Sunday, January 19, 2014

the food issue

Port magazine photo

Foodies of our acquantance give Mrs. T high marks for her culinary achievements. She enjoys cooking and sharing what she has prepared.  This is obviously not the food channel, but I occassionally pass on favorite recipes or dishes that have gone over well, and often I come to you for your ideas and answers to my pressing questions. Today is one of those days.

Quinoa: fellow eaters, what can be done to make quinoa palatable or is it simply a food to be endured?


Friday night we were called upon to make dessert for a dinner party we were attending.  We didn't know the crowd well, but a quick look at the menu told us we needed a cardiologist's phone number handy.  A simple fruit tart would have been a let down so we went whole hog making a Chocolate Souffle.  The version created for Roy's Restaurant is needless complicated so we modified the itsybitsy foodies.com. version.  I trust you like lava cake.

This is better if made the night before, and can be made up to 10 days in advance for single servings, but if your house is like ours you'll find the batter too tempting to stay out of.  Serves 4


Lava Cake
Ingredients:
8 ounces semi-sweet dark chocolate
12 Tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons of cornstarch
4 eggs plus 4 egg yolks

Instructions:
Combine sugar and cornstarch in a mixing bowl
In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs and additional yolks
Bring butter to a simmer in a sauce pan
Add chocolate and mix until smooth
Continue to mix until the chocolate begins to simmer along the edges

Transfer the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients
Mix until combined

Add the eggs (slowly) and mix at low speed until the mixture is smooth and sugar has dissolved
Pour the batter in a pan and let refridgerate overnight

When ready Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F
Butter and sugar (or Pam) the bottom and sides of individual oven safe ramekins
Fill ramekins 3/4 full -don't worry about making them smooth. The batter will melt in the oven
bake on the top rack for 25-30 minutes until sides are set and top not so much

Remove from ramekins and serve while hot.  You may also serve carefully from ramekins. They will be hot


Bon Appetite
Toad

9 comments:

Old Polo said...

Toad, my lovely wife says that the most important thing to do is buy prewashed quinoa or to wash it really well before you cook it. The first time she cooked the stuff it tasted so bad that she didn't do it again for 10 years.
Hope that may help. I'll keep quizzing her. Right now she is make dinner for 8 and can't dictate a receipe.

Janet said...

Hi,

I actually enjoy quinoa and use it for salads or as a bed for roasted veg, etc. Try any of Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes, and you're bound to change you tune.

Toad said...

I'd prefer licking the driveway instead of enduring quinoa again until I received the following link
http://www.101cookbooks.com/ingredient/quinoa

Makes me game to try it again. Next I'll give Yotam a fair shot. There must be some reason to eat this that I do not yet understand.
.

Anonymous said...

Quinoa is PACKED with all kinds of nutrients, it contains all of the amino acids, it's so full of protein that folks use it as a meat substitute, it also contains essential substances that act as links to full metabolism of other essential substances, it's one of those miracle [high fiber] grains. I made it once, but I had to stay inside the house for 3 days afterwards. Here's why:

[WARNING: this is "Portlandia" skit is very crude, watch at your own discretion but I found it hysterical]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsowLJU1GGM

-Flo

Toad said...

Asphalt leavings must have some nutrients. Thanks, Flo

Lou Archer said...

Oh yum. I'm going to make lava cake now...... Oh wait, it's 6am. Darn it.

I thought I was eating Quinoa recently : a small, juicy, yellow pulse in a salad. Turns out not, but now I have a delicious mystery to solve....

Toad said...

Lou perhaps it was Orzo, an italian pasta which masquerades as many things. It's simply a butter/lemon/cheese delivery device in our house

Anonymous said...

Hm. I just saw this. What do you think. Possibilities? Do you like chocolate, like maybe add a few good-for-you dark chocolate chips to take it up a notch from birdseed?

http://www.gardenista.com/posts/recipe-quinoa-fruit-and-nut-bars?utm_source=remodelista&utm_medium=pubexchange

-Flo

Toad said...

I believe its meerly to be endured, like cod liver oil or pepto