Boxcar Kitchen

Let's get the mingle started!!! Monthly Mingle is here again and Meeta steps it up a notch (well, at least for me) with a great Savory Cakes theme. This is absolutely the first time in my entire life that I have ever made a savory cake and it's exciting. I was a bit hesitant at first but I am really happy with the end results.

I don't know why, but savory cakes were not something that I ever encountered before coming to France. Which is strange because they seem like they could have been found in the baking section of some scary 1970's cookbook, right along side tuna wiggle (although much tastier).

I remember the first time I ever even heard of one. It was few years ago and a bunch of us were getting together for a light Friday night dinner and drinks party and I called the host to see what I could bring. As he was going through the list, he mentioned that someone was bringing their signature olive cake and it was to die for. My first thought was 'Blech, you won't catch me dead with that near my lips' and my second though was 'Crap! I was going to bring dessert'. I know, a total blond or whatever sort of moment. For some reason, my brain refused to decode the obvious.

All day until the party, I thought about this strange cake and about what could possess someone to serve olives for dessert. My mind was doing leaps and bounds trying to figure out what the recipe could possibly be and I was at a loss. When we finally arrived, we sat down and there it was, the famous olive cake, on the coffee table amidst a bevy of cocktails and other hors d'oeuvres. And it was good. And it was savory.

• The hub had an excellent idea for this recipe. He suggested serving these warm colored slices with a light whipped chive cream. I couldn't have thought of anything better if I tried.

Perfect timing! A muffin craving just in time for Elena's from Experiments Muffin Monday!

Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book makes reading about breakfast feel like eating breakfast. Everything is soft, warm and inviting. Probably one of my favorite recipes is her Last Word in Nutmeg Muffins. The simplicity of the recipe makes it one of those things that you don't necessarily have to get up early to make. For the longest time we just made them straight up. The soft creamy nutmeg crumble left nothing else to be desired.

But then we started thinking like little scientists and our desire to one up got the better of us. What else could we add? My mom and I went through a whole gammet of ideas: apricots, rolled oats, dried cherries, figs, etc... In the end we decided not to mix anything in the batter for fear of weighing it down. The winning combination was coarsely grated coconut on top and turbinado sugar for the sides.

The sugar dusted sides resulted in two delicious surprises. First, the sugar on the tops of the muffins crystallized and was the perfect additional crunch to the toasted coconut. The sugar coated muffin bottoms almost caramelized to form a sticky sweetness. They tasted like doughnuts, little joey bag o doughnuts as we called them, but even better.

This past week I flew into New York to spend a few weeks visiting my parents. I had decided to wait to do my Sugar High Friday entry with my mom since I figured that it would be a great first project for the two of us. Plus, for some reason, things always seem to taste better when they come out of your childhood kitchen.

We very quickly decided on one of my mom's best "For dinner parties-To impress" recipes: Mocha chocolate mousse with raspberry liqueur compote in chocolate shells. Everyone who has ever tasted this dessert, even those non-chocolate lovers, has succombed to its chocolatey wiles. Not only are you knocked out by the double duo of chocolate and raspberry, but the presentation itself is pure seduction.

Huddled over the stovetop we listened as the weather channel reported on the biggest snow storm of the century (well, sort of). We were hoping that the seductive smell of warm molten chocolate would ward of winter's angry ways or that ruby red berries would at least conjure up distant memories of long forgotten summer afternooons. It seemed that the more we stirred, the more the snow came tumbling down. The end result was enough chocolate mousse to feed Emperor Qin's army and snowbanks as long and as high as The Great Wall of China.

Snowbound and hungry, we lavished our plates with this decadent dessert and seduced ourselves sick.

I absolutely adore Indian food. It's just one of those things that I could eat everyday for breakfast, lunch or dinner no matter what. The combination of spices and stewed vegetables get me everytime. India has held the number one slot on my list of places to visit probably since I was about ten years old. And since I haven't been able to just pack up and go, I eat instead.

I've tried several different Indian restaurants here in Paris but I haven't really found the one I love. There are a few alright places but I'm always disappointed by the missing heat factor. The warm combination of spices is usually pretty good but I'm not satisfied unless I'm perspiring which means that when I'm craving Indian food, I usually make it myself and in huge batches that last for days.

Traditionally, the French aren't huge on spices and are even less interested in that "it's so hot and spicy that I can't even breathe it's so good" phenomenon. But a few weekends ago, we were having lunch with a friend who just happened to have returned from a trip in India the night before. Since there was a curry on the menu I, of course, ordered it and Marion did the same since she was already experiencing withdrawals. The vegetarian curry was filled with all sorts of delicious vegetables: fennel, eggplant, pumkin, etc...and the flavor was good but it was just droopy in the heat department. I was sooo happy when my friend made the same comment and then lamented how different real Indian food is from the stuff we get here in Paris.

I decided then to make it my mission to make an Indian inspired dinner for Marion. So for the last week or so I have been scouring books and trying out recipes, hoping to find the perfect dish to prepare. I ususally make a chickpea cauliflower curry that is fabulous but I've gotten a little bored with it lately and I want something just as simple but with a few more layers of flavor. I found a great recipe for Balinese duck curry that is literally to die for. The heat and flavor were perfect but I could feel the coconut cream based sauce clogging my arteries.

This biryani is my newest trial and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I usually lean towards vegetarian dishes but I've been in the mood for lamb and I thought it might please the husband. Personally, I will add more hot pepper the second time through and I think I'll throw in some vegetables to balance it out and make a one dish meal. Parsnips would be nice.

Well, I missed Sugar High Friday. I don't know how, but my brain was completely scattered and I missed Monday's deadline. Oh, well. But since I already had bought all the ingredients and have been thinking about this event for the past two weeks, I'm not going to let a little thing like a deadline keep me from enjoying a fine chocolate dessert.

Now, I know this might sound strange but I'm not really one of those people who crave chocolate desserts and actually, I very rarely make them. Chocolate mousse and brownies are pretty much the extent of my chocolate repertoire and most of the time I order something creamy or fruit based when we go out to eat. This is not to say however that I would actually go so far as to REFUSE a chocolate dessert. I will scarf it down but with just a tad less excitement than is due.

My mother and sister have been talking about chocolate bread pudding for ages and I still hadn't given it a try. I could eat a whole pan of regular bread pudding in a heart beat and I am a creature habit so I had been putting off the chocolate version.

Now that I have made this pudding, one thing is sure. It is defintely being added to my list of chocolate desserts with its rich chocolate custard and occassional crunchy crust.

In keeping with the SHF theme, I chose to use the chocolate that I always use. It isn't anything incredibly fancy but it does the trick. I used Nestlé corsé which is 64% cocoa. I had a bar and lots of remainders of bars tucked in the back of my cupboard. I like to buy it for baking and then I end up nibbling on the bar until there isn't enough left to make anything (hence the lots of little bits). I also added some Van Houten cocoa powder for good measure.