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.

baking

so the last 4 days have been full of flour, sugar, mixing, and...starting over. a lot.

i must have used a whole bag of flour. had to!

 i made pizza dough this weekend, but forgot pictures. so i'll just give you the recipe.


From Food Network Magazine: (Italian issue)

you will need:

    1 1/3 cup warm (105 degrees) water
    1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry or instant yeast (I've tried both)
    1 TB sugar
    3 TB olive oil, plus more for brushing
    3 3/4 c flour, plus more for dusting
    1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Sprinkle sugar in bowl with the warm water, stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast packet on top, let rest 10 minutes, until foamy. Stir in olive oil.

Combine flour and salt, pour in yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon to make dough ball.

Dump ball onto a floured surface, and knead for a few minutes--until lumps are gone. Form 2 balls. Brush 2 large bowls with oil, add one ball of dough to each, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1-2 hours (until doubled in size). Roll out and bake at 500 with toppings, or wrap tightly in plastic and freeze in a ziplock. (this works extremely well! just take out to thaw in fridge before rolling out as usual)

brownie pudding

 saturday evening i was craving something chocolatey and delicious, so of course i whipped up Ina's brownie pudding. (she doesn't actually call it this in her book, but it's what i have dubbed it--maybe because i saw it online!)


I used hershey's special dark cocoa powder (for the first time ever) and let me tell you...i am never going back! it is incredible. but the 2 sticks of butter and heap of sugar probably help a little.


this pudding is served hot, but since i had leftovers, i tried it cold and i must report it is just as delicious this way--maybe even more so. I've never been a huge fan of hot desserts. especially things that are hot and topped with ice cream. i am a dessert purist; i don't like things mixing. i'd rather have a bowl of ice cream or brownie alone than a brownie hot fudge sundae. i don't get whats so great about it. but this dessert is the mecca of chocolatey baked goodness if that's your thing.

i posted this, and came back to fully explain this dessert. it is gooey and soft and batter like, but it also has a crispy, crunchy perfectly crisp thin crust in top that makes a truly glorious cracking sound when you first pierce it. you will eat about a quart of it. get out the sweatpants and go crazy people!

pound cake batter--yum!!

batter. i want to eat it like this

 next up, for a few birthdays at work, i whipped up a pound cake.

yum!

The recipe is from my beautiful fairy godmother, and I can tell you right now, if you are not lucky enough to have a fairy godmother, I feel sorry for you. she is the most magical and special person I will ever know. and has bestowed upon me the greatest pound cake recipe! :)

Grandma Taylor's Pound Cake



you will need:

    6 eggs at room temperature
    2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
    3 cups flour
    3 cups sugar
    1 cup sour cream ( i don't think it need to be room temp, but i take it out with the other ingredients)
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla (i usually use about this much, just taste to check)
    *1 1/2 tsp extract of choice (I love almond, but you could use lemon, etc)

*note: this is a very large amount, so i would start at 1/2 tsp and taste, adding more if necessary. you don't want it to overwhelm you. especially if you are the only person alive who loves almond extract (ahem, like me) and you will not be the only one consuming this cake.


 Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 12 cup tube pan.

Beat sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy. Add eggs individually, mixing after each. Add flour, salt, soda mixture and sour cream alternately until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and other extract, tasting to be sure of flavors. Pour into tube pan, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. be sure to check doneness at about 1 hour, you don't want to over bake! Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn onto plate. Can be sliced and stored in airtight container for a few days. If it lasts that long.

mini sausage and cheddar quiches

sunday i decided to try my hand at mini crustless quiche. i have been seeing lots of these around the food sites and thought it was a great idea for me--easy to eat, individual, easy to reheat! and the convenience of not needing crusts was perfect. i just took my favorite quiche recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (page 202 if you were wondering!) and subtracted the crust, and fiddled with the temperature/bake time. this part was not as successful as i would have hoped--they turned out fine, but not as brown and "done" as i would have liked (and as i have seen in others' photos). the normal recipe calls for a bake time of 50 minutes at 325, so i just shortened the time.

I think the real solution is the bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. The higher heat will give you that browned edge i so adore. besides that they were great and so fun! and i ate a few for breakfast one morning--it was perfect! like a mini omelet. just microwave for 45 seconds to a minute.

you will need:

    1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot roll sausage (any really, but the Hot has great flavor and is not spicy)
    1 1/2 c (6 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
    1/2 c chopped onion
    1/4 c chopped bell pepper
    1/2 tsp dried basil
    1/8 tsp garlic powder
    4 large eggs
    1 cup milk
    dash paprika


Brown sausage, drain, cool. combine sausage, cheese, onion, pepper, basil, garlic powder and paprika in a bowl and mix. Crack 4 eggs in a bowl, whisk, add milk, whisk. With an ice cream scoop or spoon, spoon about 1 TB of sausage mixture into each cup of a greased muffin tin. (just make sure they aren't overflowing with filling) Pour a splash of egg mixture in each filled cup, being sure not to overflow. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, check and bake a few minutes more if needed.



there you have it. i am exhausted just retelling it all to you. happy baking.