Archive | June, 2010

Molten Chocolate Cakes… baked in a toaster oven

30 Jun

I always try to bake for my co-worker’s birthdays.  I think too often we get caught up so much with work that we don’t remember that we have lives on the outside of the office.  Birthdays are a damn good excuse to have something to celebrate and bring a little joy to the office.  I also love any excuse to bake.  When my coworker mentioned how much she LOVES molten chocolate cakes, I knew what I was making for her birthday.  I also absolutely love molten cakes myself, and I remembered Lori had blogged about making some recently.  So Lori gave me the recipe from the NY Times that sounded easy enough.

I was a bit worried, however, as I knew I was going to have to prepare these in advance and then cook them in the office… in a toaster oven.  So I decided to make a single cake at home first to see how it went.  The batter tasted DELISH and I got it all set up to go in the oven…

And then when the alarm went off, I cheerfully turned it over and…

Wah wah.  Bummer!  Since moving in I have realized that my very large, very modern oven needs longer cooking times than recipes usually call for (maybe because it’s bigger?) and I should have kept it in for longer than the recipe.

So I gathered it all up and dumped it back in and put it back in the oven…

and prayed… and…

Wah Wah x2!  Damn.  It tasted good though!

So I figured I had nothing to lose and I bought some ice cream, whipped cream, and berries and figured that if it didn’t work I would make a trifle or put it in a bowl to eat.  So with frayed nerves and a small prayer… into the work toaster oven it went the next day…

And???

Yayyy! It actually worked!  I actually think they got a little over cooked and weren’t as molten as I would have liked, but at least they came out in little chocolate deliciousities.  What is especially curious is that the ones in the muffin tins worked, yet the last one in the ramekin still didn’t come out right (so I ate it myself out of the container).  Perhaps I need to grease the ramekins more next time.

It’s rare that I fail baking, and this was quite the blow to my floured ego, however, it just goes to show you that making mistakes in baking happens often.  Don’t let it get you down

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Market Cafe

26 Jun

Right around the corner is a brightly lit place called Market Cafe (9th Ave between 37th and 38th) that looks slightly out of place below the Port Authority area.  Hopefully, for those of us in the neighborhood, places like this will continue to pop up and take over some of the abandoned and not-so-desirable store fronts in the neighborhood.  Don’t get me wrong, I love authentic, old New York, however, this area is still a bit more run down and loaded with the homeless population to be counted as a “desirable neighborhood” to live in.  I have never exactly been one to flock to the hot neighborhoods, however, and much prefer these “up and commers.” 

Anyway… Market has been a place we have been meaning to try since moving in, but it took us about 6 months to get there with dad and Maggie.  I started with sangria… which wasn’t great, but thirst quenching at least.

Maggie went with the salad… which I cannot remember.

Mike went with… shocker… the burger.  He was a good boy and got veggies instead of fries. Bravo Mike!  He liked it.

Dad chose the grilled shrimp with stewed lentils and and parsley oil.  The shrimp were delicious.  Mmmm char.

I chose the (“crisped”) roast garlic chicken with creamed potatoes, spinach, and roast garlic sauce.  It was nice and juicy, but I expected it to be crispier since it did say it was crispy in the description.  The garlic sauce was perfectly sweet.  Quite enjoyable.

Overall, Market is a nice part of the neighborhood and while not outstanding, it seems like an easy, reliable place to grab a meal.  Entrees are a little on the pricey side for a place that is a bit off the grid, but it matches the effort that the place is trying to make by being modern in the neighborhood.  All entrees were less than $20, but even the burger was $14.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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Weight Watchers Cooking: Baked Omelette

25 Jun

I wanted something hearty and healthy one night, and after flipping through Hungry-Girls’ 1-2-3 cookbook, I decided to edit one of her recipes.  She had oven-baked omelette lasagna which used zucchini instead of lasagna noodles (a recipe I MUST try, especially after ready about Lori trying it).  Unfortunately, however, on this day I didn’t have zucchini.  So I figured I’d forgo the lasagna part of the recipe and just make a giant baked omelette.  And wow was it easy!

I basically just combined everything I’d normally put in an omelette (tomatoes and mushrooms being the key pieces, plus spices) and used fat-free liquid egg substitute (I happened to use Better’n Eggs since I had so much luck with Better’n Peanut Butter). We also threw in some Purdue Short Cuts for extra protein.  Then I topped it with Weight Watchers shredded cheese…

And baked it…

The portion was HUGE for the points and I was totally stuffed after eating this.

One quarter of the full recipe is FIVE points!  That is insane!

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RECIPE
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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups Better’n Eggs (they come in a 3 pack of 1 cup containers)
  • 1/2 – 2/3 box of Purdue Short Cuts
  • 1/3 cup canned tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
  • 3/4 cup Weight Watchers Shredded Mexican Style Cheese
  • Salt & Pepper, Garlic Powder, Oregano to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
  2. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with nonstick spray (sides too)
  3. In a bowl, mix all ingredients except cheese
  4. Pour mixture into pan
  5. Top with cheese
  6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown and cooked through

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