Blog O’ Obscurity

Now I’ve never been a big fan of the old green bean casserole, but this looks like the absolute best recipe for the stuff that I’ve ever come across. The best part about the website by far is the ability to post and save your recipes and also to access the saved recipes that others have left on the site. So find the best and most used three-by-five cards in your old recipe holder, post them on this site, and let me try out your tastiest treat.

Popularity: 2%

No longer do many people get new recipes from their friends and family at church socials and backyard barbecues. There are millions of recipes for every type of food on the internet nowadays. For me, I tend to find a great recipe and then lose the website that I got it from. It makes recreating a masterpiece difficult. Saving my recipes at an online site and finding new recipes to try is a great idea that I’m looking forward to using more and more.

Popularity: 2%

My in-laws began taking me and my wife to a restaurant called The Chart House right after we got married. The signature plate of that restaurant is their dessert, Chocolate Lava Cake. It is simply incredible. I’ve occasionally gone to the restaurant, sat in the lounge, and just ordered dessert.  Here is my best approximation of it.

Makes five cakes.

7 oz. unsalted butter
7 oz. dark bittersweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 ts Godiva chocolate liqueur
3.5 oz. flour
7 oz. powdered sugar
vanilla ice cream
chilled butter
sugar
crushed Heath bar
chocolate syrup

Preheat the oven to 325. Melt the butter in a double boiler. Melt the chocolate into the butter, then add the Godiva liqueur. Pour the mixture into the eggs in a large bowl. Mix the flour and powdered sugar in a separate bowl, and then slowly add into the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Butter five ramekins (or custard bowls) with the chilled butter, and then coat each with sugar, discarding any sugar that doesn’t stick to the butter. Pour equal amounts of batter into each ramekin, then place in the oven on a cookie sheet for 15-18 minutes.

After the cakes are done, carefully invert them onto a plate. Quickly top with ice cream, chocolate syrup, and Heath bar, and serve hot. The center of the cake should still be molten. This dessert should be divine.

Popularity: 2%

I’m not the world’s best cook, but I get by. Grilling chicken is one of the things I usually let other people do for me and El Pollo Loco is one of the places I’ve been known to get it from. They current;y are running a contest and below is my entry. If you like it, please go vote for it. If you think you can do better, give it a shot and maybe I’ll vote for yours.

Popularity: 2%

Over the last two months or so I have fallen back in love with spaghetti and meatballs. I found a good recipe online, adapted it for my house, and have been cooking up meatballs every Tuesday for the past month or so.  Let me know what you think.

1 1/4 lb. ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup romano cheese (or parmesan)
3/8 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 ts. salt
1/8 cup chopped garlic (fresh)

Form into meatballs. Sear them in a pan. Add 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to med/low and cover. Cook for 45-50 min. while turning the meatballs frequently.

Enjoy.

Popularity: 2%

Have you ever tried Halvah?  My dad was a fan of out of the ordinary sweets, so I grew up having Halvah and other uncommon treats for dessert and holidays.  Apparently halvah is an acquired taste because no one outside my family seems to like it.  I guess it wouldn’t be on the market if that was really true, but I can say I don’t know anyone outside my family who likes it.  It’s basically made of sesame, sugar, eggs and chocolate.  I’ve never had sesame alone so I don’t know if it tastes good or bad by itself, but anything can be improved (in my opinion) by adding sugar to it.  If you’re daring, give it a taste sometime.  And while you’re at it try chocolate covered orange peel too.

Popularity: 2%

Have you ever gotten a craving for something?  I had a craving for pepperoni and tomatoes together a while back and pizza wasn’t going to cut the mustard.  I went online to see if I could find something that sounded tasty and found this recipe.  My kids don’t like it so now we call it Mom’s Favorite Salad.  I highly recommend trying it.

Combine for salad:    1 bag cooked penne pasta
                                    2 med tomatoes (diced)
                                    1 bell pepper (sliced)
                                    2 sticks of pepperoni (sliced thick and halved)
                                    1 bunch green onions (sliced)

Combine for dressing: ½ cup olive oil
                                    ½ cup red wine vinegar
                                    1 tsp sugar
                                    ½ tsp salt
                                    1 tsp basil
                                    2 tsp minced garlic
                                    ¼ tsp pepper

Pour the dressing over the mixed up salad and turn to coat.  Serve immediately or chill.

In my case it serves just one, but others could probably stretch it to serve 6 or8.

Popularity: 2%

I recently made some Texas Sheet Cake for my son’s birthday and had a request from some of my in-laws to post the recipe. I hope you all enjoy this wonderfully delicious, if not entirely healthy, dessert.

For the cake:
1 c warm water
1 c butter
4 tb cocoa (heaping)
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 ts salt
1 ts baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 c sour cream
1 ts vanilla flavoring

For the frosting:
6 tb milk
4 tb cocoa (heaping)
1/2 c butter
1 ts vanilla flavoring
1 lb powdered sugar
1 c chopped pecans (or other nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the sugar, flour, salt, and soda and set aside. Heat the water, butter, and cocoa in a saucepan until boiling, then pour over the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Mix in the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Pour batter into a sheet about 10×15 inches and 1 inch deep. A slightly smaller pan is fine, but no larger. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean.

For the frosting, heat the butter, milk, and cocoa in a saucepan until boiling. Reduce heat and mix in vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix thoroughly. Mix in the nuts and pour over still warm cake.

 Enjoy!

Popularity: 3%