Chocolate Truffles

I've really been into Mark Bittman (the NYT writer) who always has great, simple recipes to share. He's put up one for Truffles that I really like. I once tried to make vegan chocolate truffles with vegan ganache (soy milk vs. cream) but I never got it to totally work. Probably too much soy milk.

Anyway, I liked the simplicity of Bittman's truffles.

Tips:
1-2 hours means 1-2 hours! I waited a skimpy one and kind of wished I waited longer (or used a shallower container to speed the cooling process). Thus, mine came out a bit irregularly (though still tasty).

These are best cool, so leave them in the fridge until you'd like to eat them! Plus, there's cream in there, so leaving it out is not advisable.

I used the Pound Plus Bittersweet Chocolate form trader joe's (it's $4.00 for 2x the amount required for the recipe) and some plain old Hershey's plain cocoa (the kind without any sugar please!) and it came out great. If you upped the quality, it might be even better, but who knows.

Other suggestions:
These are the basic "vanilla" (if you will) version of truffles, but there's no reason you can't get creative! I think I might try to make a 'white chocolate' version of this since cjr prefers it. Perhaps mixing in chopped nuts into the ganache before it sets would be yummy. Other coatings would also be nice, say, um, chopped nuts, or (if you're really good at it) some caramel? Or maybe a white chocolate truffle that's been cooled dipped in (hotter) dark/bittersweet chocolate then allowed to cool again then covered in cocoa?

The possibilities are endless!

Maybe next time I have to give someone a gift I'll bring truffles. Hey, they're cheap, easy, simple, and no one (but you and I) needs to know that!

I might post a picture, but Bittman already has a lovely one:

Spanish French Toast

Turns out what I've been making as French Toast is not too sacrilegious after all! It's more like a "Spanish" version of French Toast!

Torrijas Recipe

Not sure how I feel about the olive oil, pan frying butter has always been my friend.

Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee! This was the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, which was brewed in the $20,000 Japanese siphon bar.

America's most hated foods.

I found this article very interesting.

I have to say, while most of those foods I find delicious I must agree on a few.

#15 Raisins -- ever since I ate several boxes of the stuff and promptly spewed, I can no longer eat them. Dried cranberries, cherries, anything else is fine -- but NEVER raisins.

#11 Sour Cream -- gross. I agree with the whole curdled milk thing. I do, however, enjoy yogurt. Yogurt is all the best parts of sour cream in my opinion.

#5 Eggs - I actually like egg whites and I like things with egg in them (crème brûlée anyone?) but egg yolk? Bleh. It's weird and yellow and can get grainy. The best part of the egg is the white (and the best part for you!).

#4 Mushrooms - mushrooms aren't even in the right living thing kingdom for my taste. Fungus? I'm not sure we're supposed to eat that... I guess truffles (just a little for flavor) aren't so bad. And a good grilled one can be nice on occasion -- especially if it's the only veg. option. But the spongy kind that generally gets put on pizza should stay far away from me!

#3 Mayonnaise - does this need explanation? I agree with the comment that said it was salmonella pudding. Bleh. Mustard does all things that mayo can do PLUS it tastes better and it's better for you!

#1 Liver - my mom used to eat this when I was a kid. She'd put it under the broiler and the whole house would stink. Bleh. I don't touch this stuff.

I feel a little better after having read this list like "I'm not alone" or something.

I was a little shocked that things like blueberries and maple syrup made the list. (I'd understand pancake syrup... but that's a whole other story!) I was also shocked that yogurt didn't make the list. Seems like something a lot of people can't stand.

What do you guys think about the list?

Kettle Corn

We made some kettle corn for movie night.

We used this recipe.

Some tips:

1. Unlike our previous popcorn making we preferred to use a large stock pock with two handles for this. The handles were important because this needs to be CONSTANTLY vigourously shaken over the fire so that it doesn't scorch. Also, I'd avoid anything non-stick. Sugar+high heat+nonstick surface doesn't sound like a good idea to me (I could be wrong here).

2. Use the three kernal test for the oil. When you put in the oil put in three kernals and heat until ALL THREE pop.

3. Once kernels have popped dump in popcorn and then dump in sugar. Do not bother to mix!

4. Put on the lid and immediately start shaking.

5. Err on the safe side and once the popcorn popping slows remove from heat. Yeah, unpopped kernels suck, but not as much as a scorched sugar.

6. Don't forget the salt in the end! What would kettle corn be without salt? Probably bland! We recommend our 'homemade' popcorn salt. Put salt in clean coffee grinder, grind, place is small shaker with a few kernels of popcorn to break up clumps and, voila, fine popcorn salt!

Overall, this is a very tasty popcorn. The sugar was a bit uneven (as expected) so some kernels were stickier/sugarier than others. A very good home made facsimile though.

How to Skin A Melon

We picked up this helpful tip from our food guru, Alton Brown.

Here's us cutting up a DELICIOUS Crenshaw Melon. Works well with all types of melon (including watermelon).

Take the melon and lie it on it's side and cut off the very top and bottom and stand up on the flat part you just cut off thusly:

Note: the bottom resembles the top so it can stand on either end.

Then, 'carve' the melon as if it were a rotating piece of lamb on a spit.

Once a slice is removed it should look like this:

Keep going all around the melon:

Slice in half, scoop out the seeds, and slice as you wish:

Stone Fruit Salad

We sometimes have extra fruit lying around come Sunday (farmer's market day) so to make 'room for the new' we sometimes get creative with the old. This week it was a bunch of week old stone fruit.

This recipe was inspired by this.

Stone Fruit Salad
Ingredients:

5-8 stone fruits (apricots, plums, pluots, nectarines, and peaches)
juice of one lemon
tablespoon of honey

Steps:
1. Chunk the fruits into large half inch cubes.
2. Mix the lemon juice and honey
3. Toss with the fruit chunks
4. Chill and allow to 'marinate' (or should I say macerate) for a few hours before serving. You can of course consume right away, but i find it nice to allow the fruits to soak up the liquid and mellow.

Suggestions:
Use whatever fruit you have lying around. Berries, apples, oranges, possibly melon would work nicely. I'd avoid watermelon (do to its water-y-ness) and skip bananas unless you'd like to add them right before serving. Bananas never hold up quite right in the long run. Oh, and a couple of mint sprigs might also be nice.

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

I really love Ellie Krieger's parmesan mashed potatoes. It's a nice update to a classic. Take it to your next bbq instead of potato salad or serve at thanksgiving instead of normal buttery mashed potatoes.

The key is the yukon gold potatoes. They have a wonderful creamy texture that doesn't need to play second fiddle to butter. Also, leaving in the skins is a bonus because it adds all that good for you fiber!

Some tips.

1. Chunk the potatoes into small size pieces that are roughly the same size. Don't worry too much about this. They cook really fast either way.

2. It's super easy to curdle the buttermilk/milk. That would be a bad thing. To avoid this: barely warm means that, just barely warm (ie no longer cold). Constantly stir and put on the LOWEST possible heat setting.

3. Have plenty of extra buttermilk/milk because sometimes even the best attempts manage to curdle the buttermilk/milk (I speak from experience!).

4. I added cut up chives to my batch, but it's up to you.

5. A nice potato masher and a strong sous chef are very useful.

6. Mix the milk mixture into the potatoes fast (I recommend mashing the potatoes on their own a bit before incorporating the rest of the stuff). The heat from the potatoes can curdle the milk too.

7. This stuff makes great leftovers. Put in Tupperware, take for lunch. Take a napkin and wet it through and then ring it out a bit. Place on top of the potatoes (to seal in moisture) and then in microwave for a minute or two until hot. The napkin on top of potatoes (as if you're covering the potatoes with a small towel) traps in the moisture and deliciousness.

And here it is:

Mocha @ Zazie

Coffee pictures! A few weeks ago we drifted between three coffee stops in the course of 5 hours or so. So let's start by posting a photo of jdc's mocha from an early Saturday brunch on the patio at Zazie :)

Tagliatelle with Fresh Porcinis

As I wandered the aisles of Monterey Market earlier today, I took a turn past the mushroom area, a section that generally causes me to drop at least a few more dollars than I normally would have. This particular time, I found myself staring at a bunch of fresh porcinis; an intriguing prospect, considering I've only ever used their dried counterpart. Taking the plunge ($13/lb), I bagged a couple of the suckers (note: store your mushrooms in a paper bag, not plastic) and decided to fry 'em up with some fresh pasta. Now, for your entertainment, here are 8,000 words on the subject:










On the whole, pretty good. The recipe used was here: Porcini Mushroom Fettucini - 101 Cookbooks. With respect to the porcinis, I should have removed the yellowish gill area (possibly an indication that the mushrooms were a bit older than optimal), since that part essentially melted in the frying pan. So, the verdict on fresh porcinis? A solid mushroom, and strikingly different in intensity and application from the dried stuff.

Avocado pie

My research advisor seems to be living under the impression that, should he leave fruit outside of his office door, magical elves will come out during the night and convert it into delicious pies.

Up to this point, my labmates have toiled to maintain this (wholly illusory) state of affairs. Until last week, that is, when a bag of avocados appeared.

What, we asked ourselves, were we to do with these? Is there even such a thing as avocado pie?

Scouring the Internets suggested that yes, there was indeed such a thing as avocado pie. And furthermore, it was delicious.

Intrigued, we set out to make the dish. Following the reader comments, we used lime instead of lemon (it seemed more appropriate), and the whole tin of condensed milk. The result was a silky smooth pie that tasted almost exactly like key lime pie.

In fact, it tasted exactly like key lime pie. The exactitude of its equivalence was frightening. You could literally serve it to your friends, telling them it was key lime pie, and they would be none the wiser. Only you would know that the entire horrific creation, this demonspawn that assumed the corporeal form of a pie, was actually made of avocados! You could snicker and smirk behind their backs as they happily filled their bellies. Like we did.

Avocado Pie

(originally from all|recipies, but modified by readers and us)

Ingredients:

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

2 avocados

1/2 cup lime juice

1 12 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Combine avocado flesh, lime juice, and condensed milk in a food processor, blender, or mixer and blend until smooth. Pour into graham cracker crust, and chill before serving.

Please do not refrigerate your tomatoes!

Photo from wikipedia.

I used to do this too, so I know how tempting it is. We realized the error in our way while watching our food guru, Alton Brown (hey, we're scientists, leave us alone!).

I know a lot of people who hate tomatoes, I suspect if they would have just eaten non-refrigerated tomatoes they would've changed their tune.

According to about.com:

"Refrigeration is the enemy of the tomato as it nullifies flavor and turns the flesh mealy. The culprit is a compound called Z-3 hexenel, which accounts for the tomato's scent and taste. The development process which turns tomato's linolenic acid to the Z-3 that makes our mouth and nose sing is hindered by cold."

So, room temperature tomatoes = flavorful and smooth. Fridge tomatoes? mealy and bland.

Please, do yourself (and your tomatoes) a favor and leave them out! You will be so much happier, promise.

--end rant--

Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoa is one of these new 'super' foods. It's a grain, that isn't a grain! It's a seed! Listen to what "people who like to edit internet encyclopedias"* (ie wikipedia) have to say about it:

"In contemporary times this crop has come to be highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high, making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest."

So obviously, you need to eat this stuff. I've always thought it would make an excellent couscous substitute, but one thing at a time.

So here's my quinoa tabouli -- I sub out the traditional bulgur/cracked wheat (also yummy) for quinoa.

Quinoa Tabouli

To prepare quinoa:
1 cup quinoa (easily found these days, we get ours from Trader Joe's or the Berkeley bowl)
2 cups water

(Quinoa directions from our Trader Joe's box):
Place 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups waters in a 2 cup of water in a large saucepan or pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover and cook until all water is absorbed 10-15 minutes. When done, the grain appears soft and translucent, and the germ ring will be visible along the outside edge of the grain.

Allow the cooked quinoa to cool at least until room temperature (you might want to refrigerate for a bit in a large, covered bowl once it cools down a bit).

For mix in:
1 small onion (you can use red onions or shallots if you like), finely diced
2 pickle cucumbers (kirby or persian would be best, or one regular/larger cuke if you can't find the small ones. Peeled and diced.
juice of 2-4 lemons (depending on taste)
1 tablespoon olive oil
half bunch of mint minced (or whole pack if they come in those plastic box things at Trader Joe's)
half bunch of cilantro minced (or whole pack if they come in those plastic box things at Trader Joe's)
1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half -- prepare only when ready to serve
Salt to taste.


Approximately the amount of cilantro (and then, additionally, mint) you'll want to add and about how fine you'll want to chop it.

Preparing mix in:
Combine all onions, cucumbers, lemon juice, olive oil, mint, and cilantro. Leave salt and tomatoes out for now. (We leave them out because we might want to refrigerate the tabouli and you should never ever ever refrigerate tomatoes). Set aside.

Combining:
Once quinoa is cool, mix in the onion, cucumber, etc.. mixture and toss to combine. Add salt to taste. When you are ready to serve, add the appropriate amount of tomatoes (either go with my suggestion of 1 cup/1 cup dry quinoa or add as much as you like) to the amount you're eating and enjoy. Otherwise, stash in the fridge until you're ready to enjoy.



We enjoyed it with our broiled veggie recipe.

IMPORTANT: NEVER REFRIGERATE YOUR TOMATOES! This deserved it's own post.

*This quote is something my labmate says a lot, so I cannot take credit for it.

Gallery of airline food, presentable and not

I'm not necessarily one of those people that feels the need to photograph everything that goes into or out of my body, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover airlinemeals.net, which boasts to be "the world's first and leading website about nothing but airline food".  There, you will find endless galleries of airline food of all sorts, handily indexed by air carrier and date, because you never know when you might need to know what kind of food Air Senegal International might serve you beforehand. They even have pictures of rare special meals and crew meals, and a photographic perspective of the magic that goes on behind the scenes.  Don't miss the "Meal of the week" archive!

Posts cmj & jdc owe y'all...

jdc and I have made / documented the following things, which all deserve posts:

-Avocado Pie
-Roasted Fennel & Potatoes
-Shirred Eggs

Soon-to-be-made and documented:
-Strawberry pie
-Lots of ice cream (hello new ice cream maker!)
-Some sort of Spanish dessert

All soon to come...

The Omnivore's Dilemma & Angelo Garro

My book of the moment is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and on the bus this morning I finally reached what may be the most exciting of the three sections: foraging.

I've only just started reading the foraging part, but I'm looking forward to reading about Pollan's attempts at mushroom gathering and boar hunting.

What got me excited: Angelo Garro is the person who teaches Michael Pollan about foraging!

I first heard of Angelo Garro through an NPR segment produced by the Kitchen Sisters about hidden kitchens, during which they "join Garro along the coast of Northern California as he follows the seasons, harvesting the wild for his kitchen and his friends." One of the hosts gets invited to a meal at his forge (he's a blacksmith as well), and "everything was handmade by Angelo: the salami, the prosciutto, the pasta, the ragu, the olives, the wine, even the candlesticks."

Listen to the audio of the fantastic NPR segment here. (If you're just planning to read the text, don't bother! Radio is all about listening, and the segment is worth taking a second to turn your speakers on and listen.)

Napa Wine Tasting: Likes and Dislikes

Since I'm asked for Napa trip recommendations fairly often, I started keeping a list of what I've visited. My likes and dislikes plus brief comments are below, plus my to-try list! Eventually I'll post similar lists for Sonoma and other nearby wine regions.

Wineries I have enjoyed:

Cakebread Cellars - Super friendly and down to earth. One of my favorites in Napa. I liked the Rubaiyat quite a bit. It's not a "tour" per se, but a host talks to you about all of the wine in a group of about 10 people or so. No food pairings served, but there's an emphasis on talking about food pairings/recipes. Reservations required.

Hess Collection - Hess has a very impressive modern art collection, including a flaming typewriter. I don't actually remember if i liked the wine.

Groth - I liked the cabernet. Quieter than many Napa wineries. Reservations required.

Frog's Leap - SUPER fun tour. Organically farmed / organic emphasis. REALLY fun people, and I liked the wine. They make you wear straw hats. Reservations required.

Beaulieu Vineyard - The Beauzeaux and the Ensemble Red are both quite good wines in the $25 price range.

Robert Sinskey - Does food pairings. Yum. Good wine, and convenient if you'll be in the Stag's Leap District.

Silver Oak - A cult cabernet-only house; they're rebuilding the winery, which burned down recently, but the tasting room is still open.

Stag's Leap - Good reds says everyone (but i was a bit meh on it), nearby Robert Sinskey.

Opus One - A super high-end cab producer, a joint venture between Mondavi & Rothschild. Expensive but might be a nice treat.

On my to-try list:

Swanson Vineyards - I've heard that "everyone loves Swanson", though I've never been myself.

Pride Mountain Vineyards - My parents loved it, and said it was great for picnics. Nice view/gardens.

Van Der Heyden Vineyards - Apparently it looks like a dump, but the wine is amazing. Says a review on Yelp: "it's like you are driving into a trailer park. The tasting room was being run by a 20-something kid with lots of piercings, throwing me off quite a bit. But dear lord, that kid knew his wines and can really talk about them."

Artesa Winery - Beautiful architecture and gardens.

Things I didn't like:

Sterling Vineyards - Pretty views but way overrated! You get to take a funicular, but it's expensive. Swamped w/tourists. I was not impressed by any of the wines.

Robert Mondavi Winery - A great tour if you're taking someone who is just learning about wine / wine-tasting. But skippable otherwise. I'm not a fan of their wine.

Domaine Chandon - Like a bachelorette party, but with a bunch of frat boys in striped shirts as well. We escaped outside w/our champagne to avoid everyone.

Rutherford Hill Winery - We went here since they were open until 6. It was bad.

Broiled Vegetables

Our local farmer's market (Temescal, Oakland) is starting to bring out the summer vegetables again. So it's time to make some of my favorite summer veggie recipes.

Broiled Vegetables

I was inspired to make this buy eating some vegetable skewers at a local restaurant. I quickly realized that skewers were kind of a hassle so I got rid of them (you can add them back if you like). Makes enough for about 2-4 people depending on what else (and how much else) food you're serving.

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers - any color - two different colors is nice for effect
1 large onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 summer squash (the stuff that looks like yellow zucchini)
1 zucchini
Olive oil
Kosher salt (or regular if you don't have kosher)
optional: mushrooms would also be nice, if you like that kind of thing

1. Preheat your oven or broiler to 'broil'.

2. Coarsely chop the peppers and onion into large chunks.

3. Cut zucchini and squash into half inch slices.

4. Cover a cookie sheet - the kind with the lip around the edge - in aluminum foil. Put all vegetables (tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, and squash) in cookie sheet and toss with about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a bit of kosher salt.

5. Broil for about 5-10 minutes and then check on vegetables. If they are starting to broil, toss them around and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Check frequently because cooking time will vary.

6. Remove and enjoy immediately! Makes a great vegetable side dish. Here, we've paired it with our Quinoa tabouli and some Riesling.

I owe you guys...

I owe you two forthcoming posts!
Sneak preview:
1. Quinoa tabouli & broiled veggies
2. Dried-fruit protein bars

To appease you I give you a photo I took today at the farmer's market. It's a Gibraltar from Blue Bottle Coffee (highly recommended local roaster).

Banana Bread

cjr and I made some Banana bread today because we had some overripe bananas that were going to go to waste. After trying a couple of recipes we've settled on this one: Banana bread with Pecans .

We always double the pecans - because we're sneaky like that. And yes, it really does need an hour and fifteen minutes! It may look done, but check with a toothpick. Note: the last bit of folded in banana will remain kind of liquidy -- so do not be alarmed and think that your banana bread is undercooked. It would be extra lovely with a dollop of (freshly made) whipped cream. But that's another blog post!

Banana Bread Ingredients, originally uploaded by yse.

Banana Bread, Done, originally uploaded by yse.