Double Chocolate Cake

Nephew #3 gave me some Valrhona chocolate couverture.

Grand Cru Araguani - 72 percent cocoa from a blend of Criollos and Trinitarios beans from Venezuela.





He also gave me some cocoa, the provenance of which is not so certain since it's a collection of dessert leavings.

I would like to think though that the cocoa is Valrhona as well.

I used both the Araguani feves and the cocoa in this cake.

Its texture was crumbly on the fork, like smooth mashed potato in the mouth.

The double chocolate gave the cake a deep, slightly bitter, burnt finish.

The almond slivers added a bit of crunch, resulting in a contrasting mouth feel.

Ingredients

8 oz butter

12 oz self-raising flour

5 oz brown sugar

5 oz castor sugar

4 eggs

2 oz cocoa

4 oz dark chocolate (melted)

4 teaspoons honey

3 fl oz milk

pinch of salt

almond slivers to sprinkle on top of cake

Method

Cream the butter with the sugars and honey. Beat in the eggs. Add the salt and cocoa to the flour and fold this into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix in the melted chocolate. Transfer to a springform tin that has been buttered and dusted with flour. Sprinkle the almonds on the cake mix. Bake in an 180 degree oven for about an hour.

The next time I make this I will use yoghurt in place of the milk and add some orange rind to give it a slightly sharper citrus note.

Multi-Grain Congee

After a week of eating roast chicken and potatoes, it was time for something a little less taxing on the stomach.

That called for multi-grain congee and some steamed tofu.

I used a multi-grain mix from Taiwan plus whole wheat grains (terigu), barley, green lentils and black glutinous rice.

I cooked it the old-fashioned way - on the stove instead of using a rice cooker or the microwave.

Just put everything in a pot, add water and bring to a boil.

It took about an hour for the congee to reach the consistency I like.

I ate it with tofu, sardines and cabbage.

Simple and healthful; a meal to warm the stomach on a balmy evening.

And it cost no more than about $2.50.

Slimy Soup

My mother called it "san choy" or "slimy vegetable". Now it's just plain "red vegetable", according to the information on the plastic bag in which it is packed. Maybe the change in name is because the vegetable is less slimy now than I remember it to have been in my childhood.

Whatever the name, the vegetable is just as good in a soup like my mother used to make. It's not quite the same yet close enough to recall a taste of what used to be.

Put some water in a pot, add a handful of wolfberries and dried silver fish and a slice of ginger. Let the stock simmer while you clean the vegetables. Add the stalks to the pot; allow them to soften. Then add the leaves. After a minute or so, beat an egg and add to the soup. Swirl the egg around to make clumps. Turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of sesame oil.

My mother used to cook this with a salted egg instead. If you use that, add the yolk earlier to allow it to cook properly. Lay off the salt or the soup would be too salty.