ChocolateCoffeeCake with Chocolate Glaze

Today I felt like making something sweet that reminded me of home and my Grandmother at the same time. My Grandma used to make a cake we called "Black Chocolate Cake" and she made it for me everytime we came on vacation. The other sweet I remembered was a piece of cake we used to buy at a bakery in downtown Schaffhausen called Aschinger. It was called "Studentenschnitte" which loosely translated means "Students Slices". It is a slice of chocolate cake with a bit of crunch in it, that is covered with a chocolate and powdered sugar white glaze.

My hubby went out with friends so I got to work. I grabbed my Grandma's recipe and went to town, measuring and calculating ingredients. So I pretty much mixed the things I remembered together.

For the cake batter:

2 eggs (separate egg yolk and egg whites)
100 g unsalted butter
160 g flour
50 g ground almonds
50 g bread crumbs
300 g confectioners (powdered) sugar
4 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs ground coffee beans
250 ml milk coffee
Splash of rum or amaretto
Splash of vanilla essence
1 Ts Cinnamon
14 g baking powder


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare round cake pan so cake won't stick. I butter it first and then pour some bread crumbs in it, swing it around and bread crumbs will stick to the butter. Shake off the excess and set aside

Separate eggs and beat egg whites until little peaks form, you can tell it's ready when you can turn the bowl upside down and the egg white doesn't come out.

Mix bread crumbs, cocoa, ground coffee beans and ground almonds in a bowl and set aside. Then mix butter, egg yolk and sugar until fluffy, add in rum/amaretto and vanilla essence. Little by little add flour, baking powder, liquid and bread crumb mixture. Once all ingredients are mixed gently fold in egg whites.

Pour into prepared cake pan and bake in pre-heated oven for about an 50 minutes to an hour. You can test if the cake is done by sticking a wooden skewer in it. If it comes out clean the cake is done.

Before applying the glaze I covered it with apricot jelly. To spread it better you need to thin it out a bit and maybe you have to put it through a sieve to get an even consistency. So just take a couple of tablespoons of apricot jelly, a little bit of water and heat in the microwave, stir until combined then pour on the cake and let dry for 15 minutes.

Now you're ready to glaze your cake. You can use a store bought chocolate glaze or you can make one. Mine was very easy

150 g dark chocolate
50 g unsalted butter
50 g powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbs water

Melt chocolate, butter, sugar and water in a thin walled bowl over a pan of barely boiling water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Once it smoothly runs over a turned spoon it is ready to go on the cake.

Just pour on the cake and tilt cake from left to right to cover cake evenly. Do not use a knife or spatula, it will prevent the cake from being shiny. Let dry and then serve with some whipped cream and a nice cup of coffee!

YUMMY!

Orange-Garlic Chicken with Almond Rice Pilaf

Not knowing what to make for dinner and refusing to cook the same old grilled chicken breast I wanted to come up with something I've never done before. And I did, at first I was a bit worried if Hubby would like it or if it would even come out good, but WOW! Delicious! Even better, it's easy as pie to make.

It was kind of hot out yesterday so I thought that I could use some citrusy flavors in our dinner. So here is what you need:

3 to 4 Chicken Breasts (skinless & boneless)
rinse and pat dry

For the Marinade:

3 large cloves of garlic (pressed through a garlic press)
1 Serrano Pepper (cut finely)
1 Orange Zest and Juice
Fresh ground Black Pepper
Red Pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt

Mix the ingredients in a cup or bowl well, place chicken breast in a re-sealable bag, pour in the marinade, shake so meat is covered well, and refrigerate, turning occasionally for about 1 hour or longer.

For the rice:

1/2 large Yellow Onion (or small whole Onion), finely chopped
2 tablespoons Butter
1.5 cups Rice (rinse well until water runs clear)
1.5 cups Chicken stock
1 cup Orange Juice
1/2 cup sliced or slivered Almonds

I used my rice cooker to do this, so you might have to adjust the liquids to the measurements of your rice cooker.

Melt the butter. add chopped onion, almonds and let sweat for a couple of minutes until onion looks transparent, add the rice and liquids to the measurement of your rice cooker, 3 parts stock to 2 parts orange juice, set to cook. You'll see the almonds will add a nice crunch to the rice and it's just lovely!

When your rice is almost done, start up your grill to get it nice and hot. Place your marinated Chicken on the grill, turning over once or twice while brushing with the marinate, until done.

Serve with a nice salad and a crisp white or rose wine!

DELICIOUS! Bon Apetit! Mahlzeit! En Guete!

Cookies.....

so I made these cookies before Xmas and sent them to Tylyn (my step-daughter, God I hate that word). I'll just call her my daughter from now on, cause that's how I see her anyways. She called me today and told me how they are heavenly and delicious and everything in-between. So this weekend I'm going to make some more and ship them to her..... And I might even show you guys a picture. Not sure if I want to give you all the recipe, cause it's kind of a family heirloom.... But if you're lucky you might be able to order them someday.... who knows.

Movie Night

Julie & Julia
Finally yesterday we got to see this movie and I LOVED IT! Meryl Streep is fantastic in it. Oh and it made me want to cook, go take classes, hate that I couldn't afford to go to culinary school..... Argh! Now I want to go and pick a famous chef and cook all their recipe's, but maybe I should just choose one of the books I have at home and start from there.... but then, I hardly ever follow a recipe completely....

What do you think? Anyone has any suggerstions?

How about Paul Bocuse or Eckart Witzigmann? Or I have a collection of recipes from Austria? I'll go on an expedition and find the perfect book.

Update on the Shrimp

Well, I really wanted to make spinach and rice but I was in a hurry and totally forgot to get fresh spinach, on top of that we'd had rice just the night before so I thought I'd make something different for a change and broke out the package of Quick Grits I had sitting in my pantry......

I've heard of shrimp and grits before, so why not try it right? But instead of just leaving the way they are, I had to put my own little spin on it. Of course, I can never make something just the way the package says it and leave it that way. It's always something with me.

Ok, well I started measuring out the grits and water, just like its described on the package, but once I got the grits cooking, I ended up putting some saffron in it, to give it a beautiful, deep yellow color, a dab of butter and a sprinkle of parmesan....... OH YUM! That tasted delicious.....

Instead of the spinach I made some steamed broccoli and gave those a quick toss in some garlic butter...

There was the dinner..... Quick, easy and different from the usual fare....

Grilled Tiger Shrimp with Spinach and Saffron Rice

So yesterday I went to the grocery store and these really large Tiger Shrimp caught my eye. I haven't eaten those in a while, I had to buy them. Deciding I wanted to grill them, I made a marinade with

Olive Oil
Fresh Chopped Garlic
Red Pepper Flakes
and Rosemary

wash the shrimp, pat them dry, add the marinade so it coats all the shrimp and let them marinate for about 30 minutes (or overnight if you prepare for the next day) in the fridge.


In the meantime start your rice. I use a rice cooker, best thing I ever bought, it gets the rice perfect all the time. Once you have rinsed the rice well, get it in the cooker, add the correct amount of water and press a button. Usually I add some salt and crushed garlic to the water as well, just to give the rice some taste. For this dish, hold off on the garlic. Just before the end of the cooking process I'll add in some saffron and a little piece of butter. The saffron gives the rice it's nice yellow color, the butter a bit of creaminess. Make sure you don't add the saffron too early, cause it gets bitter. Once you have that going move on to your spinach.

Chop up some more garlic, or use a garlic press, heat up a mixture of olive oil and butter in a pan, add the garlic and sweat for a few minutes, make sure it doesn't burn. Then add fresh spinach and just let it wilt in the pan, season with a bit of fresh ground pepper/salt set aside and keep warm.

The grill should be preheated, so it's nice and hot. Take out your shrimp, shake off excess marinade and grill about 2 minutes on each side until shrimp turn pink.

Arrange on a nice platter! And Voila..... Dinner!

Awesome!

My Hubby just won Lakers Tickets!!!! Go Lakers!

Leek and Canadian Bacon Tarte

As I said, sometimes I go back to my Swiss roots and I make something that is typically Swiss. This time I decided to give it my own little twist. It is pretty usual in northern Switzerland to have meatless meals on Fridays. A lot of people in Schaffhausen, where I am from, eat a variety of savory or sweet tartes. they can be eaten warm or cold and almost every bakery and grocery store with a deli counter will offer a variety of them.

In Schaffhausen, the most famous and traditional one is what is called "Schaffhauser Boelle Tuenne", which means "Onion Tarte from Schaffhausen" its a very traditional food staple. I usually make this one from time to time, but I had some leeks and some Canadian Bacon I didn't want to go to waste so I used them instead of just using onions.

The base recipe comes out of "The Swiss Cookbook" by Betty Bossi, but lots of Swiss Cookbooks will have a basic crust recipe in them. It's fast, easy and anyone has the ingredients in their fridge and pantry.

Here is what you need for the crust:

200 g flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 75 g butter cut in cubes, 100 ml water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, add the butter and work the butter into the flour with your fingers until you have small crumbles (kinda looking like parmesan crumbs), then add the water and work it quickly into a soft dough (don't knead), flatten it out a little, cover it and let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

 

Once the dough is cool, take it out of the fridge and with a rolling pin , roll it to an about 3 mm thick round. Transfer into a round tart pan , and prick the crust all over with a fork, put back into the fridge for about 15 min.

Prepare the filling. I used

3 stalks of leeks (cut in thin rings), 2 thick slices of Canadian bacon (cut in small cubes). To do this I use either a large Chef's Knife or a Utility Knife from the Jamie Oliver Collection. These knives are super sharp (be careful) and balance perfect in your hand, which is very important when you are working in the kitchen.

For the custard mix 100 ml milk, 100 ml cream, 1 large egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and I added some fresh grated parmesan.

Take the crust out of the fridge and evenly spread leeks and bacon on the crust, then pour the custard mix evenly over the filling. Bake in the lower half of a preheated (425 Degrees)  for about 30 min.

Remove from the oven, let cool slightly and serve warm with a nice green or mixed salad and a nice glass of white wine. A Riesling or Chardonnay will work very well!

Bon Appetit!


You can use the same crust recipe to make a sweet tart as well. For example with apples, apricots or plums. after cooling the crust in the fridge, sprinkle it with ground almonds or hazelnuts.


Then layer fruit in a shingle pattern on the crust until covered, mix the custard, but instead of all the spice, mix in 3 tablespoons of sugar and maybe some vanilla flavor or cinnamon, pour the mixture over the fruit and bake as above adding about 10 minutes of baking time to soften the fruit.

YUMMY!!!

Baby Blues BBQ

BEST BBQ in LA! Hands down! Baby Blues BBQ on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice is the place to eat BBQ on the Westside. We do go there ALL the time and never ate anything we didn't love. Everything they have on the menu is fantastic. It's hard to choose really, so I just tell you what I like the most, eat the most and can't have enough of.

Usually we start out with the "Suicide King", which consist of a base of delicious homemade cornbread, topped with coleslaw and shrimp grilled to perfection and some kind of secret sauce. OMG! Delicious! You try it once and you are hooked.

My Favorite the Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich! The crunchy toasted bun it comes on, is loaded up with fresh pulled pork and coleslaw, oh and you get a nice big pickle with it too. Use some of the infused vinegar you find on the tables to drizzle on your sammie and if you like it HOT, use their XXX sauce. Your taste buds will thank you!

The Baby Backs oh WOW! Can't go wrong with those, so tender they practically fall of the bone. And ten they also have Beef Ribs, for all those that don't eat pork or just love beef. They are huge, I'm not kidding either. It's really hard to not order the whole menu.

If you want sides.... The Mac'nCheese is heavenly! Nice creamy, cheesy, gooey deliciousness!

There are lunch specials starting at $10 during weekdays, but even when coming on weekends, it won't break your bank to eat there. Best BBQ on the Westside for a price that can fit in anyones budget!

Look just go to Baby Blues BBQ, try it and fall in love with the place and thank me later!

Horsing Around in L.A.

So you've seen that I have a new found love for horseback riding and the place I go to is Griffith Park Horse Rentals . It is, in my opinion, the best place to go riding in LA, obviously there are other places, but I just fell in love with the place.

Julie and her staff are super nice and pay close attention to who should be riding which horse, so you'll be given an animal companion that matches your riding level. Everyone is welcome, children under 7 can enjoy a hand led pony or horse ride, once they're 7 they can go on the trail with the rest of us. Helmets are mandatory for the little ones.


Griffith Park Horse Rentals  is open 7 days a week, rain or shine and first rides go out at about 9 am, the last one at about 5 pm. Please check out their website for special rides, like the Dinner Ride, or after hour rides with a private guide.You don't have to make reservations, just show up and be ready to go.  Large groups should make reservations.

There are horses of every size, ability and age. They all are happy, gentle horses and they love it when you bring them carrots.

If you'd like to get lessons or want to refresh your skills, Alexis is your woman, she's great with kids and adults alike, has lots of experience and knows what's to know about horses. Just call the stable and they will be able to book a lesson for you.

Oh and if you see me mucking out the stalls or picking up a brush to give a little love to a horse, don't be surprised.

I hope I see you  there!

Semi-Homemade Carrot Cake Cupcakes

There I was early last Sunday morning without any cookies or cake anywhere in sight, but I had PROMISED to bring something sweet to the stables. What to do? I thought I had a serious dilemma, because it would take me way too long to get cupcakes ready from scratch and I didn't have all the ingredients to make them either. So I went into my pantry and found a box of basic yellow cake.

Then and there I decided to just use that box and just give it my own little twist. You'll be surprised on how you can transform a box cake into something nobody would think of as coming out of a store bought cake mix. Delicious and easy.

Here's what I did. Just get the ingredients you need according to the box, instead of water use milk, that makes it a bit richer. Set everything to the side and don't start mixing stuff yet.

Get 3 or 4 medium size carrots (depending on how much carrot you like) and shred them finely with a food processor or by hand with a grater (I use the Zyliss Contour Grater) , mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 3 oz of ground almonds, a cup of chopped milk chocolate (or any other chocolate chips) and set aside.

Now mix the cake ingredients as required on the box, once that's done, mix in the shredded carrot/cinnamon/almonds and chocolate chip mixture so it's evenly distributed into the cake mix.

Spoon mix into 24 cupcakes, or in any cake pan and bake just like mentioned on box according to what kind of baking dish you use.

Once baked, let cool and ice or just serve without icing.

The variations of this Semi-Homemade Cakes are endless....

Navajo Sandstone Formation

Rock Formation
Originally uploaded by kpizka

Another picture from Arches National Park....
Nature at its finest!