Carrot Curry Soup

I'm not sure this will register well with every one's palate, but it definitely struck a chord with me! A friend of mine shared the recipe and a bowl with me last week, and I've been craving it ever since. So here's the recipe, maybe I'll make it tonight and post some pictures of our meal...

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, (just to coat the saute pan)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds packaged baby carrots
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Coarse salt
1 cup sour cream
6 blades fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

• Start with olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and saute 5 minutes.
• Add 4 cups chicken stock, curry powder and cayenne pepper, and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender (It took about 15 minutes).
• Process soup in 2 or 3 small batches until soup is smooth and carrots are fully pureed. ( I actually like mine a little more thick, so I process it less)
• Transfer the soup back to the pot and simmer.
• If the soup is too thick, add remaining stock, up to 2 cups, to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasonings.
• Serve with sour cream to cut the heat of the pepper, and a crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

So, this was a hit at our Thanksgiving celebration.  Recipe requested more than once.  (I didn't serve it with the Bourbon Sour Cream...though I'm sure it would have been good.)  Here is the recipe.

Sweet or Savory?

The crepe is a staple chez Dills.  The adults like to start dinner with a savory one: peppered turkey, provolone, tomatoes, grilled asparagus (caramelized onions are also yummy) with a sprinkle of oregano on top.  You can really fill them with whatever is loved at your own abode.  For dessert we like orange syrup, a variety of fruits (thawed from the freezer) and whipped cream.  Mix and match.  Sweet or Savory.  Please everyone.

Hello Ladies!

Sorry about those two posts! Im a little new to blogging! A friend sent me a link to a fun little website where you "see what your children will look like". Kind of cheesy, but fun =) I had no idea it would post them on here! I'll make up for it with a fabulous recipie post sometime soon.

Thanks for the patince with my lack of blogging know how!

Calling all Pie and Chili Recipes

Since no one has posted anything recently I'll post again. Here's the recipe for the pie the got second place at the Ward Halloween party. I want some of the other recipes from that night also.

Gingered Pear Pie with Golden Raisins

3/4 c golden raisins
1 tsp ginger
3 lbs ripe pears (about 7), peeled, cored, sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 c sugar
3 TBSP butter, melted
2 TBSP quick-cooking tapioca
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pastry for a 2 crust pie
2 tbsp milk

Combine raisins and ginger in a small saucepan. Add enough water to just cover. Simmer over low heat until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine pears and next 6 ingredients in bowl. Stir in raisin mixture.

Pour into pie pan lined with crust. Put a couple of teaspoons of butter on the filling and then top with the other crust. Pinch edges together in a pretty pattern. Trim off excess. Use leftover dough to make a pretty shape for the top (I do a pear). Make several slits in top. Brush top of crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake pie at 400 degrees until crust is golden and juices bubble through the slits, about 1 hour. Cover loosely with foil if crust browns too quickly during baking. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I use the crust from the better homes or Betty Crocker cook book. Remember: to make a pie crust flaky, use cold ingredients and handle it as little as possible. (I'm not so good at this but I'm getting better.)


White Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chili peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
5 (14.5 ounce) cans great Northern beans, undrained
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the chicken, chicken broth, green chili peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low. Put 2 cans of the beans in a blender to make the chili thicker then add to the pot with the remaining beans. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated thoroughly. Pour into individual bowls and top with the cheese.

Spice things up

Sometimes you need to add some spices to kick-up your food a notch. Here are my two favorite.

Taco Seasoning Mix (your tacos will be hot and spicy)

2 t. dried minced onion
1 t. salt
1 t. chili Powder
1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t crushed dried red pepper
1/2 t dried minced garlic
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until evenly distributed. Spoon mixture onto a 6-inch square of aluminum foil and fold to make airtight. Label and store in a cool, dry place. When ready, add to 1 pound ground beef already browned, plus 1/2 cup water. Simmer till the liquid is mostly gone and presto you're done.


My mom used to use these spices when making Cornish hen but I prefer boneless, skinless chicken breast. It's just so much easier to eat.

Chicken spices

Salad Supreme
Season Salt
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Sage (ground)
Chili Powder

My mom didn't know how much of any of this to add; so just sprinkle the spices on till they look good. Add more if you like a certain spice to be stronger. Pour in soy sauce till there is about an inch in the pan and let it marinate for a couple hours. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or untill cooked through. Serve over rice and it's wonderful.

Chicken Chili Soup

Now that it's fall it's time to break out those soup recipes. I love making soup because most of mine come from the can and are supper fast.

Chicken Chili

1 1/2 lbs. cubed chicken

1 medium onion, minced

1 16 oz. can tomatoes

1 15 oz. can of chicken broth

1 15 oz. can of pinto beans

1 15 oz. can chili beans (chili starter)

1 10 oz. package frozen corn

1 can tomato soup

1 T. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

Top with sour cream and cheddar cheese

Cook chicken until browned. Remove from pan. Add onion to pan and cook until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Serves 6-8.

If You're in the Neighborhood

While in Daytona yesterday, we discovered a "hole in the wall" type of pizza place.  It seats, maybe 18.  But, the owner (see above) is actually the cook (or is the other way around?)  Anyhow, he makes almost everything from scratch, none of this Sysco frozen stuff you get at the chains.  In fact, he brought out the pan in which he made our pizza's sauce, still remnants at the bottom.  Perhaps not a five star restaurant, but definitely one worth returning to over and over.  (Location:  201 Seabreeze Blvd, Daytona Beach)

Clowers' Week

Here is ours...

Sunday: Broiled Tilipia Fillets w/ Baked Sweet Potatoes and Corn on the Cob, and green salad
Monday: Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts w/ Herbed Roasted Potatoes and leftover corn
Tuesday: Chicken Parm
Wednesday: Crock Pot of Beans w/ sliced tomatoes and cornbread

That's all I got so far this week...we're out of groceries and I am just throwing things together!

Okay, Nicol...

I did not do much planning this week, but this is what we had...

Sunday - grilled ribs (David is trying to perfect 'fall off the bone' ribs - which was successful this attempt!), green salad, potatoes
Monday - grilled Cod fillet seasoned with salt/pepper/butter, fried rice (Hiromi told me how to do it RIGHT, thanks!), lima beans (the girls LOVE them)
Tuesday - homemade chicken strips, potatoes, green beans w/ almonds
Wednesday - Nicol's black bean burgers, potatoes, grilled squash
Thursday - pulled pork sandwiches
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - another round of David's ribs (I never even ate ribs, ever, until I married David), fried rice w/ vegetables, garlic bread and Michelle's blueberry muffins

I am trying to perfect foccacia bread, so hopefully I will have a recipe posted soon.

Red Beans & Rice

1Lb bag dried red beans
Smoked Pork Hock
Onion/chopped
3-4 cans chicken broth
Smoked sausage (optional)

Soak beans overnight. In crockpot, cook pork hock and onion in chicken broth on low overnight. The next morning drain and rinse beans, add to crockpot. Cook on low all day. You could cut up some smoked sausage and add them with the beans. Serve over rice.
I usually serve this with some green vegetable, and corn bread of course.
Super Easy, Super Yummy!

I'm Not the Only One

Our menu for this week
S: Mac & Cheese
M: Bar-b-que Pulled Pork
T: Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas
W: Spicy Soba Noodles w/ Chicken in Peanut Sauce
T: Red Beans & Rice
F: Pizza
S: Leftovers

I know you guys plan menus, Let's see them!

Friday

Homemade Chicken Nuggets
This is just something that I throw together, so the ingredients aren’t exact measurements

3-4 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breasts(or as many as you may need for your family)
Salt & pepper to taste
Flour
Egg
I cut the chicken into bite size pieces, then salt and pepper them.
Beat egg in shallow pie pan, add little bit of milk to it.
Pour about 1 cup flour in another shallow pie pan.
Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture then into flour.
I pan fry these in olive oil. Really very simple, and my children love them.

We served this with some rice and gravy (remember born and raised in the south), sliced tomatoes and some green beans.

Saturday night we will be having pizza, and I’m not gonna lie, we usually have $5 pizza from Little Ceasars. I have been known a few times to buy a ready made pizza crust and throw some toppings on it. But in honor of Stephanie Nielson and her family, I’m going to make her homemade Wheat pizza crust. The children will enjoy cheese as their favorite topping and Todd and I will top ours with spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, onions, black olives, and peppers.

Wednesday--

Last night we had...

Cheesy Beans and Franks, so good. I'm on a bean kick this week, just one of those things. I'm not pregnant, but just wanting something other than meat for a change. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart kids several years ago, and we agree that it is a great alternative to Mac and Cheese.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ½ Tbsp flour
1 ¾ cup milk
3 ½ cups yellow cheese( i have used several different types of cheese and not all of them were yellow)
2 cans 15.5ounces white beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups, smoked sausage, cut into ½ inch moons
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ cup finely crushed croutons
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium saucepan, heat oil, add onion and cook until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add flour, stir to coat onion, with heat on medium, stir with a whisk and add milk in steady stream. Continue whisking until combined. Cook until sauce begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Add cheese, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and stir in the beans and sausage. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven proof dish. Sprinkle croutons on top of casserole and bake until bubbling, about 15 minutes.

I make this dish without the sausage, and it’s still really tasty. One time I used turkey franks and the kids liked that, we have also used some leftover ham. We served this with a side of baby peas. Happy Eating!

Tonight we will be having Brinner, you know, breakfast for dinner(did anyone watch Scrubs,,too funny) Anyhoo, we have open house at school for Amara tonight and I wanted something quick, and easy and sure to please. We will be having eggs, grits(I have lived in the south all my life), fruit and some pancakes. I may or may not have time to take pictures!

Dinner Tonight

Last night was Spaghetto's and apples - not worth blogging about. But, tonight was a definite improvement and one of my favorite things to eat - fish! I used to dislike it, but David "newly" introduced it to me and I have been hooked. So, tonight we had fish tacos with side fixins'.



1.5 lbs of swai fillets (or another white fish) marinaded in Key Lime Honey Mustard (but you can use any marinade you like) for 20-30 minutes, then grilled. Flake it and place it in a tortilla shell. Add sour cream mixed with lime juice to give it a kick and some salsa to top it off.

Add some roasted potatoes (David does these and I have no idea what he seasons them - I don't think he really knows - but I know they are darn good) and steamed diced broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini.

Don't forget a dessert to make this meal not so guilt free:).

Tuesday--

Chicken and Refried Black bean Quesadillas

This is a really simple and easy dinner. Use leftover chicken, open a can of refried black beans and your main ingredients are ready. As you can see, we had some sliced tomatoes, corn and guacamole to make it complete. Picture courtesy of Todd.

Food as comic relief?

Here is a picture taken at 5 pm. Not artistic. Quite animalistic. 

I baked nine blueberry muffins at 11 am on the same day using this recipe. 

The muffins turned out so well that we were spooning them directly out of the tin to shovel the contents straight to our mouths. We couldn't be bothered with the extra step of easing the muffins out first. Nope. Tin-spoon-mouth. 

I've been looking for a great blueberry muffin recipe for years. I think I've been looking for some secret trick or ingredient, and that's why the perfect recipe has eluded me for so long. 

Irene found this one. It's simple and delicious. Be warned. This recipe will rob you of food reasoning skills. I had four in a matter of six hours.   

We followed the directions exactly and used fresh not frozen blueberries. Oh yum.

Monday---

Stuffed Zucchini and Bell Peppers
1 small onion, grated
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
3 Tbsp ketchup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1/3 cup grated cheese; Parmesan, Romano, Fontina (any kind you have on hand works)
¼ cup bread crumbs
1lb ground turkey, preferably dark meat
2 zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise
2 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
Can also use, red, yellow and orange bell peppers.
1&1/2 cup marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly drizzle olive oil into a 13x9 baking dish. Whisk the onion, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. Cover and refrigerate. Using a spoon or melon baller, carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh from the zucchini.(see above picture) Be careful not to pierce through the skin. Fill the zucchini and pepper halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally. Arrange the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the vegetables.( I use crushed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes simmered with some herbs.) Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender and the filling registers 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes.

We served this with a side salad, toasty wheat bread, and some noodles for the kiddos. For dessert, some brownies. On the menu tonight, Quesadillas. Yum!

Food Art?

Black Bean burgers, Tomato & Cucumber salad, Crash Potatoes

So, not nearly as pretty as the previous pictures, but we are trying. I have an adequate not quality camera. This week I am going to be posting our dinner menu and would like anyone and everyone who reads this to do the same. (It doesn't have to be this week, but soon!) I am really itching for some new dinner ideas, and I could go through my gazillion cookbooks, but I do that all the time, so here's another challenge for all who read this!

Sunday: Black Bean Burgers, Tomato & Cucumber Salad and Crash Potatoes

Black Bean Burgers

1 can Black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 large egg

place beans in large bowl, partially mash with fork. Stir in remaining ingredients. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, ( i made 5 burgers with this amount) shaping into a patty. Grill or pan fry in small amount of olive oil until cooked through.

We served this on lettuce, you could use mayo and buns, or guacamole or ranch, the possibilities are endless.

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Slice one cucumber, one tomato and 1/2 red onion. Combine in bowl, add favorite Italian dressing, or Oil and vinegar mixture with salt and pepper to taste. I used Olive oil and vinegar, but I don't measure so I can't really tell you how much, just to taste. Let marinade a few hours.

Crash Potatoes

You will need enough small red potatoes for your family. Bring red potatoes to boil in salted water until fork tender. Drizzle cookie sheet with olive oil. Place red potatoes on cookie sheet and smash with potato smasher or fork. Brush olive oil over potatoes, sprinkle with salt, pepper and any other delish herb you like. I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman Cooks if you need better directions.

On the Menu for tonight, Stuffed Zucchini and Bell Peppers, see you tomorrow!

Food As Art

Assignment (does anyone read this?): Look around and snap some shots of "Food as Art".  

I'd like to see your "Art".

Good Read

D&C 109:7 says "seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith."

Who doesn't love a good book?  The kind that you feel sad to finish?  This was one of those books for me, but not only was it "good", it was one of those that inspires.  Every time I picked it up and read a chapter, I had a desire to improve the eating habits of myself and my family.  It is about a well known author (I also recommend some of her other novels) who decides that her family will live off the land and the land of the locals for an entire year, planting  a garden, raising chickens, turkeys, and storing food for the winter.  They very closely followed the scripture found in D&C 89:11 which says:  "Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving."  Her college-age daughter's essays about eating this way as well as recipes are included throughout the book.  Her elementary-age daughter is the chicken farmer of the family, and Kingsolver's husband also has essays about the economy and other interesting facts.  A family collaboration.

It's a book that you can read here and there, not needing a big chunk of time to finish.  (Costco carries it, as well as your local library.)  If you pick it up, let me know what you think--I'd love to discuss it with someone!

Summertime Potato Salad

I have made this potato salad three or four times already this summer with intentions of taking a photo and posting....but, something has always prohibited the plan. The original recipe came from a Better Home & Garden Cookbook, but I have spiced it up a little over time....and I add a secret ingredient!


6 medium potatoes
6 eggs
celery
onion
1 c. mayo (add more if necessary)
1 big squirt of mustard (I guess about a tablespoon)
Lots of salt and pepper
Secret ingredient: 1 heaping tsp. of Creamy Horseradish
Paprika

Wash and chop potatoes into cubes. Dump potatoes and eggs into large pot and boil until potatoes are soft. Eggs will be done too--and this saves time and dishes!

In the meantime, chop celery and onion. I use enough for about 3/4 cup of each, but you can use less or more. I think the original recipe called for 1/3 c. celery and 1/2 c. onion. Set aside.

Drain the potatoes and eggs. At this point, you can either peel the potatoes because the skins are soft and come right off, or you can leave them on. We leave them on--that's where the vitamins/minerals are. Peel the eggs. Place together in large mixing bowl and chop eggs and potatoes together.

Combine celery and onion with potatoes and eggs and mix together. Give the bowl a good salt and pepperin'. I use a lot of salt.

In another bowl, combine the mayo, mustard, and horseradish. Pour over vegetables and mix together. I usually add a little more salt at this point. I garnish with paprika sprinkled over the top. Place in fridge at least 2 hours before serving, but it is ALWAYS better the next day, so I try to make it ahead of time.

I always get lots of compliments on this dish. It is perfect for cookouts or with a pork roast...but summertime is key! Enjoy!

Cream Puffs

Find the recipe for these yummy cream puffs here.

Taco Salad with Tomato-Avocado Salsa

1lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts

3Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2tsp salt
2 -7in. tortillas, each cut into 8 wedges

21/4 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup minced scallions

3/4tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground cumin

11/4 lbs plum tomatoes, (about 5) diced

3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

3Tbsp chopped fresh basil

3Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 diced avocado

Lettuce leaves, coarsely torn

1. Preheat broiler, sprinkle chicken with 1&1/2Tbsp lime juice and the salt. Broil about 4 minutes each side, or until cooked through. Transfer to cutting board, and cut into thin diagonal slices. (or use and leftover chicken, grilled, roasted, anything you may have on hand.

2. Turn oven to 375, spread tortilla wedges in single layer and bake 5 minutes, or until crisp. Set aside to cool. ( can use store bought tortillas)

3. In a small bowl, combine the black beans, scallions, oregano, cumin, and remaining 1&1/2Tbsp lime juice. In a seperate bowl combine the tomatoes, red onion, basil, and vinegar. Toss to combine, then gently stir in the avocado. (This step can be done a day ahead to let the flavors combine)

4. Place the lettuce on 4 plates and arrange chicken slices on top. Place a mound of the black beans and mound of tomato-avocado salsa on each plate and serve with toasted tortilla chips.

If you are feeling frisky, add some rasberry sorbet for dessert. YUM!

Another Jax Food Blog

Have you ever heard of Taste Memory? It's a food blog I discovered a while back but haven't had a chance to scour until recently. I'm glad I rediscovered it and wanted to share it with you. It's quite a smorgasbord of a blog, with restaurant reviews, smatterings of personal history, interesting recipes, delicious pictures, and links to other fantastic food blogs.

The best part of this blog is that there is a link to a collection of TM Girl's favorite restaurants in Jacksonville. She is quite the foodie, and you might appreciate her persnickety taste. Now that I've had a chance to read through some of these reviews I must say I'm excited for our next dinner out!

A Great Way to Eat Vegetables

This is a good dish to get all the goodness of vegetables you can't stand the taste of. The sauce masks the taste of the bell peppers, which I don't like but are so good for you.

Asian Coleslaw

6 T Rice Wine Vinegar
6 T Vegetable Oil
3-5 T Creamy Peanut Butter (depending on how much you like peanut butter)
3 T Soy Sauce
3 T Brown Sugar
2 T powdered Ginger
1 ½ T powdered Garlic

Mix sauce and then add to:

1 bag Coleslaw from the store
2 Red Bell Peppers (may substitute any combination of colors of peppers)
2 Carrots (shredded)
6 Green Onions
½ c. Cilantro
and any other vegetables you can think of

Let sit for 15-20 minutes, it gets better as it sits.

Love Affair With Pietro

Ryan introduced me to Pietro.  It was love at first taste.  I admit I was hesitant, eating pasta on top of lettuce, topped with this foreign dressing, but reluctance gave way to indulgence. Honestly, an addiction will form if you try this.  You can also just serve it as a regular salad dressing, but, somehow, I love it the way I was first introduced to it.  We had a constant source in Dallas (Central Market), but haven't been able to find it here in Jacksonville...until now.  I'm sorry I don't have an exact address for the place, it's a new little Japanese grocery store that just opened up in a strip mall on Beach Blvd, on the south side of the street called Japanese Circle.  Served here, I used whole wheat pasta, cooled before serving on a bed of romaine lettuce.  Even the kids love it.  What more can I say?

p.s. the Shoyu flavor is the best, but please don't create a shortage, 

or I'll have no choice but to stop sharing my favorite discoveries!

Picnic Pretzels

I got this recipe from a food storage recipe book I have. They turned out great and it was a fun, quick and easy activity to do with Kylie - Ashlyn just liked playing with the flour.


1 T. dry yeast
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 t. salt
4-5 c. flour
1 egg, beaten
coarse salt

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water; let sit about 5 min. Stir in the salt and 2-3 c. of flour to make a soft batter. Knead in enough flour to make a stiff flour to roll out.
2. Take a lump of dough about the size of a peach and roll in between to make a 8-12 inch rope about as thick as your finger.
3. Twist the rope into a pretzel shape, place on a greased cookie sheet, bruch with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.
4. Repeat the last two steps until dough is used up.
5. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes, until the pretzels are golden brown. Remove from sheet and cool.
6. If you want to add flavor, add 1/2 t. caraway seeds, very coarsely ground.

I Heart Chocolate Cake

We've all heard of Sports Illustrated, but have you heard of Cook's Illustrated?  It's akin to The Consumer Digest, except everything to do with food.  They test out recipes, cooking gadgets, ingredients, etc., and give recommendations for anything to do with food.  Well, they have compiled their tried and successful recipes in a few different cookbooks.  We have "The Best Recipes" and "The Quick Recipes" cookbooks that rarely ever fail us.  I thought I'd share one of our favorites around here:  The Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake.  Not very many things deserve the title including the word "ultimate", but this certainly does.

8 large eggs, cold

1 lb bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/4 cup water

Confectioner's sugar or cocoa powder for decoration

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.  Line Bottom of 8-inch springform pan with parchment and grease pan sides.  COver pan underneath and along sides with sheet of heavy duty foil and set in large roasting pan.  Bring a kettle of water to boil.

2. Beat eggs with handheld mixer at high speed until volume doubles to approximately 1 quart, about 5 minutes.  Alternatively, beat in bowl of electric mixer fitted with wire whip attachment at medium speed to achieve same result, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt chocolate, butter and water in large heatproof bowl set over pan of almost simmering water, until smooth and very warm, stirring once or twice.  Fold 1/3 of egg foam into chocolate mixture using large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible; fold in half of remaining foam, then last of remaining foam, until mixture is totally homogenous.

4. Scrape batter into prepared springform pan and smooth surface with rubber spatula.  Set roasting pan on oven rack and pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up side of springform pan.  Bake until cake has risen slightly, edges are just beginning to set, a thin glazed crust (like a brownie) has formed on surface, and an instant-read thermometer registers 140 degrees, 22 to 25 minutes.  Remove cake pan from water bath and set on wire rack; cool to room temp.  Cover and refrigerate overnight to mellow (can be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days).

5. About 5 min before serving, remove springform pan sides, invert cake on sheet of waxed paper, peel off parchment pan liner, and turn cake right side up on serving platter.  Sieve light sprinkling of confectioners' sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder over cake to decorate, if desired.

Katy's notes:  I actually prefer a simple raspberry sauce with this cake, rather than frosting of any sort or the powdered toppings.  Simply dump some frozen raspberries in a pan with sugar to taste, cook over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Blend in blender and strain to remove seeds.  I could eat just the sauce.

Welcome to the Mandarin Second Ward Food Blog!

This blog was created and will be run by all those foodies out there in the Mandarin Second Ward.  We want your food thoughts along with photos (you know, for extra flavor.)  Please share: your current culinary endeavors, fun food finds, and anything else pertaining to the pallet.  We want included requested recipes from social events, good food-storage user recipes, and those secret family recipes that have been guarded for centuries (okay, you can keep those a secret, but at least bring them to share!)  

So, while I'm add it, I thought I'd start the rolling pin....rolling.

If you thought all butter was created equal, I'm sorry to deflate your souffle.  It isn't.  Of course, this shouldn't be a regular indulgence, but on occasion, snatch this sumptuous, shiny little parcel off the grocery shelf (found at most grocery stores these days), hide it until everyone else is in bed, and butter yourself a nice crusty piece of baguette.  Now, don't skimp.  Just enjoy.  Or, as the culinarily wise French put it so well:  Bon Appetite!