Nutella Bundt

Have I told you lately that I love Nutella? And did I tell you that I finally bought a bundt pan? Yes my friends, a couple weeks ago, Leigh and I went out to the suburbs and indulged ourselves in the Wilton Tent Sale. Yup, tent sale..meaning saving almost 50% off MSRP...which means I can buy everything that I wanted/needed without making a million and one trips to Michael's so that I can use those 40% off one item coupons at the bottom of your receipt on my "next shopping trip". Haha...

Anyway, I have been saving this recipe in my bookmarks for the day in which I would finally have a bundt pan. Now, though I love Nutella, and would love to bake with it in a bunch of different goodies, I somewhat cringe at the thought of emptying a whole jar of my hazelnut goodness into something that may or may not compliment and enhance the flavor. Plus, when you bake with Nutella, it can get kind of expensive. However, guess what I found the other week? Aldi had their own version of Nutella in the Limited Editions aisle! Granted, I was a bit hesitant ever since my Dollar Store Nutella version but I decided to take a chance and buy one jar. And guess what? It actually tasted good! It actually resembled the "real" thing! I had to go buy more! So this past week I went and bought two more jars. One to eat (since I had already demolished the first jar) and one to bake with.

So back to the Nutella Bundt. I was excited and the pictures at The Food Librarian were tempting. Unlike The Food Librarian, I did not have time to make the yellow cake from scratch so I opted for a box mix. Now, I haven't made a boxed cake in a while so I'm not sure if it was the cake mix or if that's the nature of cakes but the batter seemed pretty runny. And then the Nutella batter I made was super thick. But I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Well, I didn't get that gorgeous marble but it still turned out pretty well. I think next time I will somehow add a bit more liquid into the Nutella mixture to lighten it up a bit. I'm not quite sure what that would be yet. Another egg? Some milk? Heat up the Nutella to make it more runny? Add a bit of batter? I'll have to do something that doesn't interfere with the taste of the chocolate and hazelnut. If you have any ideas, let me know. (Oh hey, as I was rereading the directions to rewrite them for you, I realized that The Food Librarian mixed some batter into her Nutella..whoops. I guess I will have to try it next time)

I also covered the bundt with a simple, makeshift ganache (this was the same night as the Stargazer Pie and Tornado Sirens. Actually the sirens were going off while the bundt was still in the over..it had another 6 minutes to go. I was torn between taking shelter or waiting 'til the cake finished. Lucky for me, by the time we got done closing windows, looking for our phones and keys, etc the cake was ready to come out and the oven could be turned off). A slight difference between my bundt and The Food Librarian is that I have the standard size bundt pan and, from reading, it appears she has a smaller version. Therefore the only change I made was a larger portion of the Nutella Batter.

How did it turn out? Well besides the lack of marbleization, it turned out pretty well. The "chocolate" portions of the cake had that true Nutella flavor. And our friend Nicki took a small bite and dug in for a second piece before she had really finished her first.

Nutella Bundt
posted on The Food Librarian (with some adaptation by myself)

Ingredients
Yellow Cake Mix (either boxed or homemade)- plus whatever ingredients the box calls for
1 cup Nutella
1 egg



Directions

• In a small bowl, mix Nutella and egg together to loosen the Nutella mixture. Take 1/3 of the yellow cake batter and mix it with the Nutella.
  
• Pour the yellow mix in the pan and scooped 1/2 of the Nutella mixture on top of that. 
• Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Take a knife and marbled the two batters together. 
• Bake as directed. 

Urban Belly

 

My mother and cousin Danielle came to visit for the day this past Friday. Every time my mother comes, we try to do something new. That day's adventure? Heading out to Urban Belly to try "The Best Thing [Art Smith] Ever Ate" as featured on the Food Network.

So I picked up my mom and Kris (aka. Danielle, Kristina, Dani...don't worry, I'm not confused, are you?) and headed out to the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago. I'm not sure exactly what I was looking for but I wasn't quite expecting to find Urban Belly in the middle of a strip mall. So it kind of crept up on me even with a GPS but a short detour later, we were there.

One of the first things we noticed was that it were the dark wooden and warm colors, minimal decorations and "communal dining". Otherwise, there were four long tables with wooden stools. There were only two other people there when we entered so we ended up sitting at our own table. The restaurant is also "counter service" which we didn't mind at all. According to my mother, Urban Belly is an eclectic mixture of Asian cuisine based on the ethnicities of the husband and wife that founded the restaurant.

Now according to Art, the best thing he ever ate were the Rice Noodles with Hominy, Kimchi, and Spicy Pork Broth. However, after looking at the menu, there were plenty of other things that looked pretty tasty.

My mother ordered the Urban Belly Ramen (Pork Belly, Shiitake, Pho Broth). My mom liked it and I took a couple bites of it. I thought it was okay, but I was liking other other two dishes better. I wish I could describe it a bit more but it just didn't wow me..plus I am not too experienced in Asian cuisine and flavors

Kris and I then shared the next two dishes;

 Pork and Cilantro Dumplings. These were better than I expected since I'm not normally a fan of dumplings.

 The pork and cilantro were pretty well blended so I couldn't really distinguish the two flavors separately but I would order them again.

 Rice Cake Noodles (Chicken, Mango and Korean Chili Sauce). Now this was quite interesting. The rice cake noodles are not your traditional noodles. They look like flat oval disks and were a bit chewy but both Krissy and I were kind of drawn to them.

The sauce was quite flavorful and had that spice to it but again, delicious. The chicken was cut into strips and had a crisp breading/coating. There weren't as many mangoes as I would have hoped, in fact, there were only a couple small cubes but again, we enjoyed the dish as a whole so it didn't bother me too much. We also found an extra ingredient that wasn't listed on the menu. Fish Cakes. This was another noodle (?) that was a seafood like taste to it. I ate one or two and then started to eat around them, as did Kristina.

(given to us at the end of the meal, soft ginger candies)

As far as food quantity goes, we came home with almost half of both noodle dishes and one dumpling. So there was quite a bit of food. I was sorry to find out though that when I went to reheat the Rice Noodles, the noodles stuck together and became mushy. Also, those fish cakes kind of infused the sauce a bit. With that said, I would be hesitant to recommend leftovers because reheating destroyed the quality of the dish. I ended up throwing it away because it was no longer enjoyable. Would I recommend the restaurant? Sure, why not! Do I think it was "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"? Um, not so much but would I go again if I had the option? Yes.

S'mores Stuffed Brownies

First of all, brownies AND s'mores? Can you get much better than that? Also, can I mention that while I am writing this blog post, Brad is just inches away from me doing one armed side crunches and other crazy gymnast workouts while I am drooling over these brownies? Yeah, I'm feeling a bit guilty, but not enough to keep from sharing this with you!

There are few food blogs out there that I am subscribed too and every so often, one of these creations catches my eye. A couple weeks ago I came across this beauty over at Picky Palate. S'mores. Stuffed. Brownies. The name in itself intrigued me and then her pictures tempted me even further. I just had to try it!

Let me take you back to June 9th. It was our 3 year anniversary and just happened to be Game 6 of the Stanley Cup. We had had the pleasure of watching a few of the games over at our friend's condo and the last time Nicki had graced us with warm chocolate chip cookies and ice cream (a heavenly combination). So when they invited us over to watch the game, I just had to make these goodies. I brought over the ingredients and got baking shortly after we arrived.

I didn't have any chocolate bars so I used chocolate chips instead..no biggie as far as substitutions go. We also only had a 9x9 pan. Therefore I didn't necessarily follow the exact measurements for the graham, chocolate, etc.  Additionally, I was a bit unsure of when to consider it done since distinguishing between gooey brownie and melted chocolate was somewhat difficult. I believe they ended up being in the oven longer than the recipe called for and therefore some of the marshmallows got a little caramelized but nothing damaging.

Oh yeah, and that whole "cool completely" part? We didn't do that...In fact, these brownies were quite rich (perhaps that is attributed by our lack of self control). At first I thought they were a little too rich for me but everyone else disagreed. However my hesitations certainly didn't stop me from getting another! I also noticed that the following day, they lost some of that initial richness since we actually allowed them to cool. Still very delicious and more easily able to eat a whole brownie. One difference I did notice between my brownies and Picky Palate's is that I am a little unsure how she got her marshmallows so flat. Not that it made any difference, in fact, I kind of liked them still puffy but in case you were wondering, so am I ;o)

S'mores Stuffed Brownies
Picky Palate


Batch Prepared in 8×8 inch baking pan; (adjust as needed for your pan)

1 box of your favorite brownie mix
4 1/2 full Graham Crackers
3 1/2 Full size Hershey’s Bars
16 large marshmallows

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.  
• Line foil into an 8×8 inch baking pan and spray generously with cooking spray.  
• Pour half the brownie batter into lined pan.
  
  
  
  
  (don't mind the orange tint...the blackhawks were on! 
  i couldn't take the time to mess with lighting)
  Layer with Graham Crackers 
  
   following Hershey Bars (or chocolate chips) 
  
   and marshmallows. 
  

• Pour remaining brownie batter over marshmallows.  
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes mostly clean from center.  
• Remove from oven and let cool completely.  
• Carefully remove foil and brownies from pan.  Peel any foil from away from edges and cut into squares. 12 brownies

By the way..in case you haven't heard...the Blackhawks won!

Zazios Modern Italian Restaurant-Kalamazoo

Let me first apologize to those of you in the Chicago area because the restaurant that I am about to share with you is located in my beloved hometown of Kalamazoo. And yes, I will still HIGHLY recommend that you check it out!

This past Christmas, my mother gave Brad and myself gift certificates to The Chef's Table at Zazios Modern Italian Restaurant in Downtown Kalamazoo, connected to the Radisson's hotel. It wasn't until our anniversary were we able to take advantage of our gift (which was this month).

And Oh.My.Goodness. Let me tell you, this experience was, hands down, one of the best culinary experiences that Brad and I have ever had, if not THE best. Each month, Chef John creates a 5 course menu based on a particular theme then prepares each course right in front of you! The Table is also very interactive plus gets taped and some "episodes" get broadcast on one of the local t.v. channels. It was like being a part of a Food Network T.V. show!

Our group at the Table ended up being 6, including Brad and myself which means we all got to have front row seats! Chef John was extremely personable and did not hesitate to answer any of our questions regarding the menu or his inspiration. The menu this month was based around Italy's region of Umbria. I have to be honest, upon looking at the menu, I was a little nervous since I am what some may call a "picky eater" and am not a fan of mushrooms or cheese and almost every course had both components in it. But I made the resolution that I was not going to try to pick things out and more importantly I did not want to offend the chef. And I am so very glad I did! I'm not sure how Chef John did it but he made me love and eat cheese and truffles/mushrooms like non other.

 (Extremely delicious hummus...so flavorful!)

Also, Chef John used a lot of fresh, local ingredients, not cutting any corners when needing to find Michigan components for Umbrian classics. At the same time, Chef John was sure to get the highest quality ingredients that he needed from Umbria to create his dishes.

Did I mention that Chef John let us lick the bowl after he prepared the pan with the torte batter? Shh...don't tell anyone ;o)

Okay, now to the menu.

Asparagi- grilled asparagus & pancetta, balsamic, Umbrian black summer truffles, local salad greens.

This asparagus was so flavorful, so tender, so delicious...and though it is hard to distinguish, mixed in with the black summer truffles is a Smoked Sheep cheese infused with it's own black summer truffles.

Trota- grilled rainbow trout, summer truffles, sage & lemon, farro & arugula salad
Again, very good and very fresh. Brad and I have never cooked fish on the grill before but it is a must now.

Farro will also be going on our grocery list in the future.(uncooked farro in the picture above)

Stringozzi- semolina pasta twists, mushrooms, truffles, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, pecorino.
Home.made. Pasta. Michigan morel mushrooms. Fresh Parmesan cheese. Absolutely delightful.

Cinghiale- grilled wild boar chop, lentils, pancetta, onions, sage & rosemary

Yes, Wild Boar. Yes, it was great. Chef John created this nice, flavorful crust along the outside. The pieces towards the center of the chop had a slight gamey flavor but still oh so good.

(Chef John preparing the boar)

By this time, we were all slowing down and left portions of this course on the plate only because we knew we had to save room for...

Fragole e Cioccolato- fresh strawberries, chocolate & olive oil torta, crema, gelato

Who knew that a torte made from Olive Oil would taste absolutely devine? Chef also sprinkled Cocoa nibs on the freshly made whipped cream to add a little crunch.

Chef also tossed the strawberries with balsamic which just enhanced the flavor of the whole dish. (Note: According to Chef John, there is a difference between balsamic vinegar and balsamic, though real balsamic vinegar can be substituted.)

I was fortunate enough to be able to snag the recipe for his olive oil torta which you bet I will be making sometime in the future.

Now as we were all enjoying our last couple of bites of our dessert, the tornado sirens began to wail. We soon got the message that hotel security was asking all of us to wait out the storm in the basement (which is actually large conference rooms). The people we had sat with joked to Chef John to bring down some bottles of wine to help us wait out the storm.

We all laughed then headed down the stairs. Shortly after Chef John appears in the conference room we were ushered to with..you guess it...two bottles of wine. Tornado like weather isn't what most people would call a good end of the evening but hey, we were all too content and reveling in the after glow of such a delicious and heavenly meal that nothing could bring us down.