Spork or Foon?

TWD: Perfect Party Cake + 8

Actually, it is Perfect Party Cake + 9, but this was just too easy.

And really, it should have been Perfect Party Cake + 12, but I didn't have enough batter (and I made a double batch of batter).

And after that failed, it was supposed to be Perfect Party Cake + 10, but I ate half a layer because I couldn't wait to see how this tasted.

Nevertheless, this may very well be my top, and I do mean TOP, Dorie recipe of all time.  Soft cake is layered with a sweet/tart lemon buttercream frosting and a ripe blackberry preserve, finished off with more buttercream and then blanketed in snowy white shredded coconut.

This is the stuff dreams are made of.

To make the cake, I buttered six 8" cake pans, lined them with parchment paper, and buttered them again.  I divided up the batter into 6 and 1/8 oz. per pan and baked for 15 minutes.  I then used Sprinkles Cupcakes Lemon Buttercream frosting recipe because of the mixed reactions on the recipe in the book. And really, no one does a better frosting than Sprinkles (even if it is cheating. I am not proud of it. But I am also too lazy to make it the real way sometimes).

Best. Best. Best. EVER. Git. In. Mah. BELLEH.  I want this to be my trampoline of goodness.

I loved it so much, that I am going to make it again this weekend for the 4th of July. My family (aunts, uncles, and cousins included) is having a joint birthday party for all of the July birthdays (there are 5) and I can't think of a better way to celebrate. 

This cake is worth hours of extra work at the gym.

Check out Carol of Mix, Mix...Stir, Stir for the recipe and stay for the amazing food photography!  

And check out the rest of TWD for more of this amazing cake!

Mussels in White Wine and Garlic and Living the Life

This past weekend, Jack and I enjoyed an extended weekend at his family's beach house in Long Beach Island, NJ, or LBI for short.  LBI is a fantastic island off of the southern coast of NJ and is part of the famed (or infamous, depending on which reputation you are familiar with) Jersey Shore.  However, this is not the Jersey Shore that you may know of from such programs as "True Life: I Have a Summer Share" (Parts 1 and 2) with orange twenty-somethings who have invested stock in hair gel and wifebeater t-shirts partying at clubs and cursing each other out.  LBI is a family place filled with mini-golf, amusement parks, ice cream shoppes (with an "e"), breakfast places such as Uncle Will's and The Chicken and The Egg, and plenty of fried fish.  When I am in LBI, I have a daily ritual of going running at 8 am sharp while listening to Bob Marley and smiling at every person who passes by (and they smile back! which is an odd experience for a New Yorker). 

We invited two friends to join us and spent a lot of time just relaxing at the house, which is on a pier and has the most spectacular views of the ocean and the boats.  We all joked that the house makes us "old" because we all needed to take naps in the middle of the day to stay up past 11 pm, but the truth of the matter is that this may be the most relaxing place I know.

I can sit in these chairs and stare out at the views for hours.  Tell me they are not calling your name right now.

Views from the balconies.

I was so excited to put the kitchen to good use. The house has the most glorious kitchen that only lives in my dreams, so I am always excited to cook when I get to LBI.

Can't you just picture yourself with your own cooking show in this kitchen? I always do. It is a little weird because I talk to a camera that isn't there.  

Jack, helping me prep.

It's nice to just relax, take in the scenery, and take a dip in the pool every now and then.

Remy jumping in the pool.

Remy desperately trying to get out of the pool.

Remy trying to get back into the pool.

Remy aggressively trying to dry herself off.

And, finally, enjoy a nice, relaxing dinner filled with food, friends, and laughs.

It is always nice to get some really fresh seafood, and these mussels were no exception.  The best part about mussels is that they are a snap to make, which is great when all you want to do is head back outside and enjoy the good life.

Mussels in White Wine and Garlic

2 lbs mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup parsley, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dry white wine

2 1/4" slices lemon

Discard any mussels that are open and/or broken.  

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add wine, lemon, salt, and parsley and bring to a boil.  Add mussels and cover, cooking for 6 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove mussels from broth and place in a separate bowl. Discard any unopened shells. Adjust sauce for seasoning and pour over mussels. Serve immediately.

This is definitely a place where, once you are here, you never want to leave.  Jack, for example, decided to stay the entire week with Remy to relax a bit (he has been a bit stressed in his post-MBA grad life) while I returned to Washington, DC to work.

Booooooo to Jack.

But I guess I can't blame him.

Could you?

Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan

UPDATED:  I know I just posted about this recently, but I have made some changes and want to spread the love.

This was a very interesting and impressive recipe, if I do say so myself.  Each layer of this meal had its own unique quality, yet paired very well with its counterparts.  The egg patties were light and fluffy, the sauce sweet and flavorful, the eggplants rich and smooth, and nothing beats a big, honking slice of melted fresh mozzarella. 

A short post for a tall stack of deliciousness.  

Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan Adapted from Gourmet Magazine 

For Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped basil

For Eggplant Stacks:

• 2 (1-pound) eggplants
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus additional for drizzling
• 3/4 cup fresh plain dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
• 1/2 pound arugula, coarse stems discarded, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 pound cold fresh mozzarella, ends trimmed and remainder cut into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices

Make tomato sauce: 
Heat oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend tomatoes with juice in a blender until almost smooth. Add to onion mixture in saucepan with water, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in basil and keep warm, covered.

Bake eggplant: 
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lowest position.

Cut 12 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds from widest portion of eggplants. Brush both sides with  oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt (total). Bake on an oiled baking sheet, turning once, until golden and tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered. Leave oven on.

Make egg patties and sauté arugula: 
Stir together bread crumbs, parmesan, parsley, half of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then stir in eggs and water.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Drop 4 rounded 1/3 cups of egg mixture into skillet and cook, turning once, until patties are golden brown and puffed, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and cook remaining garlic with red-pepper flakes, stirring, until garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add arugula and basil and stir until just wilted, then stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Assemble stacks: 
Arrange 4 egg patties about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet. Top each with 2 Tbsp tomato sauce, 1 slice mozzarella, 1 eggplant slice, 2 more tablespoons tomato sauce, another eggplant slice, arugula mixture, and remaining eggplant. Bake until cheese melts, 5 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with additional oil and serve remaining sauce on the side.

Cassoulet de Poissons - Fish and White Bean Stew

"Your boyfriend is a great cook, DiMicco."

Those words came straight from the mouth of my boyfriend, Jack.  This dish was so good, it allowed him to speak in third person.  

Jack is still cooking through the Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook, and I will say, he is kicking culinary a** and taking names.

I just wish he wouldn't speak in third person while doing it.  

I will say, though, that it was a great, great dinner.  Healthy and fresh.  There is something to be said about the beautiful simplicity in French food.  The flavors of the ingredients truly stand out and are not bogged down with spices or seasonings.  With french cooking, if you want a fish, you are going to taste a fish.  

The cassoulet is filled with white beans, onions, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, scallops, and my favorite and yours, monkfish.  It is topped with bread crumbs that results in a deliciously crisp surface that lends a nice contrast to the creamy beans and succulent fish.  

For those who fear the monk (fish, that is), any firm white fish can be substituted.  But don't fear the fish. 

Cassoulet de Poissons adapted from Le Cordon Bleu at Home

 3/4 lb Dried white beans (such as Great northern)
 1 Medium onion
 1 Clove
 1 Bouquet garni
 Salt
 2 Carrots, sliced thin
 6 tb Vegetable oil
 6 tb Unsalted butter
 2 Medium onions, chopped fine
 2 Cloves garlic, chopped fine
 3/4 lb Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
 Freshly ground pepper
 2 Trout (about 1 lb each) or
 1 1/2 lb Monkfish fillets
 6 Sea scallops
 3/4 c Dried bread crumbs
 

Soak the beans overnight in cold water to cover. Drain and rinse. Transfer to a large saucepan and cover with 4 to 5
inches of fresh cold water. Peel the whole onion and stud with the clove and add to the pan along with the bouquet garni. Bring to a
boil and skim the froth that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Season to taste with salt. Add the carrots
and continue simmering until the carrots and beans are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain; discard the bouquet garni and the onion.

While the beans are cooking, heat 3 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a frying pan over low heat. Add the
chopped onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until tender but not colored. Add garlic and cook one minute. Add tomatoes, season
with salt and pepper, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Cut the monkfish fillets into 1 inch thick slices. Cut the scallops in half cross-wise. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil
and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over high heat. Saute the monkfish and sliced scallops until golden brown
on both sides; set aside.  

Preheat the oven to 450F. Combine the tomato mixture and drained beans in a
saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Spread one-half of the mixture over the bottom of a 10x15″ gratin dish. Arrange the fish and scallops on top and cover with the remaining
bean mixture. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Bake until the bread
crumbs are golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Crepes au Saumon Fume` - Smoked Salmon Crepes

"Baby!" Jack shouted.  "I made my very first batter!"

And oh, how he did.

His batter was extremely successful, but he was getting frustrated on the "thickness" of the crepes.  As the batter lover that I am, I tried to give him tips on how to spread the batter properly by tilting the pan to swirl the batter in order to coat the bottom to get the right thickness (or thin-ness) of crepe, but Jack got mad at me. 

"Stop it!" he'd shout.  "I am teaching myself!"

There was a lot of shouting going on. 

Jack has kept up on his quest to cook through the Le Cordon Bleu at Home, and this dish of Smoked Salmon Crepes may be the best thing he has made yet.  Smoked salmon is wrapped in a blanket of light crepes and topped with creme fraiche (Jack's favorite thing to make/eat) and baked to perfection. 

Jack struggled a bit with flipping the crepe over in the saute pan, so, remembering his reaction to my previous attempt to help him, I nervously grabbed the pan and flicked my wrist to flip the crepe in the air. The crepe glided through the air like a professional olympic diver and slowly flipped onto its backside as it landed perfectly in the pan.  I paused, expecting him to be upset for trying to steal his thunder.

Instead, he ran around the kitchen like a 10 year old, shouting, "I can't believe you know how to do that! That is amazing!"  

Back to the good shouting.  

According to the book, these crepes are a "French variation on a Baltic theme:  blini with caviar and sour cream."  What we both love about this book, and French cooking in general, is that the food actually tastes like what it is.  This dish is elegant yet comforting and will surely be something that we make again and again. It was, in a word, outstanding.  

Just like my Jack.  I definitely have got a winner on my hands - in this dish and my boyfriend.  

Click here for the recipe or check page 22 in Le Cordon Bleu at Home for more specific directions, and definitely make this one.  Or call me and I'll send Jack over to whip them up.  He'd appreciate it, I'm sure.

TWD: Toasted Coconut and Pineapple Dacquiose with a Coconut Creme Mousseline and Caramelized White Chocolate

I think many TWDers sat this one out this week.  I was pretty crunched for time (as I often and am finding ways to add more hours into my day - AKA - not sleep) and kept teetering back and forth as to whether or not I would make this.  

Let me whip out my violin for you as I play you my sob story.  My day usually consists of this:  work, come home around 6 pm work out for 90 minutes, then start cooking or baking something while I constantly taste it and undo all of the hard work that I do at the gym.  Then I curse myself and swear that I'll never taste my food again. It never works.  I usually don't sit down to relax until 10 or 10:30.  Then, on the weekends, I travel to NY because I live in DC but my life is in NY.  I head down on Thursday, go to a wedding or two (no joke), see a bunch of friends and family, and drive back.  In yesterday's case, I woke up at 5:00 am in NY and was at work at 11 am... in DC. And I totally forgot about the dacquiose.

But I decided to make this recipe - at 10 pm on Monday night, no less - because I love self-inflicted torture.   As many of you know, the meringue alone takes 3 hours to cook.

I was trying to think of creative ways to serve this one, so I decided to make meringue "bowls" and fill them with a coconut mousselin.  Around 1 am, the meringue finished baking, and I called it a night.  The bowls turned into plates, but they still had a little well to fill. I then woke up at 5:30 am to finish making the dish.  I cursed myself some more. 

I need a vacation.  

This was pretty tasty.  I probably wouldn't make it again, but I really liked the Coconut Creme Mousseline.  The meringue was pretty tasty as well.   I am not a big fan of pineapple, though.  Woe is me. But then I used some more of my caramelized white chocolate.  Because it is mighty tasty. 

Check out Andrea's blog, Andrea in the Kitchen for the recipe. And check out the rest of the TWD baker's creations!

Coconut Creme Mousseline adapted from Martha Stewart

½ cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup coconut milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         2 large egg yolks

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         3 tablespoons corn starch

·         1 ½ cups milk

·         ½ cup coconut milk

·         1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, the egg yolks, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in cornstarch, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Bring milk, coconut milk, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk a little milk mixture into egg yolk mixture; whisking constantly, gradually add remaining milk mixture. Return mixture to pan, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking, until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Refrigerate pastry cream until cold, at least 1 hour (up to 3 days); beat until smooth before using.

Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Whisk half the whipped cream into pastry cream, then fold in remaining heavy cream. 

BBA # 2 - Greek Celebration Bread - Christophomos

NOTE:  I am getting a lot of comments and seeing this photo popping up on other blogs about the suggestive shape of this bread. I SWEAR I didn't even realize it.  My pure little mind didn't think that far when I was taking this picture. Or serving this bread to coworkers and wondering why they didn't comment on the awesome design of the bread.  I'm surprised I didn't get fired.  Needless to say, get your minds out of the gutter!  Ok, Ok, you are right.  It totally does.  This bread is slightly NSFW.  I need to put a censored sticker on it. Sigh.  

I think I take the prize for the slowest bread baker out of all of Bread Baking Apprentice Bakers.

I'll just say that it is because I like to savor my bread baking experience thankyouverymuch.

So about two weeks ago, I savored this bread. And savored it some more.  Because this bread is unreal. It deserves a CHALLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH times twelve.  Light, yet rich, with delicious spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, honey, orange zest and cloves.

Now that is a bread that packs a punch.  

This bread will definitely be making an appearance at my family's Christmas celebration this year.  It reminds me of a panettone, but it is 1,000 times easier to make.  

On a side note, I'd like to start taking all of those gorgeous photos of the process of making the bread, but I get too impatient. How do food bloggers do it? You see photos of the blogger kneading the bread, but who is taking the picture? Or, if the blogger is taking the picture, where are those extra hands coming from?  

Get this book. Make some bread. Savor it. Take your time.  Take pictures with multiple hands. Enjoy. Experience. Carbo-load. Do it. 

Click here for a great walk-through of the bread making experience!

Recipe Inbox

That picture is starting to freak me out.  Let's get to the goodies - all sweet things this time, my friends. The heart wants what it wants.

If you've never been to Lemonpi, please check it out.  If you've never made Mini Banana Streudels with Chocolate Sauce and Peanuts, please make me some and send them FedEx.

Wait, I'm sorry, I lost track of thought.  I was too busy salivating over Eat Me Delicious's Roast Banana Breakfast Pumpkin Bread. Carry on.

Along the lines of breakfast breads that will make me fat and happy, The Wednesday Chef has posted Donna Dean's Pecan Brown Butter Bread.  Pecans. Browned Butter.  Loads of calories. Loads of fat. Loads of smiles.

Can someone please help me find a Mary Ann Pan to make Baking Obsession's Lemon Cake with Lemon Mascarpone Dressing and Summer Berries? Please? With summer berries on top?

Let's segue into more brown butter goodness (like what I did there? I took you from Bananas to Browned Butter, all in a few simple key strokes), lets take a lick - I mean look - at Travelers Lunch Box Browned Butter Ice Cream, shall well, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Joy the Baker brings a little joy to my life with Peanut Butter Fudge treats.  Mention the combination of peanut butter and chocolate to me, and I go weak in the knees and loosen a notch in my belt.

How about these Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with Truffled Chocolate Filling from Lisa is Cooking?  I'll give you a minute to wipe the drool off of your chin.

9 layers of almond and citrus and jam and vanilla. This Neopolitan Cake from Smitten Kitchen doesn't have a Napoleon complex, that's for sure.  Sigh.  Bad joke. I'm all out of steam.

Caramelized White Chocolate

White chocolate is a highly misunderstood food.  I may even go as far as to say that it is the red-headed stepchild of the food world.  White chocolate is composed of cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar.  Because of its composition of ingredients, white chocolate is actually not a chocolate at all and because of this, it invokes rage from chocolate lovers everywhere.

"It is not chocolate!" people shout.  

I say - who cares? It tastes good. It is creamy. I chuckled when Dave Lebovitz stated:

There's nothing odder to me than people who say, "I don't like white chocolate...because it's not chocolate!" Which is like saying, "I don't like white wine...because it's not Champagne!"

Amen to that, brother. I don't think I will ever understand people's ire in regards to white chocolate.  Frankly, I find that I have a harder time resisting white chocolate more than any other chocolate.  And my will power is pretty good. But if I have white chocolate in the apartment? 

Diet doomsday, my friends. Diet doomsday.

When David Lebovitz recently posted about his class at L'école du Grand Chocolat Valrhona, a gorgeous site befell my eyes.  Caramelized white chocolate.  "The Toffee of Milk". Just the sound of that name made me salivate.  I needed the recipe.

David answered my prayers.  Just before I began to churn my Honey Peach Bellini Ice Cream for this past Tuesday with Dorie, I saw David's post for the recipe. I knew that it would make the perfect topping to that luscious dessert.  

Unfortunately, I was rushed and did not have the time to find a high quality white chocolate.  Therefore, I used supermarket white chocolate chips.  David notes that, if using a lower quality white chocolate, be sure to at least use one with 20% milk solids.  He also noted that the chocolate would become chalky and hard to stir, but it is nothing that a little heavy cream wouldn't fix.  So I forged ahead.

The result was a creamy, complex, and addictive sauce that called my name after each bite. The original recipe, without the butter and cream, lasts for several months.  So if you use a high quality white chocolate, this could be at your beck and call. The possibilities for this sauce are endless.

If I thought I was in trouble with white chocolate chips in the house, I was in for a whole new world of hurt.  

But oh, it hurts so good.

Caramelized White Chocolate Sauce adapted from David Lebovitz

Depending on the quality of your chocolate, you may have to add or subtract some heavy cream.  The sauce should end up being smooth and creamy. 

Here are David's notes: 

Basically what you're doing is checking the chocolate every ten minutes and giving it a good stir to promote the caramelization. The only danger is overcooking: you want to cook it until it's the color of natural peanut butter. If you do overcook it and it gets grainy, you can press it through a fine mesh sieve and it'll be just fine.

12 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped coarse

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon butter

pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 250 F.  Spread chocolate in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Heat for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and spread with a clean, dry spatula.  

Continute to cook for an additional 40-60 minutes, stirring at 10 minute intervals. (it may cook faster.  Remove when it reaches a peanut-butter like color.) At some point, it may look chalky or lumpy, but keep stirring and it will smooth out.

Coook until the chocolate is a deep-golden brown and caramelized.  Stir in sea salt.

Scrape the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water.  Stir to remove lumps, adding up to 1/4 cup heavy cream until the sauce is smooth and creamy.  Stir in butter.  Let cool.  

Pour into a jar and refridgerate until ready to use.  (When cooled, it will harden. To thin it out, rewarm in a microwave, or in a bowl set over a pan of barely-simmering water.)

Top Chef with Teanna - Season 1, Episode 3 - Monkfish Corndogs with Mango Ketchup

Monkfish.

Kind of like our friend, the Octopus.

Both invoke a slight gag effect when in their true form, but are actually pretty tasty when on my plate.

On this episode of Top Chef, the cheftestants had to make something tasty out of something that looks very unappetizing. 

Needless to say, our cheftestants were a bit nervous. 

Coincidentally (in my case, at least), the quickfire challenge involved cooking octopus.  The chefs had 60 minutes to take an entire octopus and make it a meal - a difficult task on any day, as octopus usually needs to boil for at least 45 minutes.  I would have squealed as I did when making octopus here in my place.  That, my friends, is why I am not on Top Chef.

In the elimination challenge, the chefs had the pleasure of making a tasty dish out of monkfish.  The people who would be judging this dish? 

40 ten year olds.

The chefs looked nervous.  Tiffani was upset that she was "lowering her standards" to cook for children and noted her disdain for their palates.  She then called certain dishes childish.  

Um.  Tiffani? That's the whole point.  

The group was split into two teams - Team Red and Team Blue.  Team Red - the winning Team - consisted of Candice, Cynthia, Miguel, Lisa, and my favorite and yours, Stephen the Sommelier.  They were lucky enough to have Cynthia, a mother with two children, on their team.  Her knowledge of what children like and don't like to eat won them this challenge.  Their menu of Monkfish Corn Dogs (called "Monkey Dogs") with a Mango Ketchup, Fruit Skewers with a vanilla honey dipping sauce, and criss-crossed potato chips was well received by the children.  And the children were thrilled to learn that their criss-crossed potato chips were actually called "gaufrettes" by our beloved Stephen (note the sarcasm).

To be honest, I was going to skip this week.  I did not know how I was going to make monkfish corndogs, nor did I want to eat them.  But then I decided that I took on this challenge for a reason - to challenge myself.  So I sighed, headed to the fishmonger (I will use that word whenever I get the chance) and got my monkfish. 

I didn't have a meat grinder, so I grated the monkfish with a cheese grater, formed the grated monkfish into quenelles, froze them, coated them in batter, and fried away.  I have never eaten, nor seen in person, a corn dog, so I wasn't sure if I did it right, but it looked pretty good to me. 

The taste?  Actually... it wasn't bad.  It was actually pretty good, if I do say so myself. The mango ketchup was a nice accompaniment.  The crisp skin of the corn dog gave way to the soft, creamy fish and went very well with the sweet and spicy ketchup.  

This reminded me of that "Deceptively Delicious" book, where you hide good ingredients in foods kids would like.  So this would be like, hiding scary fish in deep fried batter.  Hey, your arteries will clog, but at least you are getting your vitamins! 

Next Week: The Microwave Challenge - Mirin Glazed Escolar 

Monkfish Corn Dogs

2 cups Flour

1 cups cornmeal (fine ground)

1 1/2 Tablespoons baking soda

1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

 3 eggs (separated)
1 1/2 cups milk
3 lbs monkfish

Sift first five ingredients in one bowl, in a separate bowl, mix yolks and milk, in another bowl, whip whites to stiff peaks. Mix wet with dry and fold egg whites in mix.  Let it sit for 30 minutes in refrigerator.

Clean and ground fish, then make quenelles and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Coat in batter and fry at 350° until golden brown.

Mango Ketchup - Adapted from Bobby Flay

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Pinch cloves
Pinch Cayenne pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 large mango, peeled, pit removed and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the cinnamon, allspice, cloves and habanero and cook an additional 1 minute. Add the mango and continue cooking until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Place the mango mixture into the bowl of a food processor, add the vinegar and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.