Carrot Cake with Chambord Frosting

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients
4 eggs
3/4 cups canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2.5 - 3 cups of carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup raisins
8oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

Grease and flour 2 bread pans or 2 cake pans.

Mix together flour, baking soda and powder,salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.

In a mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugars, oil, apple sauce, vanilla. Mix in the flour mixure. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Pour into pans.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes then transfer onto wire racks to cool completely. Then cover with chambord glaze. Let cool and decorate with cream cheese frosting.

Chambord Lemon glaze
2 tablespoons chambord
2 table spoons fresh lemon juice
1.5 cups of powdered sugar

mix all ingredients in small pot on low heat. stir with a whisk. if too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time. should have the consistency of thick gravy.

Chambord cream cheese icing
2 tablespoons chambord
4 cups of powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened

Whenever possible I will use flavored liquors and alcohol in a recipe. You can soak the raisins in rum too. Don't be afraid to substitute the Chambord for something with a more distinctive flavor. You can also try a citrus liquor. I decided on using lemon in the glaze. The tartness really brings out the sweet berry flavors of the Chambord.

Did I miss crab season?

Most people don't realize how simple it is to steam crab at home. I'll warn you though, my kitchen will smell like crab for an entire week after crab night but thinking about it makes my belly growl. Grrrrrr!

First you need to get a live crab. Make sure it's a live one and not frozen or half dead. Rinse in the sink with some clean water. Some people scrub but I don't want to aggravate the crab too much. The limbs fall off when the animal is agitated. Leave in the sink until ready.

Boil 2 inches of water in a pot big enough to hold the crab and cover with the lid. You can salt the water or add lemon slices but it's not necessary. QUICKLY put the crab in the pot and cover the lid. This is not for the squeamish. You have to do this fast so it won't spread it's legs and stop you from getting it in the pot.

Boil/steam for 18 minutes. A chef once told me that the crab is cooked once it starts to smell really good. It's easy to over cook and what a shame that would be.

Remove the crab from the pot of boiling water and let sit until cool enough to touch. Pull off the shell and reserve innards for the noodle recipe or to serve on rice. Remove the gills and dispose. Use a crab cracker to get to the meat. Eat alone or serve with garlic noodles. I like to dip my crab in garlic butter with white pepper.

If you don't finish the crab and want to save the left overs, remove the meat and store in the fridge. Crab meat doesn't keep well in the shell.

Garlic Noodle Recipe from Poleng Lounge San Francisco

Lavosh Pizza Salad

Instead of pizza dough, substitute Lavosh for a lighter meal. Lavosh is an Armenian flat bread. For this recipe you will need the soft version and can be purchased from Trader Joe's or any Middle Eastern market.

Bake time: 15 - 2o minutes
Prep time: 5-10 mintues

Toppings: just about anything you want, as much as you prefer

I topped my pizza with:

Arugula
chopped crimini mushrooms
tomato slices
sweet yellow onion, sliced paper thin
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

First marinate the onion is olive oil and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Put a sheet of the Lavosh on a baking pan. Spread with a little olive oil. This will allow the bread to bake crispy but not dry. Top with the ingredients, sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.

Bake on the center rack for 10 minutes. Then top with cheese and bake another 5- 10 mintutes until cheese is golden brown. Drizzle with truffle oil.

Keep an eye on the pizza so that the Lavosh doesn't over bake and become crispy like a cracker.

Persimmon, it's not a tomato!

Quite possibly my favorite fruit, although all food is my favorite at some point, the Fuyu persimmon is actually a berry. For a first timer this fruit is commonly described as a "funny looking hard tomato" but it is nothing like the later. Persimmon are full of sugary goodness and best eaten cold on a warm summer day. Late summer is the best time to look out for these at your local farmer's markets or Asian grocer. Sometimes I will save one and wait until it is over-ripe. This is almost impossible but if you can wait, it completely changes the texture of the fruit. The meat becomes very soft and the center remains crunchy. The difficult part now is trying to remove the skin. Trust me, wait and enjoy!

Nutritional info: 118 calories, 31 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, potassium 270 mg, calcium 13.4 mg, protein 1 gram, Vitamin A 3641 IU, and a great source of B vitamins as well.

If persimmons are not available at your grocer, try Bella Viva's dried persimmon. They are sweet and chewy and make a healthy treat. I suggest buying in bulk because they sell out fast! If in San Francisco, visit the Bella Viva stand at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. You might just run into me there!