Dining in the Dark

Dining in the Dark is a new craze that is gaining popularity. This concept forces us to put all of our prejudices based on sight aside. The night is a sensory adventure! After about 20 or 30 minutes, I really noticed that my other senses were heightened. You will hear the wine being poured into a glass like never before... Also, I smelled everything. It's often considered "gauche" to smell your food, but *You taste with your nose.* If you don't smell food or wine, you're not getting the full flavor.

The first course was a seared scallop in curry, paired with a Napa Valley Chardonnay. The scallop was rather large, and not being able to see, I ended up with the entire scallop on my fork--and I ate the the entire scallop in one bite. I also had to use my sense of touch. Using your fingers can be helpful in finding the food on your plate!

The second course was seared polenta and a roasted tomato, with a Rose wine. The seared polenta was so delicious that I will be making polenta this weekend! The third course was duck, paired with a Rhone varietal from Avignon, France. I have actually been to Avignon and drank wine--and I'm not sure how but for some reason I thought this might have been a Rhone Valley red. I was really surprised when the sommelier told me that I was correct. I think I may have some wine intelligence after 5+ years of wine tasting! The last course was panna cotta, paired with a Canadian dessert wine. I had actually had this wine a couple of years prior and recognized it as a Canadian varietal.

Overall, this was a very enlightening experience. I felt like I appreciated the food so much more without being able to see it. I ate things that I would have otherwise avoided. The ambiance was very casual and relaxed. At one point, I was about to knock my entire plate of food on my lap, and someone working there prevented it.

The price was reasonable ($45). Several venues offer this experience under slightly different circumstances (pitch black rooms instead of blind folds). I thought the blind fold was ideal because I was able to shut my eyes and relax--instead of straining to see in total darkness. You can check out the place I went to last night at http://www.themustbar.com and look under the "events" tab. The staff was incredibly friendly. The sommelier was very knowledgeable, and the chef was passionate about his food. It was refreshing to have such an interactive experience with the chef and sommelier. Don't worry--I didn't spoil the menu for you because it changes for each tasting.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

For the Chocolate Lovers...

(The chocolatiest chocolate anything i've EVER had)

Ok, really, this recipe should have had a warning. CAUTION: Serious chocolate lovers ONLY. A few small bites are sure to satisfy even the most intense chocolate cravings. The brownies were soooo rich and moist. You'll probably want to have a glass of milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream nearby.

I'll cut straight to the point. This recipe is an excellent recipe for chocolatey homemade brownies. It requires several steps but is well worth it. If you don't have a double boiler (one pot that fits in another pot to keep chocolate from getting too hot and burning), you can use a glass bowl on top of a small pot of barely simmering water. Just make sure the water is not boiling and touching the glass bowl. OR, you can just stick the chocolate in the microwave on 50% power and check every 30 seconds or so to stir and make sure the chocolate is not burning. Enjoy!

Prep time: one hour

Bake time: 35-40 minutes

Difficulty: medium

Recipe- Dark Chocolate Brownies

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces

3 large eggs

1 and 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler placed over barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate melt. Remove from over the water and set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla until blended. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until blended. Sprinkle all of the flour over the mixture and whisk slowly just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula.

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Curried Corn Chowder

I love soup. I love soup because it is healthy, and I can control exactly what goes in it! I love soup because you can't really mess it up--anything goes. I love soup because it not only warms the body, but it warms the soul. Yes, Los Angeles is not a winter or fall city, but it has been around 60 degrees or so here, so this is soup weather for us!

A good soup cannot be made in 5 minutes. The ingredients need time to get to know each other. I think that soups are kind of magical--you take a bunch of independent ingredients, and you make something that is greater than the individual ingredients.

I served this soup with dinner rolls that had been in my freezer. I defrosted the dinner rolls, and then I cut them in half and broiled them in the oven with a dab of butter and some grated parmesan cheese until the cheese was slightly dark and bubbly.

Enjoy this healthy, vegan dinner alternative!

Recipe- Curried Corn Chowder

Preparation/Cook time: about an hour and a half
Servings: 6

1 big yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. fresh thyme OR 1/8 tsp. dried thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 and 1/2 cups frozen or canned corn
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, clarified (see directions below)
1 tablespoon Madras-styled curry powder
1/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
pepper, to taste

1. Saute the onion, garlic, and thyme in 2 tablespoons butter (regular) in a large soup pot over high heat, stirring occassionally to keep the onions and garlic from sticking to the bottom of the pot. After the onion has begun to reduce in volume (5-10 minutes), lower the heat to medium and continue cooking for 10-15 more minutes, until the onion is tender and translucent.
2. Add the corn, stock, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let the stock simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Prepare the clarified butter. To prepare clarified butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan until the milk solids have separated from the oil (there will be white, cloudy liquid floating on top after melting the butter). Use a spoon to scoop out the milk solids. Milk solids cause butter to burn more easily, which is why we are removing them.
4. In a separate saucepan, warm the clarified butter over medium heat. Add the curry powder, and cook until the curry aroma permeates every inch of your dwelling (3-5 minutes).
5. Remove the soup from the heat. Let cool for a few minutes. Pour half of the soup into a blender, and blend. Return blended soup into the soup pot. Heat the pot over medium heat; then stir in the clarified butter/curry blend (step 4).
6. Stir in the coconut milk, cilantro, salt and pepper. Cook for another 15 minutes, until all the flavors come together. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Sweet Potato Pie Muffins

An instant classic..

I first baked these about 2 weeks ago for our book club meeting. It was right in the middle of my baking frenzy, so I actually baked two different types of muffins for the meeting--sweet potato muffins and parsley parmesan muffins. The parsley parmesan muffins were probably the grossest muffin i've ever had. But, the sweet potato muffins were a real hit. An instant classic.

I've been in Baton Rouge for the past few days. I found a bag of unshelled pecans in the kitchen pantry, so I decided to make these muffins. Also, I wanted to share my new find with my family. So, i got to shelling pecans and boiling sweet potatoes so that I could use the absolute freshest ingredients.

They were DELICIOUS. I renamed them sweet potato pie muffins because I used all the spices that my mom uses in her super-popular sweet potato pies.

Ingredients 101

To my novice bakers and cooks: I feel responsible to emphasize the importance of following a recipe--especially if it's your first time making something! One of the most important parts of a recipe is the ingredients. Good food comes from good ingredients.

Most recipes for baked goods call for unsalted butter. Though you can use salted butter as a substitute, unsalted butter has a better flavor for baking.

Most recipes for baked goods assume that you will be using whole milk. You can almost always substitute it for other types of milk. I've got skim milk in my fridge, so I use skim milk. I've also used rice and soy milk with no problems. It won't taste exactly the same, but it will cut down on the fat and calories in whole milk.

Almost every baked good recipe calls for vanilla extract. I don't use imitation vanilla extract. I use "pure" vanilla extract, but you can probably get away with the imitation vanilla extract.

Some ingredients are NON-negotiable, unless you have a chart with substitutions. Altering any of the following ingredients may cause your baked good not to rise: baking powder, baking soda, and eggs. Also, an ingredient that may be unfamiliar to you may be the key ingredient in the dish (e.g., cilantro in tortilla soup or fresh sage or Marsala wine in chicken marsala).

Lastly, different oils burn at different temperatures. For example, a recipe may call for vegetable oil, but you've only got olive oil. If you are just sauteing something for a short time, it is probably OK to substitute. If something needs to be sauteed for a long time, be sure to use the type of oil that the recipe suggests. Also, the extra virgin olive oil that the pesto calls for is NON-negotiable.

If anyone else has any tips on ingredients, please leave a comment so we can all enjoy!