Arretje Nof - Dutch Chocolate Cake

This cake is so awesome and so easy. You can really only eat a small piece of it since it is so rich. It truly is a delicious holiday treat. Sorry, these measurements require a scale. Next time I make it, I'll measure it in cups.

Ingredients
4 eggs
250g of sugar
125 cocoa powder
375g of butter (4 sticks) (You cannot substitute oil for butter, otherwise the cake won't set.)
275g of biscuits (these are also known as digestives and can be found in the int'l aisle at the grocery store. They are similar to cookies, but crispier and not very sweet.)
A handful of dried cherries or craisens or other dried fruits. You can make it as fruity as you'd live.

Melt butter in the microwave until warm and melted. Break all the biscuits into small pieces.

Mix the eggs and sugar together until incorporated. Use a sieve to add the cocoa powder to the egg/sugar mixture. Next add melted butter slowly to ensure that the butter is incorporated. Make sure butter is mixed into the cocoa mixture well, otherwise you'll have large globs of butter in your cake.

Line a bread pan with parchment paper (this is a must, otherwise it's a pain to get out of the pan). Pour mixture into the pan and put in the fridge for about 4 hours.

Store in a cool place.

ENJOY!

Savory Sweet Potates in Rosemary Nutmeg Cream Sauce

I usually love marshmallow covered sticky sweet sweet potatoes, but this year I decided to make savory sweet potatoes. This recipe is adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe.

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of pureed white onion
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, halved
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup of whipping cream
fresh grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and rosemary and saute until slightly brown. Add sweet potatoes and broth. Reduce to a low simmer and cover for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are almost tender. Add cream and nutmeg and simmer uncovered until the sweet potatoes are falling apart and the sauce is thick.

Southern Cornbread Dressing

I LOVE Jiffy Corn bread. Deliciousness. This dressing was a big hit at Christmas dinner. (Super easy too.)

Ingredients:
1 package of Jiffy corn bread (plus one egg and 1/3 cup of milk)
2 tbsp of butter
1 egg
1 small red onion
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup of chicken stock
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celery or onion...whatever you have on hand)
1 tsp sage
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste


First, prepare one package of Jiffy Corn bread according to the directions on the box. Allow to cook slightly and crumble the bread into small pieces.

Lower oven to 350 degrees.

Add all the ingredients together and mix until incorporated. If the mix is a little dry, add some more chicken stock. The corn bread will set in the oven, but you retain about the same amount of moisture.

Pour into a greased sauce pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Brussel Sprouts with Cranberries and Celery

3 Tbsp butter or clarified butter
1/2 cup yellow onions, finely chopped
1 lb of Brussels Sprouts, halved and sliced
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup dried unsweetened cherries or craisens
2 tsp of honey
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Dressing:
Warm honey slightly in the microwave. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Wisk until smoth.

In a large wok or skillet, warm the butter. Add onions and saute until carmelized. Add sliced Brussels Sprouts and cook until tender. Add nuts and cherries and saute for another minute. Turn off the flame and pour dressing on top. Toss the mixture together and cover (let the brussel sprouts remain on the stove top eye as it cools.) The warmth will allow the flavors to incorporate into the vegetable.

Delicious, even for those non-sprouts lovers.

Christmas Dinner

I'm home for the holidays and am loving being here. It's so nice to be back in Bama with the whole family. I think it's been at least 6 years since we were all together in Bama. Last night, we had Christmas dinner with turkey, brussel sprouts, country corn bread dressing, rosemary sweet potatoes, and garlic mashed potatoes PLUS Christmas chocolate arretje nof for dessert. The next couple of posts are the recipes from dinner!

Dhone Patta Chicken

A couple of weekends ago I made dinner with some new Virginia friends. Among other things, we made this green chicken. I think it was the night's biggest/ spiciest hit! Credit: Bong Mom's CookBook.

First:
Marinate about 2 lbs of chicken (bone in thighs and drumsticks) Do NOT try this with chicken breast...it won't turn out the same.)
in a mix of:
1 tbsp of lime juice,
3/4 tbsp of ginger paste,
1 tsp of garlic paste,
salt
and little turmeric,
for an hour or two. Note: For a little more spice add a little cumin and corriander powder to the marinade.

Before you start cooking, make this green sauce:

In a blender make a paste of
3 cloves of garlic,
1 tbsp of chopped ginger(1 & 1/2" ginger peeled and chopped),
3-4 green chilli,
1/3 cup of chopped corriander leaves,
1 tbsp of water

Recipe:

3 tbsp of oil
1 tsp plus a pinch of Paanch Phoron ( you'll have to get this at the Indian store)
2 dried chilis, cracked
1 and 1/2 cup of chopped red onions
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tomato
1 tsp of corriander powder
a little less than 1 tsp of cumin powder
Pinch of paprika
1/4 cup of water (not too much more than this, because the chicken will give out some water)
1/2 tumeric powder
2 cups of chopped fresh cilantro (Indian corriander)
squeeze of lemon


Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in a Kadhai or saute pan

Add about 1 tsp and little more of Paanch Phoron and 2 cracked dry red chili

When the spices become fragrant, add red onion. I went ahead and also added about 3 shallots chopped in quarters but that is optional and you can just add some more regular onion. Fry the onion with about 1/2 tsp of sugar till onions are pink and translucent, and turn brown on the edges

Add the green sauce to above and fry for a minute.

Add chopped 1 red tomato or just puree the tomato and add to above.Saute till the raw smell from the tomato is gone

Add about 1 tsp of corriander powder and almost 1 tsp of cumin powder. Some Kashmiri Mirch or Paprika gives a nice color so add about 1/2 tsp of that. With a sprinkle of water, fry the masala till it is nicely incorporated with everyting else and the whole thing looks like a brown mess with oil seeping from the edges

Add the chicken pieces and with about 1/4 tsp of turmeric saute the chicken till they turn a nice yellow color.

Add 2 cups of chopped green fresh corriander leaves, salt to taste and about 1-2 cups of water. Cover the lid and let the chicken cook.

Every time you lift the lid this beautiful fragrance will engulf you, so for your own pleasure do that. Else just let the chicken cook. Once it is done garnish with some more fresh corriander leaves.

Serve with hot white rice.

Spinach Tortellini Soup

Hi people (to the whole two people who read this :)! Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. I'm settling in well here in VA and loving work. Here's a nice soup recipe that I made tonight. It's cold outside and I'm not feeling so hot, so I needed a easy peasy recipe!

1 Tbls Olive Oil
One small Onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
one celery stalk chopped
half red bell pepper (any color will do)
handful of whole peppercorns
a dash of sugar
Frozen peas (handful)
Frozen spinach (two handfuls)
1/2 tsp of basil
1/4 tsp of corriander powder (if you're not indian, you probably don't have this on hand, so just leave it out :)
1 14.5 can of chicken broth
1 chicken buillion cube/ OR 1 tsp of chicken broth powder ( I just added this cause I didn't have more canned chicken broth.)
1 can of diced tomatoes (ALWAYS keep this on hand..)
a splash of wine
salt to taste
(Note: I just threw whatever I had in my fridge/ freezer in. Add any veggies in addition to the spinach.)

Cheese or chicken tortellini

In a separate pot boil the tortellini until its al dente. Strain and set aside.

Saute garlic and onions until soft and fragrant. Add the celery and saute for about 3 minutes. ( love using celery as a spice.. it sweetens things up!) Add bell peppers and saute for 2 mins. Add salt, peppercorns, and a dash of sugar. Add peas and spinach. Add basil. Saute everything for about 3 minutes until you can really smell the basil. (You can add a little more sugar here if you want to bring out the sweetness of the basil and celery.)

Add all the liquid and tomatoes.

Simmmmmmmmer with two fresh green chilis (if you want a little kick...). The longer you simmer the more flavorful the soup will be. I just simmered for about 10 minutes because I was HONGRY.

Add cooked tortellini. (Store the soup and tortellini separately otherwise the pasta turns into mush.)


Easy peasy.