The Most Dangerous Cake

I am afraid of microwaves.  I clearly just don't understand them.  Whenever I use the microwave, things are not heated all the way or they explode, which is fun.  Some people are masterful with a microwave.  They can cook things, reheat food thoroughly and evenly... I have no idea how they do it.  That said, a couple years ago the lovely Maile Rose sent me the recipe for a chocolate cake that is baked in the microwave.  For some reason, I had all of the ingredients in the room, so I decided to make it.  Which is why it claims to be the most dangerous cake recipe in the world... at any time of the day you are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tbs flour

4 tbs sugar

2 tbs cocoa

1 egg

3 tbs milk

3 tbs oil

3 tbs chocolate (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract (optional)

1 large coffee mug

Add the dry ingredients to your largest mug and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.  Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if desired) and vanilla extract and mix.

The mixture with my Peter Rabbit fork

Put your mug in the microwave and cook at 1000 watts (HIGH) for 3 minutes.  Because my mug was funky and Lord knows how to actually use the microwave on my floor, I ended up flipping the cake over and cooking it for another 45 seconds because it wasn't totally done.

Right out of the microwave

Susan and I split the cake.  It was pretty good, even if it wasn't spectacular.  It was kind of a strange cake - it was denser than usual.  I added some chocolate chips, which all sank to the bottom of the mug and had the effect of a gooey chocolate layer on the bottom.  Also, I used olive oil instead of canola oil because I had some olive oil ice cream awhile ago that was delicious.  The fact that I also have a quart of olive oil to use before the end of the year may have been a factor as well.

The finished product on Susan's pretty plate

All in all, not a bad recipe, although it does need some tweaking.  If you are suffering from a major craving and have all of the ingredients on hand, go for it.  But if you have to go out to get some of the ingredients, just buy a cake!  Or, better yet, make a regularly sized cake.

***

While I was "baking," I had the song "My Way" running through my head.  As much as it pains me to admit it, it wasn't Frank Sinatra's original but instead the cover that Robin Williams sings in Happy Feet. That's right.  Happy Feet.  So here it is for your listening pleasure.  I love this clip because it is dubbed over in Spanish (and Robin Williams really does sing the song in Spanish).

I think it's an almost appropriate song for this cake - each is a... well, "adulterated" is too strong of a word, but each is a weird, fun version of a classic. 

Tuna Melt - A Pauper's Meal

So every once in a while I go out and blow a bit more money on a meal than I should.  Just a smidgeon.  Really.  Then I spend the next few days trying to spend as little as possible.  One of my favorite meals when this happens is a Tuna Melt.  It is incredibly simple and doesn't take that much time.

Tuna Melt

Start preheating the oven as soon as possible.  I usually just broil the tuna melt (and therefore press fewer buttons) but heating the oven to 350 degrees is fine.  The actual temperature of the oven doesn't matter as long as you watch the food.  Open a can of tuna  and distribute it on a slice of bread to your heart's content.  Sometimes I mix the tuna with some mayonnaise and mustard or whatever else is around: pecans, celery, pickles.  Cut some cheese and put it on top of the tuna.  It really doesn't matter what kind of cheese you use or if you use cheese at all.  I like extra sharp cheddar cheese (shout out to the Vermonter farmers who have supported my addiction to cheese) or brie if I'm feeling particularly extravagant or French.  Place the delightful creations on a pan and put them in the oven - preferably on a rack close to the top of the oven (this is especially important if you are using the broiler).  Remove the pan from the oven when the cheese starts melting or the tuna starts to crisp.  Or whenever it looks most delicious.  I generally use bread rolls, but Susan uses some type of sliced bread.  Because the sliced bread lies flat on the baking sheet, condensation gets trapped between the bread and the metal so the bread can get slightly soggy.  I've found that the best solution to this is to toast one side of the bread before flipping it over and adding the tuna and cheese to the other side.

Here's an appropriate song if you're feeling French:

(It's appropriate in that it is a French song.)

Caracas Arepa Bar

After talking about this place for weeks, my friend Caitlin finally motivated us (Susan, Ariana, and I plus Susan's friend Lily who is visiting from Brown) to go downtown to Caracas Arepa Bar in the Village (at 1st Ave. and 7th St.).  Another friend of ours had discovered it over the summer and we were dying to try it.  My roommate Susan doesn't get out of class until 7:30 so we didn't get to the Village until 8:30.  The place was absolutely packed and they don't take reservations so we went to Veniero's (more on that later) for an hour before we headed back to squeeze the five of us into a four-person table.

This is the type of place I love.  What appears to be a hole in the wall is actually a vibrant eatery buzzing with people who love good food.  There was a mural of a woman on the wall with the words, "Hoy no fio, mañana sí!"  (Loosely translated: I don't trust today, but I trust tomorrow!)

The five of us split fried sweet plantain balls stuffed with white cheese (Yoyos) as an appetizer.

I ordered La Mulata (above) which was an arepa stuffed with grilled white cheese with jalapeños, sautéed red peppers, fried sweet plantains and black beans.  For those of you that don't know, an arepa is a corn pancake eaten in Venezuela and Colombia OR, as Caitlin described it, "a really fat tortilla."  It was to die for.  I also ordered a glass of Tinto de Verano, which is a Spanish drink made with red wine and sparkling water that is similar to Sangria.  (Of course I thought of my fellow Spanish-travelers Katie and Emily... DONDÉ ESTÁ LA TORTUGA?!)  For dessert, we split a Quesillo, which was their version of traditional flan.  It was denser and less custardy than usual, but it was still delicious.  Including my portion of the price of the appetizer and the dessert, the drink, tax, and tip, my bill came out to about $16 (which means I don't have to eat like a pauper over the weekend as penance).

Side note: the mysterious hot sauce in the middle of the table was amazing.  It enhanced every part of the meal, from the Yoyos appetizer to La Mulata, and those of you who know me know that is very difficult for me to alter a meal by adding unnecessary condiments or (God forbid) mixing different foods together that were not intended to be together (aka serial eating... yes, this is a thing).

All in all, definitely worth checking out.

Do You Want To Go to Lunch?

The Italian word "pranzo" means a couple things: lunch, dinner, luncheon, snack-time... basically any meal.  Combined with a rising intonation and a knowing smile, "...pranzo?", the word becomes the equivalent of the English phrase, "Would you like to go to lunch?"

Sono io, Isabelle Elias, a sophomore studying Computer Science at Columbia University in the City of New York.  Because my mother passed her own deeply rooted form of gastronomical snobbery to me (which I wasn't fully aware of until I left home), I have spent the better part of the past two years figuring out how to feed myself quality food on a college student's budget.  So that's the project - keeping a food diary with posts ranging from easy recipes and meals to reviews of restaurants.  Here we go!