Simple Flourless Chocolate Mousse Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a variation on the Chocolate Mousse Cake I posted earlier this year, and you'll be happy to know that this is the quicker and easier version to make! I decided that I wanted to post about a simple cake that you can make even if there's no special occasion, or if the occasion is just that you feel like eating cake. This recipe makes one 8x8 or 9x9 single layer square cake and is only 4-5 servings.

The cake recipe is the same that I used in my earlier post, and you can go check it out if you're wanting more pictures about the cake process; I just halved the recipe for this version. The Honey Cream Cheese Frosting is from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. It's this recipe, without the butter. But if you'd like a fluffier frosting, add in the butter and tell me what you think!

I added a thin layer of high quality strawberry preserves under the layer of frosting, to add a little depth of flavor. And since I had strawberries on hand, I added those on top of the cake. It would be just as good without the fruit though, I'm just partial to fruit flavors in my cakes. Or you could substitute other flavors as well. Raspberries would be delicious with this cake.

{Cake batter and softening cream cheese. Isn't our cafetera family cute?}

Chocolate Mousse Cake
serves 4-5
5 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 eggs, separated --  (make sure the whites are completely free of yolks or oil, or they won't fluff up correctly -- also make sure that the whites are at room temperature before you mix them, they'll form stiffer peaks that way)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
makes 1 1/4 cups - enough to cover one single layer cake
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey

 For the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 1 8x8 or 9x9 inch glass or metal baking pan and line the bases with buttered parchment paper.
2.  In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter (I put the butter in the pan first to protect the chocolate from direct heat) over low heat until smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and whisk in the egg yolks until completely blended. Beat in the vanilla extract and pour into a large bowl. Set aside, stirring occasionally.
3. In a clean, grease-free bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites slowly until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed and continue beating until they form soft peaks, then stiffer peaks that just flop over a little at the top. Have patience, this will take 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir a large spoonful of white into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining white until they're just combined. Don't overmix, or the whites will fall. It's okay if there's still some streaks in the batter.
5. Pour batter between cake pans, smoothing the top evenly and tapping the sides gently to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed. The cake will fall slightly when you take it out of the oven. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use a knife to loosen the sides and invert the cake onto the rack and remove the paper.

For the frosting:
If your cream cheese isn't room temperature, just zap it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds so that it softens a little, but not so much that it's melty. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the honey and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until needed. 

To assemble:
Stir about 1/4 cup strawberry or other preserves in a small bowl so that it's easy to spread. Spread a thin layer over the cake and add the cream cheese frosting on top. Spread over the cake until you have a even and smooth layer. If you'd like, add sliced strawberries or raspberries on top. Buen provecho!

Honeycrisp Apple and Romaine Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Fall is officially here, and to me that means apples! Along with the cooler weather, September brings the best tasting apples of the year. Honeycrisp apples are our favorite variety of starch free apples (that we've found, that is-there may be others that we haven't tried yet-let me know if we're missing out!) and they're usually available throughout the fall and winter, here in the United States.

This salad is a good base for a simple Autumn salad, and the great thing about having a good salad base is that you can switch out elements depending on what you have on hand at home. I try to make sure that we always have a least a few hearts of romaine in the fridge, because salads are always an easy and tasty way to get in vegetables when you're starch free. Walnuts and almonds would also be really good in this salad, as would fennel or other types of cheese. If you make the salad with other combinations, let me know how they turn out!

Honeycrisp Apple and Romaine Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
serves 3-4
for the salad:
1 large romaine heart
1 small honeycrisp apple
2 scallions (green onions)
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese - but don't use pre-shredded cheese because it will have starch added to keep it from sticking, use a block of cheese and shred it yourself
for the dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 tablespoons spicy brown or Dijon mustard (I like my dressing really mustardy-you should try it with one tbsp first and add more if you think it needs it)
1 tablespoon champagne or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Cut off the end of the romaine heart. Then keep making cuts, about 1 inch apart (parallel to cutting off the end) until you've cut you're whole romaine heart. (I think this makes the best sized lettuce pieces for salads.) Add your lettuce to a large bowl.
2. Core your apple and cut it into halves or quarters. Then, cut slices as thing as you can make them and add it to your salad bowl. Trim the scallions and slice into 1/4 inch sized pieces. Add to the salad. Shred your Swiss cheese directly over the bowl until it looks like you have the right amount. (This is how I always do it-I don't think I've ever measured anything directly when I make a salad, it's always based on feel, and taste of course.)
3. Combine the honey, mustard and vinegar in a jam jar/glass vessel. I heat up this mixture in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that the honey mixes with the other ingredients and doesn't just stick to the bottom of the jar. Shake up the jar to mix everything, then add in the olive oil and salt and pepper. Shake to mix again.
4. Toss your salad with the dressing and enjoy!

Picadillo Pie: My Quest to Invent a Starch Free Casserole

 
I consider this the first recipe that I ever invented, so I'm kind of (really) proud of it.  Casseroles are classic comfort foods and they're always good as leftovers, when you don't have time to cook dinner every day. But looking through the recipes for casseroles I know and love, all of them had one thing in common: multiple starchy ingredients. So I set out to create one that would work with the diet, and this layered casserole is what I came up with. It's based on Cuban flavors, with an American-style casserole twist.

Picadillo is a pretty generic name for a beef hash containing tomatoes, and many Latin cultures have their own version of the dish. The picadillo recipe I use is adapted from the recipe from Memories of a Cuban Kitchen.

Picadillo Pie
makes one 9x13 casserole

for the Picadillo:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (sometimes I add in green onions too, it depends on what I have around)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef, turkey or bison (the example pictures are made with bison-it's local and free range!)
1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
1.5-2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 4-5 medium sized tomatoes), chopped
salt and pepper (~1 tablespoon salt and pepper to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 cup pimento stuffed green olives, roughly chopped

1.) In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over low heat until fragrant, then add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes. Add the ground meat and cook, stirring, until browned, 10-15 minutes. I usually also add some of the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano at this point as well.  Use a wooden spoon to break up any large chunks of meat.
2.) Add the sherry, tomatoes and salt, and stir, and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Add the olives to the mix, adjust the seasonings to taste and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, 10-15 minutes.

to make the Casserole:
1 small head of cauliflower (or 2/3 of a large head)
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups grated Muenster cheese

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Steam/boil cauliflower in a covered pot with 2 cups of water until soft, about 6 minutes. Drain and let cool for a few minutes. Then use a blender or food processor to process the cauliflower until it resembles mushy grains of rice.
2.) Put the cauliflower in a medium sized bowl. Mix in the eggs and 1/2 cup of the cheese with the cauliflower.
3.) Spread about 3/4 cup of the picadillo over the bottom of the pan in a thin layer, just to cover it. Spread half of the egg/cheese/cauliflower mixture over that, then top that layer with half of the rest of the picadillo. Add the rest of the egg and cauliflower mixture on that layer, then add the rest of the picadillo on top of that. Cover the top of the casserole with an even layer of the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
4.) Bake in the oven, uncovered, until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is starting to brown, 40-45 minutes.

{onions and garlic + green onions + ground bison}

{after adding in the tomatoes}

{I know this looks weird-it's because the farmers market cauliflower was green!}

{before the oven}

{after the oven}

Enjoy!

{No Starch in My} Pizza

I happened to try out this recipe at the exact point in time when I needed something like this: it's simple to make, relatively quick, infinitely customizable, all of the ingredients can be kept on hand and I was starting a new job and was definitely at a loss for time when it came to cooking. And it's pizza. I mean for realz, who doesn't like pizza?

If you can't eat grains, you have to try this recipe, or even if you're just gluten intolerant or are trying to cut back on complex carbs, you should keep this recipe in your back pocket.

The most time consuming part for me is making the sauce. If you can eat store-bought sauce, that's even more of a time-saver. But we've found that pretty much all store bought tomato based sauces tend to be starchy, so I always make tomato sauce at home from fresh tomatoes. I adapted this pizza recipe from one that I found on this blog. And in this post, I'm including a recipe for basic tomato sauce and a recipe for white sauce, for those times when you don't have any tomatoes on hand, but still want pizza. (That's actually why I developed the white sauce recipe in the first place. Except I realized I didn't have any tomatoes after I had already made the crust.)

{No Starch in My} Pizza
serves 4-6
ingredients for the crust:
8 ounce package of full fat cream cheese (at room temp.)
2 egg whites and 1 whole egg
salt & pepper
garlic powder, dried basil leaves, dried oregano leaves
1/4 shredded Parmesan cheese
ingredients for the pizza:
1/2-3/4 cup tomato sauce*
4 ounces mozzerella cheese, sliced thinly
fresh or dried basil and oregano
your choice of toppings (we love black olives, spinach, tomatoes, etc.)

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9x13 baking dish.
2.) Blend the cream cheese with the eggs until smooth, then mix in dried seasonings to taste.
3.) Add Parmesan cheese and stir until combined, then pour mixture into the baking dish.
4.) Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let crust cool for 10 minutes before adding sauce, cheese and toppings.
5.) After the crust is done and cooling, raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
6.) Top the crust with sauce, mozzarella cheese and add whichever toppings are your fave. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Simple Tomato Sauce*
makes 1/2-3/4 cup
2-3 tablespoons butter
4-6 medium tomatoes, chopped (depends on how much sauce you want!)
a small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt & pepper
basil, oregano (to your liking)

1.) Add butter and onion to a saucepan and saute over medium heat until onion is tender and starting to turn golden in color.
2.) Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic.
3.) Add white wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Add tomatoes and turn up the heat to medium high.
4.) Once the sauce starts boiling, I usually turn the heat back down to medium and let the sauce lightly boil for awhile, so that most of the moisture from the tomatoes can evaporate.
5.) Once the sauce begins to thicken (after 10-15 minutes), add the seasoning to taste. Turn the heat down very low and let the sauce thicken.

**I never really measure anything when I make this sauce, I kind of just throw in what I have available, go on what feels right, and keep tasting it as I go along. It always turns out delicious; this sauce is almost impossible to mess up.

Simple White Sauce for Pizza
makes about 1/2 cup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme)
salt and pepper

1.) In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5-6 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute longer.
2.) Add cream, lower heat to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes, or until cream thickens and reduces slightly.
3.) Remove from heat and stir in any seasoning. Let sauce cool before spreading on your pizza.

Mojo Pork Kebabs

 In our apartment complex, you're not allowed to grill anything within 20 feet of the building. But I'm not really a fan of grilling in the middle of a parking lot, so it's lucky that my husband had the foresight to own a George Foreman, as tiny as it is. Actually, I think that must have been all he cooked on before we moved in together, because I know he didn't own any pots or pans.

Anyway, I picked up this summer issue of Everyday Food at CVS when we were waiting for Roi's Rx's one day, and it gave me the urge to grill. Cuban-inspired flavors are always perfect summer recipes. These kebabs are adapted from this recipe.



MOJO PORK KEBABS
serves 2-3 

Ingredients:

1/4-1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

juice from 2 limes (~3 tablespoons)

1/4 cup orange juice

1 orange, cut into 16 pieces

1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds

cumin

salt and pepper

 Directions:

 1. In a small pot, combine oil and garlic and heat over medium-low. Cook until garlic is soft, 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Make sure your garlic doesn't burn, or your mojo just won't taste the same!) Remove from heat, stir in lime and orange juices and let cool for 15 minutes. Stir in some cumin (about 1/4 tsp), salt and pepper.

2. In a ziplock bag, toss the pork with half of the marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 12 hours) and refrigerate the remaining marinade.

3. Heat a grill, grill pan, or George Foreman to medium-high, making sure that the grill is clean before you start. Thread pork, orange and zucchini onto skewers. Season with a couple of shakes of cumin, salt and pepper. Grill kebabs 4-5 minutes per side for medium-well, and at least until they have the tell-tale grill marks. Brush with your reserved marinade and serve.

These tasted really excellent with a light summer salad. I tossed romaine lettuce with sliced fresh cucumber (peeled) and a chopped fresh peach. I paired the salad with a honey balsamic dressing and it was perfect: sweet and refreshing. For the dressing, combine 1 part honey, 1 part balsamic vinegar, and 3 parts olive oil. I usually heat the honey with the balsamic in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that all the ingredients mix together in the dressing. Toss and serve!

Life Lately.

Hello. All I can really say about my absence from this blog is that a set of circumstances has made it difficult for me to successfully juggle everyday life and have time to post on this blog. 

So, here's to making sense of things! (Now you have to imagine me toasting you with my imaginary champagne flute.)  I promise things will become more normal soon! I've still been starch-free fooding, I just haven't been documenting it as much. Here's a few instagrams of my summer food scene, in case you're you know, curious or something.

 

1.} Starch free pizza: it was really good. With homemade tomato sauce and everything. 

2.} July watermelon: the best ever. 3.} Strawberry milkshakes.

4.} Fancy salads for dinner.

Cranberry Raspberry Pops

These are undeniably the most amazing homemade popsicles I've ever made. And I think that even if you're not as into cranberries as I am, you'll love them too. If you're partial to other kinds of berries, you can pick and choose which juices and fruits you use for your pops. But if you ask me, these could not have been better. Just don't wear a white shirt when you're eating one.

Cranberry Raspberry Pops
Adapted from this book.
2 1/2 cups cranberry juice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 fresh raspberries
1 cup light brown sugar, or to taste

1. In a saucepan, combine all of the ingredients (except the fresh raspberries) and 1 1/2 cups water. Cook over low heat for about 7 minutes, stirring, until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Divide your fresh raspberries between the molds. Fill the pop molds with the juice mixture, insert the sticks, and freeze for at least 12 hours.
3. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds.

~~~~~

I also used this popsicle mixture to try out a birthday present I got from my awesome friend Ashlee. (This is in no way a sponsored post, just an honest product review!) She gave me the Zoku popsicle maker that claims to make popsicles in 5-8 minutes. And you know what? It does!

You have to freeze the mold for at least 24 hours in your freezer before it will work, and you can't touch the silver part with bare hands or it can burn you with its coldness. But I actually sat there and watched it freeze, which isn't something you see every day. This one took closer to 10 minutes to completely freeze, so it wouldn't be very practical for serving more than 1-2 people. But if you want a delicous home made popsicle and you don't want to have to wait overnight, then here is your solution. And I like how the popsicle looked when it came out of the mold.



{freezing my popsicle on the counter}



{Zoku popsicle: it freezes in a marbled pattern}