Chocolate chip cake

It’s fall now. I wait for this season the whole year long, wait for the air that smells crisp and the leaves that turn vibrant pinks. I also wait for that season to start baking! I love to bake. Luckily, I woke up early on Sunday morning to bake a Chocolate Chip Cake. We were so busy the whole day we forgot to take a break to have a slice. When we came in for the night, we were thrilled to see the cake sitting on our kitchen table.
This cake is light, fluffy, and has a tunnel of chocolate chips inside. The sprinkle of some chocolate chips makes the cake sparkle and gives it a nice crunchy top.

Ingredients: 

225 g (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
200 g (1 cup) sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temperature
240 g (2 cups) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

200 g (7 0z) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease a 24 cm (9 1/2 inch) spring pan.

Beat butter and sugar together until very fluffy and white, about 4 minutes. Mix in the eggs slowly, one egg at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla extract.

In another bowl sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture slowly to the egg mixture. Don't over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Leave a handful for decoration.

Pour batter in the pan and level the top. Sprinkle the handful of the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for about 35 min or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Gâteau aux pépites de chocolat

Ingrédients: 

225 g de beurre à température ambiante
200g de sucre

1 càc d'extrait de vanille
4 œufs, à température ambiante
240g de farine
1 càc de levure chimique
une pincée de sel

200 g de pépites de chocolat 

Préchauffez le four à 180ºC. Beurrez un moule de 24 cm.

Battez le beurre avec le sucre environ 4 mn. Ajoutez les œufs, un à un en battant après chaque ajoût. Ajoutez l'extrait de vanille.

Dans un saladier, tamisez la farine, le sel et la levure chimique. Ajoutez le mélange aux œufs et mélangez délicatement. Ajoutez les pépites de chocolat. Réservez une poignée pour la déco.

Versez la préparation dans le moule. Décorez des pépites restantes. Enfournez 35 mn ou jusqu'à ce qu'un cure-dent inséré ressorte propre.

Servez avec une boule de glace à la vanille.

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Dawood Basha - Lebanese meatballs in tomato sauce

A small slice of land wedged on the edge of Asia, Lebanon sits on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It's a really tiny country, roughly the size of "Ile de France".  Lebanon had once been called (the self-proclaimed) Switzerland and Paris of the East.

It is said that the one thing that unites all Lebanese is the love of eating. Lebanese cuisine is abundant and generous, stemming from the tradition of preparing food with love and providing family and friends with much more than could possibly be consumed. A traditional Lebanese meal has many small courses, starting with a mezze (the Lebanese version of antipasti), a selection of small portions of dips, pickles, salads and khibbitz (Arabic bread). The main course is usually grilled meats, accompanied by bread, spiced rice and any remaining mezze. Dessert may entail a selection of sweets including baklava, and other variations of filo pastry combined with nuts and sweet honey-style syrup. To complete a meal, Turkish style black coffee is served.

This dish gets its name from the Ottoman pasha Dawood who governed Lebanon in the 18th century.

The dish is easy to make, tender, melt-in-your-mouth meatballs with a simple tomato sauce over rice, is irresistibly good.

Ingredients (serves 6):

For the sauce:
3 medium onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1 can (400g - 15oz) of crushed tomato
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 cup water

For the meatballs:
2 lbs (1kg) finely minced lean meat
1 medium onion, peeled and grated
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground allspice
1 dash ground cinnamon
a handful of toasted pine nuts

Mix meat well with grated onion, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. Divide meat into 1 inch diameter balls.

Heat some oil in a skillet and saute the onions and a dash of salt on moderate heat until soft and brown. Set aside.

In the same skillet, saute the meatballs on both sides until browned and cooked. Add the sliced onions, the crushed tomato, the pomegranate molasses and the water. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid is reduced.

Serve on a bed of rice and garnish with toasted pine nuts.

Daoud Bacha - Boulettes de viande libanaises à la sauce tomate

Ingrédients (6 personnes):

Pour la sauce:

3 oignons, émincés

2 gousses d'ail

3 càs d'huile d'olive

1 boîte (400g) de tomate pelée

1 càc de mélasse de grenade

235 ml (1 tasse) d'eau 

Pour les boulettes:

1kg de viande finement hachée

1 oignon, pelé et râpé

1 càs de sel

1 càc de mélange 4 épices

1 pincée de cannelle

une poignée de pignons de pin toastés

Mélangez la viande avec l'oignon râpé, le sel, le mélange 4 épices et la cannelle. Formez des boulettes.

Faites chauffer un peu d'huile dans une sauteuse et faites revenir les oignons émincés avec une pincée de sel à feu moyen jusqu'à coloration. Réservez.

Dans la même sauteuse, faites revenir les boulettes sur les deux côtés jusqu'à ce qu'elles soient bien colorées. Ajoutez les oignons émincés, la boîte de tomate, la mélasse de grenade, et l'eau. Laissez mijoter à feu doux environ 20 minutes jusqu'à rédcution de l'eau.

Servez avec du riz et parsemez de pignons de pin toastés.

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