a saucy dessert (literally and figuratively)

Mark Bittman is somewhat of a hero of mine. He is the author of a very comprehensive, yet unpretentious, cookbook that I possess and frequently utilize. His blog on the New York Times is uncanny in its ability to inspire me to try new dishes and ingredients. And best yet, as the title of his column, The Minimalist, indicates, his recipes are very simple and unfussy.

This chocolate dessert, posted on his blog for Valentine's Day, has just five ingredients! It can be very depressing to stumble upon an enticing recipe only to discover that it requires three different types of chocolate and seventeen egg whites and has fifteen different steps spanning two days of cooking. Especially when you need to create something at the last-minute. Okay, so I exaggerate. But not only is this recipe undemanding, it yields quite impressive results. Adorable little cakes that ooze warm, melted chocolate. Very satisfying and perfectly compact in its deliciousness. The only downside is that they are not larger. (In fact, when I made it the second time I distributed the batter amongst three ramekins, instead of four just to up our portion sizes...)

Molten Chocolate Cake (from Bittman's Bitten blog)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus some for buttering the ramekins
4 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons flour, plus some more for dusting (alternatively, use cocoa powder, for a more appealing look)

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, whisking until smooth. Meanwhile, beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and thickened.

Remove chocolate from heat. Pour in the egg mixture and then quickly add the flour, whisking until smooth.

Butter and flour three or four 4 ounce ramekins (or other similarly-sized ovenproof molds or cups). Tap out the extra flour and then butter and flour again. It is important that you do this twice. The first time I made this, I shirked at this seemingly repetitive step and the cakes suffered for it, by sticking to the bottom and collapsing a bit.

Divide the batter evenly among the molds. Bake at 450 degrees for 6-10 minutes (my oven can be eccentric and yours might be too, so just keep an eye on things). Remove from oven when the sides have set but the middle is still soft.

Invert ramekins onto a small plate. Let sit for a few seconds and then carefully remove ramekin. The cake should slide out. Eat immediately while the cake is still warm and gooey.

beef, it's what's for dinner (every night this week)

I rarely purchase, or eat really, red meat (except for making cheeseburgers!). So I don't know much about the different cuts. But I learned on Wikipedia just now that chuck comes from the neck/shoulder area of a cow. Also, it contains a lot of connective tissue such as collagen, which breaks down during cooking and gives the meat a more intense flavor.

This recipe is a bit involved. Actually, the active time is not too long, but unless you are comfortable with leaving your oven on while you are not home, you are going to need to block out about five hours to make this. Luckily for me, my roommate Jenn babysat this dish while I ran off to the gym (so that I could justify eating it twice a day until it ran out...).

So I usually don't include information for how many a recipe will feed. It never seems accurate. But Gourmet said that this would feed 12 people. I would guess even more. I mean, it has 9 pounds of meat and vegetables in it alone!

Beef Stew (adapted from Gourmet)

5 pounds boneless beef chuck (not lean), cut into 1 and 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 carrots, quartered
3 medium onions, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine (about 3 3/4 cups)
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
1 tablespoon cloves
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
3 cups water
2 1/2 pounds small boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 wedges
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chuck with 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon ground pepper.

Heat olive oil in large, wide pot (one that can hold 6-8 quarts) over medium-high heat. Brown the chuck in separate batches, about 8 minutes per batch. Turn to make sure it cooks evenly. Remove from pot and transfer to large platter (one that won't allow the juices to run off).

Reduce heat to medium. Add a bit more salt and pepper to the pot. Add the first batch of carrots listed in the recipe, and also the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring every so often, until thoroughly browned, about 15 minutes.

Move vegetables to the side of the pot. Cook tomato paste in the remaining side of the pot, stirring occasionally, for two minutes. Stir into vegetables.

Add balsamic vinegar and let cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

Add bottle of wine, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Let cook for about 10-12 minutes, until wine has cooked down to two-thirds.

Add broth, water, beef, and whatever juices that were on the platter. Bring to simmer. Then cover with tight lid and braise in oven for 2 1/2 hours until meat is tender (as in, it is basically falling apart).

Remove from oven and let it cool down for a few minutes, as this next step is a bit tricky (and even more so, if it's boiling hot. Set a large colander in an even larger bowl on a sturdy surface. Pour the contents through the colander so that the liquid ends up in the bowl and the meat and vegetables are left in the colander. This task might take two people since when I first attempted it, the liquid splashed out all over the place. Pour the liquid back into the pot. Pick out the meat and return to the pot. Discard the rest of the solids.

Add carrots and potatoes to the pot, making sure they are covered in liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender (about 45 minutes).