A bit of chocolate heaven

The season of chocolate continues with this tiramousse that I whipped up today for a New Year's Eve party tonight. This recipe was easy and has a deep chocolate taste tinged with coffee.

“It’s intense and chocolatey.”

Sunjay Swaroop, at the family New Year’s Eve party

This mousse was easy! The most time-consuming part of it was melting the chocolate, which is done in the microwave. The other ingredients are mixed in a blender and then you combine the two. It’s that simple … and the deep chocolate flavor is enhanced by a red wine when you serve it.

Want to make it for yourself? Click here.

Test Kitchen L.A.

9575 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles 90035 | 310-277-0133 | http://www.testkitchenla.com

Nyesha Arrington who is from Southern California created this Taro Dessert plate for the fifth course. It included custard with a vanilla sauce and puffed rice in the middle accompanied by pecan praline crunchies, right, and a delicious vanilla cream with a slice of baby Tahitian coconut on top at Test Kitchen LA on Saturday night. Delicious!

I loved the food, the service, the wine pairing, the up-and-coming chefs, the price and definitely the concept of the Test Kitchen L.A.

Test Kitchen is the product of many people’s efforts, but the concept of Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg.  Test kitchen is a showcase for chefs by restaurateurs and allows for experimentation and testing of new ideas and concepts.  Visiting chefs will be serving dishes they are working on for future restaurant projects.  Mixologists provide innovative pairing opportunities and avenues to express their craft.  Each chef will be working alone or in consultation with Ricardo Zarate, who is currently finalizing his own restaurant, just upstairs from the discreet yet popular Test Kitchen.

We went Saturday, Oct. 9 and were treated to sweet, light island flavors of Nyesha Arrington. She comes from a multi-ethnic background and comes from Southern California. She cooked at Charlie’s Steakhouse in  Orlando, Fla. but decided to come back to Southern California where she  worked with with Josiah Citrin at his two highly-acclaimed southern California restaurants:  Lemon Moon in Culver City and Mélisse in Santa Monica.   Arrington  further honed her culinary expertise by working with legendary French chef Joël Robuchon at his Michelin and Mobil award-winning Las Vegas restaurants, L’Atelier and The Mansion.

“I love all sorts of food—French, Indian, Asian, Greek—and I’m a big fan of integrating different flavors of cuisine from around the world,” Arrington explains.

On Saturday, we chose the fried plantains with lime and chili accents. Light, crispy and a perfect starter to our six-course meal which we chose to pair with wines chosen for us. Then our courses began to come out. These are the courses we had in order of their arrival and paired with the wine listed with the course.

1. Caribbean Ground Provisions| Jerk Tomato “Fondue”  with
2. Snapper |Mussels, curry, basil
3. Duck | Roti, pineapple, mint
4. Pork Belly |“Loco Moco”, Tamarind
5. Taro- Coconut custard| Sugar Cane Rum
6. Banana Beignet|Grilled mango, Tahitian Vanilla

I enjoyed the Pork Belly course the best. It was braised to a tenderness that was easily handled by a fork. The item that I thought absolutely didn’t work was a thick, clunky roti that served as a mold for the minced duck that was the consistency of pate. I also thought the Taro-Coconut custard was a delight but the Banana Beignet was much too heavy and dense although the mango and Tahitian vanilla sauces were the high point of the course.

Truffle Doughnuts

These incredible confections were made from a recipe by Sherry Yard. The are crisp and crunchy on the outside and molten chocolate on the inside.

This is an incredible treat that you want to make right before you serve. They need to be eaten hot!

This is so scrumptious that it’s hard to believe it can be this easy. Kudos to Sherry Yard for making a delectable treat so simple, easy and fast.

After I had made the batter, I was wondering how a flash fry (30 seconds on each side in scorching hot oil) would allow the soft batter to cook solidly. Turns out I needn’t have worried. The Panko crust of the exterior fries up crispy and light while the inside turns into molten chocolate. Quite a heady delight!

The perfect nibble

These are the Dark Chocolate Cookies with Hazelnut Filling that I made for my Christmas cookie baskets. A low-calorie option for my health-conscious friends.

“They’re beautiful and delicious. I’m going to enjoy having one each afternoon – the perfect nibble.”

Anne Colby, copy editor on the features desk at the Los Angeles Times

I was doing my holiday baking and I wanted a cookie that my health-conscious friends would enjoy. This cookie was the very thing. I made a batch precisely as the recipe instructed. Then, I thought that this would be the perfect cookie to go the no-sugar, non-dairy route.

So I substituted Earth Balance butter substitute for the butter and used a non-dairy, no sugar hazelnut filling instead of Nutella.

The white chocolate drizzle does have sugar in it, though.

One of my friends, who is allergic to dairy, praised the cookies highly by saying it was unusually moist for a non-dairy cookie. I guess most of the vegan options he has tried are much drier than this luscious cookie. He even suggested that I start selling this tasty new option!!

Want to make them yourself? Click here.

Chocolate Tasting Party

This is a plate of chocolate treats that a guest made up at my Chocolate Tasting Party on Dec. 7. From left is the Mardi Gras Cake, Valrhona Bites, Truffle Doughnut and Cappuccino Cake.

I usually do a holiday cookie basket for close friends and relatives. This year I couldn’t decide what my chocolate part of the basket would be so I decided to host a party where the guests would vote on which they prefer.

I made Thomas Keller’s Chocolate Bouchon which I called a Valhrona Bite; Sherry Yard’s Dark, Decadent Doughnut which I called a Truffle Doughnut; Jim Dodge’s Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Cake which I called a Mardi Gras Cake (since it’s a party in your mouth) and my sister, Suki, contributed her Cappuccino Cake which was a chocolate-espresso confection. Click the links for the recipe.

It was a fun afternoon full of chocolate and friends. In the end, the Truffle Doughnut narrowly edged out the Mardi Gras Cake. Unfortunately, since the Truffle Doughnut needs to be served hot it wasn’t the best choice for sending in the mail.

Spicy & Sweet

These snickerdoodles came out light, spicy and creamy. One person described them as a spicy donut hole, rather than crisp cookie.

“Some cookies seem hard and dry. This were light and delightful.”

Rachel Dunn, foreign desk copy editor at the Los Angeles Times

I wanted to try a spicy cookie for the holidays so I tried out Nigella Lawson’s recipe for snickerdoodles. They are a light, creamy, spicy cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar immediately after cooling.

They were so easy to make and I especially liked the freshly grated nutmeg and oodles of cinnamon in these. And if you are a chocaholic you can replace some of the flour with cocoa to satisfy your chocolate habit.

I wanted a cookie that I could ship for a holiday gift. These were bounced all over the nation and made it to their recipients in their original tasty form. Hurray!

Want the recipe? Click here

Gone in 40 minutes

This is the cinnamon-pecan-cherry coffeecake I made.

“It’s so moist, rich and flavorful. Yet light and delicate.”

Aisha Khan, copy editor on the foreign desk at the Los Angeles Times

It was a rainy Sunday and since I couldn’t go take my usual hike or hit some balls at the tennis court, I decided it was the perfect day to bake something delicious. Baking is a relaxing and creative activity for me. But I wanted to make sure my creation was something that I could toss in a tuppeware container and take to work for the Sunday Crew at the Los Angeles Times. I thought a coffee cake with some nuts, dried fruit and plenty of sugar and butter would smell great during the baking part and taste great too.

“Scrumptious,” said Matt Moody, LAT graphic artist said after he finished his piece.

“The cinnamon really works with the other flavors.” said Lauren Raab, finance section copy editor. She also insisted that the pecans I put in the cake were toasted. No, I never toasted them but the melted butter that doused the top of the nuts may be the reason the nuts seem so crispy and aromatic.

Sugar high: If you normally don’t eat sugar or are on a low-sugar diet just one bite of this cake will give you a buzz. But be careful because one bite won’t be enough of this addictive confection. Remember, this cake was gone 40 minutes after I took the lid off the container. That type of speed is due to the candy-like filling and the tender, buttery cake it is layered in. Enjoy!

Want to make it for yourself? Click here for the recipe.

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Birthday guacamole

This quick and easy guacamole is always a hit at any festivity. I have made it for birthday celebrations to be a nice complement to the requisite sweet treat – generally cake.

“This guac if firing on all cylinders: great onion and garlic flavor, nice lime notes, excellent heat and the cumin’s fantastic.”

Ruben Munoz, illustrator & features designer at the Los Angeles Times

I made this guacamole for my friend Alex’s going-away-and-birthday festivities at work today. She has had this guacamole at past birthday celebrations and always praised it so lavishly that I thought she deserved this at her soiree.  It’s fairly easy to make since I had chopped up the tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro and peppers the night before. All of these items were ready in the morning for quick assembly as soon as I mashed the avocado, roasted the cumin and juiced the two limes.

It was ready to go in less than 20 minutes. Since the party wasn’t until later that afternoon I refrigerated it so there was time for all the flavors to meld together and heighten the experience once the party did kick off!

Happy birthday, Alex, and good luck on the new gig!

Would you like to make it yourself? Click here for the recipe.

Chocolate sensation

This is the Chocolate Ganache-Hazelnut Tart spiked with a spicy raspberry jam that I made today. I took it into work so that we could enjoy it as part of the normal Sunday spread. People liked it and all but the last piece was gone in the first two hours.

 “A slice of perfection.”

Rich Nelson, National Copy Chief at the Los Angeles Times

I’ve wanted to make my version of this chocolate ganache tart ever since I saw Kelly Liken make it for the “Top Chef” pie quickfire several week ago. I finally got around to it this weekend. I baked the cocoa-butter-flour crust last night and put the filling together this morning.

I wanted to give this chocolate concoction something that was all me so I added a layer of Nutella – a chocolate-hazelnut spread – on the bottom and kicked up the raspberry jam with ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon.

I was touched when 1AA designer Molly Beford said “If this dessert was on a spread of sweets it would stand above the rest. I mean I know what a cookie or a cake tastes like, but the flavor of this tart is intriguing.”

Many others said that the spicy raspberry kick in the filling along with the hazelnut spread reminded them of something they’d had during the Christmas holidays.

But the gem of the evening came from National Copy Editor Anne-Marie Dillon who I kept troubling as I switched out photos and jacked up the photo captions on the story that she was editing. She said, “Oh my God, keep bringing in food like that and you can do ANYTHING you want to my captions.”

Would you like to make it yourself? Click here for the recipe.

Pizza in a pinch

This slice of BBQ chicken pizza is delicious and so easy that my 9-year-old niece makes it when she visits. She says this is her favorite. And the way she and her twin brother eat it up when she makes it is the proof! Psst … don\’t tell her that it\’s a healthy and balanced meal.

‘This pizza is really good!’

Shailesh Swaroop, my brother said in surprise during a lunchtime visit

My brother, Shailesh, of Carlsbad, Calif., and his two daughters, Sangeeta, 15, and Maya, 13, decided to pop in for a last-minute visit right during lunchtime. They called from South Coast Plaza and said they’d be over in an hour. I don’t know about the teenagers you know but this pair can be finicky about what they’ll eat. My brother’ll eat anything … so I decided to bake this BBQ chicken pizza for lunch.

My brother, Shailesh, gets ready to chow down on the first BBQ chicken pizza out of the oven. He came down from the San Diego area for a brief visit to Orange County with his daughters, Sangeeta and Maya. It’s always fun to see them!

It’s an easy recipe. It includes a crust from the store (something like Boboli), bbq sauce, chicken breast, cilantro, cheese, tomatoes and onions. I cubed up the raw chicken breast, cooked it in bbq sauce and layered the rest of the ingredients on to the crust and baked until the cheese is bubbly. Delicious and easy! My favorite kind of recipe.

It came out of the oven just as they walked in the door. We had it along with some fruit: watermelon, honeydew or strawberries. We all tore through it and could focus on enjoying each other for their brief three-hour visit.

Would you like to make it yourself? Click here for the recipe.