White Chocolate Cardamom Apricot Rosemary Chocolates

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make a new confection for her upcoming birthday party.  She had previously sampled my white chocolate cardamom orange truffles, and requested something of a more seasonal nature - apricots.  So I got to work.  I contacted my muse, and bounced my ideas off of her, and came up with something I thought people would like.  I was going to try to do an apricot rosemary gel filling, but through experimentation, determined that I didn't have the right equipment, additives or the time to do these properly so I decided to simply swirl the two together which worked out quite nicely.


White chocolate mixture
6 bars of good quality white chocolate
15 cardamom pods
1 cup of water

Apricot/Rosemary/Lemon Gel
8 large apricots (not too ripe)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of rosemary (lesser amount if fresh)
1-2 tablespoon of lemon juice (lesser amount if fresh)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
water as needed (minimum 1 cup).

Optional
ground pecans - lightly salted
ground cashews - lightly salted

Implements
fine strainer
1 double boiler
1 medium saucepan
1 small pot
teaspoons
wax paper
chilled plate
storage containers
small sharp knife
1 small bowl

1. Place white chocolate in a double boiler at lowest heat and melt.
2. Using a small sharp knife and a plate, split the cardamom pods and collect the seeds in a small pot.
3. Add the water to the pot and simmer for at 15 minutes.  Then strain out the seeds and continue heating until volume is down to 1/2 cup or a bit less.
4. Mix this into the melted white chocolate.
5. Wash and split apricots, removing the pits.  Place is a blender and reduce to significant bits.
6. Put blended apricots in a medium saucepan, cover with water.
7. Add rosemary, salt, sugar and lemon juice.
8. Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent any burning.
9. Continue until the apricot bits fall apart and the mixture begins to take on a somewhat uniform consistency and texture (30-45 minutes).  Add water as necessary to prevent burning.
10.  Sift in 3 tablespoons of gelatin.  (One at a time and then stir slowly).
11. Let cook another 15 minutes.
12. Continue until mixture is quite thick.
13. Cool in refrigerator until mix starts to gel.
14. Remove chocolate mix from heat.
15. Slowly stir in the apricot mixture.  (While we want a uniform distribution, we don't want them fully blended - think small apricot swirls in the chocolate).
16. If you are going to do a nut covering, ground the selected nut and mix with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Raw nuts are recommended.  Place in small bowl.
17. Put a plastic glove on your off hand (I use the latex free medical gloves you can pick up at any drug store).
18. Take a teaspoon and spoon up a half teaspoon full of the mixture.  Form into 1/2-3/4 inch balls.
19. If you want to add a nut covering, drop in the ground nut bowl and roll until the confection is completely covered.
20. Place the confection on wax paper which is placed on top of a chilled plate.
21. Put plate in refrigerator to set.
22. Once set, place in storage container lined with wax paper, you can do multiple layers as long as you put wax paper between them.
23. Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.  Serve slightly chilled.

My favorite variation so far is the one wrapped in pecans, but am looking forward to trying the cashew variant which should be a bit more subtle.

Enjoy!

A great little boombox - the Eton Rukus

For a while now I have been wanting to start teaching ballroom at my condo building's health club and also start a ballroom evening on the Summerdance floor at Michigan and Harrison.  One of the major impediments has been finding a good boom box.

I wanted something that was light, had rechargeable batteries, would run at least 4 hours, and which I could drive from my phone or my windows compatible mp3 player device via a mini phone plug connection (device dates from around 2003).  It would also be nice if I could charge the mp3 player from the boom box via USB.  Lastly, it had to be reliable, lightweight, and inexpensive.

The Rukus, manufactured by Eton, was the perfect fit for me.  It is lightweight, has a Bluetooth, USB (for charging devices) and AUX input, a solar panel to keep the battery charged and fairly good sound quality.  Easy to use - the Bluetooth setup to my phone took less than a minute.  While a little pricy with the solar panel option (list for $149, but you can get it for $129 by shopping around), the ability to recharge my phone or mp3 player while out and about made the $50 dollar solar panel premium a good value.  It lacks a radio or CD option, but since I don't need those things, it didn't matter.

During my first test, I put Viva la Vida on my cell phone and then walked all over my condo and it never dropped the signal nor quality even through the walls at 40'.

From my experience so far, I have found only one shortcoming.  You have to be careful with and play with the AUX cable connection to get a good signal.  The problem appears to be with the quality of the jack used for this.

As to the sound quality - pretty good for a small lightweight boombox.  It has a bass boost button which is useful for outdoor areas, and the highs are not badly distorted even at max volume.  Not high fidelity, but good enough for some backyard or beach music.

Coq au Vin with Dilled Rice

Have been thinking about this dish for a while and when Mariano's had a sale on ready to cook skinned chicken breast, I thought that it was the perfect omen.

 Ingredients:

Carrots
Peas (optional - not many needed)
1 to 3 chicken breasts
White Onion
shallots (optional)
minced garlic
Olive oil
flour
minced parsley
marjoram
bay leaf
thyme
salt
pepper
Amontillado sherry
Pears (Dried or fresh)
mushrooms (many varieties will work)
Rice
Minced Dill

Coq au Vin

1. Take a large saucepan with a cover.
2. Place on burner and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Turn heat on medium.
4. Add 2 cups of water
5. Chop up the onion and add- about 1/4 cup per chicken breast
6. Add 1/4 cup of carrots per breast (I used chopped frozen carrots)
7. Add 1/4 cup of peas per breast (I used frozen peas - you can also use a peas and carrots mixture)
8. Add the minced garlic.
9. Add the shallots.
10. If using dried parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme, add this now.
11. If using dried pears, add these now.
12. If using portabella mushrooms add these now.
13. Add the chicken breasts - frozen is OK.
14. Cover.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Flip chicken breasts, repeat for 15 minutes.
15. If using fresh herbs, add these now. (parsley, marjoram, bay leaf or thyme). 
16. Add 1/8 teaspoon of salt and pepper per breast.
17. Add 2 teaspoons of flour per breast to the mix.
18. Add 1/2 cup of sherry per breast.
19. If using mushrooms other than portabella, add these now.
20. If using dried mushrooms, add 1/2 cup of water.
21. If using fresh pears, add 3 slices per breast now.
22. Add enough water to cover the breast half way.
23. Cover, cook (simmer), flip the breasts and fresh pears every 5-10 minutes.
24. Add water periodically so you maintain a nice gravy consistency.
25. When they are white all the way through the center you are done.
26. If using canned mushrooms add these now.
27. About 1 hour for up to 2, a bit more for 3.
28. Once the breast are white all the way through, uncover and simmer a bit more until the density of the gravy is where you want it.
29. Serve.

Dilled Rice

1. Make rice as you normally would.
2. Add a touch of butter or olive oil and minced dill.
3. Stir thoroughly.
4. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Serve.

I had a hankering for guacamole the other day, and given that I am not a fan of peppers, it meant that I would have to construct my own.  Did some research, and found several several that fit the bill (thanks to Rick Bayless for the core recipe - available on his website www.rickbayless.com).

While peppers and I do not get along, the same cannot be said for garlic.  Generally there are two ways to play with garlic in an uncooked dish.  Use the garlic raw for a sharp biting taste, or roast it for 5 to 10 minutes for a sweeter softer flavor.  Given that the avocado would contrast the bite, I opted for the raw garlic.

Guacamole (4 servers per avocado)

1-4 ripe avocados

(All other measurements are approximations and per avocado used)
1/2 whole garlic glove cluster
1/2 cleaned, cored and diced tomato
1/4 cup of diced white onion
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 cup of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon of lime juice
1/2 teaspoon of fresh chopped parsley (optional - addresses the scent issues with the garlic)

Optional toppers - shredded cheese (mozzarella, jack or any one of several Mexican cheeses), sliced radishes

Assembly is pretty straight forward:
1. Peel and mince the garlic, a food processor can be helpful here.
2. Remove stems from cilantro.  Wrap leaves into a roll and then cut with sharp knife.
3. Dice onion.
4. Clean and core (remove centers)  tomatoes.  Then dice.
5. Chop parsley (stem removal recommended).
6. Combine prepped and chopped components from steps 1-5 in a large bowl.
7.  Wash and cut avocados in half.  Twist apart and then remove seed with spoon or knife.
8.  Scoop out avocado from skin and then place in bowl, toss any brown areas in the pulp.
9,  Mix ingredients while mashing avocado with fork or spoon.  Don't over do it, should be chunky.
10.  Add salt and lime juice, adjust to taste (exact measurements depend on the specifics of the other ingredients.
11. Cover with plastic wrap to the surface of the guacamole to prevent air from making contact with it.
12. Place in fridge until ready to serve.  Will generally keep for about a day or two, but best fresh.

Very Different Truffles

My niece recently graduated from college and got a job with a high end chocolatier in Chicago.  This has led us to recent talks about her work, the product and their selections.  In the process, I got interested in chocolate again, and with a bit of guidance from a friend (Thanks Winita!), came up with this truffle.

Ginger-Chai Chocolate Truffles

8 oz 100% Dark Chocolate (2 bars)
1 cup of Raw Sugar
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Cardamon (about 8 shelled pods)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground clove (about 8 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (about 4 heads)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz butter (organic non-salted best choice here)
1 cup of almond milk
1 black tea bag (decaf recommended)

Optional: 

• Raw finely chopped ginger. 
• Cayenne pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon) 

1. Shell Cardamon pods
2. Place seeds in mortar and grind with pestle. Place in small bowl.
3. Take heads from pepper and cloves and grind in mortar.  Add to bowl.
4. Add ginger, nutmeg, and Cinnamon to the bowl.
5. Stir thoroughly.
6. Pour the almond milk into a small pot.  Add butter.
7. Simmer the milk, stirring until the butter melts.  Add spices.
8. Raise heat until mixture boils.  Add tea.  Let it do so for about 10 minutes, stirring periodically.
9. Fill bottom pot of double boiler with several inches of water.  Place chocolate into the top pot of the double boiler.  Heat (do not overheat!) until melted.
10. Strain the spice mixture into another small pot.
11. Add sugar, stirring until it dissolves.  Add salt and vanilla.  Boil mixture for another 10 minutes.
12. Pour spice mixture into the chocolate.
13. Remove chocolate from heat.  Pour into a cool metal mixing bowl. 
14. Let stand for about 15 minutes.
15. If you have a mixer with a whip, consider whipping the mixture for about 5 minutes once it gets close to room temperature.
16. While you are waiting (Optional):
1.  Add raw ginger now if you like.  Or
2. Place raw ginger in a small microwaveable bowl, cover with water and microwave for 4-5 minutes (depends on microwave power).  Drain and add to the mix.
17. Whip the mixture until the peeks stand. Mixture should be around room temperature.
18. Pour mixture onto a good sized piece of plastic wrap.  Fold it over (it will still flow a bit) and seal.  Place in refrigerator for a few hours.
19. Remove from the frig.  If you can get a box of surgical gloves from the drugstore.  Put a pair of them on.
20. Set a large plate and a small bowl on the counter.  They should be cool.
21. Place the cocoa, and optionally, cayenne into the bowl.  Mix thoroughly.
22. Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of the cool mix.  Using your hands.  Roll into about a 1 inch ball.
23. Drop the ball in the bowl and cover with the cocoa.
24. Take the ball and place on the plate.
25. Repeat with all the mixture.
26. Rinse every utensil and bowl thoroughly in hot water as soon as possible.
27. Place the truffles from the plate into a plastic container.  Refrigerate or freeze until you feel a need to consume them.  If you need to do multiple layers, use wax paper or plastic wrap to separate the truffles.

This is a very interesting confection.  It is not sweet.  You initially taste the salt and the cocoa (unless you put in the cayenne), and then the spices hit you in waves, finally leaving you with a very clean palette and a slightly minty taste on your tongue from the cardamon.  If you would like to add fruit to your snack, consider, limes, oranges, pears or tart apples.  A poached pear tart would also compliment this nicely.  In my opinion, berries would be too sweet.

Christmas Confectons

A good friend of mine is celebrating a birthday this week and I decided to prepare something special as a present.

Unlike most people I know he has a fondness for apricots that I share.  So after a bit of thought, I decided to put together a sacher-torte style confection as his birthday present.  As a by-product, I also assembled a small box of expresso-hazelnut-dark chocolate truffles for the rest of the group.

Sacher-Torte Confections

Chocolate cups

Foil Cupcake Liners
BitterSweet Chocolate (about 16 oz)

• Melt  Chocolate in a double boiler
• Place several liners in a stack, make sure the innermost is foil. 
• Place in the freezer to cool.
• Pour 2 tablespoons of  chocolate into the liner set.  Rotate for even coverage.  Place in freezer.
• Repeat every several minutes until you have at least 1/4 inch coverage covering the inside of the cup.
• Place finished cups in the freezer to keep chilled until filling.
• Leave chocolate on the heat.

Apricot Mouse Filling

8 oz of California Blenheim Apricots (I get mine from Trader Joes)
8 oz of whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup of natural sugar
2 teaspoons of gelatin
ice cubes
water as needed

• Place apricots in a pot or saucepan.
• cover with water
• Add salt and lemon juice
• Heat till mixture is simmering
• Let simmer until apricots fall apart while stirring, add water as necessary to float the apricots
• Add sugar and gelatin
• Let simmer until a thick mixture forms.
• Turn off heat
• Place whipping cream in the freezer for about 8 minutes.
• Place ice cubes in a metal mixing bowl to cool it.
• Take cream out of the freezer
• Empty cubes from the bowl and dry with a clean towel (paper works best here)
• Place cream in bowl
• Using a whip, whip the cream to stiff peaks.
• Fold in the apricot mixture
• Place mixture in the fridge to begin setting.

Expresso-Hazelnut-Chocolate Truffle Topping

2 oz of butter
1/4 cup of natural sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Leftover chocolate from the chocolate cups
4 oz of chopped hazelnuts
12 oz of freshly made hazelnut coffee

• In a small pot on low heat, mix butter, salt and vanilla and sugar.
• Place coffee in a  microwaveable bowl.
• Heat the coffee (3 minutes at a time at full power) in the microwave until it is reduce in volume by half.
• Add butter mixture to the coffee.  Continue the heating process until the mixture thickens significantly (about that of the melted chocolate).  The aroma of hazelnuts should fill the air.
• Fold the hazelnut coffee mixture into the leftover chocolate.
• Place the mixture into a mixing bowl and whip at high speed until the mixture forms feathers.

Assembly

• Take cups from the freezer and fill with apricot mousse mixture.
• Replace in the freezer to cool for 10 minutes.
• Take a spoon, top off the cup with the Hazelnut truffle mixture.
• Top with chopped hazelnuts

Leftovers

• Add frozen fruit to the apricot mixture and serve with a fruit sauce (raspberry works well).
• Roll the truffle mix into balls and cover with the leftover chopped nuts.  Cover and store immediately (Freeze if not to be consumed within 24 hours).

Happy Holidays!

A different stuffing for the bird

Have been away for a while, focusing on other things and looking for a few interesting ideas to pursue.  However, now that I am back, I have a good one.  This is something I put together last night while preparing for the family Thanksgiving get together.  It takes a bit of work, but I think it is worth the effort.  This is best when prepared a day or 2 in advance.  Reheat (microwave) in a covered container before serving.

Holiday stuffing (for chicken, duck turkey or pork)

1 package of Sage or Herb stuffing (I used Brownberry Sage)
2 cups of fresh golden raisins
2 cups of chopped granny smith apples
1 bosc pear
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of chopped white onion
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped chestnuts
1 tablespoon of raw/brown sugar
1 cup of amontillado sherry
1 cup of water

1. Chestnuts
1. Place chestnuts in a pot of water.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Let Simmer for 30 minutes
4. Shell
1. Cut a cross in the flat side with a sharp knife
2. Peel shells and skins
3. Don't worry if they crumble
4. Place pieces in a bowl
5. If you have trouble removing the skins, place in boiling water for another 15 minutes.
2. Chop onion
3. Chop celery
4. In a good sized pot (1-2 qt) add:
1. Butter
2. 1 1/2 cup of water
3. Celery
4. Onion
5. Chestnuts
6. Sugar
7. Sherry
5. Cover and bring to a boil
6. Let simmer 30 minutes
7. Remove from heat and and 1 cup of water
8. In a large casserole add:
1. Stuffing
2. Apples
3. Pear
4. Raisins
9. Mix with a large spoon
10. Add the mixture from the pot, distributing it as uniformly as possible.
11. Toss the stuffing with a large spoon to mix it up a bit.
12. Cover.
13. Preheat oven to 350.
14. Bake covered for 2 hours.  You will know it is done when you catch the amazing scent of the sherry and chestnuts filling the house.

Enjoy!