Moar weekend.
I’d like to order a second helping of Sunday, thanks!
Thanksgiving wonder that I had to share:
Chocolate Volcanoes with Raspberry Coulis
A guaranteed hit – easy and absolutely delicious! Prepare and freeze these serving-sized desserts ahead of time, then cook them while you enjoy your dinner.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. instant espresso granules (or instant coffee granules)
1 Tbsp. boiling water
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
6 – 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Raspberry Coulis:
10 1/2 oz. pkg. frozen raspberries, thawed
1/3 cup sugar
1 – 2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier liqueur (orange juice is a good substitute)
Instructions:
To Make Volcanoes: Dissolve coffee granules in boiling water. Set aside to cool. Grease 6 – 4 oz. ramekins. Using a whisk, combine flour, cocoa and baking powder in a small bowl. Reserve. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Add butter and sugar and stir until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Using as electric mixer, beat in eggs 1 at a time on medium speed. Add dissolved coffee and flour mixture and continue beating until fully mixed. Raise mixer speed to high and beat for 6 more minutes (there must be something good on TV!). Pour batter into ramekins and tightly wrap with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight or up to 2 weeks..
To make raspberry coulis: Combine raspberries and sugar in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a sieve (or a clean j-cloth) to remove seeds. Add liqueur and store in refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Take ramekins out of freezer and remove plastic wrap. Bake volcanoes for 18 minutes – no longer! Cool on rack for 5 minutes. The outsides will be crusty and the centers will be gooey – sort of like your average volcano. To serve, drizzle individual plates with raspberry coulis. Invert each ramekin onto a plate and add a small scoop of ice cream.
Book Reference – The Rest of the Best – Vol. 2 (Page: 312)
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chicken w/ fennel and tomatoes
second test recipe out of the gate and it’s two fer yum.
no photos cause we wolfed it down.
the olive / fennel bulb / roasted mushy tomato w/ basil hit classic italian notes and made a boring chicken breast sing. yes, SING.
we served it on couscous cause we couldn’t wait for rice. and couscous seemed like the right texture for this dish.
what we’d do differently next time:
- we’d add more fennel - that sucker reduces something serious during cooking.
- we’d add more lemon / olive oil to the couscous to give it a bit more tang. (we ran out of lemon this time and w. thinks reallemon is sacrilege.)
- we would marinate the chicken for an hour per the directions, but really that’s unlikely as getting (homemade) dinner on the table before 7:30 is challenge enough. more likely we’d cheat by keeping a little marinade aside to drizzle over top at serving.
s+w
This blog is a review of Cooks Illustrated recipes (and more); from our kitchens to yours.
