Comforting Carrot Cake

I just had two very good friends over for dinner last night and had a blast. I made my favorite tandoori salmon with rice and broccoli and fried up some of my homemade korean dumplings for an appetizer. I was stumped when I tried to come up with a good asian dessert (beside fruit) and i knew the overall dinner was pretty healthy and I wanted something very satisfying for dessert. I decided on making carrot cake, which I've never done before. It turned out very delicious and sweet! :)


INGREDIENTS

* 4 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
* 2 cups white sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3 cups grated carrots
* 1 cup chopped pecans

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 4 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots and pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (my cake took 53 minutes!). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

This recipe is wonderful! I had two pieces of cake for dessert. :)

Better-than-delivery Chicken and Broccoli

A few separate events led to my creation of this dish today.

1. Ok so I haven't had chinese food in years. I used to sail away into a post-msg coma everytime I did eat it, and I didn't realize what it was that gave me headaches and made me really tired until years later. Today's "Every Day with Rachael Ray recipes" (via email - yes, i subscribe. yes, i'm ashamed.) included a broccoli and chicken dish which used all natural ingredients and sounded great.

2. I have these two stalks of broccoli calling my name every time I open the refrigerator. I purchased them 10 days ago with the intention of making my usual ginger steamed broccoli, but salmon to complement the broccoli costs and arm and leg these days.

So perfect, I decided at the end of my work day to make chicken and broccoli. Now for the decision of what kind of chicken to purchase... FYI for my American friends - meat in Geneva, Switzerland is VERY expensive. I should have purchased about a pound of breast meat, but it would cost about $10. For that price, I decided to instead purchase a whole chicken with the intention of boiling it and pulling off the meat to use in the dish. The cost of the whole chicken (just under 3 lbs)? 13.45 in Swiss Francs, which is equivalent to about $13.00. Yikes!



In preparation, I boiled the whole chicken with garlic cloves, onion and peppercorns until the meat easily pulled off the bones.

INGREDIENTS
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- salt and pepper
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken - thinly sliced OR 1 small whole chicken, cooked and shredded
- 1 bunch broccoli - broken into florets and stalks trimmed, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 onion, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together half of the garlic, the soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss; let stand for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup water and the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining garlic over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli stalks, season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup water and the broccoli florets, cover (i covered with a cookie sheet) and steam until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes; transfer the broccoli to a plate.

3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and heat until hot. Add the chicken mixture and onions and cook, stirring, until the chicken is cooked through - about 4 minutes. Stir in the broccoli, then add the remaining cornstarch mixture. Cook until the liquid thickens, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and serve with rice. Yummy!