by Dana Bate
½ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons crème de cacao
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 cups heavy cream
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl, either set over a pot of simmering water or in the microwave. Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, remove it from the heat and set it aside.
Whisk the eggs yolks with the sugar, rum, crème de cacao, and coffee in a very large mixing bowl. Blend in the chocolate, tempering the eggs with a little of the chocolate first and then adding all the rest.
Whip the cream in a large bowl until stiff. Gently but thoroughly fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, adding a small amount first to lighten the mixture, then adding the rest.
Beat the eggs whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate cream. Refrigerate overnight. Serve in bowls or goblets.
Sesame Chicken
Serves 4
This is my mom-mom’s famous sesame chicken. Every time I smell it cooking or take a bite, I think of her. You can easily double the recipe.
Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Lemon pepper to taste (or ground black pepper, if lemon pepper is unavailable)
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Canola, safflower, or corn oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
Season the chicken breasts evenly with paprika, garlic power, and lemon pepper (or black pepper) and salt to taste, being sure to rub under the skin as well. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top and press them down so that they stick. Place chicken on a dish, cover, and refrigerate at least 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking pan with foil and pour oil into the pan to a depth of about inch to cover the bottom. Place pan in the oven until the oil sizzles when you drop some flour in it.
Place flour in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, covering completely on both sides and tapping off the excess.
Place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Return the pan to the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook about 20 minutes more, or until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and serve.
Dried Apricot Canapés with Herbed Goat Cheese and Serrano Ham
Serves 8–10
If you can’t find Serrano ham, you could easily substitute prosciutto, or even speck for a smoky twist.
Ingredients
2 slices Serrano ham
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
2 teaspoons milk
4 teaspoons minced chives
40 dried apricots
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the slices of Serrano ham on top. Bake for 15 minutes, until darkened and crispy. Remove with tongs and drain on paper towels. The ham will crisp further as it cools. Crumble into large shards.
In a small bowl, beat the goat cheese and milk together until fluffy. Mix in the chives.
Spread a small amount of the herbed goat cheese on top of each apricot, and top each one with a shard of crisp Serrano ham.
Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 3–4 (or 2, if you’re really hungry . . . )
The key to crisp oven fries is not crowding the pan. Use two pans if you need to—there should be plenty of space between the fries.
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
¼ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line one or two sheet pans with parchment paper.
Peel sweet potatoes and cut them into ½-inch-wide batons. Soak them in a large bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes and up to half a day.
Mix cornstarch and salt together in a plastic bag.
Drain fries and pat dry with paper towels. (You don’t want them too wet, or the cornstarch will get soggy, but you want just enough moisture so the cornstarch will stick.) Dump fries into the bag and shake vigorously to coat them with the cornstarch mixture.
Before placing the fries on the sheet pans, dump them into a sieve and shake off the excess cornstarch. Then place them on the sheet pan, making sure there is enough space between the fries.
Drizzle olive oil over the fries and toss to coat them evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip with a spatula and bake for 10–15 minutes longer, until they are crispy.
Photo by Yen Tai
Dana Bate is the author of A Second Bite at the Apple, Too Many Cooks, and The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs, which earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly and has been translated into five languages. Before writing fiction full time, she was a Washington producer and reporter for PBS’s Nightly Business Report, where she won the Gerald Loeb Award for a series she produced on the Indian economy. She studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University and received her master’s degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, where she won the Harrington Award for outstanding promise in the field of journalism. She lives outside Philadelphia with her family.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Dana Bate
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-263-8
eISBN-10: 1-61773-263-X
First Kensington Electronic Edition: November 2015
ISBN: 978-1-6177-3262-1
First Kensington Trade Paperback Printing: November 2015