'Mug' Chocolate Cake

Most of us like (or love!) chocolate cake, but unless it's a special occasion, if you're anything like me it doesn't get made very often - you might make the odd batch of chocolate cupcakes to appease your chocolate cake hormonal gods, but that's about it.

Well now you can have your chocolate cake and eat it, every day if you want!!
I came across this recipe in a new cookbook that I bought recently and wanted to try it because basically I didn't believe that it would work or that it would be any good - well, I couldn't of been more wrong.  If you're looking for a fast, last minute, warm, moist, delicious chocolate cake then look no further. You may be as sceptical as I was when you read it, but go on, give it a try and you'll be thanking me, I promise :o)

I have some large Christmas mugs that I use, and quite honestly just making one is enough for hubby and I with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice-cream for dessert.  I usually make it and eat it while it's still warm, but we had a couple with friends a few weeks ago and they're just as nice once they've cooled down.

'Mug' Chocolate Cake
makes 1 'large mug' cake

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1 large egg
3 Tbs milk
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

• whisk everything together in a large mug until smooth.
• microwave on full power for about 2 minutes until puffed (1 min, 50 seconds is good for my microwave)
• either eat straight from the mug, or tip out and enjoy with vanilla ice cream.  
• if you want a little bit of molten 'sauce' on top of the cake when you tip it out, reduce the cooking time by a couple of seconds.

 'Mug' Chocolate Cake ingredients.

put everything into a large mug and whisk....

...until smooth.

microwave for about 2 minutes until puffed.

tip out and if you've got the timing right you'll have a delicious molten 'sauce'.

we find that just one 'mug' serving is enough for two people alongside some good vanilla ice-cream.

Crab Cakes

One of the wonderful things about living on the west coast of Canada is the abundance of seafood that we have here, and the abundance of wonderful people that are more than happy to share their freshly caught seafood with us :o)

Dean came home from work yesterday with a bag full of freshly caught and cooked crabs that a customer had very kindly given to him.  Now, I've seen crab alive in the ocean, I've seen them alive in tanks, I've eaten it in restaurants already shelled and prepared in scrumptious dishes, but in all my 42 years I've never 'cracked' a whole crab to get the meat out.  Google and my very helpful and knowledgeable friend and neighbour Alana to the rescue - Alana more so than Google because she also gave me this delicious crab cake recipe to try!!! (I was debating whether to do a photo montage of the shelling of the crab to begin with but quite honestly it was such a messy procedure that there was no way I was getting my hands anywhere near my camera at the time - just go to YouTube and you'll find plenty of videos to help you.)

Crab Cakes
8-10 depending on size

7 oz  fresh (or frozen) crabmeat
1/4 cup sweet red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup sweet green bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup seafood dressing (either homemade or any brand you prefer) + more for dipping
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs, divided
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• line a rimmed baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
• in a large bowl combine the crabmeat, peppers, onion, seafood dressing, egg and 1/4 cup of the breadcrumbs; mix gently so as not to break up the crabmeat too much.
• put the remaining 1 cup of breadcrumbs into a shallow dish.
• press small handfuls of the mixture into balls (about the size of a golf ball) and gently roll around in the breadcrumbs to coat all over.
• place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet and gently press down to make patties.
• refrigerate the crab cakes on the baking sheet for about an hour to allow them to firm up slightly before frying.
• once you're ready to cook them, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium to high heat and fry the crab cakes for a couple of minutes each side until golden brown.

 before....

 ....after :o)

the remaining Crab Cake ingredients.

mix everything except a cup of breadcrumbs and the vegetable oil in a large bowl.

try not to break up the wonderful chunks of crab too much though.

form the mixture into balls...

...and roll around in the breadcrumbs to coat.

flatten them on the prepared baking sheet to make patties.

I forgot to take a photo of them frying, but they'll come out golden brown after a couple of minutes each side.

we just had ours with a simple salad and some more of the dressing.

Chocolate Finger Tips

After Friday's chocolate covered strawberries I only had about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips left in my jar, so I decided that today was also going to be a chocolate 'dipping' day - who can resist ANYTHING dipped in chocolate :o)

I didn't bother using my stand mixer for this because it's not a huge amount of dough, so just a little elbow grease and a wooden spoon worked fine.

Chocolate Finger Tips
makes 15 fingers

1/2 cup butter, soft room temperature
3 Tbs icing sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

• preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• put the softened butter into a medium bowl and sift the icing sugar over the top.
• using a wooden spoon cream them together until very soft.
• mix in the flour and vanilla extract until combined - it will come together as large 'clumps' which you can then press together with you hands to form a ball of dough.
• pinching off pieces of dough about the size of a walnut, roll them in your hands to form small logs about 3 inches in length - I pressed them against my fingers to form little indents (as the photo shows), but keeping them as round logs will work just as well.
• place them on a cookie sheet a couple of inches apart and bake for 15-17 minutes, until edges are just browning.
• leave to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• once the cookies are cooled, melt the chocolate in a microwavable bowl in 10 second increments until nearly smooth;  whisk to melt completely.
• place a piece of wax paper over a wire rack ready to hold the chocolate dipped 'fingers'.
• carefully dip each end of a cookie in the melted chocolate and place on the wax papered rack;  repeat with the remaining cookies and then place in the fridge to set completely.

 Chocolate Finger Tips ingredients

put the butter into a bowl and sift the icing sugar over it.

cream together until softened and smooth.

add the flour and vanilla extract.

blend everything together until you have large clumps;  you can then press together to form a soft dough ball.

make 'logs' using about a walnut size piece of dough (I squeezed them a little to form dents, but you can keep them plain 'logs' if you prefer).

place them on a cookie sheet and bake until the edges are just browning.

once they're cooled completely, carefully dip each end in the melted chocolate.

place them on a wax paper covered wire rack and pop them in the fridge to set completely.

 a line of chocolately, biscuity yumminess!! :o)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

We spent an hour or so this morning paying our local x-ray department a visit due to a little mishap that my hubby had in work yesterday - go to the blog page to have a looksey at his nicely swollen ankle :o) - and on the way back we made a quick stop at our small grocery store not far from home to grab a few things.  The first thing I saw as I walked through the door were these big, luscious strawberries nestled in their boxes almost begging me to take them home and eat them - how could I refuse - so as easy as you please, two packs found their way into the bottom of the basket even before I could blink.

Of course we could of just munched away at them until we had a small pile of green stalks left on the side of the plate, or I could of made a small batch of homemade preserve, but then I suddenly had an inspiration of something that I've always wanted to try but just never got around to.....chocolate covered strawberries!!!....and what better excuse to make something so beautiful as Mother's Day which is coming up on Sunday.  Now, Dean and I don't have any human children of our own (just our two little kitties), so we always miss out on things when it comes to Mother's Day and Father's Day, so this year I thought I'd make these scrumptious little treats for myself......from the cats :o)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

12-15 strawberries
1 cup milk chocolate chips (I actually used a mix of milk and plain)
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

• put some wax paper on a large cutting board or cookie sheet big enough to hold all the strawberries and one that will fit into your fridge;  set aside.
• wash the strawberries and pat them with kitchen towel until dry.
• put the milk chocolate chips into a microwavable bowl and in 10 second increments microwave until just melting;  stir to melt completely.
• pierce the strawberries through the stalk end with a toothpick so that you can hold them and dip into the melted chocolate.  Let the excess drip off back into the bowl and place them on the prepared wax paper covered board so that they don't touch each other.
• once you've dipped them all, place them into the fridge to set.
• when they're set, microwave the white chocolate chips as you did the milk and using a fork dip it into the chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries - if you want it to be neater you can always put the melted white chocolate into a piping bag and pipe it across them, but I quite like the rougher look to these....even more homemade somehow :o) - sorry, I didn't get a photo of this stage...oops!!
• pop them back into the fridge to set completely.
• I'm giving some of them away to friends for Mother's Day so I placed them individually into paper muffin cases and then into foil trays and I think they look pretty, don't you?

 Chocolate Covered Strawberries ingredients.

I used a mix of milk and plain chocolate only because that was what I had on hand.

melt it in the microwave until smooth.

with a toothpick pushed in to the stalk end so that it's easier to hold, dip your strawberries.....

....and let the excess drip off.

once they're all dipped, pop them in the fridge to set.

melt the white chocolate and using a fork drizzle it over the set strawberries until they look like....

.....this :o)

I'm giving some away to friends for Mother's day, so I popped them in paper muffin cases and a foil tray just to make them look a little prettier.

Chicken Chow Mein

If you've been following my foodie blog long enough you'll know that I have a huge affinity for 'one-pot' meals, whether it's using one of my slow cookers, or having a casserole bubbling in the oven or as here, using a large skillet for a stir-fry.  I used what I had on hand for this one, but obviously combinations of whatever you have or your favourites can be substituted.

Chicken Chow Mein
4 servings

1 Tbs vegetable oil
3-4 chicken breasts, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups chinese style noodles
2 Tbs cornstarch
4 Tbs soy sauce (I use Tamari)
4 cups baby spinach

• in a small bowl combine the cornstarch and soy sauce and set aside.
• using a large skillet over medium to high heat, cook the chicken in the oil until no longer pink (I actually used some chicken that I had already roasted earlier in the day just because it was available, but whichever you have is great).
• add the peppers and onion and saute for a couple of minutes until they've softened slightly.
• pour in the vegetable stock and frozen peas, mix well, cover and let bubble for 5 minutes.
• add the noodles and mix well..
• pour in the soy sauce mixture and stir to coat everything.
• simmer for a couple of minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
• turn off the heat and fold in the baby spinach to wilt it.
• serve and enjoy :o)

 Chicken Chow Mein ingredients.

(I used some chicken breasts that I had roasted earlier in the day)

Oops, I forgot to add the baby spinach to the ingredients photo....here it is :o)

slice the chicken and the veggies into fairly uniform pieces.

saute the chicken, peppers and onion until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies have softened.

the chinese noodles are hard to begin with, but they soon soften up with a little liquid and heat.

it only takes about 30 seconds to wilt the spinach right at the end before you serve.

Yummy!!

Honey Oat Scones

Who doesn't like scones?!!!
Whether they're the plain, round English ones slathered with Cornish whipped cream and strawberry jam while on a summer picnic with "lashings of ginger beer" (sorry - I don't know what came over me - a flashback reference to Enid Blyton and the Famous Five there!! :o).  Or maybe they're the large, melt-in-the-mouth triangles of awesomeness that you might get from your local coffee shop, like a little gem in one of our local towns called Sundance Java Bar, where I had THE most scrumptious raspberry and white chocolate scone a while back with a friend - as you can probably tell, I still have dreams about it :o)

I haven't quite reached the 'nirvana' state yet with my own attempts in the kitchen, but this ones comes pretty close if I do say so myself - they have enough flavour to be able to eat on their own, but also they're not too sweet if you want to do some serious 'slathering' with your favourite preserve.

Honey Oat Scones
makes 8 scones

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 very heaped Tbs baking powder
1 heaped Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/4 cup runny honey
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten (to glaze)

• preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• in a large bowl whisk together both flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt.
• using your fingers or a pastry blender, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients until you have the consistency of large breadcrumbs.
• in a separate small bowl, mix the honey and milk until combined, then add to the flour/butter mixture.
• blend everything together with your hands to form a 'softish' ball of dough - add a little more milk if the dough seems dry, but not enough to make it sticky.
• pat or roll the dough to approximately a 3cm thickness disc.
• either cut into wedges with a knife or if you prefer, you can cut out circles with a cookie cutter.
• place a couple of inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet, glaze the tops with the beaten egg and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 Honey Oat Scones ingredients.

whisk all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

work the butter into the dry ingredients until you a large breadcrumb consistency.

blend together the honey and milk....

....and add it to the dry ingredients.

blend by hand to form a soft dough.

pat or roll into a 3cm thick disc.

using a large, floured knife, but into wedges.

place on the prepared cookie sheet and brush with the beaten egg.

bake until golden brown.

we were lucky enough to be given a jar of homemade peach jam that went tremendously with these scones.