Chocolate Meringue Cake

It is no fair to anyone, if you don't use your talents to make other's happy.

My talent (among many) lie in cooking and the person I would like to make happy is my friend Staci who just happens to have Celiac. Her birthday was this week and I decided to give her a cake for her birthday. Due to the no wheat restriction this could be a difficulty, but not so! I have the perfect Wheat-free cake recipe: Chocolate Meringue Cake.

You will need:

A mixer with a whisk.
A double boiler or: a sauce pan and a metal bowl that fits in it loosely.

A spatula
A whisk
An oven
A stove
A straight sided cake pan (I'm using a spring form pan for ease of serving.)
Some parchment paper

Ingredients:
½ C Unsalted Butter (1 stick)
12 oz of bittersweet Chocolate pieces
3 Tbsp of Dutch Process Cocoa
10 eggs, separated
½ C sugar

You can top with:
Whipped cream and honey or powdered sugar.

Directions:

1.Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.In your double boiler (or equivalent) melt the butter and the chocolate.

3.Whisk in the cocoa into the melted chocolate and keep warm
4.In the mixer beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, adding the sugar a little at a time.


5.Add the egg yokes to the melted chocolate, mix well.
6.Carefully, fold the chocolate mixture into the eggs. Do not over-mix.

7.Cut out parchment paper to line the cake pan. You want the sides to be taller than the edge of the pan.
8.Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake for 40 -50 minutes until done.

Asparagus Blue Cheese Pasta

It is Spring!!

Farmer's Market is in full swing and it is time to learn what to do with all the wonderful items showing up at the market right now.

Asparagus.

Asparagus, like opportunity, is not a lengthy visitor. Only available for a few weeks in early spring these tender shoots are a real delicacy.

They are fantastic roasted or grilled, very easy to steam or pan fry. You can use them anywhere fresh green veggies are welcome...stir-fry, pasta, salad, etc.

My favorite thing to do with them is...Blue Cheese and Asparagus Farfalle

You will need:

A Pasta Pot
A colander
A Cutting Board
A Knife
A small oven safe pan
Small pan
Spoons

Ingredients needed (for 4-6 servings):

1 pound Farfalle (Bow Tie) Pasta
1 pound Shallots
1 pound Asparagus
½ pound of Blue Cheese
5+ cloves of Garlic
1 Cup of Dry Vermouth
1 cup of Panko (or other bread crumbs)
Some Olive Oil
Some Butter

Directions:

1.Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
2.Slice the shallots and place them in the oven dish. Peel the garlic and add to the dish. Drizzle with olive oil and top with vermouth.
3.Get the water boiling in your pasta pot.
4.Prepare your asparagus. (Many books and people tell you to cut the ends off the asparagus and then peel half of the length of the stalk. I find that simply snapping the ends off works well. The tend to snap off just after the woody end. Peeling is a total waste of valuable nutrients and flavor.) You want the asparagus spears to be broken into bite sized pieces of no longer than 2 inches in length. 1 inch is ideal.
5.When the oven is hot, put the shallots and garlic in and cook for 15 minutes or so.
6.When the water is boiling add the pasta to the pot.
7.Crumble the blue cheese.
8.Cook pasta until nearly done (according to personal preferences and package directions) when there is only about 2 minutes until it is done, add the asparagus to the pot.

9.In a small pan melt the butter. Add the panko and cook, stirring until browned.
10.Drain the pasta and asparagus in the colander.
11.Return the pasta and asparagus to the pot. Add the blue cheese and stir.
12.Remove the shallots and garlic from the oven. Add them to the pasta, stir.
13.Top with panko...stir.
14.Eat.

Fantastic. Easy. Delicious. This dish is done. It needs nothing.



Nutrition (serving 6)

Calories per serving: 569
Fat: 15g
Protein: 21g
Cholesterol: 21mg
Sodium: 567mg
Potassium: 615mg
Fiber: 3g
Calcium: 243mg
Iron: 5mg
Zinc: 2mg
Vitamin C: 11mg
Vitamin A: 9885IU
B6: 4mg
B12: 3mcg
B1: 1mg
B2: 6mg
Folacin: 121mcg
Niacin: 8mg