The cake doesn’t really soak up the sauce… it is more like the sauce swathes the cake in a rich, sticky blanket of yumminess. Between the hot sauce, the crunchy pecans, and the velvety cake you have a major  convention of flavor and texture going on in your mouth.

If you cook it a little less (like I will next time) you will also have the gooey middles of the cakes. I am not sure that you can find something a whole lot better for the time and effort it takes to make these (hardly any). You can start them just before you serve the main course and have them on the table by the time the bread is gone. Seriously. This one’s a keeper.

Make these in muffin cups that have been sprayed with baking spray or individual custard cups.

Chocolate Cakes with Praline Sauce

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa
• pinch of kosher salt
• 12 oz chocolate, chopped. Mix bittersweet, dark, semisweet, or milk in any combination.
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melt one and allow to become golden brown
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Melt the chocolate and the one stick of butter together, whisking often
3. Remove from heat and add the browned butter
4. Sift the dry ingredients together three times
5. Beat the eggs and yolks until light
6. Beat in the sugar
7. Carefully whisk in the chocolate and butter combination
8. Divide between 8-10 muffin cups
9. Bake for 12 minutes (gooey) or 15 minutes (moist and rich)
10. Cool for no more than 2-3 minutes and unmold onto dessert plates

Praline Sauce

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup pecans, toasted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Melt the butter, salt, and brown sugar together until no longer grainy, stirring often.
2. Add the cream and stir well
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla
4. Sprinkle pecans over the cakes and pour the warm syrup over all

Makes 8-10 servings

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I love broccoli and cheese soup. This particular version started because I saw some chipotle cheddar cheese at the local grocers. Hmm..chipotle cheddar? I am in! I originally thought i was going to make macaroni and cheese with it but when the intense need for something quick for dinner hit I went with a gut instinct, a head of broccoli and a bottle of Guinness.

Add a good bread and some fruit for dessert and you have the makings of a winter warming meal.

You can vary the beer to vary the flavor of this soup. It certainly can’t be described as delicate! The sharp smokey cheese mixes with the beer to create its own personal magic. The broccoli is merely a stunt man in this. You could use roasted peppers, cauliflower, or leave the vegetables out completely. It’s totally up to you. For one of my favorite meals just add some beer battered onion rings to the side.

Guinness Broccoli Chipotle Cheese Soup

• 3 cups half and half
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 oz beer
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped and steamed until tender
• One onion, chopped and sauteed
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 lb of chipotle cheddar, shredded
• 2 tbs chipotle in adobo, mashed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cheddar for garnish

1. Simmer cream, half and half, beer, cumin, onion, and chipotle until the sauce reduces slightly and flavors meld, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the broccoli and salt and pepper. Simmer 15 more minutes, stirring often.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. Sprinkle with cheddar and serve hot.

Serves 6  to 8

Now you can feel comfortable in changing amounts to suit your own needs. Just try it!

image: marye audet

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Roast Asparagus and Chicken Salad

• 2 Chicken breasts
• 1 to 2 lbs of fresh asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and cut in one inch pieces
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and place in a pan
3. Drizzle asparagus with olive oil and place in another pan
4. Roast until done. The asparagus should only take about 15 minutes
5. Dice chicken
6. Toss chicken, asparagus, almond, onion, and Parmesan in a bowl
7. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkle with more cheese.

Makes 6 servings

Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and allow to stand for flavors to blend; about 20 minutes if possible.

image: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Needless to say I did not cook like his mom. I needed to find a way to get the vegetables I loved into our diets without setting off his anti-vegetable meter. What was the answer?

Stir fry! You can chop up nearly anything and put it in a stir fry. So very slowly I introduced things like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and brussels sprouts. I chopped them very tiny at first and then increasingly bigger hunks. Eventually Marc was eating all kinds of veggies. He will even eat Brussels Spouts once in awhile…although they are not his favorite. He admitted that he likes spinach the way I fix it…

This sorta stir fry is one of the dishes that has no real recipe and I have been making it for 30 years. You can stretch a little bit of meat and add nearly any vegetable you want.

Marye’s Sorta Stir Fry

• 1-2 lbs of meat: hamburger, sliced beef, chicken, pork, etc.
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 oz dried maitake mushrooms, reconstituted
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 4 stalks of celery
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb spinach
• 1/2 lb snap peas
• Any other vegetables you have that need using up
• 1/4 cup organic tamari
• 1/4 cup white wine
• soaking water from mushrooms
• 2 tbs to 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon fennel pollen or 1 teaspoon dried fennel
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs organic cornstarch to thicken (you may want a little more)

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
2. Heat the wok or pan with a tablespoon of oil. Saute the vegetables until crisp-tender. Remove from pan.
3. Add the meat and cook until done.
4. Add the vegetables and the sauce and simmer until sauce is thickened and vegetables are as tender as you like. Serve with rice.

Serves 8

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Anyway. I have been making this for ever. And a day. It is a bog comfort food for me, and at present pasta seems to be one of the few nonliquid foods that will go down my throat.  I literally threw this together the day after I got home from my thyroidectomy.  Let me tell you, I have not cooked a whole heck of a lot since then. I need to feel better and cook soon or we will have to change the venue of the blog to Cranky Middle Aged Woman Kibbitzing.

You can use any kind of pasta you happen to have. Shells are nice because the peas get stuck in them and they hold all the sauce. Anyway, this is supposed to be a simple dish…use what you have and keep it that way.

The sauce is a quick garlic,  butter, onion, and basil mixture with peas, kidney beans (you can use cannellini), and cooked pasta tossed in and Parmigiano-Reggiano grated over top.  If you happen to have some left over chicken breast or shrimp toss it in there too. Sometimes I add pepperoni.

Repeat after me…this is simple.

Add a warm baguette, some sweet butter, sliced heirloom tomatoes, and a chunk of melon and you won’t need anything else. It is that perfect.

Venetian Pasta and Peas

serves 8

• 2 lbs of pasta, cooked and drained
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 cups frozen peas
• 2 cans cooked, dark red kidney beans (or your choice)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 8 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in pan. Add garlic and onion and saute until transparent and tender.
2. Add butter and allow to melt over low heat. You don’t want the butter to brown.
3. Stir in drained beans and peas.
4. Heat through and add in pasta and basil. Toss lightly.
5. Heap in serving dish and cover with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Apparently, several wives of American soldiers had crossed the border from Eagle Pass, Texas and were wanting lunch. The restaurant kitchen was all ready closed. We all know foodies are instant in season with food; the maitre d’ used what was left from lunch, tortillas, cheese, and jalapenos and created nachos.

The dubious credit for creating the gloppy cheese version served at sporting events and cheap fast food restaurants goes to Frank Liberto, who introduced them at a baseball game in Arlington in 1977. I remember nachos being served at Jr. High and High School football games before that so I am not sure he should get the credit for that one. Come to think of it..he can have it..who wants to be known as the person that introduced second rate nachos to the world?

These nachos are so good. Spicy, cheesy, and just right for a quick dinner.  You might want to look over my tips for perfect nachos before you get started.

Easy Beef and Cheese Supreme Nachos

• 24 white or yellow corn tortillas, cut in wedges in fried
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, seasoned and cooked
• 1 1015 onion chopped
• 3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cooked pinto beans
• 2 avocados chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar
• Salsa for spooning over

1. Preheat broiler to hi
2. Spread a layer of chips in a large metal pan
3. Sprinkle with 1/3 each of meat, cheese, peppers, onions
4. Repeat with two more layers
5. Broil until cheese is melted. Watch carefully
6. Remove from oven and beans, tomato, avocado, cilantro, and remaining cheddar.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro
8. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on each serving and salsa to spoon over top

Serves 8-10

image:marye audet (c) 2009

Post from: Baking Delights

But….I have tasted nachos that were, as Kyrie used to say, “Miss-gusting!” Now, no one wants to have “Miss-gusting” nachos so I thought that with this recipe I would make sure that you didn’t use Miss Gusting’s recipe.

So here are some tips for really awesome nachos-

1. They should be crispy and light, and that is really only achievable with homemade tortilla chips. One more time, homemade tortilla chips are so easy to make and so inexpensive that you will never go back to buying them if you ever make them once. Just cut in wedges and fry at 375F until light and crispy.
2. Don’t salt the chips. Add salt to the nachos as needed
3. If you are using meat with your nachos then season it with cumin, garlic, salt, pepper, and a pinch of chipotle as it cooks.
4. Use medium cheddar, the real thing not that ooblek-like sauce from a can
5. Use fresh hot peppers. Try a variety:jalapeno, bonnet, chipotle, serrano…
6. Use Vidalia onions or Texas 1015s
7. Add grated cheese in addition to the melted cheese once it comes out of the oven, better presentation
8. Lots of fresh, chopped cilantro
9. Grate lime zest over top after baking, serve with limes for drizzling..wakes up the flavor
10. Chop the peppers rather than slicing, flavors blend better
11. If you are adding beans,tomatoes, guac., or avocado add them just before serving to prevent sogginess
12. Don’t be afraid to use a little cubed mango sprinkled on chicken nachos, seriously
13. Make layers rather than one  layer. Layer of chips, layer of filling, layer of cheese, repeat once or twice
14. Broil, don’t bake..never ever ever microwave
15. Serve immediately

That is about it. You can use any meat you like, or none at all. Experiment of course. Nachos are a great, quick dinner or lunch. If you have a cilantro hater, like I do, just leave the cilantro bigger so they can pick it off.

You might want to check out my really cool tie-dyed tortilla chips for a little color in your nachos.

Here are recipes for:

Chicken Nachos

Beef and Cheese Nachos Supreme

image:MaryeAudet

Post from: Baking Delights

If you are eating that stuff stop it. Stop it now. You will end up glowing in the dark and if we ever get attacked by zombies they will find you first. Reason #106 NOT to eat weird food. Besides, in the same amount of time..or close to it you could be eating this:

These are serious nachos. The real thing. Tex-Mex at its absolute best. And it is an easy nacho recipe. Here’s a secret. ALL nacho recipes are easy! You can either broil or bake nachos. Leave off the chicken and you have a vegetarian nachos recipe.

Cubes of chicken breast are sauteed until golden and then simmered in a chipotle-adobo with cilantro, cumin, onion, and garlic.  While that party is going on corn tortillas are being transformed into slices of fresh, hot, crunchiness… Into the oven for a few minutes and …

Yep. Right there with ya.

Nachos are an inexpensive lunch or quick dinner, and kids will eat them because they are chips. When you fry the chips yourself, and use real cheese…well the difference is amazing. And I will tell you a secret…Lean in now….closer…

Do you see it? Yes it is. Yellow crookneck squash. You could use zucchini as well. Just chop it up a little smaller than the chicken and simmer it with the adobo.

I know, right? Brilliant.

This is very spicy. If your family doesn’t do spicy so well you will want to cut back on the amount of adobo and chipotle, and probably cut the jalapenos out all together.

Spicy Chicken Nachos

• 1/2 lb of corn tortillas cut in wedges
• Peanut oil for deep frying (you can substitute, this is my preference)
• Olive oil for saute pan
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut in cubes
• 3 tablespoons of chipotle in adobo (or less)
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 2 cups cubed yellow squash
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 cups organic, dark red kidney beans, cooked (you cn use pinto, black beans, or what you like)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack, colby or a mixture of your favorites
• Salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado,cilantro etc. as you like.
• Sour cream

1. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer to 370F
2. Saute chicken in a little olive oil until it starts to turn golden. Add onion, squash, peppers, and garlic and saute about three minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth, cumin, and  adobo/chipotle mixture. Chop and mash the chipotles as you go. Add the cilantro.
4. Simmer until the chicken is done and the stock has evaporated. Do not let it go dry.
5. Stir in the beans.
6. Set aside.
7. Fry the tortillas until golden and crisp. Drain and place on cookie sheet in a single layer.
8. Using a slotted spoon, spoon chicken mixture over the tortilla chips as evenly as you can.
9. Sprinkle with cheese
10. Broil on high until cheese melts
11. Serve immediately, topping with tomatoes and other toppings of choice.

Serves 8

Post from: Baking Delights

Really, does it get better than that? Last week I had taken on an assignment which required a series of ten articles. I had about five days to finish them, and that was on top of my normal stuff. And…as luck would have it, there was no food in the house. A trip to the grocery store was in order. Quick and easy were high on my list of priorities.

Most of you probably have never, and will never, experience regular grocery shopping for a family the size of ours. It is a long and drawn out adventure, full of peril and pitfalls. It takes me about three hours to complete the chore, which culminates in a stress headache at the checkout.  When I went last week I found an unusual treasure- local heirloom tomatoes. Misshapen and off color (compared to commercial tomatoes-perfectly round and fire engine red) no one was buying them and they were marked down.

SCORE!

I wanted to keep the rest of the meal as fresh as those wonderful tomatoes and I immediately thought of pasta. My neighbor had given me a large batch of basil from her garden, and I had several pounds of local Texas sweet onions that needed to be used. My plan was coming together…

You could easily add some grilled chicken to this. I just like to cut back on the meat a couple of times a week to beef up my budget. Get it? Beef up?

So the very fresh menu for that evening was:

• Farfalle with Basil and Romano
• Sliced heirloom tomatoes with a splash of balsamic
• Grilled Romano sourdough (make garlic butter and add the cheese before spreading and grilling)
• Sliced local RIPE peaches.

It was perfect. The entire kitchen smelled fresh and summery.

This is also my entry to Presto Pasta Night for this week. It is hosted by Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

Whole Wheat Farfalle wth Basil and Romano

• 2 lbs whole wheat farfalle, cooked a la dente
• 2 Vidalia, 1015s or other sweet onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the olive oil to a large saute pan and saute onion and garlic until soft. This should be done over a medium heat so that the onion and garlic do not caramelize and the oil gets infused with the flavors.
2. Add the basil and the pasta. Cook, stirring lightly until heated through and basil is wilted – about three minutes.
3. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Place in serving bowl and toss with Romano cheese

Serves 8

Post from: Baking Delights

Summer is hot here. We don’t use air conditioning, haven’t for the several years we have lived in this house. Frankly, it is too expensive, but I also like the idea of flowing with the seasons..experiencing them rather than manipulating them. I know..I am so weird.

Nothing is worse than cooking a hot meal in a hot kitchen and serving it in a hot dining room. That is why God made salad.

Check it out.

Who isn’t going to eat that? Colorful, cool, with a variety of flavors and textures, Chopped Salad is an awesome meal to set on the table when it is too hot to cook. I always make the tortilla chips homemade, you can by them and crumble them if you like, but if it doesn’t taste as good don’t blame me.

The only secret is trying to get most of the ingredients chopped to the same size so the flavor/texture stays balanced.

Serve this with some ice cold melon or mango, or a fresh fruit sorbet and you are good to  go.

Chopped Salad

• 1 package organic baby herb salad
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 can dark red kidney beans
• 1 can black olives, chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 2 jalapenos chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes chopped (I did not have any the day I made it for this image)
• 1 avocado, chopped (optional)
• 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
• 2 hard boiled eggs chopped
• 1/2 lb diced Monterey Jack cheese cubed (pepper Jack is awesome)
• 2 cups tortilla chips, tortillas cut into squares before frying
• Recipe Chipotle Vinaigrette

Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately. It looks better if you plate each salad individually and add the chips last but you can serve it family style in a big bowl.  Yes it is that easy! Serves 8

Chipotle Vinaigrette

• 4 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 4 tbs lime juice
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1-2 tablespoons strong honey (this is always best raw and local!)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp chopped chipotle in adobo sauce (canned, you can find it in the ethnic section of your market)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 tbs fresh cilantro, minced
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together, check seasonings and allow to stand for 30 minutes before using. Makes about 3/4 cup.

image:marye audet (c) 2009

Post from: Baking Delights