deep, dark, delightful

dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting

i haven't actually made a new recipe or cooked a real meal since about the last time i posted. i did have a cooking date last week with my momma, and we made jambalaya via skype, but i forgot to photograph it. and honestly, it was delicious but it's brown. it doesn't look pretty. but i will still share the recipe, which as far as i'm concerned came from my grandmother.

i have made several pizzas, because my diet mostly consists of mozzarella, basil, olive oil, garlic and various carbs in many combinations. it just doesn't seem like something anyone cares to see 1000 times.

but around 11 pm last night i was needing to A. make something, i just needed to. B. eat some chocolate. like pronto. so i found the recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes i had been drooling over for a while from How Sweet It Is, but i needed a frosting recipe too. (i really wanted the total chocolate package) so i googled this recipe too.

they are awesome, almost too rich to finish just one. (i never think anything is too rich, pretty much ever) and both recipes were super easy and fast--always a plus when you're operating under chocolate induced psychosis. at midnight. on a saturday.

note: my first attempt at the cake mixture was a failure--i think my melted butter was too warm and my milk too cold, resulting in a weird, root beerish (foamy and bubbly) appearance...the butter formed teeny little balls.....weird. very weird. so i refrigerated it for a few minutes the second time and although the batter was thinner than i expected the cake turned out fine.

Chicken (or turkey) Jambalaya


you will need:

    2 TBL salad oil                                                

     ¼ tsp. thyme or marjoram or both

    1 cup green pepper, chopped                                    

     3 cups water (I used chicken stock)

    1 cup onion, chopped                                                

    1 ½ c uncooked rice (I used brown rice, which required a longer cooking time)

    1 clove garlic, minced                                                 

    1 to 2 cups cooked chicken or turkey (I poached chicken in stock, see above)

    2 tsp. salt                                                             

    1 to 2 cups cooked ham or sausage

    pepper to taste                                                             

    1 small can mushrooms (I omitted this)

    2 tsp.  (or more) Worcestershire

Heat oil and cook green pepper, onion, and garlic until tender.  Stir in seasonings and water and simmer 10 minutes.  Mix in rice, chicken or turkey, and ham or sausage.  Cook covered over low heat for 25 minutes or until rice done.  Add mushrooms with a little of their liquid.  Cook about 5 minutes longer.

If using brown rice, I'd check it after 40 minutes, stir it every so often during that time, and add more liquid if needed and continue cooking until rice is no longer "al dente" if you will.