Chocolate Truffles

Dazzle your friends at the next potluck with this sweet concoction or package them in pretty boxes for gifts.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (60% or more)
3 egg yolks
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 oz - 1/2 stick butter

2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

In a small pan, bring the cream to boil, add chocolate, remove from the heat and stir until combined. Cool.

Whip the egg yolks with 1/2 the sugar until pale.

Add the butter to the cooled chocolate mix and whip 1 minute with am mixer. Add the rest of the sugar and the whipped eggs to the chocolate mix and whip another minute.

Transfer to a ziplock bag, snip off the corner and squeeze small mounds onto a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet.

Place in a freezer for 10 minutes. Sift the cocoa and the powder sugar 2-3 times through a fine sieve, place in a pie plate.

Remove the chocolate mounds from the freezer, roll each in your hands for 2 seconds and drop into the cocoa-sugar mix. Roll in the pan to coat all around, return to the cookie sheet and chill until hard. Keep refrigerated or frozen.

Bring them to room temperature before serving.

CAJUN MEATLOAF

10 minutes before mixing the ingredients for the meatloaf, place 2 slices of dark bread in a bowl and cover with milk. Just before adding the soaked bread to the rest of ingredients, squeeze the milk out slightly.

Place a heavy skillet on high heat, add
4 tbsp olive oil

when sizzling, add in a succession:

1 cup chopped onions
1 jalapeno, chopped without seeds
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper or sweet pimiento pepper
1 cup chopped celery stalks
4 chopped cloves of garlic

saute 5 minutes, trying to brown the edges of the chopped peppers. Transfer to a large bowl. Add:

2 slices of dark bread soaked in milk
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon maggi sauce (or Worcestershire)
1 teaspoon crushed marjoram
1 teaspoon crushed red or black pepper

Mix thoroughly. Transfer to 2 bread pans. Rub 4 strips of bacon with hot paprika on both
sides, lay on top of the meat, 2 strips per loaf. Tightly cover with aluminum foil, and bake about 1 hour
at 350°F until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 170°F or more, and the center of the meatloaf is not pink.
Make roux of 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tbsp flour, whisking constantly add juices form the pan and enough water to create thick sauce. Add a little bit of smoked paprika powder to taste. Serve with a salad of tomatoes, red peppers, and chopped cabbage with lime-cilantro vinaigrette..

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

Butter and flour one 9" spring form or bundt cake form.
Preheat the oven to 340°F.
The ingredients below are listed by weight and by measure - choose one.
Place in a bowl of a mixer:
65 g / 0.75 cup cocoa
400 g / 2 cup sugar
225 g / 1.75 cup flour
1.75 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
Combine, then add a mixture of:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
120 ml / 0.5 cup canola or grapeseed oil
240 ml / 1 cup milk
Mix 2 minutes on high, then slowly add:
240 ml / 1 cup boiling water
Combine well. The batter will be very thin. Pour into the prepared form and bake 80 minutes or longer.
Test with a wooden skewer for doneness.
Cool 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack. Serve as is, no need for frosting, as it is very moist.
However, those who like to be decadent, may slice the cake into 2 layers, and spread with chocolate frosting. Sprinkle layers with Cointreau or Grand Marnier, or coffee or Kahlua.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING
12 oz heavy cream
12 oz chocolate chips, at least 60% cacao
Bring the heavy cream to boil, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate is melted, then cool completely. When cooled, whip with a mixer on low until desired consistency. Do not overwhip or the frosting will curdle. If the frosting curdles, melt it in the microwave and repeat, this time shorter whipping time. The frosting will stiffen further after you have stopped whipping it.

HOMEMADE CRACKERS

2+1/4 Cups flour
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 clove of garlic

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Do not grease the cookie sheets. Combine flour, baking powder and salt  with garlic and rosemary in the food processor for 10 seconds to chop the herbs. Stir in water and oil mix and pulse until a clumpy dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and form into an oblong. Halve the dough and roll thinly using more flour when turning the dough over. Transfer pieces of rolled dough to cookie sheets. Don't worry if they tear - just fit them together without overlapping. Cut them on the sheet into 2" x 4" rectangles before baking or leave whole and break after baked for that rustic look - or cut one sheet and leave the other rustic. Bake until pale golden. Do not brown. Turn the oven off, open the door of the oven half way, and let the crackers dry in the remaining heat.

These crackers taste very buttery, even though there is no butter in them, only olive oil, and they may be considered vegan.

CINNAMON CHICKEN - Dinner in 0.5 hour #101

Cinnamon Chicken

Go ahead, be brave! when you need to speed up the reality, reach for this recipe, which may seem exotic, but is so easy that it doesn't even register on the difficulty scale. I mean, less than 0 difficult. How is that for a dinner from scratch that can be on the table in half an hour from the time you enter your kitchen? And everyone loves it. Here's what you'll need to have in your fridge or pantry to make this dish for 2-3 people (OK, 2 people and one lunch, depending on the size of the chicken breasts):

* 1 cup dry white rice + 1.5 cup water/rice cooker
* 1 head of washed lettuce/salad bowl
* for vinaigrette: 2T balsamic vinegar, 2 T olive oil, 1 t salt, 1 t pepper
* 2 pieces of chicken breast meat, enough for 3 people
* 2 T butter + 2 T olive oil
* 1 T honey, 1 t salt, 1 t cinnamon, 1 t black pepper, cayenne to taste

Process:

* Start the rice
* Combine the vinaigrette ingredients, later shake well before pouring over the lettuce
* Slice the chicken meat into thick strips
* Heat butter and oil in a skillet, add the meat and brown stirring occasionally on medium heat until evenly cooked through
* Remove the meat to a warm plate, add the salt, pepper, cinnamon and honey to the skillet, and cayenne to taste if you like spicy dishes
* combine and bring to sizzle, about 30 seconds, add the meat, stir until coated, remove from heat
* serve immediately on cooked rice
* dress, toss and serve the salad

LAVOSH CRACKERS with Herbs of Provence

If you grow culinary herbs in your garden, take a walk about mid-morning to gather some and make delicious crackers for the afternoon snack. Or buy fresh herbs from your local organic farmer.

INGREDIENTS

2.5 - 3 cups white flour
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
.75 cup water
1 egg white
2 tablespoons butter, melted
egg yolk + 1 TBSP milk, combined
1 teaspoon each of very finely chopped FRESH herbs:
sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, culinary lavender, salt, garlic

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl of a KitchenAid mixer, stir together flour, sugar, chopped herbs, garlic and salt. Combine water, 1 egg white and melted butter; add to flour and knead well adding more flour to make a stiff dough.
Knead until dough is smooth, about 1 minute. Roll through an Atlas pasta machine till mark 5. Arrange strips of dough on a greased, or lined with parchment, cookie sheets. Smear with egg yolk mixture. Cut with a pizza wheel or a knife into 2" wide ribbons. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden.

FRIDGE REVIEW #100

This dish is from the fridge review of May 26, 2009

Chicken breast, defrosted and cut into 4 pieces lengthwise (boneless thigh meat is also very good for this)
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 cup bullion
1/2 cup heavy cream

1 medium yellow onion
2 potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Cut the potatoes, place in a small pan, submerge in cold water, add salt and bring to boil, and boil for 10 min or until done. Check doneness by using a sharp pointy knife to see if it goes easily through the potato. Drain. Slice the onion and cook until golden in olive oil. Add the cooked potatoes and stir on medium heat until potatoes are slightly browned. Keep warm in the skillet.

In another skillet, heat the butter and cooking oil until sizzling. Add the heavily peppered chicken breasts and fry until golden on both sides. Remove the meat from the skillet. Add broth to the skillet, stir the bottom clean of the frying particles, add cream and bring to simmer for 5 minutes to thicken. Add salt to taste, add the meat and stir to heat through.

Arrange on a plate with the potatoes and onion, drizzle the sauce over the meat.

This takes about 30 minutes, less if you're really organized and assemble all your ingredients in advance.

Corn Bread

2 cups yellow corn meal
2.5 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups buttermilk
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Oil one 8 x 12 pan.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl of a mixer. Whisk the eggs with the buttermilk until combined. Mix at medium speed, adding the buttermilk mixture in a steady stream. Transfer to the prepared pan, bake until the stick comes out clean from the center, about 40 minutes.

Muesli Cookies

In a large bowl of a KitchenAid mixer place:
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 white sugar
Whip until somewhat combined, add
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Whip 30 seconds, add
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix slowly to combine. Whip 30 seconds on high, then add
2 cups Bob's Mills Muesli
1.5 cup Craisins
Mix slowly to combine.
Place egg sized chunks of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with wet hands. Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F until edges are golden and the center is set, about 12-14 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, remove to a cooling racks until set.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

3.5 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup cornmeal
3 TBSP peanut butter
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1.5 cups water
0.5 cup oil (safflower, canola, olive, etc.)

Knead in a KitchenAid until combined and no flour is showing, then knead additional minute. The dough should not be sticky. Roll out on floured board 1/4" thick, cut with bone shaped cookie cutter. Re-roll scraps until all dough is used. Bake 25 minutes at 400°F, turn off the oven, leave in the oven for another 20 minutes to crisp.