Lunch at Carson High's Culinary Cafeteria

As I write this article, I'm thinking about the great lunch I just had at the Carson High School Culinary Cafeteria. I took a little time off in January but made sure I was home in time to judge the competition the kids compete in every year. All those kids in the program do a fantastic job thanks to the great teaching ability of Penny Reynolds. She has so much enthusiasm and it seems to rub off on all her students. I love hanging out there because it is one of those "feel good" zones.

I knew that on certain days the students served lunch in their cafeteria, and after sampling all the tasty food at the competition, I wanted to come back and have a leisurely lunch that I could sit down and enjoy. I met my friends Carol and Brenda Smith, from Smith & Smith Farms in Dayton, at the school because we had a little brainstorming to do. For a $5 donation, you can't beat the lunch. I don't know, maybe we just happened to hit it on a really good day, but Jake Newman who was in charge of the lunch being prepared and served, can come over and cook for me any day.

We started off with a crab cake and celery stuffed with crab. Our entrée was a chicken and rice casserole and for my favorite part - dessert - we had warm orange-flavored sponge cake topped with orange-flavored whipped cream and a garnish of blueberries and some sliced oranges. Yum!

The Culinary Cafeteria is open Tuesday and Thursday with lunch being served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. It is open Friday for soup and salad. You need to make reservations a week in advance and sometimes they are open on Wednesday. You can go to the Carson High's Web site, www.carsonhigh.com, and click on the occupation link for the posted dates and who will be cooking for the week. I highly recommend giving lunch a try. All the money goes back into their programs. What a great way to support these kids and get a fabulous meal to boot! It would be a great place to do a group luncheon without the cooking and clean-up. Their phone number is 283-1773. Tell them Linda sent you.

This first recipe I'm going to share with you would be a great starter course for any dinner, and if you're having an Academy Award party, by all means give this easy appetizer a try.

NEWMAN'S CRAB STUFFING

6 oz. crab meat

1 T. lemon juice

3 T. mayonnaise

Celery stalks

Flake the crab meat, break into small pieces. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Fill celery with mixture.

This next recipe came from the magazine Real Simple and is it ever. You can whip this up in 30 minutes.

HOT CHOCOLATE CAKE

8 T. unsalted butter (1 stick) plus extra for coating

10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 T. flour, plus extra for dusting

1Ú2 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting

4 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1Ú4 tsp. salt

1 cup mini-marshmallows

2 T. cocoa powder, optional

Preheat oven to 375. Generously butter, flour and sugar eight or nine 6-ounce oven-proof ramekins. (You can also bake this in a 9 or 10-inch pie plate; increase baking time 22-25 minutes or if you prefer a gooey center 17-20 minutes.) Place butter and chocolate in double boiler over simmering water and melt until smooth, cool. Beat the eggs, yolk, sugar, vanilla and salt on high speed until volume doubles and the mixture becomes foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the 3 T. flour, then gradually add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture beating on low until fully incorporated. Fill the ramekins two-thirds full and bake until the cakes puff and begin to crack but the centers are still a bit runny, 13-17 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with marshmallows and return to oven for 2 to 4 minutes, until the marshmallow tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool about 5 minutes. Sift the cocoa on top of marshmallows. Note: if you fill the cups too full it is hard to get the marshmallows to stay on, because these cakes puff up when they cook and sink a little when they cool.