Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

From EasyEats. com via Pinterest

(I didn't take this picture but I wish I had!)

• Makes: One 9-inch cake
• Prep time: 15 min
• Cook time: 1 hr 30 min

• 14 ounces high-quality chocolate
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 6 eggs or equivalent egg replacement
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream or nondairy creamer
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split and beans scraped into a bowl

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan. Set the prepared pan inside a 12-inch pan. In a double boiler, heat chocolate and 7 tablespoons butter until fully melted. Stir until smooth. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, the superfine sugar, dark brown sugar, ¼ cup light brown sugar and the vanilla until fully incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture; whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared 9-inch pan. Carefully fill the larger pan with water until it reaches about halfway up the side of the smaller pan. Tightly cover with aluminum foil.
3. Bake until top of cake is no longer sticky to the touch, about 90 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate to cool completely.
4. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining ½ cup light brown sugar, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the syrup, ½ cup cream and the salt and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil uncovered until the sauce is very thick and deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the remaining ½ cup cream and return to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Stir in the vanilla beans. Pour sauce into a heatproof glass jar; refrigerate until just cool (about 2 hours) and spread a thick layer over the cake. Refrigerate the cake until fully cool, about another hour.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

1 SLICE: CALORIES 465; FAT 28.4 g (sat 16.6 g, mono 8.9 g, poly 1.4 g); PROTEIN 5.0 g; CARBS 60.7 g; FIBER 2.0 g; CHOLEST 143.0 mg; IRON 1.7 mg; SODIUM 256 mg; CALCIUM 55 mg

MY NOTES: I made this after we had a French style flour less chocolate cake the last time we went to the beach. The whole family just melted when we ate it. This recipe didn't disappoint. It's time consuming. And next time I will start the caramel sauce while the cake is cooling. 

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

 From: Allrecipes.com iPhone app

 

Ingredients

• 4 (4 ounce) tilapia fillets
• 2 tablespoons Miami-style sazon seasoning (sazon completa)
• 1 serving olive oil cooking spray (such as PAM®)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter-margarine blend (such as Smart Balance®), melted
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise (such as Kraft®)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil. Spray the broiler pan's rack with olive oil cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle tilapia with sazon seasoning and arrange on the prepared broiler rack.
3. Mix the Parmesan cheese, butter-margarine blend, fat-free mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon zest, basil, black pepper, onion powder, and celery salt together in a bowl and set aside.
4. Cook the fillets under the preheated broiler until fish is barely opaque, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Spread the Parmesan cheese blend over the fish fillets, return to oven, and continue cooking until the topping is golden brown and the fish flakes easily, 3 to 5 more minutes.

 My notes: 

Two out of four people in my house dislike fish. Yet everyone enjoyed this recipe. Here is a simple recipe for Sazon seasoning (I couldn't find it in the grocery store here in south Texas)

1 t each:

salt

pepper

garlic powder

paprika

cumin

coriander (I used my coriander seeds but ground them up in the mortar and pestle)

 

 

Nutritional Information

Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 213

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Fat: 10.1g

Sodium: 558.5mg

Dietary Fiber: 0.2g

Cholesterol: 50.7mg

Carbohydrates: 2.5g

Protein: 26.9g

Biggest Loser White House Salad

From: 2009 cast of Biggest Loser went to the White House and made this salad from the White House garden. 

1 head of fresh lettuce, wash, dry and cut into bite size pieces (or use mixed lettuces)
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
2 fresh ripe tomatoes, washed and cut into bite size pieces
1/4 red onion, peeled and cut as thinly as possible
1 bunch fresh basil, washed and torn into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 -1 1/2 teaspoon honey
salt and pepper

Directions:

1  Combine the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and basil and parsley in large mixing bowl.
2  In a sealable container, combine oil, lemon juice, honey and salt and pepper.
3   Cover container and shake vigorously.
4   Add dressing to salad and serve immediately. Enjoy!