ELEVEN : FALLEN CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE WITH ARMAGNAC PRUNES

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

FEBRUARY 11 2012

ELEVEN : FALLEN CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE WITH ARMAGNAC PRUNES

Here I am again, for the third time in my life (and all within the last month) watching a bowlful of butter and dark chocolate slowly melt into glossy swirls. I'm watching and worrying to myself that I will miss the moment when the egg whites are peaking softly and will accidentally whip them to death. And how will I know when the egg yolks are ribboning perfectly?!? I just know I'm gonna screw this all up.

chocolate and butter become one

And I still can't quite convince myself there is really any point to making this stupid souffle which I don't even want to eat. I am going to a party, so hopefully someone there will be in the mood for a shot of sugar straight into their veins.

SEVEN & EIGHT : CHOCOLATE OVERLOAD

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

FEBRUARY 05 2012

SEVEN : CHOCOLATE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING
EIGHT : FOUR NUT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

So far I've learned that it's pretty darn easy to make really rich, super ooey-gooey decadent desserts. The only problem is that no one will actually eat them. I sure won't (born without a sweet tooth) and hubby doesn't care much for chocolate. And if I take it to work or to a party, the overall response is something akin to anger or annoyance... "Wow, that looks really good. How dare you bring it here and tempt me with your delicious dessert! I'm trying to eat healthy and lose a few pounds! Don't you even care?!?"

GNOCCHI MARINARA RECIPE

JANUARY 19 2012

In order to fully enjoy the Gnocchi Marinara, one must also sauce them in the authentic Frankies Tomato Sauce. So, I have included both recipes in this post to help you have the full experience.

TWENTY-SEVEN : HAZELNUT PANNA COTTA

JULY 23 2011

This recipe marked a number of firsts for me: first time using a whole vanilla bean, first time cooking with gelatine and the first time making panna cotta. I must say, it all seemed to go pretty smoothly! First I scraped the insides out of the vanilla bean.

scraped vanilla bean

Then stirred the gelatine into cold water to "soften". It ended up looking kinda weird, but I guess that's probably how it's supposed to look!

softened gelaine

SEVEN ~ TEN : FAMILY DINNER PARTY

JUNE 20 2011

SEVEN : CARROTS
EIGHT : SWEET POTATOES
NINE : PATE BRISEE TART SHELL
TEN : CHOCOLATE TART

That's right, FOUR recipes conquered today! We hosted a little dinner party for some family this evening and picked up an enormous salmon from the farmer's market for the main course. There aren't any salmon recipes in Frankies, so I chose a couple simple sides to accompany the fish.

Since there were going to be eight people and I'm not a huge fan of dessert, I jumped at this chance to get one of the desserts out of the way. After consulting with hubby, who will end up having to eat any leftovers (poor guy), I picked the chocolate tart for tonight. Mostly because it's the most decadent dessert and we will need all the help we can get eating it.

Luckily, I was able to make the tart shell and the roasted carrots last night. The pate brisee came together quite easily, thanks to my handy KitchenAid mixer. Half of the recipe goes into the freezer to be used for the cheesecake recipe. The rest is pressed into a tart pan with removable bottom, baked, cooled and popped into the fridge to wait overnight. Thankfully I was able to borrow said tart shell with removable bottom because I really don't want to buy something I will only use once. Speaking of... where am I going to find a springform pan for the upcoming cheesecake? That is a question for another day.