Comfort Foods and Indulgences

The first time I ate a Chocolate Lava Cake was at Roy’s on Maui in 1990.  Roy was somewhat of a celebrity chef in Hawaii. Back then there were only a few celebrity chefs; Wolfgang Puck, Jonathan Waxman, Michael McCarty, and Alice Waters to name a few.

The food at Roy’s was good, but it was the dessert, the chcolate molten lava cake,  that I kept going back for. I wrote to the restaurant and asked for the recipe.  They obliged!  

Over the years I have tweeked the recipe a little here and a little there. But it just wasn’t right.  It wasn’t perfectly right until I found this recipe in the New York Times.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Along with an extra special dinner that night for my 4 favorite valentines, I plan on  adding this dessert to the menu.

I’ve steered clear of biscuit-making ever since I mixed up a crumbly mess of dry ingredients with butter and buttermilk years ago. The end result, inedible hockey pucks, came after a very frustrating baking experience. The wanna-be biscuits wound up in the garbage. That was when I decided I just didn’t need to ever, ever be making biscuits. And that’s why, when Katie Novotny, owner of St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. said that scones are simply a biscuit, I got nervous.

Katie Novotny offered to show members of my Bemidji Cookbook Club how to make the perfect scone. We gathered in her bitty bakery with an enormous menu of sweet treats in the south St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul on a recent Friday morning.

She sliced small chunks of butter into a bowl holding her measured dry ingredients, emphasizing the fact the butter must be well-chilled. I use the same technique when I make my favorite recipe for scones — the ones I plop onto a baking sheet using a measuring cup. That technique keeps my hands off the dough, convincing me that I am making scones, not biscuits.

The first time I tasted roasted chickpeas was at a friend’s house. She was so excited about them and quite frankly so was I….until I took a bite. The chickpea was all mealy and soft in the center. It was a total let down and I can’t think of any word to describe it except for….bleh.

I tried not to make a face, but when I didn’t eat anymore of them, well I guess that sent its own message. Is that not the worst when someone is really excited about something they made and it’s just bad?

Here’s the thing, with every recipe there’s a trick. When it comes to roasting chickpeas, it’s all about making sure they are hard like a nut before removing them from the oven. Sure a couple of them won’t be perfect but most of them should. This will require turning the pan and/or moving the chickpeas around on the baking sheet. You’ll also want to taste them before you pull them out just to make sure.

The final texture will be crunchy like a peanut. You’ll know when you bite into the right one. And they are such a great alternative for people who have nut allergies.

I love putting these in trail mix for my boys (I have one with a nut allergy) and even serving them at a cocktail party as a little munchie. Everyone loves them.

My mom says I have expensive taste. You wouldn’t know it by the stores I go to, such as Marshall’s and Loehmann's. Yet, when it comes to eating, I like high quality foods and am more than willing to splurge.

That’s why I didn’t hesitate to buy saffron. Well, that’s not really true. I did hesitate. Not because of the price; because I have an uneasy relationship with saffron. It’s sort of like kissing someone, and the "wow" factor just isn’t there. You know, he’s a nice guy, but there aren’t any fireworks. So, you give him another try, and it’s great. Then the next time it's only so-so. You know what I mean? That’s been my experience with saffron. (Not with guys; Jeff has always been a great kisser).

I’m unequivocal when it comes to food – when I don't like something, I don't usually try it again. Which is why I’m surprised about my willingness to give saffron another chance. When I first tasted it in a great Indian restaurant, I found its floral overtones unpalatable. I thought I would be put off saffron forever after that. However, another delicious Indian restaurant redeemed saffron for me by serving it in a lovely rice and pea dish. Since then, I've had it in Spanish and Middle Eastern dishes and have begun cooking with it (to mixed results). Yet, the recipe I share today is a keeper. And coming from me, that is high praise.