Truffles and hot tubs and what have you.

Friday morning already?  Where did the week go… I had marvelous intentions of sharing my newly found truffle (chocolate not the smelly ones) recipes with you.  I had great success with Earl Grey and bittersweet chocolate and a stunning failure involving mango and curry.  I’m sure someone more poetic than I could wax on about highs and lows and all that but I know what you’re secretly thinking…”Mango and curry…chocolate…blech!”

A wild desire to be avant garde and uber creative seized me and the mango curry truffles were the result.  Veni and Hollind tried to talk me out of it but I was deaf to their pleas.  My punishment:  a dozen perfectly gorgeous but oddly flavored..okay I’ll be frank…inedible chocolate blobs.

And I would have posted the Earl Grey recipe last night if Hollind and Steph and Elaine hadn’t kept me out so late.  We went to Eleven Winery’s tasting room to support Island artist Isobel Coney in a showing of her exquisitely rendered Lino prints.  (Please go!  You’ll be glad you did!)

It was supposed to be an early night due to Steph’s stated intention to tuck in her kids at 7:30…being the supporting friends that we are, we helped Steph find a way to have her wine and drink it too by weaseling through a tuck-in loophole:  we accompanied her home so she could tuck in the kiddies then we retired to her hot tub for two hours. 

Today is an exciting day because T&C is sampling cheeses again.  I went yesterday and spent a happy interlude sampling such wonderful things as Cibo Natural’s smoked Jalapeno cheese, Bucherondin French goat milk cheese and I have it on good authority that today they’ll have gorgonzola dolce, a cheese so luscious and meltingly gorgeous you can (and will want to) eat it with a spoon.  I swoon as I write this.  This happens from 10-12 so don’t be lazy, get up and get there and say hello—I’ll be the one hovering over the gorgonzola.  BTW—every single fabulous cheese on aisle 1 is 25% off.  woohoo.

Okay, so I think I owe you some eye candy.   As tasty as the Earl Grey truffles were, they didn’t photograph well (unless rocks on a plate excite you) so I give you instead pics from a recent apple cider pressing at my folks house in Joyce, WA.

   

Remind me later to tell you about the crab feed we had on Wednesday night.  Matthew, the same lovely neighbor who gave me salmon to smoke, dropped by with four! freshly caught and cooked Dungeness crab. 

Off to Copalis to slay some clams.  Cheers.

Earl Grey Chocolate Truffles

From: Cuvee 928 in Flagstaff, Arizona

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

3 Earl Grey tea bags

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cut in ½ inch cubes

2 tablespoons brandy

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring cream and sugar just to a boil in heavy small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Empty tea from bags into cream. Cover and steep for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Transfer to medium bowl.

Strain cream mixture through fine meshed strainer (or through several layers of cheesecloth) into chocolate mixture; stir to blend. Stir in brandy and salt. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill until firm, about four hours.

Lime rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or waked paper. Roll rounded teaspoons of chocolate mixture between palms to form a ball. Place on prepared sheet. Chill until firm, about one hour. Roll truffles between palms again. Place cocoa in small bowl. Roll truffles in cocoa powder; return to same sheet. Cover and chill.

Wine Society Soup Pairings and Broccoli Mascarpone Soup

Last spring a group of us got together and created the Bainbridge Island Wine Society.  Our stated purpose is to learn more about wine but our actual purpose is to drink a lot of wine and eat a lot of food while talking about learning about wine.

Get that?

Anyway, we’re meeting soon and the menu committee is having a bit of a tussle with a brash young Pinot Noir.  We want this haughty newbie to pair with a soup and so far it’s not cooperating.  If this wine got a report card it would read “does not play well with others,”  It’s probably just that it’s misunderstood, we are, after all newbie's ourselves at pairings. 

My foodie pals Hollind and Veni and I got together with a bottle and three soups: Tuscan white bean, broccoli mascarpone and curry cauliflower.

Admittedly it’s no hardship to have to drink wine and taste soup on a rainy Wednesday afternoon and I for one think we ought to make a habit of it. 

 

The  white bean soup came the closest, mostly because it laid down and let the pinot walk all over it.  The other two showed a feisty side with the broccoli sucker punching the pinot up front then playing nice later.  translation:  (the broccoli overwhelmed the wine but got better as we tasted).   The cauliflower soup just turned up her nose and refused to play and neither the soup nor the wine benefitted.

Can you help us?  If you’ve got a great soup that would work let me know and I’ll hastily arrange another wine-Wednesday and give it a go.  (Even if you don’t have a recipe; make one up so I can have another wine Wednesday.)

I was really rooting for the broccoli mascarpone.  I love its velvety texture and soft green color.  And I used shallots from my very own garden.  This soup is easy to make.  You can substitute cream cheese if you want because mascarpone can get a bit pricey.  Great as a starter or a light dinner with salad and a baguette. 

Broccoli Mascarpone Soup

From Bon Appétit

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups sliced shallots

1 1/2 pounds broccoli florets, cut into one inch pieces.

6 cups low salt chicken broth

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mascarpone cheese, divided.

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons chopped, fresh chives.

 

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add shallots; sauté 3 minutes.  Add broccoli; sauté 1 minute.  Add broth, bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.  Cool slightly.

Working in batches, transfer soup to blender,  puree until smooth.  Return to pot.  Reserve 1/4 cup mascarpone in small bowl.; cover and chill.  Whisk 1 1/4 cup mascarpone and cayenne pepper into soup.  Season with salt.  DO AHEAD:  Can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover, chill. Heat soup over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Do not boil.

Garnish with remaining mascarpone and chives.

Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

Biscotti have always been a little too hostile for me.  I  like my cookies to be soft and melty; ladylike, if you will.  With biscotti, I know I’m in for a fight.  When you have to use the meat gnawing molars to subdue a cookie there’s something wrong…so I dismissed biscotti as too forceful; the bully of the cookie family.

Years later I was standing outside the main entrance to the Nordstrom Flagship store in downtown Seattle.  Through the open store doors the scent of leather and perfume and elegance beckoned and I knew that I’d need some shoring up before I was ready for total Nordstrom immersion.

This is best done with chocolate and caffeine so I ducked into the Nordstrom coffee bar.  At first I dismissed the chocolate dipped biscotti, but there was something about that glossy chocolate exterior that beguiled me.  Also, it was the only thing that had any chocolate on it.

Either biscotti had been tamed in the intervening years or I’d judged too harshly in my tempestuous youth because this cookie yielded without so much as a bone jarring.   The was no wrestling for dominance.  This cookie knew its place and yielded with an elegant and satisfying crunch then infused my mouth with lush chocolate flavor.  It might have been a day or a week but it wasn’t long before I started testing biscotti recipes and came up with with one:

Chocolate Biscotti

To make an elegant statement, melt semisweet chocolate chips and drizzle across, do the same with melted white chocolate.

2 cups flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped*

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a baking sheet. In bowl whisk together flour, cocoa baking soda and salt. In another bowl beat together butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs.

Stir in flour mixture to form stiff dough. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

With floured hands form two logs 12” long and 2” wide. Bake 35 minutes, cool five minutes then cut diagonally. Place on baking sheet and bake until crisp about ten minutes.

 

I like to freeze these and pull them out when I want a quick tea treat.  They make a wonderful hostess gift; I slip them into an oblong bag and tie with a pretty ribbon or pack into a small bakery box, wrap with food grade tissue then tie with a ribbon.

My Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas

There are so many things I should be doing right now instead of writing this blog, like editing the family cookbook that I’m supposed to have ready for this weekend.  It’s been a year since our first annual ladies weekend at the beach where all the women from my mom’s side of the family got together to write a cookbook.  But all I can think about is my Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas. 

This dish has been a family favorite for years.  I can remember our annual fourth of July Potluck at the Sol Duc hot springs when I was a kid and my  6 year old cousin crying while eating them.  I can still smell the sulfur and chlorine, still see the green mountains before a blue sky, still hear the teen girl screeches and shouts from the pools and my cousins sniffles as he ate.

Alarmed my Aunt Sharron sat down on the cabin steps beside him and told him that he didn’t have to eat them if he didn’t want to.  “I love them but I’m crying because they’re spicy but so good that I can’t stop eating,” he’d sobbed.

I think she toned down the spice after that because I don’t remember them ever being cry-your-eyes-out spicy.  What I do remember is the tender crunch of onions, the piquant bite of olives, the creaminess of loads of melted cheese.  My Great-grandma, the daughter of Irish immigrants, grew up speaking Spanish in a small  California town just north of the Mexican border and this recipe reflects that upbringing.

They’re on my mind right now because I know that’s what Aunt Sharron is making for dinner on Saturday night.  Grandma’s making her salsa fresca and my cousin Kelli’s bringing her Texas caviar.  Lisa’s on deck with her well loved bruschetta and we’re all bringing dessert. 

To say I’m excited doesn’t really describe my feelings.  Perhaps I’m aiming too high but I hope we’re making memories and connections we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives.  We’re spread out; my family resides mostly in Western Washington, my mom’s sisters, my cousin and my grandma in Oregon.  But all of us value these connections enough to make the trip for each other…or maybe it’s just the promise of good food.

My Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas

Sharron Farrell: This came from Grandmother Pursley. The family really loves it.

black olives, sliced

onions, chopped

sharp Cheddar Cheese (small cubes)

Flour tortillas

Red Chile sauce, medium

Depending on how much you want to make use equal amounts of olives, onions and cheese.

Soak one tortilla at a time in heated red chile sauce. Mix together olives, onions and cheese. Place a very large spoon full of the mixture in soaked tortilla, fold in half. When the bottom of the pan is full layer a mixture and some of the red chile sauce before starting the next layer, until the pan is full. Use a fork to poke holes through the layers of tortillas and pour more red chile sauce over it. Cook in a 350 degree oven until the onions are done and the cheese is melted.

Fast Food: Mustard Caper Pork Chops

This is one of my favorite fast food dinners and a nice way to end a blustery autumn day.  Start to finish, this takes about thirty minutes but looks much fancier.  Sear the pork while the vegetables steam and you set the table.   Dress the squash with a pat of butter and brown sugar.   Enjoy.

Tomorrow night Skogen Lane comes alive with ghost and ghoulies.  Our neighbors host a soup and bread dinner and off we go as witches (2) and a skeleton and Ariel.  I suspect folks will wonder if we’ve kidnapped the little mermaid.  We’ll pillage and trick, prowl and treat and end the night at a bonfire with champagne for the grown ups and a candy free-for-all for the kiddies.

Happy Halloween!

 

Pork Chops with Mustard Caper Sauce

From: Food and Wine magazine. This is a fast and easy weeknight dinner that is impressive enough for company.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 -9 ounce pork loin chops

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups chicken stock

1/3 cup drained capers

½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, add them to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until well browned, 5 minutes per each side. Transfer the pork chops to a large late and cover loosely with foil.

Add the stock, capers and chopped rosemary to the skillet and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about five minutes. Return the pork chops to the pan and simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the chops to 4 plates. Whisk the mustard and butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mustard-caper sauce over the chops and serve.

Most Amazing Ginger Molasses Cookies

Crisp and crinkly on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.  These are the cookies I’ve been seeking to duplicate since the day I discovered them in a tiny (long gone) French bakery cafe in Seattle.

 

 

 

It was one of those perfect spring days with fresh new buds on all the trees, blue skies and a ticklish wind from Elliot Bay.  Had there been a musical soundtrack an accordion would be playing.  I wore a skirt and boots and a sweater, walking along Western Avenue to Pike Place Market.  This was long before the Harbor Steps, before the high rise apartments. 

A scent, spicy and sweet flooded the street. Helpless to resist, I followed.   I’d never tasted molasses cookies before and that day was a revelation.  Layers of flavor; the initial heat from the ginger, followed by plush sweetness of brown sugar and then the dark richness of molasses.   It seemed exotic as Morocco as comforting as home.  A heady combination.

It took me a long time to find this recipe because I thought I was looking for a molasses cookie when what I really wanted was a ginger cookie.  I present to you the Most Amazing Ginger Molasses cookies.

 

The Most Amazing Ginger Cookie

2 ¼ cups All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup molasses

1 egg

3 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped.

granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients (flour-salt) in a large bowl. Whisk until well mixed.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine brown sugar and butter, mix well then add the oil and molasses. Mix well then add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in the crystallized ginger.

Scoop mixture and shape into a ball then roll in the granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with your finger. Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how soft you like the interior. Let cool. These keep well in a sealed jar and taste even better the second day. Enjoy.

 

BBA Challenge #6 Casateillo

It rained so hard yesterday that I, a Pacific Northwest Native, had to actually USE an umbrella.  No swinging it along beside as I stroll jauntily along…this was unrelenting, pounding, bounce off the pavement rain.  And I loved it. 

I love the sound of rain, especially in the woods where it changes from pavement's strident ping to a soft, gentle patter.  The woods come alive with sound and I can almost feel the trees rejoicing and whispering thanks. 

Another thing I love about rain is that it’s an excuse…can’t garden; too rainy.  Was going to make a Costco run…too rainy.  Better just sit here in front of the fire with a good book until the rain stops.

So I grabbed Peter Reinhardt's Bread Baker’s Apprentice and got comfy.  One can only sit so long in front of the fire when thumbing through a gloriously photographed baking book before they leap from the couch, toss off the blanket and head for the kitchen to make bread.

Casateillo, BBA Challenge #6 is an Italian version of brioche.  Traditionally it’s made in panettone wrappers and studded with meat and cheese.  It’s often seen at Easter in Italy and on rainy days here in the Pacific Northwest.  I filled mine with salami and provolone—Mr. Reinhardt says to let it cool for an hour before slicing  (like that’s going to happen?!) but I risked his displeasure and cut it open after about 6 minutes and was rewarded with a steamy cloud of fresh bread goodness and shiny bits of provolone melting on the knife.

If rain brings you down the smell of baking bread will cheer you up.   I tell you this because I just checked the weather and it’s going to rain for the next ten days and we all might want to make some plans.  Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.