National Chocolate Soufflé Day

Today is National Chocolate Soufflé Day

Chocolate Soufflé I made over the summer!
(recipe below)

I love soufflé! I mean real soufflé not that molten lava cake from 1987. Many people do not know the difference between the 2, which is way so many restaurants get away with saying lava cake is soufflé. Part of the problem is that people think soufflé sounds fancier (and it does) then lava cake and think hey these people don’t know any better and I can up charge for soufflé.

Real soufflé (French: [su.fle]) is a lightly baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

Every soufflé is made from two basic components:

• a French crème pâtissière base/flavored cream sauce or purée
• egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue

The base provides the flavor and the whites provide the "lift". When it comes out of the oven, a soufflé should be puffed up and fluffy, and it will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does). In popular culture you can see references to soufflé, specifically sitcoms, cartoons, children's programs and comedies. Due to soufflés' tendency to collapse quickly upon removal from the oven, often the gag involves a loud noise or poke causing the soufflé to collapse.

Molten chocolate cake or lava cake is a popular dessert that combines the elements of a flourless chocolate cake (sometimes called a chocolate decadence cake) and a soufflé. Some other names used are chocolate fondant pudding, chocolate moelleux and chocolate lava cake.

The US-based chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten claims to have invented molten chocolate cake in New York City in 1987, but the French chef and chocolatier Jacques Torres has disputed that claim, arguing that such a dish already existed in France. According to Vongerichten, he pulled a chocolate sponge cake from the oven before it was done and found that the center was still runny, but was warm and had both a good taste and a good texture. Regardless of who invented the dish, Vongerichten has been credited with popularizing it in the United States, and it is now almost a de rigueur inclusion on high-end restaurant dessert menus.

Molten lava cakes are always baked in ramekin dishes and have four main ingredients: butter, eggs, sugar, and chocolate. The butter and chocolate are melted together, while the eggs are either whisked with the sugar to form a thick paste, producing a denser finished product; or are separated so the egg whites can be whipped into an egg foam to provide more lift (and thus a lighter cake) when the mixture is baked.

Simply put the difference between Soufflé and Lava Cake are that a soufflé will collapse and will not have a molten inside but a light, airy texture throughout. And a lava cake can be removed from its baking vessel, has a rich, dense texture with a molten, ganache like center.

And today would not be complete without a classic chocolate soufflé recipe. This is one I found on FoodNetwork.com and have made many times with great success and wide praise.

Chocolate Soufflé

Total Time: 50 minutes | Prep: 30 minutes | Cook: 20 minutes | Yield: 6 individual servings | Level: Intermediate

Ingredients

• 7 ounces finely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus for preparing the molds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 8 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Directions

Brush 6 (6-ounce) ramekins with soft butter, then coat with sugar. Put the prepared ramekins in the freezer. (This can be done a day ahead.)

Set an oven rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Put the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside.

Combine the egg yolks and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer or large bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and continue beating until ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Very lightly fold the yolks into the chocolate mixture. (Rinse the bowl well, if using for beating the egg whites.)

Remove prepared ramekins from freezer. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer, or large non-reactive bowl, add the lemon juice. Beat on medium until frothy; then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and increase speed to high. Beat until the whites hold a stiff but not dry peak.

Working quickly, fold about a third of the egg whites into the chocolate to lighten; then fold in remaining whites until blended. Gently ladle or spoon the soufflé mixture into the ramekins, and place on a baking sheet. (Level off the surface with a straight edge, scraping any excess mixture back into the bowl.)

Immediately bake until the soufflé rises about 1 1/2 inches from the ramekins, and the tops are touched with brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.

MyPlate Initiative

Has anyone read about the First Lady's MyPlate initiative.  I have read a little on it and checked out the website.  The website is very difficult to maneuver and not user friendly but the graphics are appealing.  If they put some time and effort in their website, it could really help the movement, I got frustrated with it in less than 5 minutes then x-ed out.

As for the movement itself, its is a good way to figure out how much of what to eat and it has included some good lists of what are fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, dairy, and fats (empty calories).  The dividing up the plate concept has been used by every Nutritionist I have ever met, and it really is a good concept in explaining portions.  Most Nutritionist have explained it as half the plate is vegetables, a quarter grains, and a quarter proteins.  The way MyPlate is set up is a little different and is a little confusing because most of the food plans do not match the MyPlate divided plate concept.  The concepts is that your meal is a quarter fruits, a quarter vegetables, a quarter grains, a quarter proteins, and cup of dairy, but most of the daily food plans have more proteins and grains being consumed daily than fruits and vegetables, by almost double.

MyPlate does not address the size of the plate, America plate size has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. If you eat a quarter of a plate of grains it is a lot more food on a 12" round then a 9" round, and what if it is a square plate?  Square plates hold more food.  This is not addressed by MyPlate and it should, ever Nutritionist I know addresses it with their patents.  If you want more on how portion size has changed, check out: Portion Size, Then vs. Now - By: Liz Monte.

I think the MyPlate initiative is great in theory but needs a little tweaking for it to be a viable long term healthier eating plan for American's.

Horse Meat Burger served at a Pub!!!

Can you tell if a burger is a horse, of course, of course?

This news segment makes me sick and so does the pub that is serving it.  How could you!!!  EAT A HORSE!!!  Horses are beautiful animals not, dinner!!!  I guess some people feel the same way about cows, pigs, and other animals and they call themselves vegetarians   Since I will not eat horse, what am I considered ... a non-equine-arian!!!  Besides the fact that eating horse is taboo, it is unsafe.  Ingesting bute can have a serious negative effect on human health!!!  People need to do their research, horse meat in not regulated like beef or pork, ans could be very harmful and can cause allergic reaction if ingested.

Coffee!!!

Coffee!!!

For some it is a necessary part of the day and today it was a necessary part of my morning.  I love me some Starbucks or *bucks as I usually write it.  I not a huge coffee drinker but I do go thru fazes where I take in intravenously.  My ultimate is a Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte Hot from Starbucks … it is sooo good, the golden caffeine is just strong and hot enough, the vanilla is just vanilla-ey enough, and the milk is just right to make a well balanced breakfast.

I have been a Starbucks drinker forever, since I have worked in a mall with a Starbucks for the last 10 years, I have just stopped there every morning.  Now that I work outside the mall, I don’t stop nearly as often.  When I first started at my office, they had this horrendous mud they called coffee, it was the most acidic thing I have ever had.  It was like drinking mud mixed with battery acid.  I petitioned for a change to our coffee brand and a month ago, I won, we got a new brand of coffee.  The new coffee is better but it is still a little too muddy with battery acid mixed in for me, so I don’t drink it that much.

I never drink coffee at home, I don’t know why.  Part of me feels like coffee and work or shopping go hand in hand and that is the only times I really drink it.  I have always been a big caffeine drinker mostly soda, but in the last 5 years I have really cut my soda intake back to just a soda with lunch.

But coffee is coffee and there is not replacement for it.

To end, I will leave you with a list of some interesting quote on coffee …

“Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second.” - Edward Abbey

“Way too much coffee. But if it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” - David Letterman

“No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odor to the nostrils.” - Henry Ward Beecher

“The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1891)

“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” - T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

“Over second and third cups flow matters of high finance, high state, common gossip, and low comedy.” - New York Times (1949)

“Coffee is good for talent, but genius wants prayer.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Coffee comes in five descending stages: Coffee, Java, Jamoke, Joe, and Carbon Remover.” - Robert A. Heinlen, Glory Road

“Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid, strychnine, are weak dilutions the surest poison is time.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Coffee is the common man’s gold, and like gold, it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.” - Sheik-Abd-al-Kadir, In Praise of Coffee (1587)

“I like cappuccino, actually. But even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all.” - David Lynch

“Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It’s the only thing “real” men do that doesn’t seem to threaten their masculinity. To women, it’s on the same domestic entry level as putting the spring back into the toilet-tissue holder or taking a chicken out of the freezer to thaw.” - Erma Bombeck

“Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water.” - Women’s Petition Against Coffee (1674)

“Coffee has … expand[ed] humanity’s working-day from twelve to a potential twenty-four hours. The tempo, the complexity, the tension of modern life, call for something that can perform the miracle of stimulating brain activity, without evil, habit-forming after-effects.” - Margaret Meagher in To Think of Coffee (1942)

“Coffee is real good when you drink it gives you time to think. It’s a lot more than just a drink; it’s something happening. Not as in hip, but like an event, a place to be, but not like a location, but like somewhere within yourself. It gives you time, but not actual hours or minutes, but a chance to be, like be yourself, and have a second cup.” - Gertrude Stein

“Blacker than a moonless night. Hotter and more bitter than Hell itself… That is coffee.” - Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright in Godot

“Of all the unchristian beverages that ever passed my lips, Turkish coffee is the worst. The cup is small, it is smeared with grounds; the coffee is black, thick, unsavory of smell, and execrable in taste. The bottom of the cup has a muddy sediment in it half an inch deep. This goes down your throat, and portions of it lodge by the way, and produce a tickling aggravation that keeps you barking and coughing for an hour.” - Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

“Coffee in Brazil is always made fresh and, except at breakfast time, drunk jet black from demitasses first filled almost to the brim with the characteristic moist, soft coffee sugar of the country, which melts five times as fast as our hard granulated. For breakfast larger cups are used, and they’re more than half filled with cream. This cafe con leite doesn’t re-quire so much sugar as cafe preto-black coffee.” - Bob Brown and Cora Rose, South American Cookbook (1939)

“In most households a cup of coffee is considered the one thing needful at the breakfast hour. But how often this exhilarating beverage, that ‘comforteth the brain and heateth and helpeth digestion’ is made muddy and ill-flavoured! … You may roast the berries ‘to the queen’s taste,’ and grind them fresh every morning, and yet, if the golden liquid be not prepared in the most immaculate of coffee-pots, with each return of morning, a new disappointment awaits you.” - Janet McKenzie Hill, Practical Cooking and Serving (1902)

“The morning cup of Café Noir is an integral part of the life of a Creole household. The Creoles hold as a physiological fact that this custom contributes to longevity, and point, day after day, to examples of old men and women of fourscore, and over, who attest to the powerful aid they have received through life from a good, fragrant cup of coffee in the early morning.” - Picayune Creole Cook Book (1909)

Sunday Dinner

 

Growing up in an Italian family every Sunday, dinner was macaroni and meatballs in gravy.  Now I know some of you are like "Gravy?!" but I will explain that in a little bit.

On Sunday's growing up, dinner was around 2pm and consisted of a big plate of macaroni and meatballs in gravy.  For my type of Italians macaroni referres to any type of pasta ... spaghetti, penne, penne rigate (referred to as penne in my house), ravioli, cavatelli, rigatoni, or linguine (sometimes referred to as spaghetti in my house).  These were the most common macaroni's eaten in my house, I preferred cavatelli with ricotta on top or ravioli but also like spaghetti or rigatoni.  I don't like penne, it has no ridges so the gravy does not stick as well.  My Mom is big on spaghetti and makes it often, she really needs to be in the mood for another type of pasta to make something else.  Every once and a while she would make cavatelli, rigatoni, or spaghetti in oil and garlic with broccoli (my favorite vegetable), as a change up from macaroni's in gravy.

My Mom's meatballs are the best, but every Italian child says that about their Momma's meatballs.  And if they don't they probably would get hit with the wooden spoon!!!  My Mom makes her meatballs by taste and feel, there is not real recipe, just a list of ingredients that must be included but no actually amounts.  I can't guaranty but I would put money on the fact that most Italians make their meatballs and gravy that way.

Gravy!!!  I said I would get to it.  When you think of  gravy, you think of meat pan drippings to butter and flour to create the widely accepted “brown gravy” pour over mashed potatoes. The offical definition of Gravy is a sauce, made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking.  And that is exactly what our macaroni gravy is, well sorta.

In most of Italy, Sugo, as in Sugo alla Bolognese, (the full and proper name for the meat based sauce Americans matter of factedly refer to as Bolognese at restaurants) is typically known to mean “gravy.”  The word Sugo is derived from succo which means juices and refers to the pan drippings from various cuts of cooked meat. Italians add these drippings along with either pan seared meats such as meatballs, sausage, braciole (thin slices of meat (typically pork, chicken, or beef that is rolled as a roulade with cheese and bread crumbs and fried), and pork to the tomato based sauce.  It is left to simmer for hours until it thickens like a gravy and finally manifests itself into a well balanced meal of meat, meat and more meat that would feed a family of 20 all day.  So looking at the definition of gravy, it is a sauce made with meat and vegetable juices and it is poured over the meat when served.  Same thing, right!

There is a long standing argument between some Italians, Gravy vs Sauce.  In the motherland aka Italy, despite the vast differences among the Italians of different regions, there are two nationally accepted phrases that easily translate to either mean sauce or gravy.  For some born and raised in America, they call it one over the other because of the way they have been raised but there is a try difference between the two.  Gravy is what I explained above and  Sauce or Salsa, in Italian, literally refers to a semi-liquid cooked tomato based sauce that is used as a condiment.  Unlike American condiments like ketchup or mustard that you would never put on macaroni, but similar in that salsa is used to lightly dress a dish.  Traditionally, this is the light, and vibrant marinara sauce Americans have come to slather on everything they deem Italian food in America.  Plain and simple sauce is the tomato part with the meat left out, so a marinara sauce.

My Mom always made sauce with meat in it and called it Gravy and thats what I go with.

To end this post I will leave you with the song "On top of spaghetti" ...

Lyrics to "On top of spaghetti" ...

 

On top of spaghetti,

All covered with cheese,

I lost my poor meatball,

When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,

And on to the floor,

And then my poor meatball,

Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden,

And under a bush,

And then my poor meatball,

Was nothing but mush.

The mush was as tasty,

As tasty could be,

And then the next summer,

It grew into a tree.

The tree was all covered,

All covered with moss,

And on it grew meatballs,

And tomato sauce.

So if you eat spaghetti,

All covered with cheese,

Hold on to your meatball,

Whenever you sneeze.

Brooklyn Water Bagels

 

Since I left New York, finding good bagels has been hard.  Non New York bagels are soft inside and out.  A good New York bagel has a really crunchy crust and a nice soft inside.  At the Abaco Italian Festival a few months back, my Mom spotted this Brooklyn Water Bagels tent and bought a few to try.  O my were they good and we have been buying bagels their ever since.  They use a water filtration system that they call Brooklnized.



 

While looking at their website today I found that they opened a Brooklyn Water Pizza & Pasta Co. in Palm Beach Gardens.  I really what to take a trip to try it.  The pizza place only has one location but the bagel place has multiple locations in Florida and a few in other states.  If you are ever in an area where you could stop and try it, I recommend you do!!!

Lent

For those of the Catholic faith, they are required to fast of meats on Fridays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Friday.  For those of you unfamiliar with the regulations of the Lenten fast, below is an excerpt from Wikipedia (I know Wikipedia is not a scholarly source but from what I learned in 8 years of Catholic school it seems correct):

Lent (Latin: Quadragesima) is a solemn observance in the liturgical year of many Christian denominations, lasting for a period of approximately six weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. In the general Latin-rite and most Western denominations Lent is taken to run from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) morning or to Easter Eve. In the Catholic Church, Lent lasts until Holy Thursday, while other denominations run until Easter Eve.

The Catholic Church observes the discipline of fasting or abstinence at various times each year, especially during Lent. For Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food, which may or may not include abstinence from meat (or another type of food). The Catholic Church teaches that all people are obliged by God to perform some penance for their sins, and that these acts of penance are both personal and corporate. The purpose of fasting is spiritual focus, self discipline, imitation of Christ, and performing penance.

Contemporary Roman legislation is rooted in the 1966 Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Paenitemini, and codified in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Abstinence is required throughout the year on Fridays, though the bishops' conferences in some areas allow other penitential acts (e.g., prayer, abstinence from another food, giving up an unhealthy or unnecessary habit). During Lent, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, both abstinence and fasting are required of Catholics who are not exempted for various reasons

Roman Catholicism

Main article: Fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church 

For Roman Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food to one full meal (which may not contain meat on Fridays throughout Lent) and two small meals (known liturgically as collations, taken in the morning and the evening), both of which together should not equal the large meal. Eating solid food between meals is not permitted. Fasting is required of the faithful between the ages of 18 and 59 on specified days. Complete abstinence, required of those 14 and older, is the avoidance of meat for the entire day. Partial abstinence prescribes that meat be taken only once during the course of the day.

Pope Pius XII had initially relaxed some of the regulations concerning fasting in 1956. In 1966, Pope Paul VI in his apostolic constitution Paenitemini, changed the strictly regulated Roman Catholic fasting requirements. He recommended that fasting be appropriate to the local economic situation, and that all Catholics voluntarily fast and abstain. In the United States, there are only two obligatory days of fast – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence: eating meat is not allowed. Pastoral teachings since 1966 have urged voluntary fasting during Lent and voluntary abstinence on the other Fridays of the year. The regulations concerning such activities do not apply when the ability to work or the health of a person would be negatively affected.

Prior to the changes made by Pius XII and Paul VI, fasting and abstinence were more strictly regulated. The church had prescribed that Roman Catholics observe fasting and/or abstinence on a number of days throughout the year.

I am not a practicing Catholic but my Mother is.  I follow Lenten fast, when I remember and so far this year I have not eaten meat on Ash Wednesday or any Fridays (given there has only been 2 Fridays so far).

At work, I am forcing my lunch group to eat pizza for lunch every Friday so I can keep to my Lenten promise, to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.  During Lent a person is to abstain from something, this year I just want to follow the Lenten fast so I am abstaining from eating meat on Fridays.

After a month and a half of eating pizza on Fridays, my work lunch group will never want to eat pizza again!!!

National Sticky Bun Day

Reblogged from Eatocracy:
 

 

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday

Craving a warm, bready breakfast? You're in luck - February 21 is National Sticky Bun Day.

Do you know the difference between a sticky bun and a cinnamon roll? The two pastries are similar in that they typically have cinnamon, sugar, nuts and sometimes raisins rolled between concentric circles of yeasty dough, but the major difference is that sticky buns are baked in a brown sugar glaze.

The sugary goo is put in the bottom of a baking pan and then the rounds of dough are placed on top. When the buns are done baking, the pan is inverted and the syrup becomes a sticky sauce over the buns. This is different from cinnamon rolls, which are glazed with vanilla or cream cheese icing after they come out of the oven.

The pull-apart goodness is sure to please any crowd - for breakfast or dessert!

HOLD THE PHONE!!! Its National Sticky Bun Day!!!  I love Cinnamon Buns with their gooey icing way more but would never turn a gooey sticky bun down!!!

Like a party in your mouth!!!

Lunchtime

Lunchtime, Lunchtime ... Everybody, Everywhere ... Lunchtime, Lunchtime ... Everybody eat your share!!!

 

There is 2 people I eat lunch with everyday at work and everyday we start trying to decide what will be for lunch fairly early. The earliest we have ever brought up lunch was about 10am, but today at 9:15am a decision had been made ... Chinese!!! Even with a decision made so early we will still be late for lunch. I don't know how and I don't know why but it will happen ... EVERY DAY!!!

Moldy Food

This moldy food thing is getting out of hand. My Aunt posted the picture below on Facebook of apple sauce she bought for her Grandson. You can see the top of the container is all black with mold especially in the left corner. The container says its "Best By Nov 17, 13" ... Ha Yeah Right!!!

 

 

How could these major food company's allow food to get to the consumers moldy. I have seen many pictures of moldy Capri Sun over the last few weeks. Kraft Foods has a whole Q&A section on their website about the mold and why then have not recalled any products.

Why are you not issuing a recall?

We checked our quality control records, product samples and recent consumer contacts for issues or patterns. Nothing unusual was found that would indicate there was a broader problem. The reality is, mold spores are literally everywhere. That's why most foods, especially those without preservatives, eventually spoil and get moldy. Our quality controls are designed to minimize this exposure. Since there are no preservatives in our drinks, mold can grow, especially if there is a small hole or leak in the pouch.

Was cost a consideration in not issuing a recall?

Not at all. The safety of our products and the well-being of our consumers are our highest priorities. Based on some previous incidents, we're reasonably certain the problem was mold.

What if you have mold allergies?

Typically, mold must be inhaled to cause allergic symptoms. When mold is found in Capri Sun, it is immersed in liquid which would prevent the spores from becoming airborne and inhaled.

To me it is a whole load of bull. I have a severe mold allergy and I don't think Kraft Foods has consulted a Doctor on the seriousness of mold in food. And then there was the USDA Whistleblowers Expose Moldy Applesauce. Covering up mold in food for children, I just can't handle this I'm going to grow my own food from now on. If food is going to make me sick it's going to be from my own stupidity not from someone elses!!!

National Cherry Pie Day

 

Did you know that today, February 20 was National Cherry Pie Day! Well I did not but I guess it makes sence since February is both Great American Pie Month and National Cherry Month. I have never had Cherry Pie, I know shocking but I have never been a fan of cherries (you will learn I not a fan of a lot of foods). I love cherry favor just not the texture. The gooey center of a Cello is AMAZING but I never eat the cherry; and when a cherry tops a sundae, I siphon out the juice but never eat it. If a cherry pie was made of just the gooey cherry juice and crust, I would be one happy camper.

Fried Oreos

I have had Zeppoli my whole life and my Mom’s are the best in the WORLD, but I have never had anything inside them. Last night, my neighbor brought over some fried Oreos that she was making for her family. This was going to be a new experience so I bite into it and it wasn’t bad. It was greasy, and my Mom’s dough is way better, but the chocolate cookie inside was yummy. I wouldn’t be adverse to putting my Oreos in the microwave for a few seconds to make them hot as a change up over making them into mush, but that’s for another post.

So fried Oreos, in my Mom’s Zeppoli dough … something to look forward to for the next special occasion that my Mom makes Zeppoli for!!!