The first recipe that I knew was scratched on the back of an envelope. An envelope that is far away from me right now. So, I searched for recipes coming upon three that caught my eye: My Sister’s Kitchen, Jacques Pepin, and in the NYT. The recipe that I have known for 7 years most resembles the first (sans the rice), but what I like are the varied spices and vegetables spread across these three. Fresh ginger most of all, curry powder, garam masala and the eggplant, squash and bell peppers.

Today’s version contains ginger powder, so I’ll see how that goes instead of fresh. I also added cayenne, bay leaf, thyme and a star of anise.

Chocolate Dump-It Cake
(Adapted from Judith Hesser, lifted from nytimes.com)
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups Nestle’s semisweet-chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sour cream, at room temperature.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack to catch any drips as the cake bakes on the middle rack. In a 2- to 3-quart pot, mix together the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended.
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan.

3. When the chocolate in the pot has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions, and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice to blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10
minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. (This can be tricky — if someone is around to help, enlist him.) Let cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, then let cool to room temperature. Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth.

5. When the cake is cool, you may frost it as is or cut it in half so that you have 2 layers. There will be extra icing whether you have 1 or 2 layers. My mother always uses it to make flowers on top. She makes a small rosette, or button, then uses toasted slices of almond as the petals, pushing them in around the base of the rosette.

Yield: 10 servings.

12 oz. elbow, corkscrew macaroni
3 Tbsp olive oil, separated (or butter) + some for greasing pan
1 small onion
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp flour
10-12 oz assorted cheeses, shredded or chopped (cheddar, gouda, blue cheese, muenster, parmesan)
4 oz cheddar, separated
1/8 tsp rosemary
cayenne pepper or Franks’ red hot, to taste
salt, pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS – (preheat oven)
1) Boil macaroni in large pot, beyond al dente but not mushy. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Drain well. Set aside.
2) Melt 3 Tbsp oil in saucepan on low heat. Add chopped onion, cooking approximately 5 minutes. Add flour slowly, stirring constantly; do so for 3-4 minutes. Add milk slowly, allowing sauce to thicken before more is added.
3) Simmer sauce for 20 minutes. Turn off heat.
Season with salt, pepper, rosemary to taste. Cayenne, too. Stir in assorted cheeses. WHEN NEARLY MELTED, add macaroni.
4) Grease casserole dish with oil/butter. Pour mac and cheese into dish. Sprinkle remaining cheddar (4 oz) ontop.
5) BAKE for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.

1) Soak 1 pound of beans in water (I do it overnight) – use enough water so it is about 2 inches from top of pressure cooker
Add: 1 whole onion // 1 sliced green pepper // 2 Bayleafs // 1 Tablespoon Salt // 1 pinch pepper/oregano/cumin // 1 Tablespoon olive oil // 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Cook 45 minutes (or until thicker).

 2) Remove Pressure Cooker from heat and remove pepper and onion.

 3) Saute sauce in a skillet. 
         2 Tablespoon butter
         3/4 cup chopped onion
         Pinch of pepper/oregano/cumin
       2 teaspoon garlic

 4) Add sauté sauce to beans

Add: 2 teaspoon sugar
       1 Tablespoon Olive oil
       1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
       1/4 cup wine (white or red)

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. dried red hot pepper flakes
4 lbs. collard greens, coarse stems and ribs removed, coarsely chopped

In a deep heavy kettle cook bacon in 2 batches over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towel.s Pour off all but about 3 Tbsp. drippings. Add onions to drippings and cook, stirring occassionally, until browned slightly and softened. Trasfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Add broth, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and half of bacon to kettle stirring until sugar dissolves. Add half of collards, stirring until wilted; add remaining collards and do the same. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in onions and simmer, covered, 30-45 minutes more (or till collards are tender). Serve collards topped with remaining bacon.

1) Combine Braggs and lemon juice in a blender or whisk in bowl. Slowly dribble in the oil as the blender truns or as you vigorously whisk.
2) Slice onion into half-moons and marinate in dressing as you prepare the rest of salad.
3) Toast seeds in heavy-bottomed pan (cast iron is best) over medium heat until seeds are just golden and fragrant. Toast each seed type separately as size requires differing times. Cool to room temp.
4) Destem the kale. Stack kale leaves and slice into 1/4 inch ribbons. This is most important step so take your time. The success of this recipe lies in cutting the kale into small ribbons and in completely massaging the kale with the dressing.
5) Toss the seeds, sprouts, and kale together with the marinated onions and as much dressing as necessary to lightly but completely dress the kale. Massage the dressing into kale with your hands. Add the avocado and mushrooms, and toss again by hand.

84 photos in the ‘Best of Mebane in May’ set are some of the more than 700 that Dave Negron took in some 2.5 days in North Carolina

enjoy!

CHICKEN PIPIAN
Serves approx. 5 people.

Serve with rice, and tortillas.
VEGETARIAN version: substitute tempeh for the chicken.

1 whole chicken
5 tomatoes roasted
5 small green tomatoes/tomatillos
1 cinnamon stick roasted
3 cloves
2 handfuls raw pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
2 handfuls sesame seed, lightly toasted
3 California (for color, red, long dry)

1) Slow roast on the comal or cast iron skillet: tomatoes, tomatillos, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin and sesame seeds.
Separately boil [California] chiles.

2) Sautee the chicken with a little salt, while roasting the ingredients.

3) Once everything has been toasted then you put it all in the blender. Be careful because since things are hot the blender has a lot of pressure. YOu will need to slowly add water while the all the stuff is in the blender. Depending on how thick you want the sauce. I think you will use 1 cup of water in total.

4) Once you have the right consistency you pour it over the chicken and let it simmer to a boil for approximately 20 min.

The Hampton Inn — 8 miles away, in Mebane
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Mebane, NC 27302
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