Fabulous Chocolate Pudding Cakes

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I have always shown my love to family and friends through my creations from the kitchen. From the time my kids were little, time spent around the dining room table was precious - time to share our day, our humor, our stories and our love. And fabulous food. Here is a recipe for one of my family's favorite desserts, perfect for a Valentine's Day dinner. They are easy to make and can be made ahead of time. Just pop them in the oven 10 minutes before you want to serve them.

This dessert is all about the chocolate and butter so, first, you must let go of the worries about cholesterol and calories! Here is what you will need:

5-1/2 oz of bittersweet chocolate (don't skimp here - it is all about the chocolate)
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp flour

Lightly butter 6 ramekins with the 1 tbsp of butter. Set aside. Melt the chocolate with the remaining butter in a double boiler over gently boiling water. If you don't have one, set a heatproof bowl over gently boiling water. Stir them together as they melt until they look like this.
Set aside to cool. If you put the chocolate mixture in a clean bowl, it will cool faster.

In another bowl, mix together the eggs and yolks, using a hand mixer on medium speed, for about 5 minutes - until they are a nice lemon color like this.

Add flour and mix again, just until blended. Add cooled chocolate mixture and mix one last time, just until blended. Pour this equally into the ramekins. At this stage, you can cover with wrap and set aside at room temp until you are ready to put in the oven.

Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for only 10-11 minutes. The outside should look like a brownie but the inside should still be moist and shake a bit. Don't over cook them! They should look like this (or even moister in the middle, if you prefer).

Sprinkle a little confectioner's sugar, add a dallop of whipped cream or even top with a little vanilla ice cream.

That's it. All done and to die for. Off to show my family some love ... and share my pudding cakes with them. Happy Valentine's Day!

Beth

in the kitchen with the {newnew}: espresso shortbread

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though i first made them for christmas gifts, these very grown-up cookies seem tailor-made for valentine's day. they'd be right at home next to a big cappuccino or latte on a breakfast-in-bed tray, or tucked into a bowl of ice cream for dessert. your valentine will thank you....

ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 cup ground espresso
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chips)


1) beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until creamy and smooth (about 2 minutes). add the vanilla and beat well. on low speed, mix in the flour, espresso, and salt until just combined.


2) scrape the the dough out of the mixing bowl with a spatula, making sure all ingredients are incorporated. form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours.


3) preheat oven to 300˚. roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4" thick (it should be about an 8" x 10" rectangle). using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2" squares and place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets. prick them with a fork, and bake until pale golden around the edges, about 20-24 minutes. cool completely on a wire rack.


4) when the shortbread is cool, melt the chocolate on medium-low heat in the microwave until liquid---about 2-1/2 minutes in my microwave, possibly faster in yours. dip half of each shortbread square into the chocolate. as you get down to the bottom of the bowl, use a spatula to scrape out the dregs of the chocolate and coat the last of the cookies. though the picture below shows them cooling on a rack post-chocolate, i found the chocolate stuck to the rack, and had better luck when i cooled them on wax paper in future batches.




- cakehouse

Turnip Cakes: A Traditional Chinese New Year Good Eats

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As far as I can remember, I've eaten turnip cakes at dim sum and for Chinese New Year. For the uninitiated, dim sum is the Chinese equivalent of brunch. Turnip cakes is a savory dish made with Chinese sausages, mushrooms, dried shrimp, rice flour and, despite the name, radishes, not turnips. (The name probably just stuck after noble attempts to translate the dish into English, at least I'd like to think!)

Growing up, I used to help my mom make batches of lor bot go, as we call it. We'd make several batches for ourselves for the new year, (which traditionally lasts for 15 days). We'd also package several to give away to friends and relatives. My mom never used a measuring cup, and always relied on the ingredients. We always made huge batches, often cooking into the night to create tins of cakes to pass out. This following recipe is my humble attempts to quantify what we've done over the years, so you can make 2-3 8 inch round tins (rather than the dozens we always churned out)!


Ingredients*:
  • I large daikon radish (white turnip) about 5lbs
  • 1 chinese sausage
  • about 25 dried shrimp, soaked overnight
  • about 15 chinese dried mushrooms, soaked overnight
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups of rice flour
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • scallions or cilantro
  • Dice up the dried shrimp into small pieces. Save the water the shrimps are soaked in.
  • When the mushrooms and soft from soaking, remove the stems and chop into small pieces. Save the water the mushrooms are soaked in.
  • Cut off both ends of turnip, peel, then grate or shred.
  • Add the shredded turnip into a large pot and fill it with water to the level of the turnip.
  • Add mushroom and dried shrimp water into the pot as well.
  • Boil until the turnips are soft and translucent. Add salt to taste. Set aside to cool to room temp.
  • Dice the sausage into small pieces.
  • In a wok or skillet, pan fry the sausages for 2 minutes in medium heat, or until the sausages turn a translucent red. Add garlic, mushrooms and shrimp, and stir for another 2 minutes. Add pepper to taste.
  • When the sausage, mushroom, shrimp mixture is done, transfer it directly into the pot with the turnips

  • Slowly add the rice flour into the pot with all the ingredients. It will look like a sloppy slurry. (Depending on how moist or stiff you like your cakes, you can add more or less rice flour.)
  • Separate into tins and using a large steamer, steam until done. You'll know it's done when the slurry turns into the consistency of the first photo. Garnish with chopped scallions and you're set!
The beauty of this dish is that it is hard to mess up. There is no such thing as over-steaming. You can add as much or as little mushroom/shrimp/sausage as you like. (Fellow NewNew member May Luk shares her recipe here.) Many people enjoy this savory treat at room temperature with a cup of tea. Others (like myself) like to slice it up and pan fry it so there's a nice crunchy texture. Either way, it's a traditional comfort food that always puts a smile on my face, as it is one of the things I looked forward to making with my mom around this time of year.

* You can find these ingredients in most Chinese grocery stores or markets. In NYC, I'd recommend going into Brooklyn's 8th Avenue area, or head to Kam Man on Canal Street in Manhattan. The dried shrimps are usually displayed in big containers, but are sold by weight. The dried mushrooms can also be found in packages. If you can't find them, you can substitute with Shitake mushrooms. Chinese sausages can usually be found at the grocery stores in packages like hot dogs. Or for a fresher variety, head to the meat shops where they are usually hanging 2 per string. And finally, for the rice flour, you want the glutinous kind, although the regular (non glutinous) version will work also. It will give you a denser, cake-like texture. If you end up using the non-glutinous, be sure to lighten up on the amount of rice flour. Otherwise you'll have a super hard block of turnip cake!

-
Lisa {fubabee}
http://fubabee.com

Happy New Year: Japanese-American Potato Salad Recipe

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All over Asia, New Year's is the family holiday of the year, and Japan is no exception. Back in the old country, people sit around on New Year's Day reading their enormous stacks of New Year's cards and eating Osechi, but we've gotten a little more casual this side of the pond. (A friend of mine calls it the "hang-over party.") The main traditions we've saved at my household are spending a whole day eating delicious food enjoying the company of family and close friends.

Try this Japanese-American twist on good old potato salad!




Japanese-American Potato Salad
(serves a crowd)

5lbs of Russet Potatoes, peeled and in large dice
8 hard boiled eggs, shelled and in large dice
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 carrot, roughly grated
2 Tbsp. dried baby shrimp
2 cups mayonnaise (more or less depending on your taste)
Salt and Pepper

Boil potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, but firm. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, peas, and carrot. If necessary, mince baby shrimp finely (you shouldn't be able to see them once incorporated into the salad), sprinkle over salad and combine. Add mayonnaise until it reaches the consistency you like, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. This salad tastes best if left in the refrigerator overnight to let flavors combine.

You might tuck this recipe away until the Lunar New Year, it's never failed on Chinese New Year's either!

~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com