Fudge Pudding Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water

Preparation:Sift flour with dry ingredients; stir in milk and shortening. Add pecans and vanilla. Mix until well combined then pour into a generously greased 8 x 8-inch square pan. Combine sauce ingredients; pour over cake batter. Bake the cake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 40 minutes. Set on a rack to cool slightly (do not remove the cake from the pan). The fudgy sauce will end up on the bottom of the pan. Serve hot or cold.

I made this today because I was having a chocolate craving. I somehow missed the vanilla extract (having a baby on the hip will do that to you). All in all, I wasn't impressed. The cake part was not very chocolatey and had that made-with-AP-flour taste. Sort of heavy and dense but not in a good way. I can really taste the molasses in the brown sugar and it just doesn't work with the chocolate. But, with the missing vanilla, I can't be sure how the equation would change so I may have to try this again with more cocoa (I'd go with Dutch-processed next time), only white sugar and cake flour.

Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions are one of my favorite additions to darn near anything. They are great on pizza, a wonderful addition to soups and awesome added to a pan sauce after cooking steaks (a reduction of red wine and caramelized onions -perfection!) They are also time consuming to make. So, I like to take a couple of shortcuts. First, the food processor. I chop up at least 6 onions and throw them into my slow cooker. Then, I add *gulp* a stick of butter and turn it on low for the next day or so. I give it a stir when the spirit moves me and turn it off when they're golden brown. Once they are cool, I line my muffin tins with saran wrap and fill them up. (I don't like to take a chance that my next cupcake will be oniony) Once they are frozen, I pop them out and put them into a Ziploc bag. The muffin cup size works perfectly and they are handy as heck. This time, I'm planning to add them to meatloaf. I'll let you know how it goes.

Bellagio Sipping Chocolate

This is like a dark chocolate bar in a cup. Incredible. The directions call for whole milk *gulp* but I use skim and it's almost as decadent. Nesquick tastes like nothing next to this. My knees are weak just thinking about it.

These are like candy. I love artificial blueberry flavor.

Using Yogurt

On a recent cooking show I saw the chef use plain yogurt to dredge chicken breasts while making oven fried chicken. It looked intriguing since I usually use eggs. I added some of my herb paste to the yogurt and then covered the chicken with a mix of Panko bread crumbs and french fried onions. Delish!

Turkey Burgers

At a recent trip to Costco we sampled Don Lee Farms Turkey Burgers. Holy cow! They have caramelized onions and swiss cheese in them and they completely rock! The best part is while they are fully cooked, they also have a nice short ingredient list. And, they have half the fat of a regular burger.

Gourmet Garden Herb Paste

Gourmet Garden makes a bunch of different herb pastes. It's basically chopped herbs in a toothpaste tube. Brilliant! I ran into these in the produce section and I am hooked. I never have it together enough to both grow herbs and then remember to use them. With these, I don't have to. They're great in traditional uses but I also love them on a sandwich. And, a recent study indicated that they are higher in antioxidants than straight-up herbs. You can keep them in your fridge for 3 months - if they last that long!