Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (43 page)

1. Prepare sauce by heating I tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce, and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

2. Prepare the chicken by heating ½ cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Coat each piece of chicken with cornstarch. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated. When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.

3. When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel and chicken. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir the dish a couple times but do it gently so you don’t knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve with white or brown rice on the side.

½
cup butter
(
1 stick)
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
(18-ounces)
4 eggs
½
cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

VANILLA SAUCE

2 cups cream
½
cup granulated sugar
½
of a vanilla bean (split down
the middle)
4 egg yolks

RASPBERRY SAUCE

one 12-ounce bag frozen
raspberries, thawed
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Chambord
raspberry liqueur

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate chips and stir occasionally until chocolate is completely melted. Be very careful not to overcook the chocolate or it may burn and taste funny. Not funny ha-ha—funny bad. Remove chocolate from the heat when it’s melted.

3. Beat 4 eggs until fluffy in a large bowl, then add sugar and vanilla and mix well until sugar is dissolved.

4. Temper the egg mixture by stirring in just a few tablespoons of the warm chocolate at first. This will keep the eggs from cooking. Slowly add the rest of the chocolate and mix until well combined.

5. Pour the batter into a 9-inch springform pan that has been lined on the bottom and sides with parchment paper (butter the pan before you add the parchment paper—the butter will make the paper stick). Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until middle of the cake begins to firm up. Remove, cool, cover and chill the cake until you are ready to serve it.

6. As the torte bakes, prepare vanilla sauce by combining cream with ¼ cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Use a knife to scrape the seeds from inside the vanilla bean half, then add the seeds and the bean pod to the pan. Heat mixture, stirring often, just until boiling then turn off heat. Watch the cream closely so that it does not boil over

7. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining ¼ cup of sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by stirring in a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and heat it up again, stirring often until it begins to boil. Immediately pour the sauce into a medium bowl that has been set in a larger bowl filled with ice. This ice bath will help to quickly cool the sauce so that it doesn’t curdle. Cover and chill the sauce until you are ready for it.

8. Make the raspberry sauce by pureeing the thawed raspberries in a blender Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of water to thin the pureed berries a bit—if your berries have a lot of juice add 2 tablespoons of water; if they have just a little juice, add 4 tablespoons of water Strain the seeds from the raspberry puree then pour the puree into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of raspberry liqueur to the pan. Heat until boiling then remove raspberry sauce from heat. Cover and chill it.

9. When you are ready to serve your torte, first spoon some raspberry sauce and vanilla sauce onto a plate. Carefully place the slice of torte on the sauces, but turn it over so that the top of the torte is on the bottom. This is how a flourless chocolate cake is served—topside down. The restaurant zaps the cake for 30 seconds or so in the microwave before serving, so that it is slightly warm. However, you might prefer yours cold.

½ cup mayonnaise
1
½
tablespoons finely minced
onion
1
tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1½
teaspoons shredded and
chopped carrot (bits the size
of rice)
1½
teaspoons sugar

2½
cups Bisquick baking mix
4 tablespoons cold butter
(½
stick)
1 heaping cup grated Cheddar
cheese
¾ cup cold whole milk
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

BRUSH ON TOP

2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼
teaspoon dried parsley flakes
pinch salt

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don’t want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add Cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.