Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Since sine_nomine asked for it, here's the recipe.

When I first posted this, more than a decade ago, I said it was the only recipe I could really claim as mine*. I got the basic instructions from Al Bennick, a friend of my parents', when I was in high school, after he made it for a pot-luck.[updated April 2020]

( cut for length )

I was making a couple of batches of apple cakelings, using Jo Walton's recipe: two batches because I had almost half an apple left after the first, and didn't want to waste it. I also wanted to try using lemon extract, which I added to the sugar at the beginning.

I was about three steps in when I realized I'd used the normal amount of butter/margarine, but 1/3 more sugar, because I had somehow grabbed a 1/3 cup measure instead of the 1/4. So I used 1 1/2 or 1 2/3 eggs instead of one (no measuring here, just not-exactly-separating the second egg and putting about 2/3 of the egg white and I think about that much yolk into the bowl with the other ingredients. I increased the flour by an unmeasured amount, by using a heaping quarter cup instead of the usual measured amount. That was going to be 1/3 cup as well, but the cat knocked the 1/3 cup measure on the floor.

Overall, these worked well. adrian_turtle, you might like these, they're not as greasy as they sometimes come out. I will probably try this again, with a bit more lemon, and possibly measured amounts of other things.

Here's Jo's cakeling recipe, for reference. I had the oven at 200C/400F, and baked for a full twenty minutes.

Next time, try: 4.5 or 5 tablespoons of margarine (instead of 4); 1/3 cup sugar; a measured 1/3 cup of flour, and 3/8 tsp baking powder (I'm starting with what King Arthur calls all-purpose flour, which doesn't contain baking powder), and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. Having looked at Jo's currently posted version of the recipe, I might try actual lemon juice and zest some time, instead of apple bits+lemon extract. (For that she advises increasing only the amount of flour.)

This is sort of rescue cookery: cattitude had found a recipe for chicken tikka masala, and he got as far as cutting up the meat, making the marinade, and putting it in the refrigerator, and then he got sick. Neither of us was up for a complicated new recipe, and the instructions called for metal skewers that are out of stock at the nearest supermarket. So I made something very simple last night, and left the chicken marinating.

Tonight, I simplified, and we got something that isn't even close to chicken tikka masala, but worked reasonably well.

So:

Day 1:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp salt
150ml plain yoghurt (that's a little over 1/4 cup)
1 tbsp pureed ginger (use a pestle and mortar)
1 tbsp crushed garlic (about 3 cloves)
1½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika

Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and stir in the lemon juice and salt. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Stir the remaining marinade ingredients together and add to the bowl. Stir well to coat, cover and chill overnight.

[Those instructions and ingredient list are from an article in the Guardian.]

We left the chicken to marinate an extra day, and poked around for simpler ideas; Cattitude suggested that I just simmer it in a covered frying pan.

So:

One small onion (a larger one might have been good, this is what I had, and on further consideration I might use a small one next time)
Two small cloves garlic
Peanut oil
Ground cloves
Ground cinnamon
Smoked paprika
Ginger paste

I chopped up the onion, and put the garlic through a garlic press that turns it into small pieces.

Then I started some basmati rice, aiming it to be ready before the chicken.

Heat the frying pan on medium (about 4 on my electric stove, which is a bit less than half of its full power). When the pan is hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until they're soft. Sprinkle the cloves, cinnamon, and paprika on the onion, stir, and cook a moment longer.

Pour the chicken and marinade into the pan. Add a dollop of ginger paste (this probably would benefit from a larger amount than I used). Stir, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It was cooking fairly quickly near the end, so I turned the heat down some.

Salt and pepper to taste at the table, but it really will need at least a bit of both. Adding plain yogurt also helps, with texture as much as flavor. ("Yogurt" here is ordinary whole milk yogurt; sour cream would probably work, but low-fat or fat-free yogurt likely not.)

There are enough leftovers for lunch; I'm probably going to add tomato paste and more ginger when I reheat this.

At the moment this is somewhere between lab notes and a recipe.

This is based loosely on the shrimp or chicken curry I used to make, except where I forgot things. With thanks to minnehaha K. for giving me the idea, by posting about an improvised curry she made with sweet potato*. This is halfway between a method and my notes for version 1.1.

Half an onion (or one small onion), diced.
About half a granny smith apple, diced
One sweet potato (not too big), sliced thin and then cut into bite-sized pieces
Frozen cauliflower, probably a bit under 1/2 cup when broken up
A cup of chicken broth, plus some hot water
Peanut oil
Three tablespoons milk

Spices: about 1.5 teaspoon of Penzey's "Singapore spice," a curry-ish thing that gets most of its spiciness from black pepper rather than any sort of red pepper (capsicum), a bit over 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, a little nutmeg, and a tablespoon of flour to thicken/bind it.

Heat a large covered frying pan, and then put the oil in.
Saute the onion and apple for a couple of minutes, until they're a bit soft.
Sprinkle the spices on the onion-and-olive, stir in, and cook for a minute.
Add the chicken broth, stir, and add the sweet potato pieces. Spread them out in the pan, and add a bit of water to cover the sweet potatoes.
Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the cauliflower, stir to cover it with the now-thickened liquid, and cover. Total cooking time about 20 minutes, though the sweet potato was probably done in 15. (I'd thought it would need the full 20.)

Next time I will probably reduce the Singapore seasoning (since I have little tolerance for hot spices these days), and maybe increase the nutmeg, and put in some turmeric and cumin (there's some in the Singapore mix). cattitude, who likes things quite a bit spicier than I do these days, added some Sriracha brand hot sauce (which has a drawing of a rooster on the bottle). I should definitely use a bay leaf (I forgot this time), and possibly a couple of cardamom pods. Maybe olive oil instead of peanut.

Something in the umami direction would be good. Maybe just a spoonful of marmite, or get some frozen edamame (or I could start learning to cook with tofu, not just eat it in Chinese restaurants). Or mushrooms, if I'm not cooking for cattitude that night.

If I want to go back toward the recipe this is derived from, I might throw in a handful of raisins or dried cranberries next time—but sweet potatoes already make a sweeter curry than chicken or shrimp did. Also, a tablespoon or so of lemon juice, especially if I reduce the Singapore spice (which is somewhat lemony).

I added the cauliflower mostly for a bit of contrast with the sweet potato; other vegetables might do as well, depending what's handy, or this might work with just sweet potato. I had originally been thinking of a sweet potato and chicken curry, but the chicken didn't keep, and I think the dish was better without it.

Served over long-grained white rice. (If you usually serve curries over some other kind of rice, or some other grain entirely, that should work.)

*Minnehaha reminds me that she used several vegetables in her meal, including radish, but not sweet potato.

(Cross-posting to the LJ community off_recipe)

This is a kludge of a couple of recipes, so I'm recording it, even though it's still chilling and I won't know whether it worked for hours.


1 cup dark chocolate, grated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk, heated to bubbling around the edges
2 cups heavy cream
(scant) teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, defrosted
2/3 capful orange extract

Stir the chocolate and sugar in a large heatproof bowl (I used one of the Pyrex bowls my mother gave me when she emigrated--I think they were a wedding present, back in 1955).

Pour hot milk onto chocolate mixture. Mix until the chocolate dissolves--I stirred briefly with a butter knife, that being what I'd used to mix the chocolate and sugar together (I'd used it to even the 1/2 measure of the sugar), and then used an electric mixer at the lowest setting for a minute or two.

Add the cream and the vanilla extract, and mix in. Then add the orange concentrate and, on a whim, the orange extract. Mix those in.

Put the bowl in the freezer to chill--the recipe in the ice cream maker handbook says two hours. Then pour it into the ice cream maker, set it for an hour, and see what happens.

The basic choolate ice cream instructions are in the booklet that came with the ice cream maker; the orange juice concentrate idea is from the web.

ETA: This worked. It's in the freezer now, except for the bits that are in me. *smile* Addenda/thoughts below.

The soft-frozen (just out of the ice cream machine) form of this is good. I expect it will be better when a bit colder.

More orange would be good. I think I should increase the orange extract quantity next time, or try orange zest--but adding lemon zest to lemon ice cream directly led to clumping, and the alternative of steeping orange zest in hot milk, straining it out, and then proceeding to adding the chocolate has two problems. The first is that it's simply an extra step. The second is that the chocolate might not dissolve as well--that technique is one I found in recipes for orange ice cream, not chocolate orange, so they aren't concerned with that.

I might try kightp's suggestion of a small amount of Grand Marnier, if I can get the bottle open, which I really ought to test sometime, because if it won't open, there's no point keeping it. (It's part of a small bottle that I bought some years back to use in chocolate mousse; I then took a long hiatus from making mousse.) I don't care for ice cream that tastes like alcohol, though.

Now that it's fully chilled, there is if anything too strong an orange flavor. I might try using slightly less orange concentrate, or reduce or remove the orange extract, next time. cattitude seems sure it has too much orange; I'm not sure, but there's definitely enough.

I tore the piece of paper I had this on, and can't find all of it. This is my best reconstruction, for my own reference:

• 1/4 cup melted butter


• 4 cups cooked wild rice


• 1/4 cup maple syrup


• 1/4 cup dried blueberries


• 1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries


• 1/2 cup roasted, coarsely chopped hazelnuts


• 1 cup heavy cream

1. In a large, non-stick pan, warm the butter over medium-high heat


2. Add the cooked wild rice, and stir to coat well.


3. Stir in remaining ingredients, and heat through thoroughly.

Serve with side dishes of warm heavy cream and maple syrup. (Yes, that's more cream and more syrup: diners' tastes vary.)

Serves 4.

This is based on papersky's apple cakelings, plus suggestions and comments received the first time I tried this. These came out properly chocolately--in a cake way, not a brownie way--with a nice hint of ginger, and stronger ginger when I bit into a bit of the crystallized ginger. Note: crystallized ginger that is quite strong when eaten by itself is tamer after baking in these cakelings.

2 ounces butter (1/2 stick), melted
2 ounces sugar
1 large egg
1 ounce Baker's chocolate, melted with a few random chocolate chips (to make up for the amount of chocolate that sticks to the pan)
Crystallized ginger, cut small (a handful)
2 ounces flour
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 400 °F (200 °C; you're still on your own for gas marks).

Beat the sugar into the melted butter. Beat in the egg, whisking thoroughly to get plenty of air in.

Fold in the melted chocolate and the ginger.

Sift the flour, ginger, and cocoa into the liquid mix, then fold it all together, stirring thoroughly.

Spoon into muffin tins, and bake 20 minutes. Enjoy.

(This was going to have cinnamon sugar, but I forgot about it until the tins were in the oven, and it didn't seem worth pulling them out.)

Annotations, 20 November 2003: The cinnamon sugar makes no discernible difference to the flavor. Sifting in more cinnamon, with the ginger, cocoa, and flour, might be worth trying.

A Droste dark chocolate pastille as part of the melted chocolate works. Spoon the melted chocolate from the saucepan into the mixing bowl instead of pouring: less is lost that way. (If you have a microwave and are melting the chocolate in a bowl, bravo, and the principle probably still applies.)