Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

• The good thing about this cake is that it allows you to rationalize: Hmmmmmmmmmm..... I can eat chocolate and sugar because it also has something healthy in it--oatmeal!
  
  Seriously, this is a great little cake and it's so moist all it really needs is powdered sugar. Or vanilla ice cream. Or whipped cream. But remember, you have that oatmeal to make it healthy, so go ahead.
  
  3/4 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
  1/2 cup boiling water
  1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  1/4 cup margarine
  6 tablespoons white sugar
  6 tablespoons packed brown sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons)
  1 egg
  3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan. Set oven to 350.
  
  Pour the hot water over the oatmeal in a large bowl. Stir. Add chocolate chips and let stand for about 20 minutes. In another bowl, cream the sugars and the margarine. Add the egg and beat well. Now add the chocolate-oatmeal mixture and vanilla.
  
  Mix together the flour baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  
  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.
  
  Pour into the greased pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Bean Soup

Good bean soup requires several important steps. The first is preparing a great ham base (see my post). Second is soaking the beans overnight. DO NOT ATTEMPT to make bean soup without this important step unless you wish to contribute to the depletion of the planet's ozone layer due to uncontrolled gases! I put my beans in a colander and then place that in a large bowl and fill it with water several hours before going to bed. Then I lift out the colander, throw out the water, rinse the beans, and fill the bowl with water yet again. I do this several times. It will make your beans much more "friendly."

I love sweet vermouth with bean soup. Sweet vermouth is like the taste of autumn and complements the soup. You may omit it.

It's important to let the soup simmer for several hours and even more important to taste it periodically. Keep some extra ham stock on hand (or a can of chicken stock) to add if the soup becomes too thick.

Like most soups, this improves with age and is even better the next day. I like to sprinkle fresh Parmesan cheese on top of each bowl when I serve it.

• 1, 16-ounce package dried navy beans
• 4-5 cups ham stock
• 1, 14.5 ounce can whole tomatoes, broken apart, including the juice
• 1 cup sweet vermouth
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 heaping teaspoons minced, fresh garlic
• 1-2 cups chopped ham
• 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• Additional stock
• 1 smoked ham hock or ham shank, rinsed
• 2 whole cloves (optional) each tied with a thin piece thin of twine (to make it easy to remove)
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine the soaked beans, stock, veggies, ham and seasonings in a large stockpot and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for two hours.

After two hours, taste for seasonings. Add the ham hock or ham shank, the cloves and a pinch or two of the red pepper flakes if desired. Stir. Add more stock if necessary. Cover and continue to simmer for another hour or two, longer if you have the time. After several hours, remove the cloves, the bay leaf, and the ham hock or shank. Ladle into bowls and enjoy.

I never add salt to a ham-based dish since ham is usually pretty salty to begin with. If you don't have extra ham for the soup, have the deli counter cut you several one-half ince slices. A ham off the bone works well.

Soup Base for Ham, Pea, and Lentil Soup

Yea, I know . . . it's been some time since I last posted anything. I've been really busy working at the grocery store and moving into my new apartment. Hopefully, by the end of January, I will have a new computer and be up and running regularly. But I digress. It's SOUP TIME! I always make a ham base for my bean soups. It's really quite easy and makes all the difference, especially since one doesn't always just happen to have a "ham bone" on hand.

• 2-3 pounds smoked ham shanks or smoked ham hocks or smoked ham neck and back bones or a combination
  
• 1 onion roughly cut
• 2-3 whole cloves
• 1-2 carrots, cut into fourths
• 1-2 celery stalks, cut into fourths
• about six cups of water
  

Rinse the ham "parts" and place into a stock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and add water until covered. Bring to a SLOW boil and then immediately lower to a simmer. Skim off foam. Cover and simmer for 8 hours. I usually put it on the stove before I go to bed. An electric stove works best for this. You will get a clearer stock if it doesn't boil.

When cool enough to handle, stain through a colander. And then strain through a sieve. You'll have a rich broth with which to make soup. Place in the refrigerator overnight and remove the fat that rises to the top. You'll be left with a very rich and gelatinous stock with which to make a great bean soup. You can store this in the freezer. I like to use 3-4 cup tupperware-like containers.

In the next week or so I'll post my recipe for bean soup.