The menu started with spicy shrimp with a sweet pineapple salsa and it just kept getting better with each subsequent dish. Dinner plates were piled high with salty mojo-marinated pork, sweet plantain and sweet potato mash, spicy black beans and rice and citrusy cabbage slaw. Although the pork is a lengthy (3 day process) the recipe below is well worth the effort.

Oh, and for dessert…coconut custard tart. Yum!

Mojo Marinated Pork Cubano (Lechon Asado)
chow.com
serves 6

For the spice rub:
2 tablespoons whole cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole coriander
2 tablespoons dried chile molido
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon paprika
5 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)

For the mojo:
1/2 cup garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup cumin, freshly toasted and ground
1/2 cup coriander, freshly toasted and ground
2 tablespoons jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Scotch bonnet peppers, finely chopped
4 cups canola or vegetable oil
7 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sherry vinegar

For the spice rub:
In a dry sauté pan, toast cumin, peppercorns, and coriander over medium heat for a few minutes until spices just start to smoke. Remove spices immediately from the pan. Grind smoked spices in a spice or coffee grinder. Mix together with remaining ingredients (except pork).

Trim any excess fat off the pork, discard the fat, and cut pork into six pieces. Liberally massage all of the spice rub into pork pieces. Place pork in a large resealable plastic bag or in a glass dish. Cover and leave in the refrigerator 24 hours.

On the second day, make the mojo.

For the mojo:
Combine garlic, cumin, coriander, jalapeños, and Scotch bonnet peppers in a stainless steel bowl.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil until hot (approximately 175°F). Pour warm oil over spice mixture and let cool to room temperature.

Simmer 2 cups of the orange juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/2 cup. Cool to room temperature.

Combine oil-and-spice mixture, reduced orange juice, remaining 5 cups orange juice, cilantro, and sherry vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth (do this in batches). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add 4 cups of the mojo to pork, cover, and marinate another 24 hours.

On the third day, preheat oven to 300°F and arrange the rack at the bottom. Place pork in a large baking dish or in a large, heavy pot with a tightfitting lid, and add remaining mojo and enough water to cover pork in liquid.

Cover with foil or a tightfitting lid and place in the oven. Cook until pork is fork tender, about 4 to 5 hours. (Check pork periodically and add a little water if the liquid is reducing too quickly.) Serve.

Let’s start at the beginning — Valentine’s Day.

As I’ve written before, Kyle and I have a Valentine’s Day tradition. He cooks….I eat….perfect. This year was no exception and he pulled together a great meal of salad, steak, roasted veggies and…drumroll please….espresso lava cakes!

I repeat – Espresso Lava Cakes. Choooocoooolate!!!!

Speaking of my love for chocolate…

Years ago Kyle went to Switzerland for work. When he returned, I was amazed that he came home without anything for me. I mean, the guy goes to Switzerland and I’m left at home to receive nothing upon his return? I’m not really someone who gets hung up on gifts, but he went to the land of Swiss chocolate and he didn’t even bring me a square???? He claimed he didn’t have time to buy anything (work trip — yadda yadda), and my exact response was…

“Wasn’t there even a chocolate left on the pillow that you could have brought me?”

“I didn’t know you liked chocolate,” he replied. Uh, WHAAAAT? This man, whom I had known for seven years didn’t know that I liked chocolate?

First of all, a broad assumption can be made that most people (I won’t narrow this to just women here) like chocolate. Second, any time I’m asked what flavor I want of something, it’s chocolate — chocolate milkshake, chocolate donut…you get the point. There was also a period of time in my life when I couldn’t pass up a piece of chocolate cake. EVERYwhere I went, I sought out chocolate cake. Simply couldn’t refuse it. Boy do I miss my teenage metabolism…

But to sum it up – I love chocolate.

Note: To give Kyle a little credit — a couple years later he went to Italy and, learning from his prior mistake, came home with some awesome shoes and an avocado green sequined belt for me (that he picked all by himself). If there’s one thing a girl could love more than chocolate, it’s shoes and accessories. All was forgiven.

But to get back to my Valentine’s Day meal. The kid really stepped it up in telling me he loved me this year — and he did it through chocolate. More specifically, he used these chocolate cakes to tell me he loves me best!

While the title seems to imply that the chocolate will flow like lava, it’s really just a moist cake with warm melty pieces of chocolate mixed in. No lava flowing, but the topper of an espresso whipped cream makes up for that oversight. Of course, bonus points were given when Kyle went off-recipe and added a pinch of Espresso Brava Salt that I had in my cupboard to bring an extra oomph! to the dish. Um, can you say YUM?!?

Chocolate Espresso Lava Cakes with Espresso Whipped Cream
Bon Appetit February 2002

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
12 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips (about 4 1/2 ounces)

1 cup chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Sift flour, cocoa powder, 5 teaspoons espresso powder, and baking powder into medium bowl. Place butter in large bowl; add both sugars and whisk until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk in dry ingredients. Divide batter among six 1-cup ovenproof coffee mugs (about 2/3 cup in each). Top each with 2 tablespoons chocolate chips. Gently press chips into batter. Cover and refrigerate mugs at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Combine cream, powdered sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder in medium bowl; whisk until peaks form. Chill up to 1 hour.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Let mugs with batter stand at room temperature 5 minutes. Bake uncovered until cakes are puffed and crusty and tester inserted into center comes out with thick batter attached, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Top hot cakes with espresso whipped cream and serve.

Optional – top with a pinch of Espresso Brava Salt.

My mom loves soup. No matter the restaurant or the menu, she is always curious to know the soup options and, chances are, she will want to order it — especially for lunch.

I, on the other hand, am not as big a fan of soup. No matter how cold the day is or how I’m feeling, I am much more tempted by sandwiches and other entrees, and very rarely consider ordering a soup. Especially not a brothy soup — no thanks!

I wish I was more like my mom. In so many more ways than this, but I do find her love of soup endearing and something I wish I shared. In such cold weather, a big bowl of soup might be just the thing to eat — if only I shared her love of soup.

There is, however, one soup that we both love — Mushroom Artichoke Soup. And if you tried it, I bet you would, too.

The recipe comes from a cooking school back in my hometown. My mom got the recipe while attending a class there and she passed it on to my sister and me. Now it’s a staple in all our households. In fact, I’ve made it at least five times just this winter! That’s saying something for someone who doesn’t love soup!

It’s such a simple recipe, using fresh yummy ingredients. You start the soup by sauteeing shallots and diced carrots. I like my carrots to be thicker dice (but not chunks) so they retain shape and texture throughout cooking. Toss in a bunch of mushrooms until tender, then add in flour, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and broth. Simmer until slightly thickened, then add artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and bay leaf. Simmer and add cream just before serving.

There are some variations you can make by using different mushrooms, adding more broth to thin it out (like my mom and sister like to do), or omitting the cream. I like the recipe the way it is below — light, but creamy and full of bright flavors. It’s easy enough for a quick weeknight dinner and makes enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

Mushroom Artichoke Soup
adapted from From the Field Cooking School recipe
serves 4-6

1 lb sliced mushrooms (any kind – I prefer crimini)
1/2 c shallots, thin slice
2 lg carrot, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1-1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp dried thyme (x2 for fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1-14 oz can broth (I prefer veggie)
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained & quartered
1/8 c sun dried tomatoes, drained & chopped
1 small bay leaf
1/2 c cream (or half & half)

In a large pot sautee shallots and carrots in butter until shallots soften. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are just tender. Stir in flour, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and red pepper. Add broth & cook until slightly thickened. Add artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and bay leaf.

Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Stir in cream and let heat through. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the bowl.

I had previously visited Blackbird to photograph a beautiful bowl of noodles for this Heavy Table article, by fellow writer Susan Pagani. The day I went to photograph I had just eaten lunch, so when the noodles were offered to me I regretfully declined, but vowed to myself that I would be back.

A cross between a European cafe and a hunter’s lodge (only because of the mounted antlers on the wall..a bit of a mystery to me), Blackbird presents itself as an eclectic little spot that appeals to all. The menu is diverse with Asian, Latin and American flavors featured in the dishes. With all the tempting options, it makes it nearly impossible to decide on just one thing to order.

We decided to order some appetizers to start. My favorites were the BBQ ribs, coated in a rich and tangy sauce, and the empanada, a buttery pastry filled with green olives and pulled pork and served with smokey chipotle sauce.

Entrees were a wide array of choices, reflecting the diverse menu. Of course, I went for the Spicy Peanut Noodles with Tofu (featured in the Heavy Table article). This flavorful and well-balanced dish is similar to Thai pad thai, but with a saucier presentation (literally, it is presented with the sauce coating the noodles, rather than being sauteed together). If you do try this, don’t be fooled by the heat. The first few bites were Minnesota spice, but as the eating continued, the heat continued to build. And, of course, I love that Blackbird adds a fried egg on top – the yolk is a creamy, rich addition to the spicy sauce.

Also ordered was the salmon with creme fraiche and dill (a dish we replicated at home the next night), seafood tacos and the special of the day – halibut and blue crab ceviche served on masa cakes.

Our dining experience ended with fortune cookies. Everyone opened theirs and read their lovely fortunes. And then I opened mine. It was a bit like being a Chino Latino, where they give you nasty fortunes. Mine was a backhanded complemented that read, “You deserve respect and will eventually get it.” Ouch!

After Blackbird, we went back to Jill and Brian’s house for dessert. They had already made their assigned cooking club dessert and we certainly didn’t want it to go to waste. So we all enjoyed bowls of vanilla ice cream topped with homemade caramel and toasted coconut. Absolutely delicious.

Toasted-Coconut Caramel Ice Cream Sundaes

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sweetened cream of coconut
1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 pints purchased French vanilla ice cream

Place sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy deep medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. Boil until mixture turns dark amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately add cream and sweetened cream of coconut (mixture will bubble vigorously). Whisk over low heat until caramel sauce is blended and smooth and any caramel bits dissolve. do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm slightly over medium heat, stirring often, before using.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut evenly on small baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, about 12 minutes. Cool. DO AHEAD: Toasted coconut can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Scoop ice cream into bowls. Spoon some of warm caramel sauce over. Sprinkle toasted coconut over and serve immediately.

While we all were eager to learn and help, we were given strict instructions to just observe her while she busied herself in the kitchen. It was a great time chatting with the girls and watching Lana as she pulled everything together.

The essence of the soup is in the broth, which Lana made from scratch using pork bones, lemongrass and taro root. This bubbled on the stove while she prepared a spicy sauce of lemongrass, garlic, tomato (she used ketchup) and oil and then cleaned the seafood and greens.

Once the broth was ready, she removed the lemongrass and bones and then added the sauce. Along with some Tom Yum paste, a seafood bouillon cube, tofu and the seafood itself – we were ready to dish up our bowls.

Usually this soup would be poured into a serving bowl with a heating unit and placed on the table for everyone to make their bowls of soup, but in this occasion we did this at the stove. Lana demonstrated how to assemble the steaming bowls. First, your serving of greens are added to the soup pot to wilt. You then put some noodles in your bowl and choose the seafood and other vegetables that you want. You then retrieve your greens and then ladle the spicy broth on top. We all patiently waited in line clutching our bowls for our turn – it smelled incredible.

The taste was absolutely perfect. Spicy but slightly sweet – the ultimate comfort food. The seafood was perfectly cooked, tender and saturated with the spicy flavor. When the weather turns a bit cooler, I’ll have to dig up a recipe to see if I can make this at home myself.