be leaving for a couple days. If I hadn't come up with something yummy and fun, Matt would have eaten cereal or shells and cheese all weekend. This is great out of the pan, and heats up (according to Matt) very well. I happened to have a couple boneless pork loin chops in the freezer I used up for this, but you could use pieces of chicken or even tofu.

Makes 4-6 servings for dinner or lunch

• 3/4 pound green lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound pork, cut into bite-sized chunks (or chicken thighs/breasts or tofu)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or white wine or combination of the two)
• 1 1/2 TBS mild brown mustard (I used Raye's Wintergarden, which has a touch of dill)
• 2 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fruity olive oil
• 2 TBS chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup gorgonzola crumbles

Put lentils and bay leaf in a medium pot and cover with a few inches of water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 25-35 minutes, or until tender, but not too soft. Drain well and discard bay leaf.

Meanwhile... Season pork chunks well with kosher salt and black pepper. In a wide skillet with high sides or large pot, brown and cook through the pork over medium high heat. Remove from pot and put aside. Add chopped onion, minced garlic and dried thyme and cook over medium low heat (don't burn the garlic!) until softened. Add broth and/or white wine to deglaze the pan. Add drained lentils and pork chunks, stir to combine over low heat until everything is warmed through. Turn off heat, add fresh oregano. Combine mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a cup and whisk to emulsify. Pour over lentil salad and stir to coat. Add gorgonzola crumbles. Serve.

NOTE: if you are making this for one or two and will be keeping some as leftovers, do not add all of the gorgonzola to the salad, add it to individual plates. If you store the salad with the gorgonzola in it, the next day it will taste only of gorgonzola and lose all complexity. After reheating a portion, then add the gorgonzola.