The cake, as it turns out, is delicious. It is a little on the spicy side, to the point where it masks the chocolate flavor, but it is still moist and satisfying.

I currently have an abundance of produce in my possession, including an entire garbage bag full of kale that my dad brought up from our garden at home. There were two sad looking beets that had been in my vegetable drawer for some time, so I decided to make a barley risotto with them. I cooked barley in some mushroom broth, added the chopped beets and 2 bay leaves, salt and pepper, some white wine, and then finished it off with some lemon juice, olive oil, and some cherry tomatoes cut in half. It was in need of some fresh herbs (parsley would have been good), but I didn't have any in the fridge. I have a meal idea in my head for the upcoming days that may end up being disgusting, but I'm looking forward to trying it. It involves ground goat.

Like Water for Chocolate

One of my closest friend recently started a book club. After only two meetings, it has become quite clear that food will play a vital role in our get-togethers. Our Julie and Julia discussion included food directly out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After reading Fieldwork, we had a delicious Thai-inspired meal. Today we are gathering to discuss Like Water for Chocolate, and I had yet to decide what my culinary contribution was going to be. It then hit me that I really enjoy the chile/chocolate combination, and I decided to run with it. The inspiration came from http://www.pinkbites.com/2009/04/mexican-chocolate-cake.html, but with a few changes. The flour was replaced with whole wheat pastry flour, sucanat was the sweetener, and grapeseed oil was used instead canola. My glaze was made out of honey, cocoa powder, vanilla, and cinnamon, and then I decorated the finished cake with cinnamon, more cocoa powder, and some chocolate nibs. The meeting begins at 6 tonight, so I've yet to taste it. I know from my chocolate cake eating experience, however, that I tend to prefer flourless cakes, and this one doesn't contain any eggs. I'm pretty certain that the cinnamon/chili combo is something that I will continue to experiment with, but I might try it out with an egg-heavier recipe. But I shouldn't say anything until I actually try it!

After thinking about it for ages, I finally joined the Daring Kitchen. Seeing as having a food blog is more or less a requirement for being a daring baker, I thought that I should finally get my act together and start taking my blog a bit more seriously. It is a bit difficult to feel inspired to post about what I've made when I don't have any sort of camera to document it with, but that will come with time.

I have started going to some of the farmers markets in Seattle, and I love them. It is a really easy way to drop a fair amount of money rather quickly. The University district one is the closest to my apartment, and I already talk about my apple man, my honey man, and so on and so forth with my roommate. Last week's purchases included hazelnuts, fresh cranberries, ground goat meat, and a poppyseed strudel for my dad. I made a quince tarte tatin from my purchases from the week before, and it was delicious. The recipe came from David Lebovitz, although I stewed mine with orange flower water instead of vanilla.

Some brussel sprouts from my parents' garden have been chilling in my fridge, and needed to be used. I sauteed some porcini, added mushroom broth, fresh cranberries, some fingerling potatoes, and a bay leaf or two, and let them simmer for a while. I then adjusted the salt/pepper ratios, added some sucanat to balance the sweetness of the cranberries, and put in the brussel sprouts, which had been sliced in half, steaming them a bit. With some crushed walnuts on top, it ended up being quite tasty. It would be a nice dish for a thanksgiving meal, although perhaps with a bit of tweaking and perhaps a bit of booze in the sauce. A turkey with chestnut stuffing wouldn't hurt much, either.