White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Cake

Bill Yosse's Vanilla Bean Cake from Food and Wine. I used Lindt white chocolate, 3 tahitian vanilla beans, and a little extract as well:

Texas Chili

Hot and spicy Texas chili:

Chocolate Caramel Truffles

I don't make truffles very often, but these were the best I've had -- Herme's chocolate caramel truffles. The truffles consist of a ganache made with a caramel sauce. Half the batch was rolled in cocoa powder, the other half in praline powder.

Cincinnatti Chili

Made using Cook's Illustrated recipe.

Caramels

One is Flo Braker's Golden Caramels, the other Pierre Herme's Chocolate Caramels.

Ice Creams

This summer I tried making ice creams and sorbets for the first time. Here are some of the varieties I tried: vanilla bean ice cream with caramel sauce, watermelon sorbet, and chocolate ice cream on cocoa meringues with chocolate whipped cream.

Steak and Potatos

Pumpkin Roll With Cream Cheese Icing

Go bananas

A while back, I spent a couple of weeks focusing on banana desserts. Here are two of my favorites: banana souffle, and steamed banana cakes with caramel sauce.

Canelles

I'd never seen these amazing little French pastries before encountering them on eGullet.com. They are baked in special molds coated with an oil/beeswax mixture. The outside is dark and chewy, while the inside is creamy and custardy. I baked these several times over the course of a few weeks, trying the traditional vanilla/rum as well as chocolate versions. They are delicious.

Lemon Cheesecake

This is one of the best lemon desserts I've ever had, and also one of the best cheesecakes. The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated.

Chinese Food

Here are two of my favorite Chinese dishes, General Tso's chicken and Kung Pao chicken. They are prepared very similarly. Chicken pieces are coated with an egg/cornstarch mixture, quicky-fried in a little very hot oil, and finished with a glaze incorporating soy, hoisin sauce, garlic, and fresh minced ginger. The Kung Pao chicken is hotter, in my case due to the addition of Srirachi pepper sauce. I was inspired to try these at home after eating at P.F. Chang's and having the best Kung Pao chicken.

Tomato Tart

Tomato tart on puff pastry, with basil pesto, mozarella, gruyere, and parmasan cheese.

Caramelized Apple Pie

Chocolate This and That

I've been using a great deal of chocolate lately. Here we have a chocolate cake with ganache frosting, bittersweet chocolate cookies, cocoa brownies with ganache, and Nick Malgieri's Supernatural Brownies.

Cheeseburga, cheeseburga, cheeseburga

Some cheeseburgers I have known and loved.