Hot Lava Cakes

I found a recipe for Cabernet Sauvignon Lava Cakes from McCormick Spices in one of my recipe magazines. Made it, tried it, made a face, and began pondering what was wrong and what I could do to fix it. Chatted with my friends at work and Kate suggested that maybe a little heat would be good (Rachel just said "Too strong!")

So I made three more batches with varying degrees and types of spices before finally settling on the recipe below. They're meant to be served hot, but they taste just as good cold, though there is sort of a suggestion of "Did you stuff this brownie with frosting somehow?"

Ingredients:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used Godiva): either use chips or chop up a bar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 tbsp of reduced sweet red wine*
1 tsp vanilla extract (not the fake stuff, please)
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, if you want)^

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.

Put chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl and microwave for 1 minutes or until the butter is totally melted. Whisk it to death (aka, until you don't see any lumps) Add wine and vanilla and whisk again. Add confectioners sugar and whisk until the lumps are gone or nearly so. Add in eggs and whisk until fully incorporated. (!!!!!Read Below!!!!!!) Add flour and spices and whisk again. Try not to lick too much off your fingers, no matter how delicious it is.

Butter 4 custard cups (or juice glasses, if you have no custard cups) well. Pour batter into the cups and smooth the top with a spatula. Set all four on a cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes (they should puff out of the cups a little and the top will look like a baked brownie, but they'll jiggle when you shake the pan) Let set for 1 minute, then run a knife around the edge of the cup and flip upside down on a plate to serve.

To reheat: put on a microwavable plate and microwave for 30 seconds.


IMPORTANT: if you don't get all the egg beaten in properly, you could come across a portion of the cake that has a huge hunk of cooked egg (and nothing else) in it. It is disgusting

*To reduce wine, pour a full bottle into a saucepan. Simmer until it's about 1/4 of the original volume

^Do you remember when you bought your cayenne? If the answer is no, please buy some new cayenne: the older it is, the less heat it has.

Sneaky Candy

Got the idea of these from a Real Simple magazine several years ago. I don't have the chance to make them often, but they're really very good when I get one before my father eats them.

Ingredients:
1 bag dried apricots blended/chopped/otherwise murdered
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Chocolate chips (optional)
Extra sugar and nutmeg (optional)

Directions:
Blend the apricots, sugar, and nutmeg until as smooth as you can get it. Roll them into balls about the size of a ping pong ball and stick in the fridge to harden (About 1 hour)

Coating options:
Chocolate-melt chocolate by placing chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until smooth chocolate forms. Dip 1/2 of the apricot balls in the chocolate and set on a waxed cookie sheet to harden.

Sugar/nutmeg-mix together sugar and nutmeg to your taste preference in a large flat-bottomed bowl. Roll balls in the mix


No matter which coating option you chose, they're cute in mini muffin cups.

Quick and Easy: Tropical Rice Pudding

Accidental recipe discovery

Ingredients:

1 cup leftover rice (we used sushi rice)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 fresh ripe pineapple cut into rough chunks
1 fresh orange cut into chunks
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Directions:

Toss it all together and eat!

Beef Stew

This is my absolute winter favorite (chubby little bear cub I turn into in winter...)

Ingredients:
Roughly 1 1/2 lbs of beef chunks.*
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 can of dark beer (Guiness or other stouts recommended)
3 cubes beef bullion
2 cups water
1 onion, quatered
1 stick celery sliced
4 large carrots or about 1 cup of baby carrots chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup quick-cook barley

Mix together flour, salt, and pepper. Toss the beef in the flour mixture until totally coated.

Heat oil in a soup pot on the oven (I use a spaghetti pot). Toss in beef and extra flour. Brown on all sides. Pour in beer and water. Add bullion and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low heat.^ If you, like me, like the flavor of celery but not the texture add it now so it can cook to mush.

Let cook for at least 30 minutes. Add carrots. Cook another 15 minutes. Add peas and barley. Let cook for 10 minutes or until a lentil that has been fished out is tender.

OPTIONS!
-Potatoes instead of lentils: add at the same time as carrots
-Rice instead of lentils: add at same point as lentil would be added
-Additional veggies: rule of thumb is that you should add them at the same time as one of the other veggies of similar toughness. For example, corn would go in about the same time as peas (ditto other types of beans) radishes would go in at the same time as carrots.
-Tomatoes: always add last. Even after the lentils. They fall apart quickly.
-Red wine: different sort of flavor. I think the stew needs thyme mixed in with the flour if you use red wine. (About 1/4tsp)


*You can buy a tenderloin or other large pieces of meat if you like and cut it down. Flank steak is often a good choice for price alone
^The longer you cook this the more tender your beef will be. If you don't want to take the time, leave at medium and keep an eye on it (chances are good your pot will be almost full.)

Quick and Easy: Squish

Sometimes I just want some cookie dough. But... we don't have any and I don't really have any desire to cook any.

Thereby I began making Squish (Which is what I told my then 4 year old sister it was when she asked) which tastes not at all unlike spicy cookie dough and also does not contain raw egg which I hear is allegedly bad for you.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter softened (best option) or melted (also acceptable)
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Allspice
Ginger

Directions:
Squish the butter and sugars together. Add two shakes each of the spices (or to taste), then enough of the flour to form what appears to be cookie dough. Eat!

Website

http://www.simplysimplewithsasha.com is now up and working, though for the moment all it shows is this blog. We're still working it out.

Quick and Easy: Meaty Mushrooms

Another quick and easy recipe: this can be used as a substitute for beef tips in a lot of recipes. Great with mashed potatoes

Ingredients:

• One large container of Button mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced
• One medium onion, sliced
• One tablespoon oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Sage, chopped
  

Directions

Put oil into a large skillet and heat over medium (oil should not pop) Add onions and stir until just tender. Add mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms have browned. Add sage, toss to incorporate. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quick and Easy: Summertime Stirfry

This stirfry is the taste of summer for me, being a dish passed down in my family for years and cooked with only the freshest vegetables.

Ingredients:

• One yellow squash, well washed, sliced and cut into quarters
• One zucchini, well washed, sliced and cut into quarters
• Half an onion, diced
• Three cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
• One tablespoon of oil

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and toss in everything. Cook under the squash and zucchini are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or cold.