Chocolate Pot de Creme

Pot de Creme is such a simple and delicious dessert. I pretty much usually love any milk/cream based custard type dessert, whether creme brulee, panna cotta, or the like. I recently visited San Francisco and had the best Pot de Creme I think I have ever had, so I had to try and make my own. Here we are, the first attempt at a Chocolate Pot de Creme.
(I guarantee there will be more Pot de Creme recipes, because now that I have tried the first one, more flavor combinations will surely follow.)

3 cups heavy cream (1 cup for whipping at the end)
1/2 cup whole milk
5 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate
6 eggs
1/3 cup sugar

Chop chocolate into somewhat even pieces.
Combine 2 cups cream and milk in saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir occasionally until simmer.
Remove from heat and add chocolate pieces and stir until thoroughly melted. Set aside and let cool a few minutes.
In separate bowl whisk together eggs and sugar.
Slowly pour chocolate mixture into egg mixture stirring constantly.
Strain mixture into separate bowl and let cool another ten minutes or so.
Pour into individual ramekin or tea cups.
Place ramekins/tea cups into baking dish and pour enough hot water into baking dish to come about half way up the sides of the ramekins/tea cups.
Cover with foil.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.
When finished, centers of custard should still jiggle a bit. Remove from oven and let cool.
Whip remaining cream until stiff and add a few Tbsps of confectioners sugar.
Top Pot de Creme accordingly.

The Chocolate lent a very nice rich flavor. Unfortunately, I baked my first attempt for about 55 minutes, about fifteen minutes too long I would say. Also, I think I whisked the eggs and sugar mixture a bit too long, so they came out a bit stiffer than I would prefer. As you can see in the pic below the consistency is not as creamy as I think it should be. Next time will be much better.
Bon Appetit!

Chile Rubbed Veal Tenderloin

Chile Rubbed Veal Tenderloin served with
Moroccan Couscous (with caramelized onions, garlic, Spinach, and grape tomatoes) and
Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Chile Rub:
Ancho Chiles
Long Red Chiles
Ground Cumin
Mustard Seed
Cinnamon
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Mixed together in cuisinart/blender, etc.
Rub spice mixture on the Tenderloin, then seared on all sides and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. Done to a nice medium.

Couscous:
Sauteed onions and garlic.
Toss in Spinach. Salt and Pepper.

Toss all into cooked couscous and mix well. Add Grape tomatoes, reserve a few for garnish.
Cucumber and Yogurt:

Yogurt whisked slightly.
Thinly slice a Hothouse Cucumber, then chop.
Stir Cucumber into yogurt and add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

The sweetness of the Veal with the kick from the Chile Rub compliments the creaminess of the Cucumbers and Yogurt beautifully. Bon Appetit!

Vegetarian Menu

Vegetable Sushi, Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies, and hot Sake
(All served after the start which was the Brown Rice Tea and Ginger Martini and Edamame.)

First Course:

Vegetable Sushi with Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts crushed
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
salt if necessary
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
dollop of honey
Mix all ingredients and blend together (blender, Cuisinart, etc.) to form a smooth sauce, if too thick add more oil.

Vegetable Sushi:

Sheets of Nori (dry Seaweed)
Red onion thinly sliced
Bean sprouts
Bunch of Cilantro coarsely chopped
Green Chilis seeded and sliced in strips
Cucumber in thin strips using veg. peeler (I prefer Hothouse or English)
Carrots in thin strips " "
Cooked Vermicelli Noodles (chilled)

Place Sheet of Nori on bamboo mat for rolling.
I actually wrapped a stiff place mat in plastic wrap and used that to roll.

Second Course:

Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies.

I was inspired to use Quinoa after reading Tea's Tea and Cookies blog post about using it with Seaweed, Ponzu Sauce, and Avocado. Not only does she have lovely recipes, but her story telling talents make her posts a joy to read.
I had never used Quinoa before. The Yellow Quinoa variety is similar to that of Moroccan Couscous, but a little larger. Tea used the Brown and Black variety of the Quinoa which seems to be a larger seed and of course darker in color. It being the first time cooking with Quinoa I opted for the smaller Yellow variety. When raw, the yellow looks like that of Couscous, but once cooked has a flatter, seed like appearance.

Quinoa with Tofu and Veggies:

2 cups Yellow Quinoa
4 cups water
1 8-10 ounces of Tofu, cubed
3 plum tomatoes diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
Half of Lime juiced
Handful Cilantro coarsely chopped
1/4 cup bean sprouts
3 sheets Nori coarsely chopped (dry seaweed)
3 to 4 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Avocado sliced
Add Quinoa to cold water and place over medium to high heat until boil then reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Then turn off heat and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.
Toss in all ingredients except Avocado and gently fold to mix together.
Plate individual portions and place a few slices of Avocado on each.

Brown Rice Tea and Ginger Martinis

I had a small dinner gathering the other night that was to be all vegetarian. I don't usually have such dinners (vegetarian I mean), but I like to mix it up from time to time.

So, we needed a nice cocktail to start off the evening; a palette tantalizer for the selections to follow.
Here we have the Brown Rice Tea and Ginger Martini.

I happened to have some Brown Rice tea bags on hand, that I received as a gift from my brother some time ago.
So I steeped three bags in about a half a cup of water and added five small chunks of ginger to the hot water.

I let the bags and ginger steep for over an hour to get a concentrated flavor from them.

In a metal shaker:

Put ice, and pour in about 5 to 7 ounces of vodka. (Gin would work too, if you prefer)
Pour in the tea, reserving the ginger pieces.
Add about a 1/4 ounce of simple syrup.
Give it a good shake.
Strain into glasses that have a thin Lemon slice in the bottom of each.
This created four small servings.

(I served these cocktails with some Edamame for nibbling before the meal.)

Banana and Cream Cheese Muffins

My grandmother used to always bring delicious Banana Bread every time she would come over when I was a child. I recently received a copy of the recipe and am looking forward to trying my hand at her creation. Of course, the other day I had some bananas ready for baking and did not have the recipe yet, so here is my Banana and Cream Cheese Muffins recipe, and I will give Grandma's a try soon!

3 or 4 bananas
16 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
Confectioners sugar for dustingSift all dry ingredients together.
Whip cream cheese, milk, and eggs together.
Combine dry and wet together.
Chop bananas and add to batter.
Fill greased muffin tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.