Temptation i can't stay away

I was trolling the net when I came across this; I found it so cute and sexy that I had to share. Now I have not tried this so I am leaving it up to you to tell me how it goes.

Chocolate Mug Cake for TWO

Prep time + cook time = 5 MINUTES extra 3 mins for newbies

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons sugar (u can decrease # of tbs if adding choc. chips or ice-cream)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg (lightly beaten)
3 tablespoons milk or water
3 tablespoons melted butter/oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips plus extra for sprinkling (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

You could make this in a bowl and then pour the batter into microwave-proof dishes/mugs or you can halve the ingredients into each mug (should fill half way in the mug)

*NOTE: When cooking the batter does rise, so keep an eye out.

Method:
Serves 2

1. Mix dry ingredients together in the mugs or bowl
2. Add the rest of the remaining ingredients. Mix until combined.
3. Microwave one mug at a time on medium-high for one minute and an extra 30secs if needed. (It should be cooked but moist and gooey in the middle.)
4. Get a fork or spoon and DIG IN :)
Eat on its own or add a scoop of ice-cream on top of the cake

If you want to be fancy you could:
-remove the cake from the mug, serve on a plate with a scoop of ice cream and decorate with pieces of your favourite fruits
-dust with icing sugar

-drizzle chocolate sauce and sprinkle crushed nuts

Use your imagination; you could add many goodies :)

p.s This is finger-licking good and super super easy, like making coffee :)

Both the mug cakes I made last night got demolished so quickly that I didn't get a chance to take a photo of it. I found a picture that looked almost identical to mine to show you, minus the ice cream I served with my cakes.

Enjoy

When I do try it out I am going to do a few improvements on it

But in the mean time enjoy I am way to excited t wait to share this one.

C.A.S = Crazy Ass Soup

C.A.S

As much as I am a passionate of food, and willing to cook up a storm anytime, be it for my friends, family or others, there are days when I just don't feel like it. Like today, I wake up nose stuffed and sneezing my head off, I am sick. I hate being sick. It makes me feel week and I don't like that. I am the only one in control of my destiny right? So I have to be strong, yet still I just can't bring myself to cook today it’s just not in the stars. So let’s just stay simple shall we. It’s going to be all can goods. This is no chef work, but sitting here filling yet another tissue paper with transparent mucus my head is saying no to my heart, or to quote my head perfectly,

 "HEART SHUT THE FRACK UP YOU ARE IN NO SHAPE TO COOK ANYTHING, OPEN A CAN SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND EAT."

So it’s going to be soup, not sure I will like it but I really don't have the strength.
Well that was the plan, that is until I actually arrive in the kitchen then it became a bit more. I mean come on people, anyone who knows me know that I don't just do simple.

And that my dear friends and followers is how I came up with the crazy ass soup.

What you will need:

1 packet of chicken noodle soup (not into branding but I like maggi)

50cl of water
1 tsp of nuoc mam
1 portion bacon bits ( Lardons )
1 egg poached
1/4 of a carrot
Some rockette leaves

How to make:
1- In a pot pour in the contents of the packet of the chicken noodle soup and add nuoc mam and water, bring to the boil.
2- While soup is boiling in a very hot pan through in your bacon bits, without any additional fat. You will want to get them brown and crispy, not burnt.
3- Poach your egg

Some advice for a poached egg.  Make sure your water is boiling slowly; you do not want it boiling at high speed. Don’t forget to add a bit of salt to your water and a bit of vinegar, this helps the egg to coegulate.
Put your egg in only when the water is boiling and give it a little stir to make sure the white covers the yoke.

4 -julienne your carrots (julienne means cut into very thin strips)

5- Bring everything together:

Pour your chicken soup into a bowl, top with rockette salad and julienne carrot, put poached eggs on top and spread bacon bits above.
Bonne appetite!
Now I don't know if it was because I was sick but I found this soup very good and it made me feel a little better. Why don't you guys give it a try.
Until next time I am nursing myself with a mixture of honey, rum and lime juice.



Feeding the Buddha



Back to my roots

                                                              

At one point or the other everyone goes back to their roots, the child goes back to the mother. At burials the priests say ashes to ashes dust to dust. How many of us have dreamt of creating our family tree? Go back to the birth place of our parents? We all have at one point or the other, in one way or the other, spiritually, physically, we have all taken one step to going back home, back to our roots. My journey home like any journey starts with one step and for me that has to do with the cooking.
As you already know, that is if you have read my other posts, my grandmother is from the Caribbean (see blog post Monday, July 4, 2011 Sweet memories). I was not the only one who learnt from her. My mom makes a pig snout and lentils soup with dumplings that is lovely. Being away from home for so long I missed it a bit, now that I am back I have decided to make my own version of it, minus the dumplings and a pinch spicier. Haa!
Now not many people outside of the black community eat pig’s snout. You see most of the people living in the Caribbean are of slave descendants. Slaves, they didn’t know when their next meal was, or what they were going to eat. What they had, was what the white masters did not want, the dirty bits. The pig’s ears, tails, the animal’s insides. To make it last, or change the taste they would add a lot of spice and herbs and other things just to make it edible.
Many great things have come from those old ancestral methods, like salt fish, smoked meat, the use of root vegetables that look like some alien’s excrements and so many fruits and vegetables the colour of the rainbow. As far as I am concern the Caribbean island is the garden of Eden split in hundreds of pieces.
Anyway let’s not stray from the subject like I always do. On the menu today
Pig’s snout in spicy lentil soup:
What you need:
500g of lentils
8 to 10 pig’s snout
(this can be bought at any Chinese market, it is found in brim. One thing you should know about pig’s snout is that it is marinated in salt so no need to add any to the snouts. It’s also very cheap and vey fatty)
1 packet of chicken soup or chicken stock
Ginger, Garlic, Cloves, Chilli 
 
Method:
In a pot pour in lentils and cover with water. Bring to the boil.
While lentils are boiling rinse pigs snout cover with water, add ginger, garlic clove, half an onion, 3 cloves. Bring to the boil and let simmer for an hour. Skim the top regularly.
After an hour checks your snouts to see if they are cooked, it should be firm but you should also be able to cut through them with a folk. Once they are ready drain them out of the water and cut into small pieces and set aside.
Check your lentils to make sure that they are cooked. When the lentils are ready, add chicken soup powder and add water. If you are using chicken stock there is no need to add any water.
Bring your lentils back to the boil add a small teaspoon of chilli, not too much, you don’t want it inedible. You just want to give it a touch of heat.
Taste your lentils make sure there is enough salt. Don’t forget that you are going to add the pig’s snout which is already salted.
In a pan sauté your pig snouts to add a little colour, and then add some finely diced onion, when the onions are translucent add the all to the lentils soup. Let simmer for five minutes and serve hot.
I like to add some flaked roasted almonds or some fresh grated carrots on top.

Enjoy.

I hope you like this one. If you guys know of any nasty bits like this and you are not sure how to prepare it or can’t come up with anything please share I am more than happy to help you out. You can email me or leave a message on my facebook page.
Until next time just remembers, mix cook eat and love.