Delicious Lava Cake that will leave your palate pleasantly satisfied. Soft warm chocolate cake center will make you a success amongst your guests. Having tested various Lava Cake recipes, this recipe will work producing the “Lava” that the cake is known to do.

Serves 6.  20 minutes preparation time. 7 minutes cooking time!   

Pre-heat oven to 170 C or 340 F. Generously grease a muffin plan.

Ganache
2 ounces Chocolate Bar. DARK Chocolate
6 tsp heavy whip cream or condensed milk
1 tsp butter

In a microwaveable combine all ingredients and allow chocolate to melt on DEFROST for 90 seconds. Incorporate all ingredients. Place in refrigerator. With a fork whisk melted chocolate every 3 minutes for a total of 7 minutes. Extend plastic wrap onto a tin. With a teaspoon, scoop out a ball of chocolate and with a knife gently place chocolate ball onto plastic, repeat. Place ganache into the freezer for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Batter
3.5 ounces Dark Chocolate
1/3 cup butter
3 Egg yolks
3 tsp Chocolate Powder  (Various name brand’s will produce different types of color chocolate. This will not effect flavor!)
3 Tbsp Flour sifted.

In a bowl, place chocolate and butter. Place into microwave for 90 seconds until chocolate is melted. Incorporate ingredients with fork. Allow to cool down. Add 3 egg yolks, sifted flour and chocolate powder to chocolate mixture. With a spoon or fork, mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Merengue
3 egg whites
Salt
3 Tbsp sugar

Beat egg whites on high speed for 1 minute. Add a pinch of salt and beat for 1 minutes. Add 3 Tbsp sugar slowly while beating eggs for another minute.

Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until all chocolate and egg whites are well combined. Gently, Fold ingredients with a flexible spatula bringing together both mixes, by using a motion that rotates from bottom to top in a folding over motion. Continue to fold mixes together until the egg whites are no longer visible, but the air pockets are still noticed. (stirring the mixes will deflate the egg whites and the cake will fall flat.)

With a tablespoon place 1 spoonfuls of chocolate mixture into muffin tin/ramkin. Remove Ganaches from freezer and center one ganache into cake batter. Top off with extra batter as to enclose ganache, tin/ramkin should not exceed 3/4’s full. (otherwise bake lava cake for 9 minutes.)
Place muffin pan into oven and allow lava cakes to bake for 7 minutes on 170 C or 340 F. Do not open oven door while baking! Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Invert muffin pan onto cookie pan so that lava cakes fall onto pan by themselves. Serve with berries and sprinkle with powder sugar. May rewarm lava cakes in microwave for 3 seconds before serving.

Carbonara with added asparagus makes for a flavorful dish

Serves 2

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pancetta or 4 slices bacon cut into 8ths
2 eggs (raw and whisked)
Salt and Pepper to taste (1/2 teaspoon dried parsley and red pepper flakes optional)
4 Asparagus stalks cut into small pieces.
Parmesean cheese
Pasta: Spaghetti for 2 (approximately 4-7 ounces 120-200 grams)

BEGIN, in a large pan add water and place onto high heat.

In a sauce pan, heat oil and pancetta over medium heat. Make sure that the oil and the pancetta does not burn.

Using a a mixing bowl crack open eggs and whisk with a fork. Set aside.

Add 1 Tbsp salt when water boils. Add half box pasta and allow to boil in water for allotted time along with asparagus. Drain well!

Drain pasta well! Place pasta back into pan over low heat. Add eggs to pasta and then add hot oil with pancetta/bacon to pasta. Turn well. Eggs will cook fast. Allow to cook together for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve with parmesan cheese, cracked pepper to taste and dried parsley/pepper flakes.

Kim Crocker-Scardicchio

3 Tbsp olive oil
I small onion diced
1/3 cup Pancetta
1/4 cup olives sliced (optional)
1/2 tsp pepper flakes
28 ounces (700 grams) Tomato Sauce
2 Tbsp fresh basil ( 1 tsp dried basil)
Pasta: Bucatini
Parmesan Cheese

Begin, in a large pan add water and place onto high heat. Add 1 Tbsp salt when water boils. Add half box pasta and allow to boil in water for allotted time. Drain well.

Meanwhile in a Sauce pan, add olive oil, onion and pancetta. Allow to saute` for 5 minutes. Add sauce, pepper flakes and salt. Allow flavors to come together for an additional 10 minutes. Turn off sauce, add basil. Serve sauce over drained pasta. Top off with cheese.

Pasta Puttanesca

A traditional Southern Italian dish utilizing simple and nutritious vegetables to their region. Throw the veggies and garlic into a skillet and allow the flavors to work their own magic!

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove quartered
1/2 pint mushrooms
1 Tbsp Capers
1/3 cup whole olives (pitted)
28 oz Tomato Sauce
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
Pasta to serve sauce with; Spaghetti, Fusilli.

In a large pan add water and place onto high heat and bring to a boil.

In a separate skillet pan add all ingredients except the tomato sauce. Allow ingredients to sautee` together for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, salt, parsley. cover pan and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Fresh Red Ripe Tomatoes is all you need to enjoy Italian Sauce.

When water boils in large pan add 1 Tbsp salt.  For 4 servings add half box pasta (240 grams) and allow to boil in water for about 8 minutes. Place a colander into the sink. Carefully take large pan and empty water and pasta into colander. Add cooked pasta to prepared sauce and integrate will with a large spoon. Place into individual bowls and top off with parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh parsley sprigs .  Delicious!

Tasty Salmon Appetizer

Easy and Delectable! Fun Finger Foods.

5 Smoked Salmon Slices (can be bought pre packaged in any store)

Option 1:  STUFFED SMOKED SALMON

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• Capers
• 5 Mozzarella Balls (May use Burrata too! See suggested instructions below.)
• 5 Basil Leaves
• Toothpicks
• 5 Cherry Tomato Halves
• 5 Lettuce Leaves washed, dried and placed onto a plate.

Option 2:   STUFFED SMOKED SALMON

• 6 ounces of tuna of choice
• 1/2 celery stick diced
• 1 Tablespoon almonds crushed
• 3 Tablespoons  light mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 teaspoon fresh chopped cilantro
• Dash of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Combine all ingredients and follow instructions for rolling inside smoked salmon rolls.

Remove Salmon slices carefully from package and place into a bowl and add pepper, capers olive oil. Set aside.
Drain water from Mozzarella lightly season with salt.
Place salmon slice onto a plate and center mozzarella into the middle of salmon. Wrap salmon around mozzarella. Place basil leaf on a tomato half. Secure salmon wrapped mozzarella onto basil leaf and tomato half with a toothpick. Place appetizer onto individual lettuce leaves.

Another great appetizer: On a clean plate place 4-5 large lettuce leaves. Then place 4-5 thinly sliced Smoked Salmon Fillets. Lastly, layer with a slice of Burrata.  For presentation: top off each layer with a halved cherry tomato and a 3 leaf basil.