Here’s a shot of one of the chocolate lava cakes I made for my brother-in-law’s birthday party. I think the last time I made these was for the same occasion, two years ago. Gideon had said periodically since then that I should make them again, and my answer has always been, “I’ll make them for Ed’s birthday.” So here they are. I made some changes from the recipe I found online, and this is now a pretty standard recipe anyway. I did find it interesting that, as for a number of recipes, the innovation came about because of a mistake. Its originator, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, apparently pulled a chocolate cake out of the oven too soon and realized that its underbaked warm center was actually an asset. Then he must have developed the individual cakes that are usual today. A full-sized version would be very messy to serve.
You’ll notice in the recipe below that I’ve given another idea for serving these, which is to just leave them in the individual ramekins and let people eat them that way. You thus avoid the dreaded non-molding cakes and the fiddling with hot little dishes.
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Holding the whole pepper on a fork over a gas flame, turning it until all sides are blackened. Putting the peppers directly on an electric burner, again monitoring it and turning it until done. Putting the peppers under the broiler. Putting the roasted peppers into a paper bag to steam. Rinsing every bit of blackened skin off under running water. On and on. While these peppers are a great addition to salads, they sometimes can seem more trouble than they’re worth. But they’re very expensive if you buy them at the grocery store, and I don’t think they taste as good as the freshly-made ones. So here’s my take on them, which is still finicky but easier than the run-of-the-mill procedures.
This is another sort-of-fiddly item that I make because I can’t stand the thought of buying them pre-made. They’re really not all that hard. This is more of a procedure than a recipe. I’ve made them with Italian flavors since that fits with my usual homemade salad dressing, creamy Italian. Other spices could include cumin or smoked paprika. Fresh herbs wouldn’t work as they’d tend to burn.
I am mildly obsessed with salad dressing and for the most part refuse to buy the store-bought stuff. The following is a recipe that I have tweaked and tweaked until it’s pretty much perfect. There is almost always a container of it sitting in our fridge. A perfect salad to go with this perfect dressing consists of romaine, spinach, red onion, roasted red peppers, homemade croutons, and perhaps some toasted pine nuts, if you can stand to pay for them.
I hope to add a better picture the next time I make this. It’s a great family dinner, but it also works very well for company, especially if you want to have a make-ahead meal. I made this for an after-church Sunday lunch and it was great.
I’ve been serving this cheesecake for many years, having gotten the original recipe from the old Gourmet magazine. (I think.) It’s very unusual, with a flavor combination of white chocolate and ginger that’s just delicious. As with any good cheesecake it’s very rich, but that richness means that a little goes a long way. Dividing it up into muffin cups is a great portion control mechanism. If you eat only one you’ll be well within the 25-gram added-sugar limit for one day. The picture, however, is of a leftover portion baked in a small pie plate.
A number of years ago I was asked to do the rehearsal dinner for a gluten-intolerant bride. I wanted to make a dessert that she could eat, and I was told that she liked chocolate and pumpkin. Hmmm. I hadn’t ever really thought of that flavor combination, but it sounded pretty good. So I went online to see what ideas were out there, and I came up with a pumpkin-chocolate pie, basically a two-layer cheesecake baked as a pie. It had a crumb crust, which I couldn’t use, so I needed a way to make it easy to slice and eat without one. That’s how I came up with the idea of making it in muffin cups, and I called them “timbales.” Sounded pretty classy, and they were a great hit. Awhile after the dinner we were told that what the bride actually liked was raw pumpkin from the can mixed with chocolate chips! (I could have saved myself a lot of work by just serving a bowlful of that combination.) You’ll note that the picture doesn’t have the muffin liners, and that the timbales look a bit messy. That’s because I discovered at 6:15 AM that I didn’t have any liners. They are definitely easier and neater with the liners. Since I’m not making these gluten-free any more, I’ve added the chocolate-graham-cracker crust.
I would never willingly make any other kind of dressing, or stuffing, or whatever you want to call it, for Thanksgiving. I made this for the first time at least 25 years ago, and it’s been a great favorite ever since. I’m reasonably sure that I got it from Bon Appetit magazine, but I’ve made a few changes here and there. It has Italian sausage in it, so it must be great!