Tarte Noire. Even the name of this simple chocolate tart evokes a sense of wonder and mystery. Simple, everyday ingredients of flour, sugar, salt, butter, and egg yolk combine into a buttery, sweet crust that is the absolute perfect foil for the filling made of only chocolate, cream, and more butter.

The whole experience of making this kept reminding me of old black and white movies – like something you would serve at a wrap party in old Hollywood, maybe for Casablanca. This dessert is so simple to make using everyday kitchen staples (at least in my kitchen anyway there must always be chocolate). Here though the ingredients elevate each other to something that is nothing short of cosmic perfection. This tart is exactly that.

As soon as I got my copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours I read through all the recipes, but I just kept coming back to this one. It sounded like the most perfect and sublime combination of the buttery crust and the smooth, creamy center. Dorie herself describes this as “one of the most sophisticated tarts in a Parisian pastry chef’s repertoire, it is also the simplest – and the darkest, sleekest and chicest too.” For obvious reasons I was intrigued – but I kept putting off making it until I had chocolate that I thought would be “worthy” of a recipe with such a reputation.

For my debut as a Blake Baker here on Blake Makes I knew that I had to make this dessert to share with everyone because it reminded me of Blake’s hometown of New Orleans. I haven’t made it to New Orleans yet, but this tart reminds me exactly of what New Orleans has always meant to me. Special, mysterious, intriguing and decadent. The planets and stars all aligned and I was lucky enough to win some of the Amano Chocolate, made here in Utah and hand-crafted with care and passion, from none other than Blake. Obviously, I’m not one to argue with fate since all signs were whispering to me to make this (and eat it for breakfast – oh, alright, and lunch too).

Dorie suggests that when making this tart, which is the “exemplar of understated elegance” that you must use only the very finest chocolate that you enjoy “eating out of hand” since what you will taste is the flavors of the chocolate itself. The Amano Chocolate showed beautifully in the Tarte Noire, though not as dark as perhaps some other chocolates would have shown, but the flavors were incredible and the chocolate was rich and pure with a beautiful reddish-brown color.

Here’s the recipe. Don’t wait as long too make this as I did, but get yourself some really good chocolate. As Dorie suggests in the recipe “purists” will not want to serve this with anything on it or distracting from the flavor. I am a purist so I followed her guidance and let me tell you, this just doesn’t even need anything else but a fork – and perhaps some privacy while you savor your slice (oh, fine, the whole thing then – but, seriously, try to pace yourself).

So, here’s looking at you, kid.

Sweet Tart Dough (Dorie Greenspan Baking: From My Home to Yours)

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in – you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses – about 10 seconds each – until the dough , which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change – heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

TO PRESS THE DOUGH INTO THE PAN: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy-handed – press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

TO FULLY BAKE THE CRUST: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown – just make sure to keep a close eye on the crust’s progress – it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash.) Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

TO PATCH, IF NECESSARY: If there are any cracks in the baked crust, patch them with some of the reserved raw dough as soon as you remove the foil. Slice off a thin piece of the dough, place it over the crack, moisten the edges and very gently smooth the edges into the baked crust. Bake for another 2 minutes or so, just to take the rawness off the patch.

Tarte Noire (Dorie Greenspan Baking: From My Home to Yours)

For the Filling:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough (From Baking: From My Home to Yours – recipe above)

Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and have a whisk or a rubber spatula at hand.

Bring the cream to a boil, then pour half of it over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds. Working with the whisk or spatula, very gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl and working your way out in concentric circles. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate, using the same circular motion. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece. Don’t stir the ganache any more than you must to blend the ingredients – the less you work it, the darker, smoother and shinier it will be. (The ganache can be used now, refrigerated or even frozen for later; see Storing.)

Pour the ganache into the crust and, holding the pan with both hands, gently turn the pan from side to side to even the ganache. Refrigerate the tart for 30 minutes to set the ganache, then remove the tart from the fridge and keep it at room temperature until serving time. (Note – don’t cut right into it because the ganache won’t be set yet).

Makes 8 servings.

SERVING: Purists will want to enjoy the tart at room temperature and au naturel. Having gone to pains to use great chocolate for the tart, you might want to show it off solo. However, like all good things chocolate, the tart is lovely with just a little lightly whipped very sparingly sweetened cream. I wouldn’t serve this with ice cream – the contrast between the thick room-temperature filling and the frozen ice cream would be too jarring.

STORING: The tart should be served the day it is made. However, the ganache can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. When you are ready to use it, allow it to come to room temperature, then heat it gently in a microwave oven, using 5-second spurts of heat and checking on its progress vigilantly, until it is pourable. Or you can put the bowl of ganache in a large bowl of hot water and stir every 10 seconds until it can be poured. You can even freeze the ganache, tightly covered, for up to 2 months. Thaw it overnight, in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature and then warm it in a microwave oven or bowl of hot water until it is pourable.

More About Blake Baker Holly

She is married to a full-fledged action sports junkie who is constantly jumping out of airplanes and off bridges and cliffs, in between is day job as a flight instructor at an indoor skydiving facility. On her blog, PheMOMenon, she likes to write about baking, cooking and family. Holly also likes to make really bad jokes that she realizes are only probably only funny to her. She admits to having a strange sense of humor, honestly inherited from her own mother, that she blames for her penchant for thinking bad jokes are funny, simply because they are so bad. You’ve been warned.

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Apple-Raspberry Crumble

• 1-1/4 c brown sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 5 large Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, cut into chunks
• 1 c frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1/2 c old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp butter, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a medium-sized baking dish with non-stick spray (I used a heart-shape Le Creuset dish – probably 4×8).

In a large bowl, mix ¾ c brown sugar, 1 tbsp flour and ½ tsp cinnamon. Add sliced apples and raspberries; toss to coat. Spoon into baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together oats, ½ c flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, salt and ½ c brown sugar. Mix in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apple/raspberry mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned.

I’m a 20-something Native Texan & TCU alumna who enjoys spending time with my family & friends. I love cooking and baking new dishes and desserts… with a little shopping, TCU football and collecting Longaberger on the side. (Jessica’s blog)

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I thank you, Nigella, for opening my eyes to the possibility of a lemon being something I actually like enough to share! The batter for this cake is like nothing I’ve seen before. It really is more like the consistency of nice fluffy icing. I had my doubts when I started smoothing out the blob of batter in the pan. After an hour of wondering if I wrote down a recipe for icing instead of cake I opened the oven door to find a perfectly done buttery rich cake. Just for me! I hope you try this one. It really surprised me.

Nigella Lawson’s Mother-in-law’s Madeira Cake

The Recipe:

• 1 cup softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar (plus about 2 tablespoons for sprinkling)
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cup self-rising cake flour (I couldn’t find this so I substituted self-rising flour)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

To Make:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 and prepare a 9×5 loaf pan (I sprayed some nonstick spray and lined it with parchment paper- another first for me).
2. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, add the lemon zest.
3. Add the eggs one at a time with a teaspoon of flour after each addition.
4. Gently mix in the rest of the flour followed by the lemon juice.
5. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
6. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons sugar on top of smoothed out batter.
7. Bake about 1 hour or until a test stick comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan before turning out. (good luck with waiting till it’s cool to get a taste)

Vickie is a full-time pharmacy technician at a veteran’s hospital. She is currently pursuing her RN degree. She is also a self-proclaimed cookbook addict. Somewhere in between work and school she manages to bake… and spend time with her husband. He may not understand all of her passions but definitely puts up with them and nurtures her through the endless frustrations that come with being obsessed. What a good man.

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The cupcake bug, has it bitten you yet? It’s gotten me good and I’ve got cupcake fever! I can’t look at a cake recipe anymore without trying to figure out how I could turn it into a cupcake. I’m not sure what makes cupcakes so appealing.

Maybe the appeal is that cupcakes are your own individual cake, or maybe it’s just that cupcakes are cute. Surfing through the food blog sphere I see that I’m not the only one that’s caught the fever. Recently, I even came across mini meatloaves baked in a muffin pan and topped with mashed potato “frosting”. Okay so I’m not quite ready to start experimenting with meat, but cake recipes are fair game.

When I came across this recipe from Bon Appétit for Banana Layer Cake with Caramel Cream, delirious with cupcake fever, I immediately wanted to make it into a cupcake. I liked the cake recipe and didn’t think I’d have a problem making it into cupcakes. I decided to go a different way with the frosting and make a traditional buttercream with a caramel drizzle. The caramel and banana sounded like a match made in heaven to me. All that was missing was chocolate, so I decided to throw some chocolate chips into the cake batter.

This recipe makes a large cake so you’ll get about 24 cupcakes. Reading through the recipe it sounded more complicated than it actually was. If you get all your ingredients prepped ahead, the cake batter comes together pretty quickly.

For those of you who’ve already been bitten by the bug, here’s one more cupcake make. As for everyone else, don’t blame me if you start wanting to make all your cakes into cupcakes!

Banana Cake (Bon Appétit January 2006 [adapted])

Cake Recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (generous) fine sea salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 small ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup chocolate chips tossed in flour.
• Small amount of rum to brush on tops of cupcakes when cooled

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place cupcake papers in cupcake pan. Sift flour, baking powder, and sea salt into medium bowl. Beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add 2 eggs; beat until blended. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. Beat remaining 4 eggs and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar in medium bowl until mixture is thick and pale in color, about 4 minutes. Fold egg mixture into batter. Fold in bananas.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; cool completely. Using pastry brush dipped in rum brush tops of cupcakes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.)

Notes:

1. Use a light touch when folding the egg mixture and the bananas into the batter or your cake will be dense.
2. Tossing the chips in flour will help to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cupcake as it bakes.
3. Be sure to use very ripe bananas in the cake. You’ll taste the banana flavor more in your cake if you start will really ripe bananas.
4. You could throw some chopped pecans into the batter as well.

Caramel Sauce Recipe:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

To make: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Basic Buttercream Recipe:

• 3 large egg whites, at room temp
• ¾ cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces, at room temp

To make: In a large, heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and the sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160 F on an instant read thermometer). Remove bowl from saucepan, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat until fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks, but not until mixture looks dry.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and begin adding the butter a piece or two at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter in added, continue to beat on high speed until smooth and creamy. Stir in ½ cup cooled caramel sauce. Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days in airtight container. Before using, bring buttercream to room temp and beat on med-low speed until smooth.

Place in piping bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe the buttercream onto cupcakes in a decorative swirl. Drizzle the tops of the cupcakes with remaining caramel sauce. Top with grated or ground chocolate if desired.

…Along with my sister, a culinary school grad, I opened a cafe and catering business. I ran the business for 5 years until getting married and moving all over the place from Europe to the mountains in Utah. Now that we’ve settled in one place for a while I’ve gotten back into catering and specialty baking. I love to cook, eat, and entertain, pretty much anything to do with food!

Paula’s blog is Half Baked.

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Lo Carb Lean Mean BBQ Sauce

1. Lexi
2. Nina
3. Columbus Foodie
4. Carrie

Lean Mean BBQ Sauce

1. Sarah
2. Laurie
3. Kelly
4. Gretchen

Sweet Zing BBQ Sauce

1. Lindsey
2. Sarah
3. Allison
4. April

Lean Mean Ketchup

1. Paula
2. Carrie
3. Carrie
4. Amy

Congrats, winners! We can’t wait to see what you think (and what you make)!

..and now, anyone in the mood for a float? Stay tuned!

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It was interesting to say the least– she told us of her swimming adventures in the North Sea (she got caught in a riptide) and informed us of a handy way to get out of quicksand (still not sure why she told us this, but I had a feeling she once had an unfortunate quicksand experience). We then bought some cookbooks, had them autographed, and walked her to her unbelievably tiny Saab.

We bought our Two Fat Ladies cookbooks back in 2003, but I’d never used them until just recently. I looked for a recipe that did not use a tub of Crisco, and decided to make scones because they were so very English.

They turned out surprisingly well for a self-proclaimed non-baker. I made plain scones so I could use the strawberry-chocolate spread that we picked up at the Farmer’s Market, but you can also fill them with fruit or make them savory. Blake finished off all the scones for breakfast the morning I made them, so I’d say they were pretty good.

Recipe courtesy of Two Fat Ladies Gastronomic Adventures (With Motorbike and Sidecar)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• small pinch of salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk, fresh or sour

Directions:

• Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it all resembles crumbs. Mix in the milk. Form a soft dough with a palette knife. Knead lightly on a floured board, then pat out into a round 3/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a cutter or small cup.
• Place on a greased and floured baking tray and brush with milk. Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 7-10 minutes until well risen and brown. Cool on a rack but eat when still warm, with lots of butter, clotted cream and jam.

Variations:

• Sweet scones: add 1/4 cup caster sugar to dry ingredients.
• Fruit scones: add 1/4 cup dried fruit and 2 TB caster sugar.
• Savory scones: Add 6 TB finely grated hard cheese and 1 tsp dry mustard or 1/4 cup chopped olives or what you fancy.

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With the delightful warm weather here now all I’ve been able to think of lately is my favorite summer time dessert: fruit pies. I mean really, what says love better than a fresh fruit pie? That’s right — Nothin’! Well, okay…a portable version of a fruit pie might just be better. That’s where the hand pie comes in.

A distant, better looking cousin of the turnover, the hand pie houses it’s own portion of delicious fruit filling and top and bottom crust all in handy compact size. Perfect for sharing. Perfect for casual entertaining. And in my case, perfect for bribing a dozen middle-schoolers into listening to me while I teach them Confirmation prep at church. Haha. With these little beauties I’ll have no problem.

A sweet pie dough is used. With the addition of lemon and a bit of vanilla you can use less sugar and still get the same sweet taste to the dough. The sugar in the filling has been cut down considerably to provide a nice contrast between the sweet, flaky dough and the slightly tart juicy bite of the filling. A delicious treat for any pie lover. Especially for breakfast…

What you’ll need for the filling: (1 recipe sweet butter pie dough is below)

• 3 c. fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• powdered sugar for dusting
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

To Make:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment. In medium bowl, combine strawberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice and set aside.

Turn dough out onto a powdered sugar-dusted work surface and cut pie dough in half (rewrap other half and place back in fridge to stay cold).Roll one half of pie dough out about 1/8 in thickness. Using round pastry cutter (or trace knife around small plate), cut out about 5-6 inch rounds.

Place round onto baking sheet and place about 2-3 Tbsp strawberry mixture into center. Using pastry brush dipped in a small amount of egg, brush the edge of half of the round. Fold dry edge onto egg brushed half, forming semicircle shape, and press edges together to seal with the tines of a fork. Brush the top of the pie with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar.

Use a small knife to make a 1 inch slit in the top of the pie for steam to escape. Repeat with remaining pastry dough. Place in oven and bake until tops are beginning to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Let cool on sheets for 7-10 mins and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What you’ll need for the Sweet Butter Pie Dough:

• 2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 sticks (1 c.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 in pieces
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6-8 Tbsp cold buttermilk (whole milk with a dash of fresh lemon juice can be subbed)
• powdered sugar for dusting

To Make:

In small bowl, combine vanilla and buttermilk, stir to combine and set aside. In large bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Use pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into flour mixture until resembles course meal or just until all pieces are less than pea-sized. Add buttermilk mixture and stir in until dough comes together.

Transfer dough to powdered sugar-dusted work surface and shape into flat disk. Wrap disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

Notes: You can also make the dough in the bowl of a food processor, just be careful not to over process (30 secs should be enough to bring it together). Pie dough may be made ahead and frozen for up to 2 months if wrapped well.

This post was written by Blake Baker Katie.

Growing up in a Lebanese kitchen, food and entertaining has always gone hand in hand. Cooking and baking the foods that my friends and family love is the most rewarding way I can display love and appreciation. After years of experimenting, renovating and digging up old family recipes I turned from casual cook to professional caterer and back again to the casual entertainer I am today. I want to bring my kitchen to yours, but you still have to clean the dishes!

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I have a love-hate relationship with cake. Good cake – moist, without gobs of icing, and not too sweet – is great. Most cake, however, is not good cake. Unless they’re flourless, chocolate cakes often turn out too dry. I still remember one my sister made for my birthday years ago (she’s since made much more successful cakes). It was only edible soaked in milk or covered in whipped cream.

I’ve also had my cake failures. That’s why I was ecstatic the first time I made this recipe. It’s moist, it has dark chocolate icing, which is not too sweet, but the cake itself is a nutty flavor. And with three layers (or as many as you want) you get that perfect blend of icing and cake: just enough creamy chocolate with just enough nutty goodness.

I don’t even remember where I found this recipe anymore, but I love it. The only time consuming part (and this is only because I don’t have a food processor) is making the graham cracker crumbs. But I think you can also buy bags of graham cracker crumbs, which is probably the smarter approach.

What you’ll need to make the cake:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350

Blend the shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Combine the crumbs, nuts, and baking powder and add to the shortening mixture alternately with the milk. Pour into three greased eight-inch layer cake pans one and one-fourth inches deep, bake thirty to thirty five minutes. Put together with chocolate cream frosting.

What you’ll need to make the chocolate cream frosting:

• 1 cup (6oz package) semisweet chocolate pieces
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup butter

In the top of a double boiler heat the chocolate, water, coffee, and sugar. Stir occasionally until the mixture is smooth beat in the egg yolks one at a time and cook over boiling water three minutes, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm and beat in the butter bit by bit.

Lara grew up in northern California where the words “hella” and “tight” were avid members of her vocabulary. That quickly changed, however, as after starting at UCLA she was duly educated in proper SoCal etiquette. Being a dork, she majored in math, but being indecisive she also took a lot of writing classes, wrote for her school newspaper The Daily Bruin, and after graduating decided writing was what she wanted to pursue. She currently works as an editorial assistant at The Robb Report, where she writes about furniture, and hosts a blog, The Ladybug and the Lion, where she writes about whatever she wants. She also loves food. Her current favorites include beer, oysters, and authentic mexican.

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Why do we love fried foods so much? Once fried, the food almost never tastes like itself any more, so what do we do? We get some yummy sauce to re-flavor the food. Frying is bad for us, but most of the time, the sauces we use for dipping only make matters worse. That’s what Chef Bradley hopes to change.

Chef Bradley has developed a line of healthful, better-for-you sauces that, I must say, are quite tasty. They sent me four jars, one of each of their flavors.

Remember the shrimp (left) we blogged about a few weeks ago? Well, I dipped my shrimp in the Lean Mean Ketchup and the Sweet Zing BBQ Sauce.

I had the sauces in two, little bowls, both of which were licked clean by the end of the meal. I will admit that they lack the depth that you’ll get from more conventional (sugar-filled) options, but for me, the good-for-me component outweighs any flavor loss.

The BBQ Sauce is zingy and sweet (just like the name says), and the ketchup is rich and tomatoey. I know I have a lot of moms who read this blog, so I’m always happy when I find food that’s good and good for us. I bet kids will never tell the difference.

Surprise! Another giveaway!

Chef Bradley would like to share a few of its jars with our readers. Here’s what we’ve got to giveaway:

1. Lo Carb Lean Mean BBQ Sauce: 4 jars
2. Lean Mean BBQ Sauce: 4 jars
3. Sweet Zing BBQ Sauce: 4 jars
4. Lean Mean Ketchup: 4 jars

This is a first come, first served giveaway (that starts now!). Comment on this post to claim a jar (make sure to include which sauce you’d like to try in your comment). Limit one (1) jar per Sooper Hero. There’s a limited supply, so these jars will go fast.

Like with all of our giveaways, you have to:

• Be a registered Sooper Hero
• Be interested in the product (and not just want something free)
• Be willing to blog about what you get (and link back here and to Chef Bradley)

Good Luck and GO!

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I made this sandwich for a lovely picnic we had in our backyard (okay, that’s not quite true– Blake was dirty from doing yardwork so I made us eat on a blanket outside so as not to track his dirt into the house), and we both raved over it.  The paprika aioli was especially good- it had a wonderful tangy spiciness that went really well with the sweetness of the onions.  I used the leftover aioli on turkey sandwiches later in the week and it was still just as tasty.  This sandwich will probably become one of our weekend lunch faves, and I know Blake can’t wait for me to make it again.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika* (note- I couldn’t find Spanish paprika, so I used hot Hungarian paprika)
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for brushing on rolls
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds onions, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise (about 7 cups)
• 3 8-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise in half
• 6 sourdough sandwich rolls or twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices sourdough bread
• 3 cups (lightly packed) watercress or arugula

Directions:

• Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Gradually whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover prepared aioli and chill.
• Heat vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, sprinkle with salt, and cook until beginning to brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until onions are soft and deep golden brown, stirring often, about 20 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Caramelized onions can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound with mallet to 1/3-inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface. Brush cut side of rolls with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill rolls, cut side down, until grill marks appear, about 1 minute. Spread rolls with some of aioli. Assemble sandwiches, dividing chicken, caramelized onions, and watercress among rolls. Serve warm.

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