Bleeding chocolates

It doesnt't matter if you are French, Spanish, Indian or Dutch...if you love the dark brown gooey goodness..then you speak the universally acceptable language of Chocolate lovers...a language that addicts around the world are fluent in. If you too bleed for chocolates, then without saying a word you could communicate at great length with that woman, wolfing down an incredibly inviting and glistening bar of dark seduction, sitting next to you in the subway...or with that hot man in the cafe gulping down his choco-latte.

Will the next world war be fought over this scrumptious white n brown n black goop? Well, in the studios of many food reality shows...the revolution has already begun. The hunt for that one ingredient that's a game changer always zeroes down to the humble chocolate. Contestants and chefs...wannabe n celebrated will tell you that.

Having revelled in the sheer beauty and joy of this wonder food let me confess am not the one who would kill to lay hands on a Godiva. I like The chocolate but I most certainly don't love it!! Well with no love invested in this relationship, it's hardly a story to write home about. But what makes my likeness and not love for chocolates significant is my super chocoholic husband's side splitting suggestion that we were destined to be married...so he could indulge in his love for chocolates without having to bother sharing. You know when someone says THAT..his addiction and pain is of an advanced order. And I must confess I love indulging him...Double Choco chip cupcakes with a spatter of white n brown chocolate shavings was just what the doctor recommended. Loaded with sheer goodness and sealed with love my Chococups got a standing ovation!!

La Mia Cucina!!

Sin is in! Satin slippery flour, heavenly garlic, red delicious tomatoes, luscious potatoes, fluffy cream, beautiful fresh basil, mozzarella yeah baby mozzarella ... it was little Italy in my humble kitchen.
So, I had gnocchi at The Blue Frog recently and had been wanting to rustle it up at home. These guys serve it with salsa and a dip...good finger food when you have great drinks to down it with. But I wanted to have mine the way a cuddly Nona in Naples would. Everything from the fluffy gnocchi dumplings to the gorgeous garlic mushroom and tomato sauce was made in La Mia Cucina!! Making these little fluffy pristine white pillows tests your patience and skill. But then food is like love, labour makes sweeter.
I prepared the dough with equal measures of flour and boiled mashed potatoes, salt and olive oil. Cut out little pillows, put water to a boil and dumped the gnocchi in it. When it started floating on top, voila! I knew the whiteness is ready to be devoured.

For the sauce: I blanched the tomatoes, got rid of the peel. Gave the tomatoes, garlic, a little onion and half boiled mushrooms a slight blend. Cooked the sauce in olive oil... dropped in some cream ... Tossed in the gnocchi ... Dropped some shredded mozzarella on top. Before serving I threw in some glistening fresh basil and there you have it. The gnocchi is good if you can polish off a platefull before you can say gnoccchhhiiii. Mine was!!

Crispy Tofu Time

Good food, most times is, come-to-me-I'll-give-you-extra-500 calories food. It's good looking and inviting, yet extremely conniving and evil. You either burn it off in the gym or it'll burn you. It's simple mathematics. I have been on the famous General Motors diet for the last one month. I have lost 4.5kilos by eating lots of food, which is healthy, detoxifying and most times super delicious. Me and my husband have come to embrace this good-tasting-nutritious-healthy food with hungry stomachs and salivating tongues. Thursday evening, I was feeling a little funky and wanted to give a little fun twist to my humble lettuce salad. We had Crispy Tofu in Smoked Hickory Sauce served on a bed of lettuce and other greens. The simple recipe was finger licking good and up there on the health meter. Tender Tofu was cooked in a quarter teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and Hickory smoke BBQ sauce. I cooked it in a non stick pan till it was crispy on the outside yet nice and tender on the inside. This juicy piece of goodness was seasoned with a generous helping of Rosemary. It was served on a bed of lettuce dressed with a little honey mustard. The Tofu has a nice smoky aroma to it and the crunchy mustardy lettuce compliments it beautifully.

Goodness gracious Pineapple!!

A woman in a kitchen is a loaded image, she is imposing. You don't have to talk dripping cream and sizzling sausages to make things flame.They will heat up on their own...if they don't you will be bribed with cream and cake!!! Girls learn all from their mothers. And they want to be like them...carling and gentle and wise and beautiful. For my mothers 52nd birthday I made her my special Pinneapple upside down cake. My mother is big on this sweet and tangy fruit and when it combines with the spongy creaminess of the vanilla cake the result is pretty awesome. Me n my sister had a field day in the kitchen as we rustled up cakes for the most precious and special woman in our lives. The midnight glow on our mother's cheeks and eyes was the most befitting reward for our labour. Really, it takes small things to make people feel happy and loved.





Ingredients

For the Pineapple topping
- 50g softened butter
- 50g brown sugar
- 4-5 pineapple rings
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

For the Cake
- 1 cup flour (weighs roughly 140g)
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1/2 cup Pineapple juice or syrup
- 3/4th cup Olive Oil(Pomace) or Butter
- 2 eggs (optional)
- Vanilla Extract (1 teaspoon)
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda

Recipe

1. For the Pineapple topping: Preheat oven @ 200C for 10 mins. Whip the butter until frothy. Add sugar and whip some more. In a greased baking dish, add the butter-sugar froth and arrange Pineapple rings on top. Bake at 250 for 7-10 mins.

2. For the batter: Mix in the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. Whip until frothy. Now add the oil/butter. Whip some more. Add the flour. Fold it in. The batter will be lumpy at this point. Add the Pineapple juice and the Baking powder + Baking Soda. Give it a good whip. Pour the batter on top of the baking dish that is resting in the oven. Bake at 180C for 45 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out squeaky clean.

3. Let the cake rest outside of the oven for 45 mins or so before you unmount it.