Tantilizing Photos

I've been drawn to amazing pictures lately, but I've really been enjoying gorgeously rendered food photographs. Click on the image, and you can zoom in. Anything you haven't been able to look away from?

Many thanks to Fosters Market, Pixdaus, Waffleizer, Say Yes! to Hoboken, and A Cup of Jo.

P.S. Happy Easter!

Improvising

Recipes used to be the only way I would cook. My sophomore year in college, I bought my red Betty (Betty Crocker Cook Book), and I have been collecting cook books ever since. Funny enough, I don't always use them--a lot of times they are a jumping off stage (See Betty's Strawberry Glace pie--so good! Even better, when B improvises and makes it a Strawberry-Mango Glace pie--AMAZING!).

My brother Nathan used to just throw things in, and it would turn out perfectly succulent! I always envied him that. For some reason the chemistry would always befuddle me, and I would worry that I would ruin something. Gone are those days. Well, maybe I just don't care anymore.

Yesterday, after my regular Sunday nap, I was laying in bed planning out my dinner menu (I had signed up to feed the missionaries, but forgot about it, so was hoping I had all the ingredients I needed). The night before I had made a butternut squash, apple cider soup, and a trifle. I had a little left over soup (that I wasn't in the mood for), cream, whipped cream, and pudding. B had gotten some yellow squash at the farmers' market, and I always have a little ground beef in the freezer.

"Okay, maybe some kind of stroganoff?" I thought. Turns out I didn't have any pasta, which is when I decided it was handmade pasta time. Egg noodles are incredibly easy if you have a food processor--all you need are two cups of flour, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt. My multiple cookbooks all mention the volcano method (build a mountain out of the flour, put the eggs in a well in the middle, slowly mix until you have a dough), but that has never worked especially well for me-- only about half the time. The New Best Recipe comments on this, and says to try it in the food processor.

Many years ago, I made spinach pasta, which turned out great, but was super involved. As I thought it through, I realized that a lot of the steps for the spinach I had already done--when making the soup. A butternut squash, apple cider noodle, perhaps? And using leftover butternut squash make a kind-of stroganoff.

Throwing the leftover soup and the flour in the food processor, I went to town. Unfortunately, I had way too much soup, and had to slowly add more and more flour during the kneading process. As I was too lazy to get out my pasta maker, I pulled out the rolling pin and pizza cutter, and went about making my noodles. While those were cooking (place them in a pot of not-too-violently boiling, salted water, and drain when they float to the top), I started on my sauce.

I had already steamed the last of the butternut squash, added butter, a little cream, and as I started to throw in the almonds to add a nuttier flavor and a little crunch, I was abruptly halted by B.Rad explaining, "Elder Peterson is deathly allergic to almonds, actually any kind of nut other than peanuts!" Great. Glad I knew. Thank goodness he was there, or I would have sent a missionary to the hospital. Also, thank goodness my ground beef was still browning, rather than in the pot with the now unusable (except sometime later this week for dinner) sauce.

Back to full-on improvising. . . Butter, cream, a tiny bit of left-over smoked Gouda, a little salt, pepper, nutmeg. Add in the ground beef, toss with the noodles, and pray. I sauteed up the yellow squash for a side, and had some pineapple and strawberries chopped and in a bowl. It turned out pretty good. I had to thin it with a little milk, and sadly, the subtle flavors of the pasta were somewhat masked, but hey, I didn't kill a missionary, so plus for me.

Also, plus for me? A quick devil's food cake recipe whipped up with Dark Chocolate Cocoa, and frosted with a vanilla pudding/whipped cream mixture. As Thells said, "Ooh, tastes like an Oreo." Only better, because it was warm, dark chocolate cake and not a semi stale, hard cookie! I was going to eat it for breakfast, sadly, I forgot it on my way out the door.

Hey, at least I can have it when I get home tonight. Yay! for Improvising in the kitchen!

P.S. Always tell someone before dinner that you have a food allergy. Or they could kill you! 19 year old boys, gotta love them.

5 Minute, Single serving, Chocolate Cake

How about a little cake? I do not often blog about forwards, but this recipe needed to be shared. Isn't there ever a moment where you are reading a book, watching TV, or needing an ice-cream chaser; and you think, "I want chocolate cake!" This is the recipe for you...

THE 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR ONE PERSON.......
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous.)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Wow. Just, Wow.

Around the Web in Foodie Posts

A tour of the Interwebs with an eye to good food

• Slate asks about making your own staples--I can't wait to try the bagel recipe!
• Check out a bread cookbook I may just have to get. No kneading?!? Awesome!
• Once again, Chou outdoes herself!
• And then she gardens! Sheesh. There is no living up to her...
• Smart ways to use coupons.
• The Worldwide Ward Cookbook
• Kitchen Cleaning Tips
• Looking for Cinco De Mayo recipes? Travel South of the Border without getting the flu.
• Yes, please. Stephanie Plum would be proud.
• A recipe to make your tastebuds tingle. . .
• Bizarre Kitchen Pictures/Nightmares? - though I can totally see my death by Nutella.

Guest Post: The Ups and Downs of Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Hello D3 Delish Dish readers! I'm a former D3 sister, and now I'm a Harlem sista, having moved away from Chapel Hill and into the big city about a year and a half ago. Nevertheless, I have followed your blog with interest, being a true lover of food, and I am happy to be able to contribute to the group. My passion is baking, so I will probably end up sharing mainly desserts, but you never know--I just might get inspired and start branching out. Heaven knows I need more vegetables in my life.

The past few days I have been consumed by Pineapple Upside Down Cake. A coworker hired me to bake one for her husband's birthday, and I accepted the challenge, even though I had never attempted one before. It always sounded so complicated. But it's really not. Maybe a 6.5 on the 1-10 baking scale of difficulty, and if you buy almond flour that brings it down to about 4.

Anyway, since she asked me on Saturday, I decided to make a practice cake on Sunday using a simple recipe I found online. It turned out okay, and it was a hit at the dessert party I took it to (especially with the guys! note that men seem to LOVE this type of cake) but I was not a hundred percent sold on it. It seemed kind of flat. So the next night I tried a different recipe, with more unusual ingredients, which I spent half the night running around in a rainstorm to find. You won't have a problem in Chapel Hill, but in New York, you'd be surprised at how barbaric the grocery stores are. They never have anything I need. That second cake seemed to turn out really well, and that is the cake I gave my coworker for her husband.

So, tonight I decided that after all my trouble, I should make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for me! And I did. Here is the recipe I used, and my notes:

Ingredients:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 can (20 ounce) pineapple slices (rings)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp cake flour
6 Tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Gather all your ingredients together, along with 2 mixing bowls and a big cast-iron skillet. If you don't have a skillet, you can use a 10-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides.

2. In the skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter and add the brown sugar, stirring until the sugar is liquid and bubbling. Remove from the heat and add the pineapple slices, with one in the center and the rest all around. Set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

4. Whisk the flours, almonds, baking powder, and salt together in one mixing bowl and set aside. (Note, you can either chop up almonds for about 45 minutes by hand or use some kind of modern kitchen appliance to grind them into powder, or you can use almond flour from Whole Foods. It's either your time or your money! I chopped, then ground with a rolling pin, then sifted until I had fine almond powder and nice arm muscles.)

5. In a separate bowl, mix the 1 cup butter and the white sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating after each one. Add the vanilla, too.

6. Alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream, continuing to mix well after each, and scraping the sides of the bowl to mix thoroughly.

7. Pour the batter into the cast iron skillet, over the pineapple and brown sugar base, completely covering it.

8. Bake for about an hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. (Mmmm... lick the bowl!) When the cake is done, cool it in the pan for 10 or 15 minutes and then turn it over onto a pretty platter, revealing the sugary pineapple top.

9. Enjoy warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or just a tall glass of cold milk.

10. There should be ten steps to this recipe, so I will say lastly: share a slice with your neighbor. When my cake was done baking tonight, and my sister and I were enjoying it, I noticed that my adorable neighbor-guy (our windows face each other across an alley, so yes--we are always spying on each other!) was home alone watching TV. So I took him a piece of cake. He was completely surprised and genuinely happy to receive it, and promised to cook something for me next week. See! What did I tell you? I think there is something about this cake and men... In fact, my hunt for a cast-iron skillet resulted in me making at least 3 new male friends. It might sound silly, but I think this cake is charmed with romantic powers. And even if it weren't, it's amazingly delicious!

Who Died?

I was talking with my mom recently and she said she was making chocolate cake. The first thing that came out of

my mouth was, "Who died?"

That may seem an odd and insensitive thing to say, but my mother has developed a pattern of chocolate cake baking that only occasionally breaks free. Whenever a member of her ward passes away, she is asked/volunteers to make the chocolate cake for the lunch following the services. So here's what my hometown's so excited about:

Mom's Moist Chocolate Cake:

(also known as Texas Sheet Cake)

2 Cups sugar

1 Cup liquid shortening (may use applesauce)

2 eggs

4 Tbsp cocoa

2 Cups hot water

3 Cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp vanilla

Grease and flour a 10x15 jelly roll pan. In large bowl mix all dry ingredients except soda and baking powder. Mix with 1 cup water. Add soda and baking powder and eggs with 1 cup water. Add vanilla. Combine with dry mixture. Add shortening. Makes a very runny batter. Bake at 350 for 23 minutes. Cool about 5 min before frosting. Frost. This can be left uncovered and still remain moist. (Bake for 35-40 min if using regular cake pan)

Dark Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 Cup margarine or butter

4 Tbsp cocoa (heaping)

4-4.5 Cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

milk (about 6 Tbsp)

Melt margarine in pan. Add vanilla and cocoa. Stir in half of milk and powdered sugar. Add rest of milk and more powdered sugar to make consistency you desire. Drop by spoonfuls onto warm sheet cake and let cake warm the frosting before you try to spread it. Spread frosting around carefully. May sprinkle with nuts if desired.

Dining Out: Nantucket

Twelve of us dined out last evening. I knew some of the people there were foodies, but I was truly pleased by those I didn't know were foodies joining the group. Reading the menu was a pleasure. There were so many choices that seemed perfect. Truly rough battles were fought between Chicken Pot Pie or Sauteed Shrimp & Scallops. Or Pine Nut Salad vs. the Cranberry Bog (Hot roasted turkey with warm stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayonnaise, served on a grilled French bread roll). The french fries were lauded, but the onion rings looked like perfection. The fry bread brought to the table melted in your mouth without being too oily. The crab dip burst in an explosion of flavor off your tongue. After having my wisdom teeth out the day before, the Lobster bisque and mashed potatoes with homemade country gravy were savory moments of tasty goodness.

Though, I expect a few entries from those who went last night, or at least critiques of your dish in the comments, I truly had a fantastic experience. As each of us bit into a final bite of Chocolate Sundae Cake, I knew that we were sisters of this perfect shared experience--chocolate and cookies, combined with white cake and a whipped cream frosting, tantalizing your taste buds in an exquisite moment of pure delight. And we were sisters of a shared gospel, coming together to enjoy good company and great food.

Dining Out Decisions

Okay, foodies, it is time for you to vote. . .

Dining Out is Saturday, April 4th at 7:00 pm, but a restaurant is still in limbo. If there is a specific basketball game on, we may switch locales, but as of now, we are still on.

Please choose one of the following for dinner:

1. Carrburritos--parking is a little iffy (especially if one of those basketball games is on, but the food more than makes up for it).

2. Nantucket--not always too crowded, also great outdoor seating. And the cake. . . Wow (It is a Stephanie Plum dream).

3. The Melting Pot--a little pricey, but if we just get cheese and dessert, it could be perfect.

Please leave your vote in the comments section! Or, if you have a better suggestion, add it!