Carpe Diem Eating - Desserts Stuffed in Other Desserts

Carpe diem is a Latin saying that is usually translated to mean "seize the day", and interpreted to mean make the most out of the time you have by doing something extraordinary - YOLO, as the kids used to say. Carpe Diem Eating is about food combinations that shouldn't work but do; food creations that work so well, you're amazed they haven't been done before; and food creations so extravagant and extreme that you owe it to yourself to try it. This leads me to a poker game I regularly attend. Two of the best home cooks I know were there, and as the chip stacks rose and fell at a recent game, the conversation turned to one of their attempts at making the dessert sensation known as the pake, or piecakein - a pie baked into a cake. Jay, the game's host, had tried to make a coconut cream pie inside a Swiss chocolate cake, with a plan to do the same but with a Devil's food cake the following weekend. He said the coconut pie would have been better if he had pre-baked the pie crust to better support everything as it had sunk during the baking process. Tim, the other cook, suggested using a pie with a top crust for better results. Soon all sorts of tasty combinations were being through about: a caramelized banana pie inside a peanut butter cake; apple pie inside a spice cake; strawberry rhubarb pie inside a lemon cake; coconut cream pie in a pineapple upside-down cake. I was fascinated listening to this, mostly because I do very little baking at my house, and also because I was looking at a 7-4 off-suit at the time, with the blinds at 800 and 1600, a dwindling stack in front of me, and hitting nothing on the flop. Both insisted making the pie/cake combo was as easy as finding a recipe for your favourite pie, and baking a cake around it using your favourite box of cake mix, and the method did remind me of a dessert I have tried in the past from the Vulgar Chef's "Eat Like Shit Cookbook".  I like it because my baking skills are not to the point I can bake a pie on a whim, and the pre-baked goods I use as the substitute are just as good. Here is the recipe, edited for those who don't need the shock value of profanity in order to cook.

Oreo and Peanut Butter Stuffed Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1 package OREO^® cookies
• 1 jar peanut butter

1. Mix the red velvet cake mix according to the instructions on the box (I like to use milk instead of water, and substitute melted butter for the cooking oil). 
2. Drop a small amount of the cake mix into the slots on your muffin pan.
3. Cover an OREO^® with some peanut butter. Stack another cookie on top of it and cover that with some peanut butter as well. Drop the cookies into one of the slots on your muffin pan. Cover with more red velvet cake mix (completely) and bake according to the instructions on the box. To make sure they are fully cooked, stick a toothpick in the cupcake- if it comes out clean, you're good to go.

Osso Buko - Irish Cuisine By Way of Preston Street

For this upcoming St. Patrick's Day, I've decided to make a dish from one of my favourite cookbooks, "The 4-Hour Chef ". It takes two Irish staples, lamb and carrots, combined with a savory Italian flavour. I'm sure there are some who would take offense at that combination, and hopefully, it's because the recipe doesn't use the traditional veal. If it's for another reason, tough. You're missing out on a great dish that practically impossible to mess up.


Ingredients

4 lamb shanks, about 340 g each
1 bag carrots
1 can whole San Marzano tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, or 10-15 g garlic powder
250 mL dry white wine (about a third of a bottle; try not to use anything too sweet)
30 mL extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Thaw out the frozen lamb shanks, and peel and chop the carrots. Arrange the carrots in a pot, preferably a Dutch oven, and place the lamb shanks on top of them.
2. Open the can of tomatoes, and squish the tomatoes. Add them to the pot, then add the garlic. Drizzle everything with the olive oil, and pour enough of the wine to cover half to three-quarters of the meat - do not cover the meat completely, as you are braising the meat.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and cook for two hours.
4. Serve with either your favourite red wine or with a pint of Guinness.