January 2010 - LunaCafe

Bittersweet Chocolate Orange French Toast for Lovers

January 26, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 8 Comments

Bittersweet Chocolate French Toast for Lovers

With this post, we kick off the second annual Love Rules! All Chocolate! All Month! celebration at LunaCafe OtherWorldly Kitchen. To check out the wonderful chocolate creations we debuted last February, be sure to visit the All Chocolate! recipe archive.

Beginning now, every post until the end of February will feature, you guessed it, CHOCOLATE. In fact, I’ve been covered in unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate, as well as cocoa, for many weeks now, trying to come up with the world’s best, truly CHEWY (not fudgy, not cakey) brownie. And finally, after many attempts, I succeeded. In all the testing, I also serendipitously hit upon a wonderfully silky, light, and luscious fudgy brownie that turned me, the swamp boogie queen of chewy brownie lovers, into a fudgy brownie convert.

Filed Under: Breakfast & Brunch, Chocolate, Recipes Tagged With: almond praline, bittersweet chocolate, breakfast, brunch, Cara Cara oranges, caramel syrup, Chocolate, french toast, Valentine's Day

Curried Seafood Cakes with Fresh Ginger Aioli

January 24, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 11 Comments

I have a passion for seafood cakes of any variety: Dungeness crab cakes, shrimp cakes, fresh or smoked salmon cakes, and varieties yet untried. They are easy to make, but many a fine cook errs by adding too much binder. You want to taste the seafood and the seasoning, not what is holding them together–bread crumbs typically.

Filed Under: Appetizers, Holiday, Holiday Appetizers, Let It Snow, Recipes, Seafood Tagged With: aioli, appetizer, Appetizers, crab cakes, curry, first course, ginger aioli, LunaCafe's Garam Masala, salmon cakes, scallop cakes, seafood cakes, shellfish, shrimp cakes

Yakima Valley Artichoke Appetizer

January 14, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 27 Comments

This recipe originally came into my files from my sister-in-law and culinary diva, Mary-beth. Or was it from my other sister-in-law, entertaining diva, Priscilla? Well, it was definitely from one of these two remarkable women.

For a few years, many years ago, while living amongst the Bradley clan and their merry circle of friends in Yakima, Washington, this appetizer appeared at EVERY cocktail party. It was a novelty at the time and a darned good one at that. But as the years passed, and we moved to Seattle, I forgot about it.

Filed Under: Appetizers, Holiday, Holiday Appetizers, Let It Snow, Recipes Tagged With: Appetizers, artichokes, entertaining, frittata, nibbles, small bites

The Best Damned Hash

January 8, 2010 by Susan S. Bradley 10 Comments

The Best Damn Hash with Dulcet Peppery Moroccan Ketchup

James (AKA MauiJim) has always hated hash with a passion. “That awful, mushy stuff,” as he puts it. “Tastes just like dog food smells,” is another of his customary remarks when the hash subject is broached. This man doesn’t mince words. And he knows what he likes.

Filed Under: Let It Snow, Meat & Poultry Tagged With: bell pepper, hash, Italian pork sausage, ketchup, main course, pork, quick