Easy Chocolate Lava Cakes

It's funny to me that a lot of my go to desserts involve chocolate since I actually prefer fruity things. Maybe they're easier? I don't know.

Whatever the reason, it has given me the chance to round out my stash of chocolate desserts. Besides Pots de Creme that I posted about the other week, I've been able to perfect the chocolate lava cake.

The first few times I made it, the recipe I used suggested using cocoa powder to "flour" the baking dishes, but that made them taste a bit burnt when they came out. So I searched around for a new recipe and found one that suggested using butter and sugar instead.

Winner! I'll take any chance I get to coat something in butter and sugar ;) Dillon definitely approves of the new version, and so have a few of our friends who graciously taste tested for me.

Easy Chocolate Lava Cakes
Adapted from Buzzfeed

For 4 lava cakes

8 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
1/4 c butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing custard cups
1/4 c sugar, plus more for the custard cups
4 eggs
1/4 c all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 425°F, and grease four 6 to 8-ounce custard cups or ramekins generously with butter. Put a small spoonful of sugar in each cup, then turn the cup sideways and rotate it so that the sugar is coating the butter all around. Dump out any excess sugar. Place the greased cups on a baking sheet or oven safe dish.

Put the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it on high for 30 seconds, stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. It should be completely melted. If there are still chunks of unmelted chocolate, microwave for another 20 seconds and stir.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the room temperature butter and the sugar.

Add the four eggs to the creamed butter and sugar, and beat until everything is combined and the mixture is starting to foam, about a minute. Add the flour and again beat until it’s thoroughly mixed.

Add about 1/3 of the melted chocolate to the mixture in the mixing bowl, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture, and fold together until you have a uniform batter with no streaks.

Divide the batter evenly between the greased custard cups, then bake the cakes in the preheated oven until the tops are just set but the cakes still jiggle slightly when you shake them, about 11 minutes.

Let the finished cakes sit in cups for five minutes when they’re finished baking. Then, flip each cup over on a dessert plate, and tap the bottoms of the cups so that the cakes fall out.

Serve immediately. If you want, you can garnish them with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and berries, or even my Cinnamon Pear Caramel sauce.

Massaman Curry

So one time a roommate of mine had to do some weird extra curricular activity for a class which involved going to a local grocery store and participating in a food class.  I had never heard of this before, but when she invited me and told me that this particular night would be about cheese and that you could sample it, I was all in. She didn't really like cheese so she kept passing me her samples, win win!

It was a fun evening so I kept checking their schedule and when a class about curry came up, another roommate and I went and learned! They've since stopped doing the classes, but I'm so glad we got to go to a couple--but especially the curry class because it's a real go to in our house.  The hardest part is chopping vegetables, so really, it's pretty easy.

Massaman Curry

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp massaman curry paste (you can buy it here on amazon if you can't find in in local stores)
2 chicken breasts, cubed
olive oil

1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 zucchinis, sliced
1-2 cans coconut milk

After all the chicken and vegetables are cut up, heat oil in a pan and add the onion, minced garlic, and curry paste and cook for 1 min. Add the chicken and cook until done.

Add the vegetables and cook until cauliflower is tender, then add in the coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 mins.

Serve over rice.

One Pan Pad Thai

I love Pad Thai. I actually never tried it until I moved to Utah, and I'm pretty sure that it was on a date with Dillon.

That may have been the time that he wasn't super hungry and didn't eat most of his curry, but boxed it up to go and then forgot the food on the table.  SUCH a bummer.  He's lucky that I also learned how to make curry ;)

I think Pad Thai was a little intimidating to me because of the rice noodles...I have no idea why.  I mean, they're just noodles. But something about the rice part threw me off. Thankfully I shook off any fear (ha, of noodles) and tried out a few recipes until I found the one that we like and can whip up really quickly.  

One Pan Pad Thai

Sauce

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

2 Tbsp thai chili sauce

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/4 c fish sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 pack rice noodles (cooked according to package directions--the ones I use have you soak them for 10 mins)

1 Chicken breast

2 cloves garlic

2 eggs

oil for cooking

green onions, white parts chopped off and sliced

peanuts and limes for garnish

Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.

Cube chicken

Heat skillet with oil and add minced garlic and bottoms of green onions (the white part), then add chicken.  Cook until chicken is done, then push to the side and, in the same pan, add two eggs and cook, scrambling them.

Add noodles and toss, cooking for 2 mins.

Add sauce, remove from heat and top with green onion, peanuts, and lime wedge.

Honey Lime Chicken

This recipe was another Pinterest find.  The green of the limes popped out at me and I'm a sucker for meat that has sugar on it--probably not the best dieting habit--so we invited some friends over and gave it a try.

It really was a fast and delicious meal that was healthy since the honey amount was pretty small. And it made our house smell awesome.  I did add some garlic to the pan before frying the chicken because I love it and I thought it would add a good background element.

It turned out pretty well and definitely passes the test!

 Honey Lime Chicken
By Juliasalbum.com

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (it took me 2 limes)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
7 or 8 chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic
green onions, chopped
1 lime, sliced (for garnish only)

In a small bowl combine lime juice, honey, soy sauce.

Salt the chicken thighs

In 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil and minced garlic over medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken skin is browned. Turn chicken, so that skins sides are up and add lime-honey mixture to the skillet. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 14 to 18 minutes longer or until done.

Transfer chicken to plates. Drizzle chicken with pan juices. Top with chopped green onions and serve with lime slices.