Seared Tuna with Arugula and Fettucini

I really love Bon Appetit, and have bought both of their large cookbook collections, The Bon Appetit Cookbook and Bon Appetit: Fast Easy Fresh. The Cookbook is more of an anthology of all their best recipes. FEF is a collection of their "Fast, Easy, Fresh" column that appears in every issue of their magazine.

I chose this recipe for Seared Tuna over Fettucini with Green Olives and Arugula because I wanted something really fresh and a bit strong tasting. That sounds weird, but after eating out a lot, I crave food that really tastes like what it is - simply and cleanly. This dish is just that.

I chose to use whole wheat pasta because I truly do love the flavor - rich and a little earthy. The tuna is simply seared with a little lemon zest, salt and pepper. All you have to do is boil the pasta, stir in the bruschetta spread and a little lemon juice and cooking water to smooth out the sauce.

My only tweak with the recipe was to not add additional oil. I cooked the tuna misted with an olive oil spray and a dry cast iron skillet. I made my own bruschetta spread since I couldn't find it in the store. I'm glad I did, because I will be mixing it up all the time. I just used a mix of pitted green olives, sundried tomatoes, capers, lemon juice and oil. The sundried tomatoes came in oil, and I felt that was enough for both the oil in the tapenade, and for the pasta.

Toss the arugula in at the end, plate the pasta and voila! It was delicious and was super satisfying.

Enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken!

Pow! I love Kung Pao Chicken. So does my dad. It's his favorite meal that he gets at P.F.Changs. Mine didn't taste quite like it - it wasn't as hot. So I'm looking into what the sauces are that they include with their meals - I think the chile oil would give it a kick. But it was really easy, and it had that great, syrupy texture that chinese food often has, but with way less sodium and MSG. In fact, it had zero MSG because I'm not down with that.

Also, I'm obsessed with my wok. It was $12. Thanks and bye.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2. 5 tablespoons soy sauce
3. 2 tablespoons sherry
4. 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
5. 2 teaspoons sugar
6. 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar or rice vinegar
7. 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
8. 1/3 cup water
9. 2 tablespoons cooking oil
10. 1/2 cup peanuts
11. 4 scallions, white bulbs and green tops cut separately into 1/2-inch pieces
12. 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the sherry, and the 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, water, and the remaining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sherry, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
3. In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the peanuts and stir-fry until light brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the white part of the scallions and the red-pepper flakes to the pan and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the chicken with its marinade and cook, stirring, until almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy-sauce mixture and the scallion tops and simmer until the chicken is just done, about 1 minute longer. Stir in the peanuts.

NOTES

Variation: Cashew Chicken: Substitute the same amount of cashews for the peanuts.

last night's dinner: red chicken curry!

Right after college I was hired at an ad agency in Boston. I worked on the new business team with this great girl who became a really close friend of mine. She and her husband were from South Africa and had lived all over the world. For awhile they lived in Singapore, and that's where she fell in love with all kinds of Eastern food. The one we both loved the most was Thai food. We used to go to this hole in the wall place in Symphony and have cheap red wine and stuff ourselves to a warm, happy coma with pad thai, satays and curry.

Before I met her, I was basically all-pad thai, all the time. I was scared of curry because it was red and it was spicy and I was scared of red, spicy things. I have very sensitive taste buds! But I got up the courage to try her curry, and it was spicy, but in the way that spices are spicy. There's definitely a bite, but it wasn't the blow your mouth up, hides the taste spicy that you get from chicken wings.

Last night I made my first attempt at a Chicken curry and it was absolutely delicious. It's from a book called "Fresh Thai," which is full of healthy, fresh thai recipes. It's really easy though.

Basically, you stir fry a little red curry paste (1-2 oz) in a wok. Throw in some thinly sliced chicken breast, and let that fry up for a minute or two. Then you add 3/4 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup chicken broth and 2 Tbsp of Fish Sauce, a Thai condiment that is a lot like soy sauce. At this point I was supposed to add palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves, but I didn't have those, so I just added a little less white sugar and a few squirts of lime juice. It did the trick. That simmers for about 5 minutes, and you ladle it over rice. It's somewhere between a soup and a stew and it's absolutely delicious.

Do you have a favorite curry recipe?

Publix Greenwise: Obsessed.

Okay, so you know how grocery stores sometimes have recipes that they give out or email you and most of the time they look kind of gross or are just sad attempts to shill a bunch of their products at the same time? I usually walk right by these things and never look twice. Well, Publix Greenwise is a different kind of grocery store. First of all it's more like a Whole Foods or a Fresh Market, with a really gorgeous, eco friendly vibe and lots of international items, a huge wine section and a ton of fresh produce. I loves it.

One of the really cool things they do is focus on cooking as well as just the grocery items. They sell Le Creuset and All Clad cookware, and they have a mini kitchen in the middle of the store, where they cook meals and hand out samples. This isn't like Costco, where the lady is sent there by the company to make you decide you can't live without a 4 gallon vat of corn salsa.

In fact, there are no brands at all. It's just delicious samples and a free recipe to take home. They even have them on their site for you to enjoy from your homes. But I suggest you go to the store, if you can. I enjoy it immensely.

Here's what I had today - and oh my my is this delicious. This will be recreated in our house, very very soon.

Blackened Steak with Horseradish Cream and Butter-Basted Potatoes. 

blog inspiration

Doesn't this look amazing? I love this blog. I found it by mistake when I was looking to see if anyone else is cooking out of Sunday Suppers at Lucques and blogging about it. I found some hits on chowhound, but no where else. I really do love this book and will show you some of the stuff I have made out of it recently. But I have to say - for a mistake, stumble upon blog, I already want to make a bunch of things from this site. Like this delicious pasta frittata. Enjoy!

Fresh Flavor Fast: Flourless Chocolate Cake

When Everyday Food named their new collection "Fresh Flavor Fast," I have to admit I rolled my eyes. It seemed like a kitschy follow up to "Great Food Fast." After the meals I've made out of this cookbook, I can honestly say they have earned the use of the word "Fresh," in their name.

While it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about freshness, this Flourless Chocolate Cake is the polar opposite of the dense, chewy balls with a constarchy "molten" chocolate filling, that usually bears the mantle in chain restaurants.

Despite nearly a stick of butter and six eggs, this cake tastes unbelievably light.  Though flourless, the whipped egg whites make this a cake that rises with a pretty, papery surface, and falls slightly when you remove the springform pan's outer piece. You serve it right on the bottom of the springform pan, I would not suggest moving it unless you line it with parchment paper before hand. It's really stuck on there, and not stable enough to move without falling apart.

Everyday Food suggests just sprinkling with confectioner's sugar, which gives it a pleasantly fairy-dusted homemade feel, but that old fashioned, attention to detail, cake you never forget "homemade."

I'm a big chocolate person, so when I say this cake is one of the best I've ever had, you'll have to take it as a fact. It's light, but the cocoa powder gives it a deep, bitter, earthy chocolate flavor which contrasts nicely with a sweet whipped cream. Or Cool Whip, if you're my dad. He just loves Cool Whip.

Whatever it's served with, its simple process and just four ingredients means it's going to be made again and again at my house. I hope you will feel the same way.

Everyday Food's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Serves 8

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or 8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate)
• 6 large egg yolks
• 6 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees; with rack in center. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Place butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until melted; cool slightly. Whisk in yolks.
2. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar; beat until stiff and glossy. Whisk 1/4 of whites into chocolate mixture; gently fold mixture into remaining whites.
3. Pour into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and is just set in center, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Serve dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Flourless Chocolate Cake - Martha Stewart Recipes 

Fresh Flavor Fast: Chicken Milanese

Tonight I went to hot yoga and weaved my way back to my house after sweating myself stupid for an hour, with vague ideas of some slapdash dinner that I'd have to run to the store to get. Then it would seem like it should come together in twenty minutes and about an hour later my sad husband would be steeping in a pool of low blood sugar self pity.

Instead(!) what did I do? I opened a copy of Fresh Flavor Fast - the second cookbook from Everyday Food. I absolutely love these recipes. They are simple, fresh, minimal ingredients, maximum flavor type recipes. I also find that if you stick to the recommended side dishes and portion sizes, they are pretty healthful.

Tonight, I looked up a recipe for Chicken Milanese to make a grocery list. But as I ran through the list - has this every happened to you? I hope it has - I realize I had every. single. thing. on. it. 


Amazing! A gift from the universe, it was.

The recipe was pretty simple. You toast the breadcrumbs while you pound out the chicken. Then you do a classic flour, egg, breadcrumb coating and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes. Easy peasy! In the meantime, you make a delicious lemon and olive oil dressing and toss that with arugula and thinly sliced red onion. And, if you're me, rice. Toldja about the portions thing. It was brown rice though, so keep your judgement to yourself please!

Anywho, you just dump the salad right on top of the crispy, beautiful chicken. And if you use whole wheat flour you can be the smuggest Sally in the neighborhood, because you got your whole grains. And everyone know, whole grains make you special.

Courtesy of Martha Stewart's fabulous website.

Chicken Milanese with Arugula Salad

Serves 4

1 1/4 cups plain dried breadcrumbs

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 6 ounces each)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges, for serving

5 ounces baby arugula

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss breadcrumbs and oil until well combined; spread on sheet. Cook, tossing once, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Place flour and eggs in separate bowls; season with salt and pepper. Place a rack on another rimmed baking sheet.

One at a time, place chicken breasts between two large pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or bottom of a small heavy pan, pound until 1/2 inch thick. Coat chicken on both sides with flour (shaking off excess), then dip in eggs (allowing excess to drip off); dredge in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to adhere.

Bake chicken on rack, without turning, until opaque throughout, 10 to 15 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons oil and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Add arugula and onion; toss. Top chicken with salad; serve with lemon wedges on the side.

is it just me?

or does it seem like spaghetti and meatballs are everywhere? What is it about spaghetti and meatballs that is so comforting and delicous?

They are all over the place, from the cover of Food Network Magazine (which I had to pick up after reading The Mom Chef's awesome reviews of some of the light family dinner dishes) to Food and Wine's new collection "Our Best New Classics" (more on this awesome collection shortly):

And if you're feeling really healthy, you could try Gina from Skinnytaste's Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs recipe:

But the one that has really caught my eye is Molly Wizenberg's recipe from the October 2010 Bon Appetit Magazine. She is such a good writer, just reading the recipe makes you feel like you're already curled up with a cozy bowl of spaghetti, your house filled to the brim with that delicious tomato sauce smell.

Yum. what else is there to say?

Fun with Cast Iron Skillets: German Pancake Edition

Our friends came to visit and I felt compelled to make breakfast, my most loathed meal. As I slowly woke up at 9:45, my still partially unconscious brain summoned the mouthwatering image of a German pancake from the cast iron skillet article in the May 2006 Real Simple. Not because I have a photographic memory- I really, really don't- but because I make the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin from the article at least ten times a year.

It was so easy - basically just whisking a simple crepe batter while the butter melts in the cast iron skillet in the preheated oven. The batter and is poured into the pan and returned to the oven to bake for about 15 minutes until "puffed and golden." (Only in the food world is "puffed" a lovely way to be described.)







And that's really it. Once you take the lovely golden puff out of the oven, you just top it with whatever you see fit (traditionally, lemon juice and confectioner's sugar) and if you have more than four guests (using a 12-inch skillet),  you could easily have another batch of batter ready to go.

It was absolutely delicious. The batter was light and very much like a french crepe, which makes me think you could go savory with the recipe as well for a light lunch. The endless possibilities for variations is my favorite aspect of this recipe. This time, I used lemon juice and about 2 Tbs of raspberry rhubarb jam before dusting the whole surface with confectioner's sugar. But Nutella would be amazing. Nutella and raspberry jam? Lemon curd! Fig jam and Stilton cheese? Be still my heart.

Try it, you'll live for it.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk, preferably whole
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 cup fruit jam (optional)
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs to combine. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, salt, and vanilla and mix until incorporated; set aside.
2. Add the butter to a large cast-iron skillet and transfer to oven until the butter melts. Remove from oven and quickly pour the batter into the hot skillet. Return to oven and bake until the pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
3. Drizzle the lemon juice (if using) over the pancake. Spread the jam (if using) evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.

Barefoot Bloggers: Lemon Chicken Breasts

It makes total sense to me that scent is our sense most closely tied to memory. In the morning, as I get dressed with my coffee, I'll put on my perfume and the mixture of the fresh scent and the earthy coffee brings up my mom's presence so suddenly, it's like she's in the room. I am instantly transported back to my childhood, watching my mom put her makeup on in the morning, CNN on the TV. Pipe tobacco and old leather is my grandfather. And roast chicken and lemon - that's home.

This dish is more than the sum of its parts. Not that anything's wrong with its parts - chicken, lemon and rosemary. (Oh, rosemary - is there a more intoxicating herb?) It's somehow all best of a roast chicken, quickly assembled and then left to roast and fill your house with a sublime chicken smell. But at the end of just 30-40 minutes, instead of the better part of two hours, there is no frantic gravy making or chicken carving. You're ready to ladle a few pan juices on top and serve.

I cooked the chicken for 40 minutes and then let it rest for 10. My thermometer only read about 160 F when I took it out of the oven, which is why I left it for the additional 10 minutes, instead of taking it out after 30. It was very cooked - maybe just on the edge of being a little too cooked. Next time, regardless of the temperature, I am going to take it out after 30 minutes and allow it to keep cooking as it rests for 10 minutes. I can't imagine how overcooked it would have been had I tried to cook it to 180 degrees as my meat thermometer recommends.

Also, when buying the chicken, I had to have the butcher debone the chicken breasts as I couldn't get them bone-in and skin-on. Now maybe I'll have to actually make my own stock!

I served it with basmati rice, as Ina recommends, and her Roasted Summer Vegetables.

Lemon Chicken Breasts:

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 tbs minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 dry white wine
• 1 tbs grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
• 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 tsp salt and pour into a 9×12 inch baking dish.
3. Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

Memphis BBQ - yes, please.

You know who knows everything? Hotel bartenders. Which wine should I drink? Where can I plug in my laptop? Where can I get a massive rack of dry rubbed, falling off the bone tender, finger lickin' ribs? These things and more, they know. That's how we found Central Barbecue. It's unassuming. It almost looks like a mistake and you'll pass it and have to do a weird illegal u-turn through another store's parking lot (they must hate that.) But when you walk in the door- you know you're in the right place. The sweet, saucy, vinegary deliciousness washes over you and before you know it you're ordering a dry rubbed rib rack for two with four sides and 1/2 dozen wings (1/2 wet, 1/2 dry). And a chicken sandwich for your non-meat eating coworker. Bless her heart. And then everyone stares at you while you consume in an unladlylike manner and slurp greedily from your souveneir cup of 1/2 lemonade 1/2 iced tea. No, I will never call that an Arnold Palmer. I just won't.

And you and your dirty orange hands will be happy, forever and ever and ever.

happy birthday to me.

I got this bag for my birthday. And to say I love it just isn't sufficient. It's the doesn't-touch-the-ground-would-throw-myself-in-front-of-a-cab-to-save-it kinda love. Here's what you need to know:

1. It's soft.
2. It has a pleasing amount of pockets and sections.
3. It's the prettiest blue I have ever seen.

4. Rebecca Minkoff is a Tampa local!

It's true the lady at Nordstrom told me.

Tampa rules. xoxoxoxo

Food Blog Friday: Everyday Chocolate Cake

Today's Food Blog Friday is from my favorite food blog - Smitten Kitchen. And the best part is - it's an adapted recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, "At Home with Magnolia." This cookbook is written by the owner of Magnolia Bakery, in New York City. Made famous by Sex and the City, Magnolia has people waiting around the block for their cupcakes. My favorite is, of course, the Red Velvet. But today's recipe is a totally different beast.

Everyday Chocolate Cake is a one-pot adaptation of the cake from the Magnolia cookbook. Deb also does a great job of explaining what you need to do if you're using Dutch-process cocoa or regular old Hershey's cocoa powder (That's me!).

It's a really delicious, moist cake and for a chocolate lover like me to say that I actually enjoyed a cake that wasn't smothered in chocolate frosting or erupting with molten chocolate ganache, that's saying something!

How excited am I?

To own this book!

I just love the Barefoot Contessa. I really hope that Barefoot Bloggers lets me back in, but even if they don't - I am still going to cook my way through this  book. It's fabulous! The recipes I am most excited about are the Caesar Swordfish, weeknight bolognese, red velvet cupcakes, spaghetti and meatballs and -most of all - Jeffrey's Chicken. The one Ina cooks for Jeffrey every. single. friday. night. Those two are just the cutest. Yay, Ina!

Dinner Tonight.

Tonight I am going out for my first Beginner Level 3 Salsa class. Yes, I'm very advanced. It only took me approximately 3 months to go from Level 1 to Level 3. And I still have to work on my "following." That basically means I do whatever I have memorized as the next step regardless of what my partner is up to. Yikes!

Anyway, since I am going to be out from 7 - 8, I thought I'd put together a healthy meal to eat at home when I get back. So I am making this fabulous fish dish from Bon Appetit!

Oven Roasted Sea Bass with Ginger Lime Soy Sauce

It is delicious. Buttery, with a great salty tang from the soy and lime and a delicious kick from the subtle heat of the raw ginger. It is also so. darn. easy. If you aren't a big fish eater, this is a great recipe to start with. Enjoy!

Missing Barefoot and Coq Au Vin

So I am the worst Barefoot Blogger. I got the boot! I got so distracted with the house this summer, I just totally dropped the ball. I am petitioning for reinstatement, but I don't blame them if they want nothing to do with this slacker :)

Anyway, since I've been missing Ina, I thought I'd make her Coq Au Vin recipe from the Barefoot Contessa "Back to Basics" cookbook. If you don't have this book, run to the store. It's so great - and it really does teach you to make very delicious, sophisticated meals with just a few thoughtful and fresh flavors.


I love Coq Au Vin. It was one of my grandfather's favorite dishes, and I remember him storming around the kitchen, dirtying a hundred spoons, bowls and pots trying to get this thing to come together. It was arduous. And the result was delicious. So how did mine turn out?

This picture really doesn't do it justice. It was fabulous. And yes, it's quicker than the original, but it's still a bit of an undertaking. There's browning, sauteeing, oven-braise time, and then you take it off the heat and stir in some flour/butter mash to thicken the sauce. Then you simmer it for 10 minutes, while making mushrooms sauteed in butter. Then you combine it all and devour it. And oh my is it ever worth the effort! Particularly, because Julia Child's recipe would require that I clone myself 5 times. And those clones would probably be like me and drink too much of the wine that's supposed to be in the stew and start eating the raw mushrooms and I'd have no food left.

So just go with the version, okay? You won't regret it.

What's better than a loaf of homemade bread?

Two loaves of delicious homemade bread! I made these yummy guys using Mark Bittman's Speedy No Knead Bread recipe. I swapped out 1 of the 3 cups of flour for a cup of whole wheat flour just to start playing with making my own whole wheat bread. Then I divided the dough in half when it was done rising, let it sit for the 1/2 hour and baked them each in a 20 in dutch oven. I could have let them brown up for a few more minutes, but I was a little worried about judging doneness by color since the whole wheat flour makes them brown already. I'll let you now how they turned out!

Remember that meatloaf I told you about?

Isn't it so cool?

chicken + vinegar: weird in theory, delicious in reality.

I know, I know - it sounds disgusting. But it isn't. It really, really isn't. This recipe was recommended to me by my british uncle who thinks all manner of odd things are delicious, as the british are known to do. I was skeptical initially, but now I'm in the club and ready to make every other recipe in the cookbook. It's a really incredible little book called Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson. Very Alice Waters, it is organized alphabetically by ingredient and just a few choice dishes for each. This dish may sound intimidating, but you are basically braising a cut up chicken with tomatoes, and then deglazing with vinegar and chicken broth. Whisk a little butter in at the end and what you are left with is, in a word, divine. It's savory and chickeny and just the most perfect bit tart. I can't wait to make it again.

Poulet Saute au Vinaigre

4 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 c. butter
2 tbsp olive oil
6 very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped*
1 cup best quality red wine vinegar
2 heaped tbsp chopped parsley

Season the pieces of chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 4 tbsp of the butter and the olive oil in a flameproof casserole until just turning nut-brown (I used an enameled dutch oven). Add the chicken and fry gently, turning occasionally, until golden brown all over. Add the chopped tomatoes and carry on frying and setwing until the tomato has lost its moisture and is dark red and sticky. Pour in the vinegar and reduce by simmering until almost disappeared. Add the stock, and simmer again until reduced by half. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and keep warm. Whisk the remaining butter into the sauce to give it a glossy finish. Add 1 tbsp chopped parsley, pour over the chicken and sprinkle with the remaining parsley. Serve with plain boiled potatoes.

Don't wait.

Make these today! I made these for my dad's birthday and they were so delicious - very light tasting (though undoubtedly not light in any way) and not as dense or dry as a lot of the flourless, molten desserts you get in a restaurant. I highly recommend!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/molten-flourless-chocolate-cupcakes-recipe/index.html