Chocolate Cake Roll with Ganache Filling

Cake rolls are one of those things you've probably seen a dozen times and never really considered making because...darn, they look kind of complicated, don't they?

Well, truth be told, the most complicated thing about them is whipping up the eggs and if you have a good mixer that won't even phase you, so pull out your mixer and get ready to roll!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of sugar
4 egg whites
1/2 cup of sugar
Powdered sugar (for decoration)
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Line a 15x10x1 inch jelly pan (if you're like me, this is just your really big cookie sheet) with parchment paper, then butter the parchment paper.  Make sure the edges are as pressed down as you can.

Start by separating your eggs.  Whites in one large bowl and yolks in a medium.

Beat yolks and vanilla (start slow, then go to medium speed to prevent splashes) until the color lightens to a pale yellow.  Add the 1/3 cup of sugar and keep beating until you don't hear the sugar until the beaters anymore.

Rinse and dry your beaters.

Beat your egg whites (again slow, then medium) until ripples stay behind the beaters when you move them around the bowl for a moment before desolving back in (the mix will be white and foamy)  Add in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and keep beating until the white foam starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and touching the surface and pulling away (being VERY CAREFUL not to touch a moving beater) leaves a stiff upright peak.

Fold in the yolk mixture.  Sift the flour mixture on top (you can skip sifting, but I don't recommend it due to cocoa powder's tendancy to clump) and fold in as well.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan (you will have to move it around with a rubber spatula to get it into corners) and bake for 12-15 minutes or until you can gently poke the middle and have it bounce back.

MEANWHILE: place chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl and microwave 1 minute.  Stir vigorously.  It will form a smooth chocolatey paste.

Take your cake out, use the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan, and set it on an even counter. Spread the chocolate paste over it evenly.  Roll up from one short end (DO NOT LET IT COOL!  It will begin to harden into a shape and break when you try to roll it), stopping with the seam down.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut off the ends if you want to make it more attractive to look at.  Store at room temperature.

Pan-seared Orange Roughy

White fish is the easiest fish to cook.  I hate cooking fish (read: touching fish) and I find most of the white fishes easy to deal with.

In case you're wondering, white fish would include: orange roughy, cod, tilapia, and flounder.  They're categorized in my mind both by their pale white flesh and their extremely neutral flavor.  Anything goes with them, and for the most part people who don't care for strong fish flavors will be able to enjoy them.

So grab your skillet and get ready to sear!

Ingredients:
2 orange roughy fillets (you can substitute another white fish, but make sure the fillets are no more than an inch thick)
Approximately 1 teaspoon olive oil
Your favorite fish seasoning (I used Japanese 7 Spice from The Spice House, but salt and pepper or Old Bay are just as good)

Directions:
 Dab a paper towel in the olive oil and wipe the surface of your nonstick skillet down with the olive oil.  You don't want a lot of oil in the pan, just enough so that if you turn the pan towards the light there's a little greasy sheen.

Place the pan on the range and turn the heat up to medium high.  Let it sit for a minute or two until, when you hold your hand about an inch over the surface, you can feel the heat (very hot)

Pat your fillets dry on a paper towel or kitchen cloth: you don't want any extra moisture from their thawing (As most fish is frozen) or the water it might've been stored in. Immediately lay each fillet in the pan, a little apart (if your pan allows.  Just don't overlap) and sprinkle with seasoning.

Cook for 3 minutes.  Watch the clock.

Flip with a spatula (press the spatula firmly against the bottom of the pan and swiftly move under the fish, then flip)  Sprinkle seasoning again and cook another 4 minutes.  There should be a bit of browning around the edges of the fish.

Fish is done when you can stick a fork in it, twist, and it flakes easily instead of "pulling" (generally speaking, these times are perfect as long as your cuts aren't any bigger than I specified)

Enjoy!