This week’s Tuesday’s with Dorie has turned in to Thursdays with Dorie, for me anyway.  I apologize for the delay.  We had a busy weekend, as I’m sure many of you did, and Tuesday was here before I knew it.  I should have planned ahead a little more.  Over the weekend, I celebrated my first Mother’s Day as a mother.  My husband gave me a whole bunch of baking goodies I needed including wire whisks, a thermometer, a silicone mat, tongs, and several plastic cutting boards.  He also gave me the gift of sleeping in on Sunday morning while he got up early with The Littlest Apple: a much appreciated gift since The Littlest Apple is still waking up several times a night.

Before I jump in to this week’s recipe, I just wanted to let you all know that I’ve been trying LOTS of new and exciting recipes, and I’ve got lots of recipes to share…as soon as I get a chance to sit down and blog about them all.  So stay tuned!

My baking didn’t happen until Wednesday.  The recipe for this week was Florida Pie, selected by Dianne of Dianne’s Dishes.  This pie is essentially a key lime pie with a layer of coconut cream in a graham cracker crust, topped with coconut meringue.  As a coconut lover, I was completely in love with the coconut cream layer.  The Picky Apple liked the flavor of it, but doesn’t care for the texture of shredded coconut.  I was also pretty proud of my homemade graham cracker crust, which I made extra thick.  This was my first time working with Key Limes, and all I can say is that it sure does take a lot of Key Limes to get 1/2 cup lime juice….perhaps more work than it was worth, though I never actually tasted the lime layer of the pie.  I don’t think my meringue was quite as fluffy and tall as it should have been, but I may have been a little too rough when folding in the coconut at the end…

Florida Pie

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, seperated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly.  Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened.  Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk.  Still on low, add half of the lime juice.  When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended.  Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes.  Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch.  Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown.  (Or, if you’ve got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.)  Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

I haven’t been able to particpate in Tuesdays With Dorie the last couple of weeks, so I was extra excited to see this week’s recipe was Peanut Butter Torte, selected by Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food. Excellent choice, Elizabeth! This recipe was easy to put together and looked very impressive. The Picky Apple unknowingly consumed the peanut butter I purchased for this recipe (he loves PB sandwiches), so I wound up using about two thirds of the peanut butter called for in the recipe. It still turned out great, and there was plenty of peanut butter flavor. My only teeny tiny issue was with the Oreo cookie crust: there wasn’t quite enough of it as written. I would have had the perfect amount if I had doubled the crust. Regardless, this was another winning recipe from Dorie Greenspan! Be sure to check out all the other beautiful tortes at TWD!

Peanut Butter Torte

Ingredients:

1 ¼ c. finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch and topping)
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ c. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate)
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2 ½ c. heavy cream
1 ¼ c confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ c salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural; I use Skippy)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

Getting ready: center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside. Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Crape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk. Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

To Finish The Torte: put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan. Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and , working with a a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy. Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I’m finally back to baking again and loving it!  Over the weekend I made these super yummy Caramelita Bars.  They’ve got a layer of oatmeal streusel, caramel, chocolate and pecans.  What’s not to love?!  They are a cross between Seven Layer Bars and Gooey Caramel Butter Bars.  These bars are extra-rich and delicious.  I made half with pecans and half without, and the nutty side got devoured long before the nut-free side.  Next time I make them, I might throw in a few more chocolate chips.  I felt the caramel was the dominant flavor, though I guess that makes sense, given their name.  I might also make a little more of the streusel layer because it didn’t seem like it was thick enough.  Totally not the recipe’s fault: my favorite part of any recipe is the dough, and this dough was irresistible.  I couldn’t help but sneak a few bites while I was waiting for the bottom layer to bake.  This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again in the future!  I forgot to take pictures, but be sure to check out the photos on Eddybles….once you see these, you’ll have a tough time resisting!

Caramelita Bars

from Eddybles

48 soft caramel candies
6 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

for the caramel layer

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan.

2. In a small saucepan combine the caramels and evaporated milk. Over low heat, gently melt the milk and candy until thoroughly combined and creamy and thick. Stir constantly to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and reserve.

for the streusel dough

3. Combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the melted butter at medium speed until a batter like consistency is achieved.

4. Press half the streusel dough into the baking pan. Bake for ten minutes.

to assemble

4. Drizzle most of the melted caramel over the baked streusel layer, reserving enough to drizzle over the fully assembled bars. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans over the caramel and top with the remaining portion of dough. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and drizzle with remaining caramel, reheating if necessary to soften it up. Refrigerate for a few hours before cutting and serving.

Yield: 16 bars

Our meals have been somewhat uninspired lately….I was sick and not really feeling like cooking much. In the the past two weeks, The Picky Apple has been subject to a quite a few repeats and boring old standbys. I also asked him to pick up takeout on his way home from work more times than I care to remember (Not that there’s anything wrong with takeout. I was just beginning to feel like a domestic failure). Now that I’m feeling a little better, I’ve got the cooking and baking “itch” again, so watch out!

A few nights ago, I made Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches after reading about them on Baking Bites, one of my favorite blogs. I love French Dip Sandwiches! The Picky Apple, as it turns out, doesn’t like them as much as me. I probably could have guessed that though. He has a serious aversion to anything resulting in soggy bread. French onion soup is the biggest soggy bread offender in his book.  (Coincidentally, my all time favorite soup!)  Bread pudding is not something he’ll be requesting anytime soon.  So he ate his sandwich sans au jus, which kind of goes against the whole idea of French dip, if you ask me.  But to each his own.  We both liked the flavor of the meat.  I thought it was melt in your mouth good, especially with some fresh bread and melted smoked provolone! If you like French Dip Sandwiches, then you have got to try this…Check out the recipe here!

I’ve been on a real granola kick lately.  Granola for breakfast, snacks, and dessert.  I love to eat it with yogurt and fresh fruit, like cereal with milk poured over it, or straight out of the bag, and up until recently, I was relying on the store bought kind.  I have seen so many recipes for homemade granola floating around in the blogosphere, and finally decided it was time to try my hand at making granola at home.  I used food blogger turned Bon Appetit contributor Molly of Orangette‘s recipe, which is based on granola she ate while in Paris recently.  In the last 4 weeks, I’ve made about 4 or 5 batches of this granola.  The first time, I included the chocolate called for in the recipe (okay, maybe a little MORE than what was called for in the recipe).  The chocolate makes it extremely decadent, especially delicious eaten with yogurt and strawberries.  But it seemed a little too sinful to be eating chocolate for breakfast (I’m sure some of you will say that’s crazy talk), and the chocolate seemed to overpower the granola itself (likely because I was heavy handed when adding the chocolate).  Since then, I’ve been making it without the chocolate, and I still can’t get enough of this granola!  It is super simple to make, especially if you use buy slivered almonds instead of chopping your own.  Take Molly’s advice though, and consider doubling the recipe (especially if you have to share!)

French Chocolate Granola

from Orangette

3 cups rolled oats
½ cup raw almonds, chopped
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. mild honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup, or more, finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

Picky Apple Notes: I used slivered almonds and sweetened coconut, and don’t always include the chocolate.
Preheat the oven to 300°F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, coconut, sugar, and salt. Stir well to blend.

In a small saucepan, warm the honey and oil over low heat, whisking occasionally – watch out! the oil will want to splash – until the honey is loose. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine well.

Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Set a timer to go off halfway through the baking time, so that you can give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.

When cool, transfer the granola to a large bowl, storage jar, or zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chocolate, and stir (or shake, if using a jar or bag) to mix.

Store in an airtight container. Serve with plain milk; soy milk and plain yogurt overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

Yield: about 5 cups

Hello, readers!  I’ve been feeling all kinds of guilty for not updating my blog more this past week.  Just wanted to let you know why:  Our family is dealing with some new food allergies:  eggs (diagnosed) and gluten (suspected, but not yet diagnosed).  Obviously, those are having an impact on my baking, and I haven’t really been cooking anything too exciting for dinner this week either.  Most of my dinner experiments have gone horribly wrong lately….just ask The Picky Apple about the Macadamia Crusted Mahi I made last week (sounds good, right?  It was a disaster.)  I’m not giving up baking, so fear not!  I’m usually baking for others anyway, so I’ll be back in business in a few days.  I just have some things to sort out first.

The Picky Apple doesn’t really care for soup.  Me?  When I was younger, I used to take soup to school for lunch almost every single day.  In my quest to find a soup that The Picky Apple will eat, we focused on “taco” soups, similar to one he gets in the cafeteria at work.  We’ve been through at least five different taco soup recipes in search of one that he likes, and this recipe was one of the more successful recipes of the bunch.  This recipe makes lots of soup and freezes well.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (12 ounce) beer  (I used Shiner Bock)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 3 whole boneless chicken breasts

Directions:  Place the chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker.  Add taco seasoning and stir to blend.  Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients.  Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.  Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled.  Shred chicken.  Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours.  Serve topped with cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and tortilla chips, if desired.

This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was selected by Mary of Starting From Scratch.  Even though I don’t like lemon desserts, I knew The Picky Apple would want to try this, and I got to brush up on several techniques that I don’t use regularly.  This recipe made me realize just how incomplete my kitchen is.  I do not have a thermometer, metal whisk (only a useless large plastic one), tart pan, or large food processor (only a mini processor I’m borrowing from my mom).  Thankfully, my tart still turned out ok.  The hardest part was whisking the cream in a double boiler without a thermometer.  It took a long time-20 ro 30 minutes-whisking continuously, but it finally came together the way it was supposed to, and I managed not to burn it or scramble the eggs.  Looking forward to next week’s recipe!

The Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart (from Dorie Greenspan’s From My Home To Yours)

The filling in this tart is everything. It is the lemon cream I learned to make from Pierre Hermé, and it is the ne plus ultra of the lemon world. The tart is basic-a great crust, velvety lemon cream-and profoundly satisfying. It is also profoundly play-aroundable. You can add a fruit topping (circlets of fresh rasp-berries are spectacular with this tart) or a layer of fruit at the bottom; you can finish the tart with meringue; or you can serve it with anything from whipped cream to raspberry coulis.

1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough, fully baked and cooled
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10½ ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size
pieces, at room temperature

Getting Ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk-you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling-you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point-the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience-depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going-to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. (The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days and, or tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate ‘until needed.

Serving: It’s a particular pleasure to have this tart when the cream is cold and the crust is at room temperature. A raspberry or other fruit coulis is nice, but not necessary; so is a little crème fraîche. I know it sounds odd to offer something as rich as crème fraîche with a tart like this, but it works because the lemon cream is so light and so intensely citric, it doesn’t taste or feel rich.

Storing: While you can make the lemon cream ahead, once the tart is constructed, it’s best to eat it the day it is made.

Sweet Tart Dough:
Makes enough for one 9-inch crust

Storing: Well wrapped, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months. While the fully baked crust can be packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months, I prefer to freeze the unbaked crust in the pan and bake it directly from the freezer-it has a fresher flavor. Just add about 5 minutes to the baking time.

In French, this dough is called pâte sablée because it is buttery, tender and sandy (that’s what sablée means). It’s much like shortbread, and it’s ideal for filling with fruit, custard or chocolate.

The simplest way to make a tart shell with this dough is to press it into the pan. You can roll out the dough, but the high proportion of butter to flour and the inclusion of confectioners’ sugar makes it finicky to roll. I always press it into the pan, but if you want to roll it, I suggest you do so between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper or inside a rolling slipcover.

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in-you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses-about 10 seconds each-until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change-heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy-handed-press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. (I dislike lightly baked crusts, so I often keep the crust in the oven just a little longer. If you do that, just make sure to keep a close eye on the crust’s progress-it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash.) Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

To patch a partially or fully baked crust, if necessary: If there are any cracks in the baked crust, patch them with some of the reserved raw dough as soon as you remove the foil. Slice off a thin piece of the dough, place it over the crack, moisten the edges and very gently smooth the edges into the baked crust. If the tart will not be baked again with its filling, bake for another 2 minutes or so, just to take the rawness off the patch.

This recipe for Buffalo Chicken Nuggets was a favorite at our house growing up, and it is still one of my favorites today.  My mom clipped the original recipe from Parents Magazine back in 1988, so it is officially 20 years old this year.  I love everything about wings except, well, the wings themselves.  I don’t like eating the meat off the bone, and I prefer chicken breast to wings.  This recipe uses boneless skinless chicken breast cut in to chunks.  The chicken is marinated in your hot sauce of choice, then breaded.

My favorite hot sauce is Tabasco Sauce.  Having lived in Lafayette, Louisiana until 7th grade, we grew up with Tabasco sauce.  In fact, Avery Island, the home of Tabasco Sauce, was not that far from Lafayette, and we visited quite a few times.  There is much more to Avery Island than just the Tabasco Pepper Sauce Factory.  There are also beautiful gardens and huge old oak trees with enormous branches trailing back down to the ground, covered with moss.  One particular visit to Avery Island stands out in my memory.  I don’t remember the specifics of the visit…perhaps my Dad’s company picnic?  On this particular visit, around the time my mom started making this recipe for Buffalo Chicken, I was playing in the big old oak trees with the other kids.  I was hanging down from a large tree branch, waiting for my mom to turn around to see me goofing off.  Of course, as soon as she turned, I lost my grip and fell and broke my wrist.  Instead of taking me to the emergency room at the tiny hospital in the little town closest to Avery Island, my parents fashioned a splint for me out of some gauze and an old license plate from the trunk of the car, and drove me all the way back to Lafayette, over an hour away, over bumpy backwoods Louisiana roads.  Now whenever I think of Tabasco Sauce, which remains my favorite hot sauce, I think of Avery Island and this story.

Buffalo Chicken Nuggets

adapted from Parents Magazine, 1988

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes
• 1/3 cup of Tabasco sauce
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. butter

Directions: In a large bowl or zip-top bag, combine chicken cubes and Tabasco sauce.  Let marinate for at least 1 hour, then drain.  In a shallow bowl or pan, combine flour, salt and papkrika.  Add chicken, and toss until well coated.  Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skilled over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, stirring frequently, until golden and cooked through.  With a slotted spoon, remove chicken to plate and cover to keep warm.

Picky Apple Notes:

• I like to serve this with apples, carrots, and blue cheese dressing for dipping.
• This recipe is always a big hit whenever I make it for parties and company.  I prepared five pounds like this for a party the week before my son was born, and it all got eaten quickly.  However, it is pretty time consuming to cook it in big batches….not to mention that you and your house will smell like a fast food restaurant when you’re done, so plan accordingly.
• If you do happen to wind up with any leftovers of the chicken, it makes a great buffalo chicken salad for lunch the next day.

This is my first week participating in Tuesdays with Dorie, the group dedicated to baking its way through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours.  This week’s recipe, Chocolate Gooey Cakes, was selected by Leigh of Lemon Tartlet.  I’ve always had a weakness for molten chocolate cakes like this, so I was super excited to see that Leigh selected this recipe.  If there is a molten chocolate cake on the menu at a restaurant, you can guarantee I’ll order it.  One of the best molten chocolate cakes I’ve had in recent memory was last May at The Beach House Restaurant in Kauai, Hawaii.  Because they prepare each cake to order, you had to place your order for the molten chocolate cake at the same time you ordered your entree.  Though the salad and entree were excellent, I remember looking forward to this dessert throughout the meal.  What could be better than enjoying a delicious melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake topped with vanilla bean ice cream while watching the sun set over the ocean in Hawaii with your loved ones?

This cake lacked some of that ambiance that made the Kauai cake so special, as this one I made and tasted on an overcast Monday afternoon at home accompanied by a cranky seven month old who didn’t take a proper nap.  But it tasted delicious! It wasn’t quite as gooey as I would have liked (and looks completely un-gooey in the photo below, taken several hours later), so when I make it again, I’ll cook for a little less time to ensure maximum gooeyness and serve it with vanilla ice cream.  I absolutely love that this recipe is baked in muffin cups instead of ramekins!  No special bakeware required–somehow we wound up with only 1 of the ramekins from our wedding registry, and I’ve yet to purchase more of them (4 years later).  I actually had one of those 6-cup disposable aluminum muffin tins mentioned in the recipe.  If you’re a chocolate lover, you definitely need to try this recipe.  Perfect single size servings for a dinner party.

Gooey Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (4 ounces coarsely chopped, 1 ounce very finely chopped)
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates.  Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous.  Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs.  Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter.  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
Bake the cakes for 13 minutes.  Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board.  Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.