Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives

The Real Puff Daddy and a Vols-Au-Vent for Every Meal!

September 27, 2009 at 7:37 pm | In Amuse Bouche, Appetizers, Beef, Breakfast, Daring Bakers, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Pastry, Pies and Tarts, Seafood, Snacks, Vegetables | 89 Comments
Tags: beurrage, BUTTER, detrempe, Julia Child, Michel Richard, Pate feuilletee, Puff Pastry, vols-au-vent

“You’re tall, do your exercises by the window where the ledge you can hold onto is higher”…”You’re tall, can you grab that off the shelf for me?”. HUH? This is what I’ve been hearing the past several months. Thing is, I’m not tall..I’m pretty average (5′7″ ish). Since when is about 5′7″ tall? Did Lilliputians invade the earth while I was holed up for so long? This actually does have something to do with this month’s Daring Bakers challenge. We’re making Vol-Au-Vents. Vols-au-vents are formed with Puff Pastry. They magically morph from flat disks of dough, with rims, into flaky, layers and layers and layers of buttery towers.. towers depending on the execution/temperature of the dough, oven temp, weather, and well, whether they feel like it or not!

So much to do, so little time. As I type this, I’m still working on some fillings for these wonderful vessels of uber flaky pastry. Between reviewing a cookbook, preparing to host the November DB challenge, another DC challenge, THIS DB challenge, an article for Food Talk, Physical Therapy, and a guy with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen (I love you too – even though you’re a Red Sox fan. My ‘Joba Rules’ are dwindling lol), I’ve been up to my neck in food, working out, and ummm..other shtuff

The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Thanks, Steph!

Fluffy Sour Cream-Chive Scrambled Eggs with Bacon

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict with Saffron-Dill Hollandaise

I own a copy of this book. I love Michel Richard and the book, and I’ve made his puff pastry many, many times. However, the only problem is/was..I have/had too many ideas! No block this time, and this is why I’m still up at 3:11 am trying to complete this challenge.

First off, something just caught me off guard that has absolutely nothing to do with the challenge. As I was typing..I suddenly heard a voice from the TV exclaim “It has a firm head, medium sized scrotum, and a 4 way arouser” I wasn’t watching TV – did I hear that right or am I imagining things? Apparently, my television is tuned into the Oxygen network (which I thought was uhhh, squeaky clean?)..and when I walked into the room briefly, I thought it looked to be an HSN or QVC type late night shopping show and figured I was so tired that I imagined those phallic phrases. Well, it IS a QVC/HSN type shopping show..but it’s called ‘Shop Erotic’. Has anyone ever heard of this? I can’t help laughing every time the straight-laced looking woman uses the word ‘dong’ and rubs the toy to show the audience how firm yet flexible it is. Yep, they’re selling dildos and calling them dongs! Wow, I haven’t watched much TV the past few months, so this is quite a surprise…and a strange, albeit hilarious, one at that.

Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza Vols-au-Vents

OK, back to the challenge. When it was announced, I was excited, and as usual, loaded my plate to the point where the food keeps sliding off. Things can never be simple with me..lol Like I said above, I’ve made Michel Richard’s puff pastry so many times, I thought nothing of leaving it to the last minute. I could whip this one out easily. I made the puff pastry last Monday, without a hitch. I decided I would start working on the fillings in a few days. Little did I know..after all of this gorgeous, crisp and cool weather, there was still a humidity monster lurking nearby. When I took out the puff pastry to roll, cut and shape, it was sticky and gooey within minutes. No clean cuts..no beautiful photo of the layers in the raw dough, just many trips to the fridge and freezer to try and chill it up, and many frustrating moments trying to keep my cuts neat and clean, so I wouldn’t lose those incredible layers.

Snack? Amuse Bouche? Hors D’oeuvres? Appetizers? Anything goes with these mini bites. From left to right: Goat cheese with Pistachio Pesto, Shrimp and Crab Salad, Dates filled with Cream Cheese – wrapped in Prosciutto.

I guess you could say I was semi-successful, but the vols-au-vents weren’t what they could have been. Some turned out, some did not, and many were just plain ugly - oh well, that’s life,..and weather! I brushed half the vols-au-vents with a whole egg wash, and the other half with an egg yolk wash. As you can see, the egg yolk wash was quicker to burn, which is usually the case if you don’t keep an eye on it..plus, the rims turned out much darker, which is always the case when using an egg yolk wash as opposed to a whole egg wash. I didn’t prefer either, as the ones brushed with whole egg wash turned out too light, and the ones brushed with egg yolk wash - too dark. It’s all a matter of more and less baking time for each..which I should have paid attention to.

Sliced Beef and Tomatoes in Black Bean Sauce

Obviously, the main challenge was making the puff pastry, known as pate feuilletee. Many find this to be quite daunting and never try it, but it’s actually quite simple. You put together a dough aka detrempe, with flour, water and salt, and while it’s resting, you pound out about a pound of butter into a uniform block aka beurrage (make sure there are NO precious and/or valuable belongings within 10-20 feet of your ‘pounding’ area. Fortunately for me, only a fork hit the floor). You wrap the dough around the block of butter, which gives you a paton, and start rolling it vertically until it’s about 24 inches long. Fold it up like a letter, turn it around, and roll it to 24 inches in length again. These are called ‘turns’, and you need a total of 6 turns, with 30 minute to 1 hour rests in the fridge in between, to produce a perfect puff pastry with thousands of layers of butter. I rolled my dough on a slab of marble, since it’s a cool surface, which is VERY key here..as the dough must remain cold or the butter will soften or melt and there goes your layers! You see? In layman’s terms, making puff pastry really is a piece of cake – figuratively, and it’s a wonderfully silky, smooth dough to work with. I LOVE laminated doughs - from puff pastry, to croissants, to danish…*kiss kiss kiss – bow bow bow*

Creme Brulee. Technically not a vols-au-vent since I baked the puff pastry in tart molds. I pulled the sugar corkscrews with my ‘asbestos’ hands *beaming*. Starting to get the hang of it, burnt fingers and all.

I decided to showcase the versatility of puff pastry and the vols-au-vent by creating a vols-au-vent for every meal. Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner and Dessert. As I sit here typing away, I have yet to make breakfast (two ways – going overboard as always), lunch, and an extra dessert for my favorite whimsical heart cookie cutter vols-au-vant, and it’s now the 27th. For the dinner vols-au-vent…I was initially going to make Julia Child’s Boef (Beef)Bourguignon, but since I procrastinated, I didn’t have time to do so. I ended up scouring my fridge, freezer and pantry for something delicious to put together, finally ending up ‘inventing’ a beef-tomato concoction in a black bean sauce. It was really delicious, but I cannot remember the exact recipe since I just winged it, throwing in a bit of this, a bit of that etc. I need to staple a pen and paper to my forehead!

It’s now 10:47 am, and I’m just sitting here sniffling and coughing. I’m coming down with a cold – it hit about two hours ago, and I have one last filling to make. A milk chocolate-peanut butter mousse for the second dessert vols-au-vent. I cannot motivate myself to do it, yet I can’t rest until I get this post up! Looks like I’ll be posting a lot later than I hoped!

Peanut Butter – Milk Chocolate Mousse. By now I was too run down to put the mousse in a pastry bag and pipe it in decoratively. A couple messy spoonfuls, a few photos, and back to bed.

Just woke up from a long nap and finished, or shall I say rushed? Loved this challenge, but leaving any challenge to the last minute is something I’m going to try and avoid in the future. I’m pooped – so much so, that I have no desire to proofread this post, so please excuse any typos, run on sentences, etc..for now – I’ll get to it later. To see what other Daring Bakers came up with, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll and click on the links to the listed blogs! Also, I would like to thank Palidor of Crazy Asian Gal for thinking of me when passing on the award below. I’ll pass it on in my next entry .

To get the recipe for Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry and the directions on how to form the vols-au-vents (this entry is long enough as is), go to THIS page on Steph’s blog. Also, here is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications).

Easy Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons half and half
1/3 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 oz good quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:
1.Place half and half, sugar, and butter in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to gentle boil. Remove pan from heat and add chopped chocolate and peanut butter, swirling pan to cover chocolate and peanut butter with hot half and half mixture. Let stand for about 3 minutes to melt chocolate and peanut butter fully. Gently whisk chocolate mixture until blended then stir in vanilla extract. Let stand at room temperature until cool.

2.Place heavy cream in medium chilled bowl. Whip cream until soft peaks form, using hand-held mixer set at medium speed. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture.

Vegan Dum Dum

September 14, 2009 at 6:50 am | In Daring Cooks, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Vegan, Vegetables | 73 Comments
Tags: Chickpeas, Coconut Milk, Cumin, Curry, Dosas, Indian, Spelt Flour, Tomatoes, Vegan

Yes, I am a vegan dum dum, and thanks to the amazing blog, Vegan Yum Yum for existing so I could mock myself in the title :P I’ve never gone out of my way to cook or bake vegan, but I’m sure I’ve turned out a few dishes, such as roasted veggies, that could be placed in the vegan category. Let me tell you, it is TOUGH to cook something vegan, considering the fact that I’m a butter drenched carnivore. I love Indian food, but this challenge was far removed from some of the Indian cuisine I’ve had. The furthest I’ve gone is vegetarian Indian..so this was like stepping off a cliff into a quicksand like concoction of tofu and sugar minus the bone char – and I’ll get to that later.

Before I get to the challenge, would you believe I got my lens back last Saturday and it literally rolled off the table and broke again?? THIRD TIME! Someone or something is trying to tell me something..as in, ‘Spend the money, buy a better built lens!’ Plus, I broke my toe 2 weeks ago. A lot of ‘brokens’ in the past year! In any event, I had to use the old point and shoot AGAIN. My photos are starting to depress me! LOL

This month’s Daring Cooks challenge, hosted by debyi of Healthy Vegan Kitchen, (Thanks, deb!), dared us non-vegans (and vegans, of course) to prepare Indian Dosas, with a vegan filling and a vegan sauce - completely devoid of all animal products. Here’s the deal..

Requirements: Must be free of animal products, this will be a challenge for you “regular” cooks out there, but its worth it. So that means, no cows milk, butter, meat, poultry, fish, chicken/beef broth, etc. This dish is also 99% oil free, using only what you need to keep the dosas from sticking (I used a quick spritz of cooking spray on the first dosa only), which isn’t too bad with a nonstick pan. You can use a different filling/sauce if you like, but it must be free of animal products.

Ummm..errr..uhhhh. OK, I can DO THIS, I WILL DO THIS, and it will be SOOO tasty, people will be licking their plates like puppies searching for more kibble in their empty bowls! Well, this was not to be. First off, I have this weird thing about curry – sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t. I can’t come to a decision, and it’s been a back and forth battle for years. Since I decided to make this recipe exactly how debyi posted it (NO fusing, no twists..can you believe it?), from the dosa pancakes to the coconut curry sauce - I was inundated with curry, LOTS of tablespoons of curry, even a little in the dosas. I knew this could be a bad thing for me, but NOPE, I was going to conquer this recipe verbatim..no additions or subtractions – only allowing myself a little leeway for some ’sides’ to serve with the dosas. Well, thank god for those sides, because outside of the pancakes, this recipe just didn’t do it for me or others who tasted it. Maybe, being unfamiliar with vegan cooking, I didn’t execute it properly, BUT – like I said above, I followed the recipe exactly how it was written, and I’m pretty good at that.

Not being able to use ghee to make the dosas was kind of tough..since I’ve made them in the past, but I did rub my non-stick skillet with half an onion, which is a traditional way of cooking dosas..ghee or no ghee. The dosas were actually ok, albeit a little bland. The filling is what I didn’t flip over. I love chickpeas, and now I wish I took another direction with them since all that curry and tomato paste was overwhelming and the texture sort of thick and dry. I tried to fix it with some lemon juice and cilantro, but sadly, it was not to be. The sauce seemed promising, especially since many Daring Cooks seemed to like it..but whoops, lots of curry again, and the consistency was a little too watery for my liking. I even added some toasted coconut powder (left over from the Skate challenge) to try and thicken it up more as it was cooking, but no luck. I suppose spelt flour doesn’t have the magic thickening powers that AP flour does. Maybe I should have tried cornstarch? Arrowroot starch? Tapioca flour? Herein lies the ‘Dum Dum’ – I was clueless as to whether these were acceptable thickeners in the vegan world. I know, I know..I should have asked, but as I’ve said a dozen times already, I wanted to tackle this as written.

On a brighter note, I made this amazing spiced plum chutney and a wonderfully hot peanut-red chile powdered chutney. The spiced plum chutney was one I’ve gorged on at Tabla in NYC, so it was a great surprise to see the recipe posted online. Here lies my next ‘Dum Dum’ moment. Floyd Cardoz’s recipe calls for granulated sugar. Now, I knew I never saw granulated sugar in any or most recipes on vegan blogs, so this time I did ask. Deb was kind enough to guide to me toward something callled Florida Crystals, but that sounded kind of ‘hard to find’ and well, odd. Just the word ‘crystals’, conjured up thoughts of shiny specks of artificial carcinogens. I know it’s probably fine, but after a little research of my own, I found out that granulated sugar is acceptable – IF it’s not processed with bone char. HUH? What’s bone char? Well… bone definitely connotes ‘animal’, so that made sense. However, I wasn’t going to stand in the supermarket (standing for a long time isn’t something I relish at this time, considering my knee has been cracking lately – seeing my surgeon Wednesday) aisle reading the back of every bag of granulated sugar to make sure it didn’t contain bone char! Thankfully, turbinado sugar..aka sugar in the raw, is acceptable, so I used that with good results. I forgot to add, I served the dosas with basmati rice, which soaked up the sauce nicely, so it didn’t feel as watery.

All in all, I wouldn’t say DON’T try this, as you may get better results than I did. If I were to do it again, I’d use a different filling and futz with the sauce a little more. To see what other Daring Cooks did with the Dosas, head on over to the Daring Cooks Blogroll. Many really enjoyed this recipe and as always, the creativity can be outrageous and outstanding – definitely worth some surfing!

UPDATE: A friend just popped by and ate what was left of the dosas, sauce and filling. He loved them, and even used the extra dosas to make ham and cheese dosas. Interesting.

Indian Dosas

This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take a while to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting.

Serves 4

Equipment needed:
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Derek Jeter passes Lou Gehrig as the All Time Leader in Yankee Hits, AND, Chocolate and Zucchini isn’t just a great Blog!

September 12, 2009 at 6:33 am | In Baseball, Cakes, Dessert, Vegetables | 42 Comments
Tags: Baseball, Broken Record, Chocolate, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, NY Yankees, Zucchini

Last night I witnessed history. I knew it was coming, as did everyone who pays even the slightest attention to the Yankees and/or MLB, but it was still exciting to see it happen live, on a cold, rainy night against the Baltimore Orioles…specifically, a young rookie pitcher named Chris Tillman. Something tells me Tillman didn’t mind giving up that hit, as he is now firmly embedded in Yankee AND baseball history forever, no matter where his career ends up.

Photo courtesy NY Daily News

Derek broke a record that Lou Gehrig held for seven decades…surpassing Lou’s record of 2,721 hits and ending the night at 2,723 hits. Granted, he did it with A LOT more at bats than Lou, but it’s still an amazing feat, and one that will immortalize him (although his Yankee legend immortality was already sealed) in baseball history and the HOF until someone surpasses him, but we’ll all be 6 feet under, beneath cars that fly and vacations on the moon, by the time that occurs!

Photo courtesy NY Times

It’s so amazing how far he’s come during his years in the Pinstriped ’show’. A skinny, shy rookie shortstop back in 1995, who happened to get ’lucky’ when Tony Fernandez, the starting Yankee SS that year, went on the DL, spurring the Yanks to call him up from the minors, to just a solid shortstop with ’supposedly’ great leadership skills and many intangibles (I think the word ‘intangibles’ and the name ‘Derek Jeter’ were interchangeable for quite a few years), to Captain and first ballot HOF’er! Congrats, Captain Clutch – you have given me and millions of Yankee fans so many amazing moments to remember and cherish in the past 14 years, and we’re looking forward to more – especially this coming post season. The Yanks are Juggernauts this season, and I’m actually shocked when they lose a game. I haven’t seen a Yankee team like this since ‘04 (Uhh, up until Games 4,5, 6 & 7 of the ALCS – CRINGE!). Yes, there are some tiny worries post season wise, but nothing major enough to mention even briefly – just some scar tissue from past post seasons since the start of the millenium. OK – update time. After today’s game, I must mention ONE..but just one. Get your head together, AJ, and use your gift! Geesh, we need this guy to revert back to what he was and can be if we’re going to get anywhere in the playoffs!

OK, could I end this post without something yummy? Hell no, so here’s something fudgy with an ingredient you’d NEVER know was in it. Errr, why do I make statements like that when it’s in the title and there’s a big photo of it below? I suppose you could say I need to fill up space (???)

Because I’ve been out of the ‘loop’ for quite some time, I thought I would miss out on my usual August haul of zucchini that friends, neighbors, acquaintances etc..pawn off on as many people they can. Last week, I found a bag of zukes in my fridge. I looked around for intruders, burglars who trade off zucchini for cash and jewelry, some neighborhood weirdo who sneaks into people’s homes in a desperate need to rid him/herself of the bounty of zucchini that has taken over his/her garden – someone I would call Zucchini Claus. Well, no scary intruders, no thieves, and no need to leave out a glass of milk and a plate of cookies, although the former would pair quite well with what I made. The culprit was finally revealed later on that evening. My sister and her husband have suddenly developed bright green thumbs and turned out quite a vegetable garden this past summer.

Naturally, I’m always looking for new ways to use the annual bounty of zucchini, but I always end up making the usual suspects, zucchini bread, fried zucchini, and gazpacho. Yes, there are dozens and dozens of ways to incorporate zucchini into many treats, but I just never bothered. The above are always quick and easy, and frankly, zucchini doesn’t really excite me (OK, get your minds out of the gutter!). Well, during a late night of food blog surfing, I came across a hunk of fudgy goodness by Em at The Repressed Pastry Chef. She found this recipe at King Arthur, but changed the frosting to a simple, but perfect, chocolate ganache. Me likey, so me takey! Let me tell you, this is one the moistest chocolate cakes I’ve ever had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into, and as usual, my taste testers agreed. I could see the counter top through my glass baking pan within a 24 hour period. Holy fudginess, Batman! Who would ever think zucchini is the key to the moist, fudgy texture? It’s completely invisible in every sense - you cannot see it, taste it, or feel it on your tongue. SO, the next time you’re stuck with a load of zucchini, get out the chocolate and bake this! You won’t be disappointed, not even a little bit!

Before I get to the recipe, THE GYM STORY. When I started my outpatient Physical Therapy 2 months ago at the cool gym I’ve mentioned in prior entries, it’s the Physical Therapy assistants who are in charge of leading you to the gym, setting you up with the machines, weights etc, until you get used to your assigned routine. One day, after finishing all of my exercises in th PT room, the PT assistant started to walk with me into the gym, Up to this point, I had yet to walk without holding onto something, so she held out her hand for me to hold, rather than us walking back to retrieve my quad cane. As we walked and talked (I felt like a Mommy walking with her little girl, as she’s like 5″2′, and I’m 5″7′). Without realizing it, our arms and hands dropped and we were holding hands like a couple instead of my using her hand for support. I was floored, as it was THE moment I discovered I could finally ‘freakin’ walk, since we were JUST holding hands, walking and talking. The noisy gym goes eerily silent, the abundance of men slowing down on the treadmills, steppers, the bell like clanking of weights hitting the floor, et al…interrupting my moment of mobile euphoria. I looked up and noticed heads whipping around like meerkats sensing a meerkat dinner being planned close by….completely focused on us. I could almost hear the ‘SHWINGS’. We just blew it off as I excitedly basked in my ability to walk without any aid at all. When I sat down on the seat of the leg press, big cheesy grins abound, and a lot of small talk attempts. As I type this, I’m realizing it’s not sounding as funny as it actually was, so I guess I’ll have to chalk it up to one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments. What is it with guys seeing two women making any kind of contact that could be construed as sexual??? Believe me, I think I’ve heard just about every answer to that question, but it still amuses me.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Adapted from Em at The Repressed Pastry Chef via King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream or yogurt
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10″ zucchini, about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache Topping
6 oz heavy cream
9 oz chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly coat a 9″ x 13″ pan with baking spray

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.

3. Stir in the sour cream or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 35 – 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rack.

5. To prepare the frosting, heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Wait 3-5 minutes then stir to combine. It may take a few minutes of stirring for the ganache to come together… but it will. It will thicken as it cools… when warm (but not hot) pour over cake and smooth with offset spatula. Allow frosting to set for about 30 minutes before serving… or not

Whoops, I almost forgot! As I mentioned in my last entry, I received two more awards. Well, I received another two this past week. Another Lovely Blog award from Singing Horse at The Peacable Kingdom and a Lemonade award from Sophie at Foodiefiles. Since I haven’t yet passed on the other Lovely Blog award from Anula at Anula’s Kitchen, and the Kreative Blogger Award from Laura at Tiramisu, I’ll take care of all of that now. Thank you all, as it’s incredibly sweet and flattering

I’m going to stick with 13 for now, and pass on another 13 in my next entry.

1. Jackie at Pham Fatale
2. Kitty at Fahrenheit 350
3. Vibi at La Casserole Carree
4. Sara and Nick at I’m a Food Blog
5. Alana at Eating from the Ground Up
6. Maris at In Good Taste
7. Ingrid (my girl) at 3B’s….Baseball, Baking & Books
8. Katrina at Baking and Boys!
9. Pru at The Fashionable Foodie
10. asti at Ice Tea: Sugar High
11. Inbal at The Cookie Fairy
12. Lori at Lori’s Lipsmacking Goodness 13. Palidor at Crazy Asian Gal

On to the Kreative Blogger Award, plus ’7 Things About Me’ – Do you really want to know? (This is a requirement that comes with this award prior to passing it on) lol

7 ‘Boring’ things about me:

1. I cry VERY easily, super sensitive - couldn’t hurt a fly, LITERALLY. I try and catch them in lieu of killing them! Don’t even get me started on the mice I’ve tried to nurse back to health after my cats have had their way with them and left them as a ‘gift’ for me.
2. Although I don’t cook it this way for others, I prefer my broccoli overcooked (SHAME ON ME!)
3. I love warm rainy days in the Spring and Summer. There’s a certain ambiance to it, not to mention the scent of flowers opening up for a drink.
4. The scent of Lilacs intoxicate me.
5. Love classical music, symphonies, ballets etc..and the music goes well with #3 above.
6. A drunk lead singer of a very well known band came on to a friend and I back in the mid 90’s. We passed LOL
7. Using fake documents to get an authentic Massachusetts driver’s license in college, since our fake ID’s weren’t working, has come back to haunt me the past several years. My ‘fake’ birthdate has inundated every agency, company etc…and I’m STILL trying to fix the problem! Karma – but hey, I was a kid!

I’m passing this award to..

1. Audax Artifex aka my ‘Drano’ at Audax Artifex
2. Chrystal and Amir at The Duo Dishes
3. Elra at Elra’s baking
4. Elle at Feeding My Enthusiasms
5. Arlette at Phoenician Gourmet
6. Marika at Madcap Cupcake
7. Barbara at Barbara Bakes

Finally, the Lemonade award. I honestly don’t know what it means or stands for, but it is a pretty and quite charming award, so I’ll be thinking of that as I pass it on to these eight bloggers..

1. Simone at Junglefrog Cooking
2. Y at Lemonpi
3. Shelly at Musings From a Fishbowl
4. Natasha at 5 Star Foodie
5. Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
6. Olga at Mango & Tomato
7. Nikki at Art and Lemons
8. Dharm at Dad ~ Baker & Chef

All three awards were passed on to each person for various reasons, but if I try to explain them, it’ll turn this entry into a novel. You know me, I start writing, and I can’t stop! To everyone I passed these awards on to, please know I have great reasons to have done so, ones that would send your blog ego’s flying :)

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