I firmly believe that the human population is broken up into two types: people who adore mayonnaise, or those that vehemently despise the stuff.  I, on the other hand, am a bit of a hybrid of those two people, like, if they had a kid, you would have me.  I love mayonnaise, but only if I don’t have to make it.  The minute I throw egg yolks and some oil in a blender and see the emulsification process, my stomach tightens and I’m coughing on my knees, and am physically unable to spread the stuff on a slice of bread. But if it comes pre-made, in a jar, with the label Hellman’s or Duke’s, I’m all about it.

For mayonnaise fans, it has the ability to make things taste exponentially better. It adds awesome flavor and moisture to all sorts of things. Got a Chick-fil-A sandwich that’s a little dry? Add mayo! Need a sweet dipping sauce for French fries? Take a cue from the French, and use some mayo! Wanna make the lightest, most moist chocolate cake ever? Yes, that’s right, add mayo!

The mayonnaise in this cake actually replaces the vegetable oil that’s typically called for.  And it sorta makes sense if you think about it, since all mayo really is is egg, a little vinegar and oil.  And since this chocolate cake is so unusually light, I didn’t think twice about pairing it with chocolate frosting, which I typically would never do.

So to all you mayo haters, give mayo one more chance and make this cake. I think it deserves it.

{I loved, LOVED this icing.}

{Since I was transporting this cake to a party later on in the evening, I placed pieces of parchment paper in between the cake board and the cake, so when I was done icing the cake I could simply remove the pieces and have a clean cake board.}

{Messy parchment paper…}

{Clean cake board!}

{I show up to dinner parties with partially eaten cakes. Yep, I’m that girl.}

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

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Cake:

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups boiling water

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1 1/3 cups mayonnaise (do not use reduced-fat or fat-free)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Special equipment: Twi 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in medium metal bowl. Add 1 3/4 cups boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into another medium bowl.Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and mayonnaise in large bowl until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with chocolate mixture in 3 additions, beating until blended after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Divide batter among prepared cake pans (about 2 1/3 cups for each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes. Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto racks and let cool completely.

For frosting:
Place chopped chocolate in medium metal bowl; set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Carefully remove bowl from over water; let melted chocolate cool until lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Sift powdered sugar over butter and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add melted chocolate and beat until well blended and smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over top of cake layer to edges. Top with second cake layer; spread 3/4 cup frosting over. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over top and sides of cake. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.

Cut cake into wedges and serve.

There are times when I get bummed out. Like seriously just bummed. Whether it be with careers, relationships, friendships, etc., we all make plans for those things, and when those said plans don’t work out, disappointment can surely set in.  So the other day when I was bumming around and loathing in my own bummed-outness, I decided to take a cue from Erin over at Reading My Tea Leaves.  Each week she posts a few pictures of simple, little objects that made her week. Sometimes when bigger stuff is out of your control, you have to look to the little stuff that makes you happy.

So here are a list of a few things that made my week:

1. A vintage post card that hangs on my fridge. It’s from my uncle that was accompanied with an old Marcela Hazan cookbook.

2. Even though it’s Spring in LA, the chilly nights still make me grab for this cashmere scarf. And plus, it was a gift from my brother (probably picked out by my mom).

3. These daffodils because they’re $1.79 at Trader Joe’s, and that means I can buy a bunch and spread them around my apartment. They’re sunny.

And lastly, this freakin’ frittata.  It was super easy,  super amazing and tasted like Spring.  And also, it has potatoes in it! And the carmelized onions are amazing..and this is coming from someone that quivers at the thought of eating a cooked onion. Seriously.  You must try this.  If you do, I guarantee that it’ll be one of those little things that make your week.

{Frittatas are like garbage disposals. Wait, that sounds gross.  I take that back.  But you can really add whatever cool leftover stuff you have going on in your fridge.  I had an awkward amount of goat cheese and a few strips of bacon laying around, so I decided they’d be a good addition.}

Potato Frittata

Recipe from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

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5 tablespoons canola oil

1 small yellow onion, sliced

5 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

7 eggs

1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon minced chives

2 whole scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

4 strips of bacon, fried and chopped

1.5 oz. of goat cheese

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400˚F.

Heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat and drizzle 2 tablespoons of the oil into it.  Add the onions and cook until they’re carmelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup water, scraping any brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon.  Cook until the water evaporates and the onions take on a uniform brown color, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the onions to a roasting pan and toss the with the potatoes. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the remaining 3 tablespoons oil to the potatoes.  Season them generously with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Set them aside to cool for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, herbs, and scallions together and season them with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and onions to the egg mixture.  Heat a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet, and add the egg and potato mixture. Sprinkle the bacon and goat cheese on top and slightly mix with a fork.  Cover the skillet with aluminium foil, transfer it to the oven, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Slice and serve directly from the skillet, warm or at room temperature.

On my tiny little back porch in my apartment I have 3 little planters, and every summer I plant an assortment of herbs that flourish for those first few warm months. Then winter comes and it is survival of the fittest to see who can make it to springtime. The basil always dies first. Basil is  an amazing  herb but is sort of a wimp when it comes to cold weather. Mint is my prize fighter. Every year it shrinks up and sheds brown leaves and I think it’s totally dead until spring comes and then it regrows with a vengeance.

However, this year the new winner is my chive plant. This little guy hung on with green stalks all through the winter, but now that it’s spring it’s really starting to take over it’s little planter home. I can feel it reaching out over the box like it wants to go play somewhere. Somewhere like…my scrambled eggs?

I have always been a big fan of scrambled eggs with chives. Something about that mild onion flavor just works magic with plain old eggs. However, I felt a little adventurous yesterday and decided to try adding sour cream, thinking maybe it would mimic one of my favorite potato chips. I was surprised to find that the tanginess of the sour cream actually sort of vanishes after cooking, but the eggs are fluffy and creamy in a way that is heavenly. I wish I could think of better words to describe how much I loved this simple recipe, but probably the best thing would be for you to just try it yourself.

Sour Cream and Chive Scrambled Eggs

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As you can tell by the pictures, I cooked this recipe with two eggs. However, I’m writing out the directions with one egg so that you can easily multiply everything for the amount of eggs you need.

1 egg
1 teaspoon sour cream
1-2 stalks fresh chives, cut into pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Wisk together egg, sour cream, chives and salt in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a pan over low heat and add in the egg mixture. Gently stir and flip over until eggs are cooked to desired consistency, 1-3 minutes. Add in some toast and have a lovely breakfast.

Remember when I wrote about what I wouldn’t eat as a kid? Yeah, this recipe would also make it on that list, because it has lots of different foods actually touch each other *gasp*. This recipe also nearly made it on the list of what my adult self won’t eat, because not only are foods touching each other, but they’re foods that I wouldn’t normally put together. Eggs, granny smith apples and curry powder?? What mad scientist came up with this??

Well, I’m glad that someone out there was more adventurous than me. I’m also glad that I was brave enough to try this recipe even though  while making it there were a few times I wanted to call it quits. Not because it’s hard to make (it’s super easy) but when I started mixing the curry-lime dressing over my eggs, apples and onion I began wondering if I would be better off just making a peanut butter sandwich.

Mmmmm…. peanut butter….

Sorry, I get distracted by really delicious foods. There’s definitely something to be said about a classic combo like peanut butter and jelly. And I’m here to tell you, there’s also something to be said about eggs, granny smith apples, and curry powder.

Mmmmm….eggs….curry powder….

Be brave. Remember, you’re an adult now.

Curry Egg Salad Sandwich

Adapted from Epicurious

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Some of the reviews for the original recipe mentioned that the onion flavor was a little strong, so I cut back on it and thought it was perfect. I also left out the cilantro since I didn’t have any on hand, and I didn’t miss it one bit.

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (half of one lime)
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon whole grain or Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne
6 hard-boiled large eggs, chopped
1 cup diced Granny Smith apple (roughly 1 apple)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

Mix together the mayo, lime juice, curry powder, mustard, salt and cayenne. In a separate bowl, add together the chopped eggs, apple and onion. Pour the curry dressing over top and gently stir everything together. Serve on toasted wheat bread with lettuce, or just eat it with a fork as it is.

Everyone is always on the look out for a weeknight meal. Sometimes I feel like telling people to relax and just eat a bowl of cereal like I do.  But then I remember that a lot of people have kids and dogs and Franklins, and bowls of cereal just won’t do.  Rather than being concerned about a weeknight meal, I’m always more concerned about an easy weekend morning breakfast.  When I wake up a little late and maybe recovering from the night before, going to the store to get fresh ingredients and slaving over the stove doesn’t sound too appealing.  Lucky for you, my weekend breakfast can also be your weeknight meal.  This, like the Croque Madame I made a few weeks ago, is a unisex type meal–it can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. And with only 3 main ingredients, (bread, eggs and a can of plum tomatoes) it’s the easiest thing in the world to make.  You can do it hungover, super sleepy, or super stressed. All is well!

Since this recipe only calls for 3 main ingredients, I recommend using the best quality you can find.  I love San Marzano canned tomatoes.  While they’re more expensive (around $4 for a 24 oz. can), they’re totally worth it. (You can find them at any Italian specialty supermarket, or even Whole Foods.)  And since they don’t have any basil, pepper, salt, etc. in them, I upped the recommended amount for spices from the original recipe. If you’re using whole canned tomatoes with spices in it, then I’d recommend tweaking the spices to taste.

Update: Joy the Baker actually highlighted San Marzano tomatoes too a little while back.  I’m including a link as to where you can buy them online.  Yes, they’re that serious. Please. Buy. Them.

Eggs with Tomato on Toast

Recipe tweaked from Salt to Taste

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Serves 4 (That’s what the book says, but I beg to differ. A friend and I ate this by ourselves, no problem. More like serves 2.)

4-5 eggs

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic or 1 teaspoon, minced

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 24 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, which had around 7-8 tomatoes (San Marzano highly recommended)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

4 slices country white bread–whatever you have, toasted

Separate the eggs, reserving two egg whites for another use.

In a cold medium skillet, combine the oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano.  Turn on the heat and warm over medium heat until the garlic begins to become fragrant (without browning), about 2 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, then use your hands to crush each tomato into the pan.  Note: I tried this and the tomato gushed juice all over my shirt.  It wasn’t cute.  I recommend piercing the middle of the tomato with your finger, slowly, as to release all of its juice AND then crush it.  Season with salt and pepper.  Fry the tomatoes, continuing to break them up with a fork. Cook until they concentrate and no longer look watery, 2 to 3 minutes (this actually took me 5-6 minutes).

Lower the heat to medium and stir in the egg whites.  Cook until the whites become opaque and firm, thickening the tomato sauce, about 1 minute.

Turn off the heat, Using the back of a spoon, make 4 indentations in the sauce, allowing a few inches around each.  Slip and egg yolk into each indentation.  Draw the sauce in from the edges of the pan around each of the yolks.  Cover the skillet and leave it on the stove, heat off, until the yolks are just warmed through and beginning to set, about 3 minutes for runny yolks.

Gently soon some sauce and a yolk onto each piece of toast and serve immediately. I find rubbing some olive oil on the spoons helps prevent breaking the yolk.

I secretly LOVE Valentine’s Day.  I mean, how can I not? I LOVE love!  Here’s a small little list of what I’m loving right now:

I love my family dog, Chuck, mainly because he has weird habits like biting his nails and smelling his ear wax. He’s weird. Like me.  Also, his paws smell like chips, particularly Fritos.

I love my family because all of them, in their own way, have taught me how to be a human being.

I love my friends because they can make me laugh ’til I cry.

I love small stuff like sleeping in without having an alarm set, my tempur-pedic pillow, french pressed coffee…and…umm…this blog. I really do love this thing.

I love this sandwich with french pressed coffee.  I also love this sandwich with a glass of wine. That’s particularly why I love this sandwich, because it can go either way: breakfast or dinner.

Please make this for Valentine’s Day, or any day really, but especially tomorrow. Skip the terrible prix fixe menu, stay home, save some money and make this! Skip the expensive roses and instead get a small bouquet of ranunculus. Let’s go against the grain, people! Skip the lame teddy bears from the drug store and make somebody this sandwich…they can hug it, and this thing’ll hug back, I swear–it’s that good.

Croque Madame

Recipe by Gourmet

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5 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 1/2 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (1 1/3 cups)

8 slices firm white sandwich bread

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 pound thinly sliced cooked ham (preferably Black Forest)

4 large eggs

Make sauce:
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Whisk in salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 1/3 cup cheese until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and cover surface directly with a sheet of wax paper.

Make sandwiches:
Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce evenly over each of 4 slices of bread, then sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese (1/4 cup per slice). Spread mustard evenly on remaining 4 bread slices and top with ham, dividing it evenly, then invert onto cheese-topped bread to form sandwiches.

Lightly oil a 15- by 10-inch shallow baking pan.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, then cook sandwiches, turning over once, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove from heat and transfer sandwiches to baking pan, then wipe out skillet with paper towels.

Preheat broiler.

Top each sandwich with 1/3 cup sauce, spreading evenly. Broil sandwiches 4 to 5 inches from heat until sauce is bubbling and golden in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off broiler and transfer pan to lower third of oven to keep sandwiches warm.

Heat remaining tablespoon butter in nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then crack eggs into skillet and season with salt and pepper. Fry eggs, covered, until whites are just set and yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. Top each sandwich with a fried egg and serve immediately.

In its most basic definition, huevos rancheros is eggs on top of a tortilla and then topped with salsa. Scan through recipes and you see time and again that it’s the salsa that plays a starring role. With tortillas and eggs being a bit difficult to jazz up, each cook will try to distinguish their recipe with a new spin on the salsa.

I, however, am not the biggest fan of tomato salsa, and I have been known to order huevos rancheros and then *gasp* scrape the chunks of tomato right off. To me, the main attraction for this dish is black beans, which isn’t even a required ingredient. Something about black beans and eggs mixed together is just heavenly in the morning. So when I decided to take on this dish at home, I spent none of my energy on the salsa and just bought a  *gasp* store-bought jar, and then began focusing on how to spice up the black beans.

When I lived in Winston Salem, NC, I had black beans at the Village Tavern Restaurant that were cooked with onions, tomato paste, brown sugar and spices. I had been struggling to remember the exact recipe, until it finally dawned on me that all those ingredients combined to make something very similar to a BBQ sauce. Now, I wish I could tell you that I labored over my own made-from-scratch BBQ sauce to pour over these black beans, but seriously, who wants to do that first thing in the morning? Considering how many components it takes to put this all together, I wanted it to be as easy as possible.  Therefore, armed with my pre-made jar of salsa and bottle of BBQ sauce, I give you my take on huevos rancheros!

Huevos Rancheros with BBQ Black Beans

Makes 2 servings

The bonus of making huevos rancheros at home is that you can control the amount of each ingredient on the plate, which is why I’ve left out measurements on a couple of these. I have a friend who hates sour cream and would probably leave it out altogether, whereas I would probably use an entire container with maybe a drizzle of salsa.  Likewise, it is often seen as a sin not to cover this in cheddar cheese, but as you can see by the photos I managed to go without. Have the ingredients on hand, and everyone eating can build their breakfast however they like. I also happened to have tomato-basil tortillas on hand and went with it, but use whatever kind you prefer.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup thick, tomato based BBQ sauce
2 large tortillas
4 eggs
1 avocado, chopped
Salsa
Sour Cream

In a small saucepan, sauté the onions  over medium heat until they begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add in the black beans and BBQ sauce and stir occasionally until well heated.

Lay out the two tortillas on plates. Divide the black beans between the two and spread over the tortillas. In a large skillet, fry the eggs to desired temperature, and layer on top of the beans. Top with avocado, salsa and sour cream.