Truffle Mutt

Nigella Does Dessert

What a cake!  It's just like Nigella says, "Cake Nirvana".  A simple yet sublime combination of flavors that are strong but clean.  It's a perfect cake for serving with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream.

This weekend I got to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  When the weather took a turn for the worse on Friday I decided to relax and stay around the house. I still made my trip to the Market (I wouldn't miss that) but as luck would have it the rain started pouring down just as I was about to leave.  I tried to wait it out, but after 20 minutes I made a run for the car (I knew wearing sandals was a bad idea!).  I put my head down and headed towards where I thought my car was and of course I couldn't find it.  Then when I did it was in the middle of an enormous puddle.  Needless to say, I was soggy!  When I got back to the house, shivering and wet, I was more than happy to sock myself away in the kitchen for the rest of the day.  I made a stir-fry and a big pot of Jambalaya to freeze and for dinner I made barbecue ribs with this cake for dessert. 

Let's Salsa

I've been in a salsa kind of mood the last few days and I can't seem to shake it.  Not the dance silly, the food!  It's been rainy and cool outside, but my mind is in summer mode and I've been craving the fresh summer taste of homemade salsa.

I'm still searching for the perfect salsa, one that can deliver sweet, salt and trace of smoke with every bite.  Like the salsa that used to lure me and my coworkers to Berryhill Tamales, over and over, when it was still around, that is. 

This time I put a mango chipotle salsa on trial, hoping that the fruity sweetness and the smokey pepper would deliver the taste I was looking for.  When I first took the lid off of the food processor though, I wasn't at all convinced, the eye-watering onion hit me like a wall and one taste revealed that the cilantro was also too strong.  After a couple of hours though the flavors melded and mellowed and it turned out to be a great combination.  And while it wasn't The Salsa I was looking for, it was certainly good enough to be dinner that night and dinner the next night when it dressed up my grilled chicken wrap.