A day of creation

This post is long overdue.

I did an evening of cooking... to practice my skills.

I found a recipe online (Mark Bittman, surprise surprise) on how to keep chicken breasts moist while grilling them. Because I would be doing little grilling and more baking, I wanted to try my hand at putting them in the oven.

Here we have the scallions (green onions), ready to go in a soy sauce/mirin/garlic sauce pan. By heating them in the sauce, it wilted them a bit to make them roll-able and infused them with a little sauce. And the sauce got a little greeny flavored.

Raw chicken breasts, pounded, rolled around the wilted scallions. In a baking dish, ready to go into the oven at 350 degrees...

Until this. Yummm.

My mom made these curried potatoes... always the best.

So, I admit that the star of the night was the potato dish. I have a bit more to learn and practice... comme d'habitude. But...

...not as much in this arena: chocolate cupcakes.

Oh, HELLO delicious chocolate cupcake with a chocolate ganache! I intended to let the ganache harden in the refrigerator, but I couldn't wait. These little cupcake babies just couldn't wait to get gobbled up. So, I spooned on some slightly warm ganache... yum.

For the first time in my cupcake/muffin making history, I decided to use the self-standing silicone molds. One I coated with butter, the other three I didn't (the rest of the cupcakes were done traditionally, in a metal pan with cupcake liners). As a result, one popped out cleanly and the other three didn't.

Here's a picture of the cupcake demolished. Yum.

I have to experiment with making more "traditional" cupcake shapes, if you will. Muffins are a bit easier, since they're denser I think, but I may have to try putting a bit more dough into each of the cups for cupcakes so that there is enough to rise. The resulting cupcake may not be so flat on top then. Honestly, though, they taste delicious, so I personally don't mind that they aren't the prettiest little cupcakes in town.

And for tonight? Funny you should ask.... Raspberry gratins. They're best when served warm (so Ina Garten says), so let me know if you want to come over! :)