Chocolate Cake!

Ever seen the movie Julie and Julia??? If you have you'll really appreciate this recipe. It's Julia's Child's Chocolate Cake! I saw that movie and just loved all the food and cooking in it and this cake just screamed at me from the screen. I googled it and found the recipe! Yay!

Cake:
4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate , melted

2 Tbsp. rum or coffee

1/4 pound or 1 stick softened butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar to mix with butter

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar to beat with egg whites

1/3 cup pulverized almonds

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1/2 cup cake flour , scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter

Chocolate-Butter Icing


To make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.
Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.
Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.
Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 ·minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

Icing:

2 ounces (2 squares) semisweet baking chocolate

2 Tbsp. rum or coffee

5 to 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in the small pan, cover and set in the larger pan of almost simmering water. Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
some carrots cut into circles
half an onion (or more if you like it lots)
2 stalks of celery and the center of the stalk with the leaves on it
6 or 8 cups of water
2+ TBSP of chicken bouillon
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Thyme (preferably fresh)
5 or 6 new potatoes cut small
Homemade noodles

I saute'd the onion in a little olive oil first. In large pot mix onion, chicken, carrots, celery, water, bouillon, and thyme together. When chicken is done, cut into small pieces and add back into the soup. The last 15 minutes add the potatoes and then in the last 10 minutes add the noodles. Makes a great chicken noodle soup. If you need to add more water during the simmering time, go ahead. Fish out the thyme stems - they aren't very eatable.

Homemade Noodles

2 1/2 cups a.p. flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 TB butter
Mix the flour and salt. Add the eggs, milk and butter. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out really thin and cut into strips. If you're really good you can loosely roll up the dough and cut like a jelly roll. I didn't do it very well and had to re-roll and cut flat. Hang or lay out on a dish towel. Let dry for at least an hour.

Orange Waffles/Pancakes - w/ Buttermilk syrup

- 6 eggs

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-6 oz. can of orange juice concentrate, thawed (i've used regular o.j. as well)

-1/2 cup butter, melted

-1/4 cup sugar

-3 3/4 cup flour

-3 cup milk

-In one bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. In separate bowl mix, egg yolks, salt, orange juice, butter, and sugar. Beat until smooth. Alternate adding flour and milk. Fold egg whites into batter. Bake in waffle iron. Serves 5.

This actually makes a lot and I always have tons left over. I also will make them into pancakes on my skillet, which my family likes better. They are so yummy. We love them. Here is a butter milk syrup recipe in case you don't have one. (We also have eaten them with fruit/powdered sugar and regular maple syrup. Both yummy options. )

-1 1/2 cups white sugar

-3/4 cup buttermilk

-1/2 cup butter

-2 Tablespoons corn syrup

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

in sauce pan, stir together sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. bring to boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

I recommend making this in a large sauce pan, cause if it spills over-it SUCKS to clean up. :)

enjoy!

Rotisserie chicken Article

I read a great article on Allrecipes.com about using Rotisserie chicken. The link is http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Rotisserie-Chicken-Jump-starts-Snazzy-Meals/Detail.aspx check it out.

Monkey Bread

2 tbsp. yeast
6-8 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp. oil
2 cups butter (not marg.)

Make a sponge: 1/2 cup warm water, yeast.
Add 2 cups flour. Let rise.
Add to this mixture 2 cups warm water, sugar, salt, eggs, oil. Mix well, let double in size.
Add 6 cups flour. Let rise again.
Melt 1 cup butter in each of 2 bundt pans. Roll dough 1/4 in thick. Cut 25 pieces per pan using a soup size can. Dip both sides of dough in butter as you stack them vertically (on side) in budt pans. Let rise to top of pans. Bake 400 º F for 20-25 minutes.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp. yeast softened in 1/2 cup lukewarm water
4 eggs, beaten with 1 cup cold water
7-1/2 to 9 cups flour (make a med. soft dough)
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
Cinnamon and brown sugar for filling
Nuts and raisins, optional

Mix butter, sugar, 1 cup water. Add 3 cups flour followed by yeast. Alternate rest of flour with egg mixture until soft dough. Knead about 15 minutes. Let rise until doubled. Divide dough in half. Roll out 1/4" thick rectangle. Spread with 1/4 cup butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Add nuts. raisins. Roll up like a jelly roll and cut 1" thick slices. Repeat with other half of dough. Set on large cookie sheet and let rise about 30 minutes to an hour. Bake 12 to 14 minutes (or until golden on top) at 400ºF. Frost with butter cream frosting while still warm.