Daring Baker #14 My Black Plague Valentino

I was so excited to make this cake. Only THREE freakin' ingredients. THREE! One of which would help deplete the excessive chocolate stores I'm still hoarding. All THREE of which I. already. owned. Do you know how rare this is? Well, it's ... rare.

But then. Then .... Just when I could finally see March comin' around the corner February reached up and bitchslapped me again.

Sick. Sick. Sick.

I whined. And coughed. And brought up that 'someone' bought me generic orange juice when it was the ooooooonnnnnnlllllly thing I could even bear to think about drinking. And He made the cake. And I didn't criticize. Much. I opted not to push my luck on the whole ice cream thing.

So here's the cake. It tastes EXACTLY like chocolate. Unfortunately this particular cake could have been a bit overcooked. And -might- have teensy bits of scrambled egg in it. But still - tastes EXACTLY like chocolate. Also, apparently we don't have any "parchment circles". But still. Tastes EXACTLY like chocolate. And plays nicely with ice cream.



You'll do things differently when you make it.




The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

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Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Jus

1. roast chicken
2. potatoes
3. tomatoes
4. broccoli
5. bottle of jus

I love roasted chicken. I love pomegranate molasses. So when I saw this Serious Eats post about Perfect Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Jus I knew it was meant to be.

And it was.

You might have noticed that my breast is naked. That's because I ripped off the skin and ate it while it was still hot and crispy. Totally worth it.

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Dark Days & Oatmeal

The world is full of evil. Palmer's "chocolate", deadly peanut butter, Rachel Ray, February. Good grief. It's just been one round of pestilence followed by the next. So the cookin'? Not so much.

And the eatin'? Well. See for yourself.



Oh, there was takeout Chinese. And Thai. And the leftovers from that. The highlight was probably this custom creation by the Boo.



Seriously people, I don't -remember- the last meal I cooked. Twenty seven boxes of popsicles and gallons of ginger ale? That I remember. The good news is we've consumed enough antibiotics we'll either be impervious to infection or we could be cultivating a superbug that will kill us all within 12 hours. Either way.

And then there's lunch. Which has been a lot of this.



1. oatmeal
2. patented mix of pecans, golden raisins and brown sugar

Tonight I'm cooking dinner.

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Those Who Can

1. salad (with beets!)
2. spinach dip
3. bread
4. fudgey brownie bite

Those who can do, those who can't, imitate. I do have standards though - I only imitate the best. And only if it looks easy. White on Rice Couple recently posted about a stovetop spinach dip. I like spinach dip! And it's easy. So I made it.



No water chestnuts though, because really - what's the point? Oh, and I used bacon fat instead of oil because, well - it's bacon fat! And I didn't have enough Paremesan. But! I did have a can of that powdered stuff leftover from the great Pioneer Woman debacle of aught seven. It was pretty clumpy so I closed it up and shook it. Hard. Repeatedly. Sounded like there was a hockey puck in the can. And maybe I was a little angry. Anyway. I'm not what happened exactly but the next thing I knew a disk of compressed cheese powder went flying over my shoulder and I was literally covered in the stuff. Know what? The odor. It lingers. The dog couldn't get enough of me. And Him? Nearly had to get the hose out to get Him off my leg.

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It's Fresh AND Easy

1. Asian marinated short ribs
2. celery
3. potato salad
4. itty grape tomatoes
5. fudgey brownie bites

Today's lunch brought to you in it's entirety by Fresh & Easy. Unfortunately there was no commercial consideration. Which is probably just as well 'cause I have to advise against both the short ribs and the potato salad. I can however whole-heartedly recommend the fudgey brownie bites. And that was some mighty fine celery.

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Lick Skillet Pan Sauce and Some Other Stuff

There was a time when hearing the words "I don't think I'll be home for dinner" would really kinda piss me off. Especially if I'd already started cooking said dinner. But that was then. Now? Like music to my lunch packing ears. Not that my ears pack lunch, but you know what I mean.

1. feelay
2. green beans
3. yellow potatoes
4. apples
5. mocha sandwich cookies

That glob of something on top of the steak is not a mushroom. That's the scraped up remains of the most fantastically awesome sauce ever. I de-glazed the pan with a glug of Shiraz (Robert Shaw 2008) and finished it with a glob of left-over brandy butter. Good gravy! Literally. I actually wiped out the rest of the sauce with my finger. And ate it. If I hadn't used my heavy cast iron skillet I woulda lifted that puppy up and licked it clean. For realz ya'll.

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Daring Baker #13 Too Sexy for My Tuile

Oh! Hey! It's the 29th already. The 29th? Already? Crap.

Guess I better make some tuile. Tuiles. Tuili. Whatever.





Lemon mousse made by folding together equal amounts of lemon curd and lightly sweetened whipped cream. Leaf shaped tuile edged in dark chocolate and garnished with a strawberry heart - served to Boy and the Girlfriend. Verdict? Sexy.


This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

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