Deep Dark Chocolate Stout Cake #2, or the Accidental Vegan Cake (with optional non-vegan Chocolate Ganache)

 

Don’t get me wrong; I have absolutely nothing against vegans. It’s just that no one in my house happens to be one.  So when I set out a while ago to improve on my original Extra Stout Extra Chocolate Cake  , the furthest thing from my mind was making a vegan cake. The foremost thing on my mind? Lack of eggs in my refrigerator.  Yes, even renowned foodies occasionally run out of the basics…I’ll have six kinds of brown sugar in the house, but not eggs. Such is my life.

 

 

This is now the second time I’ve made this cake; last time it went so fast I didn’t get any pictures, and we almost suffered the same fate this time. Next time I’ll try and snap more pictures before the resident chocoholics get hold of the thing. Please don’t let the sad pictures (or the fact that it’s vegan) stop you from making this cake – it’s super easy, sinfully delicious, and probably the moistest chocolate cake you will ever eat in your life. Maybe it’s the weird ingredients (beer and vinegar? Really? ) or maybe those vegans do know something…nah, I’m sorry, I can’t go there.  Props to you if that’s your calling, but I can’t give up my meat, cheese and butter  quite yet.  Although… one cool side effect of this cake being vegan is that it’s also easy to make kosher pareve;  I do have friends that will appreciate that.  To keep this truly vegan (or pareve) just make sure your ingredients are also vegan / pareve; you’ll also need to skip this ganache, though that’s not necessarily a problem – this cake is delicious plain, or with a shake of powdered sugar.  You could also use a non-dairy milk (I’ve never done it but I’ve seen plenty of recipes out there) , or you could try using a buttercream that’s made with vegan or pareve margarine instead of butter (again, not something I have experience with…but go for it !) If real cream from real cows isn’t a problem for you…go for the ganache. I said this in the first recipe, but it bears repeating: while “chocolate ganache” sounds all fancy and pastry-chefish, in reality it’s just chopped up chocolate melted with heavy cream and beaten with a whisk until it’s silky, smooth and sexy.  That’s all there is to it. You do need to use bars or chunks of chocolate (chocolate chips are formulated differently than regular chocolate; they have less cocoa butter and more oil, and they don’t play as nicely with the cream in this particular application); whatever they sell in your supermarket in bar form will be fine (Ghirardelli is pretty widely available, and a damn fine baking chocolate. No, I don’t get paid to say that :) )

 

Oh, and I should have probably mentioned this in the beginning; if you’ve made it this far and the voices in your head are still saying things like “Beer in cake? EW!” or “but I don’t like Guinness!” politely tell them to go pound sand (or let them eat cake !) One of the reasons people like Guinness (and other stouts) so much is that it’s deep, dark, and - yes – chocolately. You’re basically just using that to your advantage here. And yes, most liquor stores will sell you one can or bottle of stout – although really, you should buy more. Stout is a beautiful thing!

 

 

Deep Dark Chocolate Stout Cake

(thanks to  A Whisk and a Spoon for the inspiration)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark is amazing here)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup (10 oz) Guinness or other stout

1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee   

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a  9” nonstick round cake pan liberally with cooking spray, then line with parchment paper and lightly spray the parchment. 

Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate large bowl mix together stout, coffee powder, vanilla and vinegar.  Stir into the flour mixture and start to mix it together, then add your oil and combine until you have a smooth batter (large whisk works well here). 

Pour into prepared pan.  Place in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Check with toothpick – it will still stick and look moist, but shouldn’t look like gobs of raw batter.  Remove from oven and let cool completely on rack, then turn out onto cake plate and peel off the parchment.

Dust cake with powdered sugar, or cover with ganache

Chocolate Ganache

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (will not work as well with chips)

½ cup heavy cream

Melt the chocolate and heavy cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle / spread over the top of cooled cake.

Eggplant Fries with Smoky Romesco Sauce

seriously one of our best appetizers ever...and that is saying something !

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL ??

We sure are...as the boy says when asked his religion : "I was raised NFL". Of course, football around here means doesn't just mean yelling at the TV...it means having some delicious food to nosh on while doing it. And boy oh boy, "delicious" doesn't even begin to cover this one...this is seriously awesome stuff. And as usual, we came to it via a bit of a circular path.

So there we were weekend before last, watching "Phantom Gourmet" on Saturday morning -  like you do. One of the restaurants they happened to profile was Dunn Gaherin's , a cool little pub right near my office. I've been there a few times and always liked it, but they happened to be discussing a dish I've never had there before but immediately wanted the moment I heard about it - eggplant fries. I love eggplant, and I love fries...really no downside here. Cut to this weekend and trying to come up with some new football food...well, here you go.

We checked out a couple of recipes for eggplant fries, and Mark mostly settled on this one (not 100% sure what this site actually is as it doesn't look like a normal Martha Stewart one, but the recipe definitely works.)   As for the Romesco sauce - a delightful Spanish concoction of tomatoes, peppers, almonds, and yum - I've experimented with it before, and this is my version. I thought the slight crunchiness would offset the soft eggplant nicely...umm, yeah....sometimes I get really lucky and get it just right :) There is nothing wrong with this dish, not one blessed thing...and I think you should make it at the first opportunity. I know we will be !

Eggplant Fries
adapted from....Martha Stewart, maybe ?

2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch sticks, 4-inches long

Salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

Salt both sides of eggplant and place on paper towels to drain for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

In a medium bowl, mix milk and eggs until well blended. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in wide shallow bowl.

Heat oil in frying pan on high heat, or to 325 degrees in a deep fryer. Dip eggplant sticks into egg mixture and then cornmeal mix. Place in oil and fry 3 - 4 minutes, or until golden brown. (If using pan, flip regularly. Drain on paper towels and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Smoky Romesco Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, sliced thinly and separated into rings
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup croutons or stale bread, toasted and cut into cubes
1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 -3 jarred roasted red peppers, drained (about an 8 oz jar)  
1 tsp salt (smoked is great if you have it)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium. Add shallot and cook about 5 minutes or until it just starts going translucent. Add the almonds and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the almonds just begin to brown (watch them carefully as they can burn super fast).

Transfer the sauté pan contents to a food processor or blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until fairly smooth; you want just a tiny bit of crunch left from the almonds (think pesto). You can add a little more olive oil or liquid from the peppers if you feel it needs to be more liquid.

Store in fridge up to a week, or freeze for future use. Romesco can be used on pretty much anything you would use salsa or pesto on or in; fish, chicken, pasta, veggies of any kind (cooked or raw), spread on pita, as a dunk for chips...go wild !

Jook (aka Congee) (aka Rice Porridge) (aka YUM !!)

don't let the name(s) fool you !

Seriously, I think the hardest part of this dish - both making it and writing about it - is the name. There's just no way to make "jook" or "congee" sound like a Culinary Orgasm (and forget about rice porridge...who wants to eat porridge ? Isn't that what Dickensian orphans eat ? ) The nearest translation my culinary mind could make was "Asian risotto", but even that isn't close (especially since Asians will eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner). Alex dubbed it "Chinese Chicken and Dumplings", since the version I made has many of the same ingredients as my Chicken and Dumplings  (chicken thighs, mushrooms, peas) ...and since I served it with some potstickers I happened to have on hand. Whatever you want to call it is fine with me, as long as you call it home to supper !

mmmmm !

Jook (or Congee) at it core is just rice cooked in a lot of liquid until it is very, very soft . Nearly every Asian country claims some version of this dish, from the Indian kanji to the Filipino lugaw. It can be eaten plain, or with any variety of sweet or savory topping known to humankind - milk and sugar, nuts and vegetables, chicken, fish, or any other meat you fancy, and whatever kind of spice or sauce you can dream up (in fact, many people say it's all about what you top it with). It's the ultimate comfort food - what your Chinese grandma would make you when you were sick, if you were lucky enough to have such a thing. (A Chinese grandma, not a sick ! ).  Indeed, it was while researching "soft food" that I came across many, many people recommending it as just the thing (as to my research....there's a long story there involving a bicycle, some pavement, and my poor husband's face :( ). I knew about jook/congee already, what with my addiction to all things cookery...but had never tried to make or eat it. Here, then, was the perfect opportunity to see what all the fuss was about. As to the results...well, the patient ate three bowls of it that night, and four days later is looking MUCH better...apparently those Chinese grandmas know their stuff !

A few notes on what I used for my particular version :

I was a little concerned about using my beloved Uncle Ben's rice, as I wasn't sure if the conversion process would leave the rice with not enough starch. As you can see it came out perfectly creamy; I think for my next batch I'm going to try some of the Texmati or Jasmine rice I always have on hand (was originally worried they would be too flowery, but now that I've had it I really don't think that will be an issue). The nice thing about this one is that you don't have to obsess about the perfect rice-liquid ratio : the idea is for it to be creamy and soupy, but it's really up to you (that's why I give a range of liquid; you can always add more if it's not the consistency you like ). Oh. and this probably goes without saying, but don't try this with Minute Rice. (Not that I ever use the stuff but hey, we don't judge around here ! )

Garnishes are up to you - I put out bowls of chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, and diced cooked sausage that I had warmed up in a pan. Many recipes call for cubes of cooked bacon and/or deep fried or sautéed onions or shallots - both of which I will try at some point as I think they both sound divine. Chopped peanuts were also mentioned by many...I'm not a huge peanut person, but I think I may try that as well.

I also put out a few of my favorite Asian sauces...

just a few of my favorite things...peanut sauce, tamari, toasted sesame oil, fish sauce, sambal (chili sauce)

So the next time you're looking for Chinese comfort food...consider the humble jook. You'll be glad you did !

Chicken and Mushroom Jook (Congee)

4 -5 cups water
4 -5 cups chicken stock
2 lbs chicken thighs, bone in
1 cup white rice (see above)
4 slices fresh ginger, about 1/4 inch each (no need to peel)
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup sliced (or whole baby) mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
toasted sesame oil 

Garnishes (see above) - chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, anything else that sounds good plus your choice of sauce(s)

Pull the skin off of the chicken thighs, and place in a large pot. Cover with 4 cups of water and 4 cups of stock, then add the rice, ginger, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for an hour until the rice is very soft creamy, stirring occasionally.

Remove the chicken thighs and set aside to cool a bit (so you can get the meat off without burning your fingers). Stir in the mushrooms and the peas, adding more stock and water if needed (you're going for a thick soup sort of consistency). Let the jook simmer to cook the mushrooms while you get the chicken off the bones and shred the meat (two forks work great for this). Add the chicken back to the pot and stir, adding a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and more salt and/or pepper to taste. Once everything is heated through to your liking remove from heat and serve, passing the garnishes at the table