Chocolate-whiskey cake

I'm excited to finally tell you about one of my absolute favorite cakes! I first made this cake over two years ago for a dinner party - I came across the recipe in Gourmet Today and decided to try it simply because, well, how can you turn down chocolate + booze for dessert? It was a major hit with my friends - perfectly moist and chocolatey, with just enough whiskey flavor to elevate the cake to a level of sophistication that you don't usually find in chocolate cake. And if the deliciousness of the cake wasn't enough to convince you to try it, it's actually quite straightforward to make and improves if made ahead of time! It is the perfect choice if you are looking for a simple but impressive dessert to serve to guests (but if you eat it all yourself, I wouldn't blame you).

What is your go-to dessert for guests?

Three party dips

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post! My mom and I cooked like crazy for the celebration party that we threw last night. We both love cooking, so we had a lot of fun with the preparations. All the food came out great, and the party was wonderful! Here are some photos of the spread:

Clockwise from the top left: blue cheese tart, butternut squash and apple bruschetta, zucchini and goat cheese rolls with raisins and pistachios, Italian stuffed mushrooms. The bruschetta recipe can be found here on Tri to Cook, and the zucchini rolls recipe can be found here on Cara's Cravings.

On the dessert table, we had monster cookies (peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and M&Ms), chocolate-whiskey cake, gingerbread whoopie pies with maple buttercream, and cranberry pecan caramel bars.

We also made three dips that we served with pita chips and veggies. We had roasted red pepper and eggplant dip, Persian yogurt and spinach dip, and herbed lima bean hummus. I promised to tell you about all the party recipes, and I'm going to start with these dips. I've already posted the roasted red pepper and eggplant dip recipe, so you can check that out if you want. The lima bean dip is a great twist on traditional chickpea hummus, and is super flavorful due to garlic, cilantro, parsley, dill, mint, and cumin. The spinach and yogurt dip is creamy and delicious, and went especially well with the veggies. The three dips all had unique and distinct flavors but still complemented each other very well. Well, without further delay, here are the recipes!

Some news + a party menu

Those of you who are regular readers know that I've been very busy these last several weeks finishing up my Ph.D. thesis. Well, I am very happy to announce that I successfully passed my thesis defense yesterday, which officially makes me Dr. Paradise! Thanks for sticking with me through this period of rather low posting frequency - I can't wait to get back to cooking and blogging now that I have more free time!

I am having a party at my apartment this weekend to celebrate completing my Ph.D., and as you might imagine, I've planned an extensive menu. It's going to be all hors d'oevres and dessert, including some recipes by local Boston bloggers. Here's what is on the list (I'll be posting all the recipes over the next couple weeks):

*Update*
Recipes have been posted and links added so you can easily find the recipes.

Savory

Roasted red pepper and eggplant dip

Persian yogurt and spinach dip

Herbed lima bean hummus

Zucchini and goat cheese rollatini with raisins and pistachios (from Cara's Cravings)
Italian stuffed mushrooms
Butternut squash and apple bruschetta (from Tri to Cook)
Pizza monkey bread (from Healthy and Sane and Confections of  Foodie Bride)
Gorgonzola tart with honeyed tomato butter
Pumpernickel toasts with cream cheese and smoked salmon
Spiced pecans with rum glaze

Sweet
Chocolate-whiskey bundt cake
Gingerbread whoopie pies with maple buttercream
Monster cookies (peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and M&Ms)
Cranberry pecan caramel bars

My mom and I cooked several of the recipes today, and the cooking will continue until Saturday evening! I couldn't be happier right now =).

What are your favorite party recipes?

Moroccan ragout with poached eggs

When I saw this recipe highlighted on Food52, I knew that I had to make it soon and I knew it was going to be amazing. Sausage and tomato sauce with Moroccan spices and poached eggs? Yes please. I changed the recipe a bit, reducing the amount of oil, using Spanish chorizo instead of merguez sausage, and substituting potatoes for half the sausage. It really was fantastic - we gobbled up half of it for dinner on Saturday night and the leftovers were even better for lunch the next day. And I might have eaten the last remaining bit for breakfast today. This is one of those standout dishes that I'd happily eat for every meal of the day - I already can't wait to make it again!

Salad with tahini-sriracha dressing

My Ph.D. thesis defense is in 2 weeks. Needless to say, this is pretty much the only thing occupying my mind these days. I've even been dreaming about my thesis at night. Like literally, dreaming about specific paragraphs in the actual document. Today I told one of my labmates about a recent dream, and he just looked at me for a minute and said "Maybe you need a break. Have you been cooking much lately?" And well, the truthful answer to that is no. Ever since I returned from Singapore & India last week (hopefully I'll be posting some recipes inspired by the trip at some point), I haven't had much time or energy to spare. But my friend is right. I do need to clear my mind. So today, I went for a nice run to take advantage of this ridiculously great weather, and then started thinking about dinner. I was in the mood for a hearty salad and I decided to try creating a new dressing inspired by this recipe on Eat, Live, Run. I started with the flavor profile in that recipe and made a dressing with tahini, white wine vinegar, sriracha, and a bit of yogurt. It was delicious. I used it to dress a nice big salad of spring mix topped with chickpeas, artichokes, hard boiled eggs, and roasted sweet potatoes. Substantial enough for dinner and very healthy - the perfect meal to fuel me up to dive back into that thesis tomorrow!

What are your favorite ingredients for main dish salads?

Salad with tahini-sriracha dressing
This dressing recipe makes enough for about 3 dinner-sized portions. Salad ingredient amounts and proportions can be adjusted to your taste.

Salad greens (I used Olivia's Organics spring mix with herbs, which I love)
Frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
Chickpeas
Hard boiled eggs, chopped
Roasted sweet potato cubes
2 tbs tahini
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1/2 tbs sriracha sauce (or more if you want)
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbs yogurt
3 tbs water

Put salad greens on a plate and top with artichoke hearts, chickpeas, eggs, and sweet potato cubes. In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, vinegar, sriracha, olive oil, yogurt, and water. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.

Tofu salad sandwiches

I bet many of raised a skeptical eyebrow when you saw the title of this post. Tofu salad? Who wants to eat that? Well, I'm here to assure you, this is good stuff. When the tofu is drained of excess moisture and chopped up, its texture is surprisingly similar to hard boiled egg whites. The tofu is mixed with scallions, chopped pickles, and mustard, which packs the salad full of flavor. To hold it all together, I used mashed avocado instead of mayo, which was a very good decision, if I do say so myself =). I thought the flavor of the salad was a good match for a dark German bread that I had around - it included a mixture of whole wheat and rye flours with caraway seeds. Feel free to use regular wheat bread if you prefer. 

p.s. When you are reading this, I should be in Singapore! My research adviser has a lab there, so the trip is for work. Hopefully my thesis work will be in good shape and I'll have some free time to go eat lots of delicious food! I'm definitely thinking of the Top Chef finale that was in Singapore a couple years ago...(by the way, I wrote and scheduled this post before I left, so you aren't going to get any more details right now about what I've been doing or eating).

What country would you visit just based on the food?

Macaroni and cheese with silken tofu, carrots, and broccoli

Have you ever tried silken tofu? I first learned about it from Mark Bittman, who used it in a pudding recipe for the New York Times. Unlike the tofu that you may be more familiar with, silken tofu has a soft, smooth texture like custard and can be used as a dairy substitute. Bittman's recipe made me very curious to try it, but I'm not a huge fan of pudding, so I never got around to it. Then recently, Emily of A Cambridge Story used it to make a pasta casserole with alfredo sauce. When I saw her recipe, I knew that I wanted to do something similar to create a healthier version of mac 'n cheese (maybe healthified mac 'n cheese will become a whole category on this blog. I've already got this one). The sauce in this recipe is made of silken tofu, carrots, garlic and some smoked Gouda cheese. That's it. No butter, no milk, no cream. The tofu really gives it a velvety smooth texture that just feels creamy, and the carrots give it some good cheesy color. The smoked Gouda adds tons of flavor - Andrew even thought there was bacon in this dish. I have to admit that I get a big kick out of sneaky uses for vegetables and healthy ingredients, so I really had fun with this =).

Do you have any tricks for sneaking vegetables or other healthy ingredients into recipes?

(Do you like the new dishes that I got for Christmas? They are technically French onion soup bowls but I think they were perfect for this recipe!)