Like Water for....well...CHOCOLATE!!! Cook the Books

I'm actually ahead of the game for our next edition of Cook the Books. After posting my last entry, I immediately picked up our next book (Like Water for Chocolate) and started reading. I had it finished before the weekend was over. I really thought I remembered reading this book previously, but I must have been thinking of Chocolat, because I'm pretty certain I would have remembered disliking a book as much as I disliked this one. Don't get me wrong, that didn't stop me from reading it. I'm ever the optimist, always thinking, "it has to get better"....yeah, but it didn't. Maybe I'm food snob. I like real recipes, not fanciful ones with unreal ingredients. I mean, I enjoy a good piece of fiction, and I'm all about the supernatural, and Latin American cultures, so I really should have liked this book. But I just couldn't make myself enjoy it.
That being said, not much will deter me from pulling something tasty from my kitchen, no matter the motive. So, I thought about the book; its name obviously had some inspiration lying in it (I mean, really, its CHOCOLATE....) and the burning desires that Tita felt throughout the book reminded me of one of my favorite candy recipes. Aztec Chile Truffles.

Yep, if you've ever had Mexican hot chocolate, you're going to be all over this one. You can make these chocolates as mild or as spicy as you want (yes, that's right, I used 'chocolate' and 'spicy' in the same sentence.) Don't judge, just give it a try. And if you're still unsure, I'm including my other favorite truffle recipe for dark chocolate-orange truffles (another classic combo).

For the ganache base:
Start with 24 ounces of good quality dark chocolate (or milk chocolate, if you're a wussy, but you know that dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, so we can justify eating it). Roughly chop the chocolate (if you are using a bar instead of chips) and put it in a double boiler (I use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - no need for fancy equipment here.) with about a half a cup of heavy cream. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then add in your spices:

For the Aztec Chile Truffles:
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your heat tolerance)
1 tsp good quality cinnamon (I recommend Vietnamese cinnamon!)
1/8 tsp each ground ginger, allspice, and cloves

For the Dark Chocolate-Orange Truffles:
1/2 tsp orange extract
the zest of one orange

Let the mixture cool enough to handle and roll into bite size balls. Then roll the balls in cocoa powder or sanding sugar to finish; or if you have candy molds, spoon the ganache into them to set. I have some nice silicone molds that work well.Note: if you do use candy molds, be sure to gently (but firmly) tap the trays against the counter several times to work any air bubbles out of them and help guarantee a nice shape. I do recommend letting these set up in the fridge, versus the freezer. They seem to have a better texture that way, although I'm not sure why. You can also melt more chocolate and coat the finished truffles with it, but I am too lazy for that, which is why I bought the pretty shaped molds. These keep best in the fridge, so that the chocolate doesn't soften too much (if they aren't coated).

Now we can all feel the burn, just like Tita. Enjoy!

Neck Bones and Gravy

As much as I aspire to live up to my Italian heritage, I have to admit that as a child, I did not have a great deal of exposure to Italian cooking. So, when I run across a recipe like this, that just has "Italian Comfort Food" written all over it, I suffer a combination of food lust, and dismay that I didn't have an Italian grandmother coaching me in the kitchen during my youth. No disrespect to my mom, trust me, its just not how I grew up.

Well, I'm making up for all of that now! I ran across this recipe over at Proud Italian Cook and couldn't wait to give it a try. Growing up in the city, I was never exposed to the more...ahem....rustic cuts of meat. Since moving to the country, I have learned all about buying meat in quantity. And by this, I mean when we buy pork, we buy a whole hog. Literally. Right down to the oink. That's right, we work with a farmer, who delivers a hog to the butcher for us, where it is processed and packaged for us. Admittedly, there are always a number of mysterious brown packages left in our freezer after about a year. Pork Heart, Liver...and, yes, neck bones. People have told me to use them in soup, but really, they are more fat than they are meat, so I was kind of grossed out by the idea of putting that in my soup. And so, without fail, these "parts" inevitably go to the dogs (yes, really, our dogs get them for treats.)

No more! The poor dogs are going to have to settle for the hearts and livers (which I still refuse to cook or eat), because the neck bones are all mine. The hubs may not even be lucky enough to share with me. I emailed Marie of Proud Italian Cook, and she graciously sent me some guidance on making this dish, which I am thrilled to be able to pass along to you (with my own modifications, naturally!).

Start with some neck bones. I am estimating I had about 6-8 pounds (I found 4 brown paper packages of them in my freezer), but you can use however much you have available to you. Keep in mind that there is very little meat on these babies, so you may want to err on the heavy side.

In the largest pan you have, pour a little oil, then salt and pepper the bones generously, and caramelize them until they are nice and golden. This caramelization gives the gravy an amazing flavor. You will have to do this in batches if you are using more than a couple of pounds. Set the browned bones aside.In the same pan (you want all those yummy brown bits in the gravy!) saute some chopped onion (I used about 2 small onions), plenty of fresh minced garlic (about 6 cloves for me), and cook until soft. Then toss in a bunch of basil. You know I can't resist throwing some red wine in any sauce I make (and its a really good excuse to open a bottle, as if I need an excuse), so I poured in about a cup of a nice local Norton to deglaze the pan.

Toss your caramelized bones back in the pan, and cover with tomatoes. Marie says to only use San Marzano tomatoes, and I would have loved to, but they are just simply unavailable here unless you have the time to drive to St Louis, which I did not. So, sorry Marie, but I got the best crushed tomatoes I could get my hands on, and I threw in a can of fire roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.Let that concoction simmer until the meat is falling off the bone. I let mine go for about 3 hours, which may have been overkill, but the little buggers just didn't want to let go. When you are getting close, boil some of your favorite pasta (In my case, I boiled up a package of bucatini, which is by far my favorite cut of pasta. It just grabs the sauce and drinks it in like a straw.) and get ready for food porn (yes, my parents just read that).Yes, that's right, it is beautiful, and messy, and you will make sounds you didn't know could come from a person while you are eating. You should either eat this dish while no one else is around, or make sure you have a partner in crime so that you have someone to share your dirty little secret. Oh, and lots of napkins. And bibs wouldn't hurt either. Damn. I mean, really, there are just no words. Try and take these from me and you might just get stabbed in the hand with a fork. After I was done, the kitchen table looked like the scene of a homicide investigation.

I know what you are thinking. Neck bones? I've had more than one friend be unable to process the appeal. You've got to be open minded, but trust me, it is worth it. I didn't even tell my friend Susan about this because it would probably make her semi-vegetarian stomach heave just thinking about it. But I have a few girls who are with me...my Memphian friend Whit was so proud of me for taking on the pork parts previously unknown. Between her and Ginny, we're gonna throw down on this another time. You can, too. I promise I won't tell.....but send me pictures.....

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut....HOT FIX!

I am an organizer by nature, and admittedly, I tend to plan our weekly meals in advance, along with many of the other dishes and treats that I make. That being said, every once in awhile, something comes along that just has to be taken care of as quickly as I can get to my kitchen. In my work, we would call that a "Hot Fix". And since this week's crash course in sugar overdose came from a co-worker, that's what we're calling it.
Sitting in our group lab yesterday, one of the lovely ladies I work with asked me, "So, are you a 'baker' or more of a 'cooker'?" Being a loaded question, I replied that I do tend to gravitate more toward cooking than baking, but I do make my fair share of sweets as well.
She had been in a nearby town over the weekend, and had lunch with her sister at a local eatery. From the dessert menu, she had ordered a treat dubbed "Almond Joy Pie" and wanted to know if it could be re-created. After doing some research online, I found a recipe that sounded close to what she described and after making a few modifications, realized that I already had all the ingredients for it at home. Since the dinner I had planned last night involved allowing a coup to simmer for awhile, I decided I had time to try this one out.
The recipe I found and am including below, also had instructions for a homemade crust. However, one of the deciding factors enticing me to make it was the fact that I knew I had one lonely frozen pie shell tossing about in my freezer, begging to to be used up. So, I skipped the crust and moved on to the filling. As it turns out, this is going to be a dangerous addition to my repertoire, because it has only a few ingredients, none of which are perishable and can be kept in the pantry indefinitely, and it goes together in about five minutes. Seriously. The original recipe is below, but here are the instructions, including my changes. Here's how it goes.
Preheat the oven to 350.
If you are a slacker like me, break out a frozen pie shell. Pour a think layer of chocolate chips in the bottom of the shell.Top with about a cup and a half of shredded coconut.Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top of the coconut. Then let the concoction rest for five minutes or so to let it soak in a little.Top with whole almonds. After tasting the pie, we decided it could have used more almonds.Cover with greased foil (I used my trusty Reynolds Release wrap), and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the coconut is golden on top.Melt about a cup of chocolate chips with about a quarter cup of half and half and spread it over the top of the pie, then allow it to cool thoroughly.NOTE: the pie looked a little sloshy to me when I pulled it out of the oven, but I was afraid if I left it in any longer, the coconut might burn. I needn't have worried. The filling was firmly set when I cut into it this morning.
The original recipe says it can be stored at room temperature, but I put it in the fridge just to help it set up last night.If you have enough people around, it won't last long enough to worry about leftovers anyway. I brought the pie in this morning and it wasn't even 9:00 before we cut into it.
Aside from being slightly stickier than an Almond Joy bar, it tastes exactly like one. WARNING - this pie is extremely rich. You will want to make sure you have a large quantity of coffee or cold milk on standby when you are serving this one.Original recipe:

Almond Joy Pie
Most "Almond Joy Pie" recipes I see use the actual candy bar in the recipe. This one does not, but the finished product takes like an almond joy.

Crust:

2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups finely chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg whites until foamy; add cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Fold in almonds. Spread mixture over bottom and sides of a greased 10-inch pie pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

Pie:

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour chocolate chips into cooled pie crust; top with coconut. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over the top. Set aside 3 to 5 minutes.

Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray. Cover pie loosely (try to keep the foil from touching the pie) with greased foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until coconut is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting. Store at room temperature.

Its Happy Hour! Nigella Style....

Although I am a total slacker and I haven't posted a submission for I Heart Cooking Clubs in WEEKS, suffice it to say that after the week I have had, I was completely in tune with this week's theme - Happy Hour. For whatever reason, posting a recipe every week seems to be too much of a struggle for me lately, and this was actually meant to be my submission for the recent "Exotic Places" theme. When I think of exotic places, I think of one of two things; Asian food, or swim-up bars in Mexico. Don't ask me why, its just how my mind works.
Thinking this over, I remembered seeing a recipe in Nigella Bites for a Watermelon Daiquiri. Recalling that when Ginny and I went to Cancun, watermelon was my fruit of choice, this struck me as a perfect solution.
Keep in mind, it is January. And I live in Illinois. I wasn't convinced that I would be able to find watermelon at this point in the year, but I ventured out in search of it anyway. My local grocer was a bust (no surprise there), but imagine my delight when I walked into the produce section at walmart and strolled right up to several seedless watermelons, presenting themselves to me happily (ok, maybe they weren't actually "happy" watermelons and it was just the thought of the alcoholic beverage to come that was influencing my vision)!
I quickly chose my victim, paid my $3.98, and headed for my kitchen.
So, what do you do when you cut into a seedless watermelon and find it overrun with little black seeds? If you're like me, you curse a lot. Then, you attempt (briefly) to scrape them out of the melon, only to discover that you are losing more melon than seeds. Had this been a regular watermelon, I probably could have picked them out and been fine, since those seeds are large and visible. However, I'm guessing since this melon was MEANT to be seedless (damned over-achieving fruit), the seeds were small and plentiful, and there was just no recourse. My next question is, can you return a hacked up melon to walmart and complain about it not being "as advertised"? I chose to refrain. I'm not very attractive when I'm being kept from my goal.
That being said, I had fortunately had the foresight to also purchase two lovely mangoes while I was at the store, so I peeled those, chunked them up and threw them in the freezer. It was at that point that the week got away from me and I didn't get a chance to make the daiquiris.
However, when I saw that this week's theme is Happy Hour, I decided it was the perfect time to liberate the mangoes from the frozen tundra (and gift myself with a lovely little libation in reward for a nasty week).
Nigella's recipe for the daiquiris is simple. Frozen fruit, rum, and a little sugar. Rev up the food processor and you're ready to go. Since I don't like my beverages overly sweet, I skipped the sugar. In the processor went two mangoes, chopped and frozen, and about a third of a cup (thanks to a buddy of ours who left a nearly empty bottle on my wine rack) of Captain Morgan 100 proof (hope he wasn't really planning on using that the next time he comes to visit).
Just look at this lusciousness.... I enjoyed this frozen treat with a spoon, wrapped up in my fluffy robe, reading Like Water for Chocolate on my couch last night. The hint of spice in the Captain Morgan mingled nicely with the mango, and I really enjoyed getting tiny little bits of fruit in every spoonful. Ahhh Happy Hour indeed. SO, it wasn't technically a Nigella recipe, since I substituted every ingredient, but its the thought that counts, right?
Cheers!

A Man in My Kitchen

It is no secret that I do the vast majority of the cooking in my house. However, ever since I started this blog, my husband has been joking about posting a recipe. Now, bear in mind that follow-through is not the hubs' strong suit. That being said, the Big Man does love browsing the food sections of whatever newspaper he happens to be reading. Of course, he claims that it is for my benefit, but with a recent issue, he came out of his culinary shell and invaded my kitchen. Here is how it went:

*at work, my cell phone rings*
Hubs: Hey, did you say you were going to the grocery after work?
Me: Yep, why? Need me to pick something up for you?
Hubs: Yeah, if you would. Got a pen?
Me: *ignores the request and rolls eyes*
Me: Go ahead...
Hubs: Ok, a can of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of blackeyed peas, the kind with jalapenos if they have them, a can of beef broth....
Me: *scrambles to find the pen I didn't think I needed*
Hubs: what are tomatoes with chiles?
Me: Ro-tel.
Hubs: Ro-what?
Me: never mind, I know what it is....
Hubs: four ounces of green chiles, 2 fresh jalapeños....
Me: Good lord, honey, what are we making?

He proceeds to tell me that he found this recipe in the newspaper the day before and it sounded good. So, after determining that most of the ingredients he needed were already in the pantry, I wrote down what was left and headed for the store.

While I was in the checkout lane, my phone rings again.

Me: Yes, dear?
Hubs: Do you have a dutch oven?
Me: Ummm yes, why?
*the grocery clerk gives me an odd look*
Hubs: Where is it?
Me: its the black enamel pot on the cabinet by the laundry room...why?
Hubs: The recipe says to use a dutch oven.
Me: *smirking a little* Ok, but its not a very big one, we'll probably use my regular stockpot.
Hubs: *silence*
Me: Do you need me to get anything else?
Hubs: Nope, just hurry up.

At this point, I am getting suspicious. Sure enough, I get home and open the front door to the sound and smell of onions cooking and see my dear husband hunched over the cutting board, hacking away at the fresh jalapeños. Apparently I was just in time for the main event. He was impatiently waiting for me to arrive with the remaining ingredients. We teamed up to put together the remaining ingredients in the pot and brought it up to a boil.

I have got to say, this soup is a real keeper. We discovered (since we've made it about three more times in the last three weeks) that you have to make a double batch to fill your average crock pot all the way. This made it on the menu for the hubs' birthday party at the local watering hole and the recipe was requested by about a dozen of the regulars. It was also the first item to disappear from the buffet.

If you know anyone who likes a good, hearty and spicy soup/stew, this is for them. One tip I can give you is to make sure you drain all the grease thoroughly after cooking the meats. You can adjust the heat by using canned green chiles OR canned diced jalapeños, you can use mild, original, or hot Ro-tel, and you can use as few or as many fresh jalapeños as you like. In our house, we used canned jalapenos, original Ro-tel, and 2 fresh jalapeños in each batch. When we doubled it, we used 3 fresh jalapeños instead of 4, so that we wouldn't hurt any of our friends who were eating it. Use your own judgement based on how tough your taste buds are! It turned our very flavorful with a pretty good kick, without being overly hot. Keep in mind though, that we are lovers of the chile, so you may want to tone your version down if you are a little more cautious around the spicier foods. Also, it may look pretty thin at first, but this soup with thicken up like crazy in the fridge, so don't worry if it seems a bit watery, as it does in my pictures. I like mine that way, but the hubs is one of those people that likes everything better the next day.

So! Congratulate my honey, this is his first recipe posted on my blog (or anywhere else, for that matter) and I'm pretty proud of him for coming up with such a good one, and for doing a damned fine job in the kitchen.


Blackeyed Pea Soup with Polish Sausage
1 pound ground beef
1 pound polish sausage or kielbasa, cut in bite size pieces
1 onion, chopped
1-2 jalapeños, seeded and deveined, finely diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Ro-tel
1 can beef broth
2 cans blackeyed peas
1 4-ounce can green chiles

In a stock pot, brown the ground beef and set aside. Then toss in the sausage and brown gently (this adds great flavor to the soup). Add in the onion and jalapeño and cook until vegetables are soft. Put beef back in the pot and add all the canned items.Simmer until reduced slightly. Add 2-3 cups of water if you want a thinner soup. Serve with crusty bread.

A Taste for Adventure....and Nostalgia

Ok, I messed up.

I have recently joined a wonderful blogging group called Cook the Books, that feeds not only my enthusiasm for cooking and food, but my love of literature.

Unfortunately, I was convinced that I had until February to put my post up. I've had it written for weeks, but my pictures didn't turn out very well and I was waiting to re-make the recipe to post it to my blog. Apparently, I waited too long. The roundup went out yesterday, minus my submission. So, since I didn't get a chance to make another batch, you're going to get the pictures of the first attempt. One thing you must know is that the hubs and I were having a verbal pissing match while the bread was in the oven, so it got a bit overdone; and then again after it came out, so it cooled off too much and looks rather drab. However, it did taste phenomenal. So, here we go.

Reading Anik See's 'A Taste for Adventure' left me longing to travel again. In my youth, I was always determined that I would lead a life filled with travel to exotic places and faraway lands, and I started off on a journey that would shape the rest of my existence.

I didn't get very far.

Or, at least, I didn't get far very often. In the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Spain on an exchange program. Full of the natural exuberance that is so often indigenous to the teenage humanoid species, I packed up and flew off to Spain. And landed in an entirely foreign world. I was an 'A' student in Spanish, I had prepared myself (as much as a sixteen year old midwestern catholic school girl can) for my life's first experience overseas, and felt nothing but confidence in my ability to not only mingle with the inhabitants of this new country, but to fit in just like I'd lived there my whole life. My foreign language skills were impeccable, of course.

Too bad I didn't know much about geography, or eastern european history, or the fact that Spanish isn't the only language spoken in Spain. Or, more specifically, Catalonia.

See's chapter on Russian Georgia sparked more than a memory for me, it rekindled the long forgotten flame of love and adoration I hold for the Catalan people. See describes the Georgians as 'proud' and hints at their 'victorious' nature; their many years of oppression and survival. I was immediately hurtled back in time, and reincarnated as a moderately motion sick teenager, exhausted from an overnight flight and eight hours on a bus (worthy of a nearly medievil description) in the hot Spanish countryside. I was greeted by an extremely enthusiastic couple and their young son, (minus the daughter of my own age that I was expecting to meet and bond with), speaking a language that caused my brow to furrow, my heart to pound in my chest, and prompted more than one tearful collect call back home to mom and dad.

You see, the Catalan people don't speak Spanish. That's not to say that they CAN'T speak Spanish.....they just DON'T. The Catalan suffered through persecution and regimes that forbade the teaching of their language, not to mention even SPEAKING it. They were strong, they were victorious; as even though they are not an autonomous country, they still maintain themselves as an autonomous PEOPLE.

Living in Catalonia is the period that I recognize as the beginning of my love affair with food. It was where I discovered that not all pizza comes from Little Caesar's, that seafood is a pleasure and not just a menu item at Long John Silver's, and that cooking from scratch most definitely does not equate with something that comes from a box.

During my stay, I ate a lot of "street food", went to a number of festivals, and discovered what the life of the average person in Catalonia is like. Food is fresh, quick, and (BONUS!) they drink wine with every meal. Yes, I know that is typical in most countries I don't live in, but it is also where I learned to drink socially and responsibly, without throwing myself into drunken debauchery in college, like most of my friends.

So, in honor of the proud people of Georgia and Catalonia, and my love for street food, I decided to make Khachapuri from the Georgian chapter, as it reignited my romance with Catalonia, and reminds me so much of something you might get from a street vendor there. A simple, yet luscious bread, that even I, in this little podunk American town, can find the ingredients for.

Thank you, Anik, for reminding me of my youth, my love of foreign cultures, and my passion for food. I hope you enjoy my submission for Cook the Books!

Khachapuri
(from A Taste for Adventure, page 89)

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 pound havarti cheese, grated
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
2 TBSP fresh mint, cilantro or parsley (I used cilantro)
1 egg, beaten with 1 TBSP water

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, salt, and butter in a large bowl and rub the mixture between your hands until crumbly (this is also easily done in a food processor or mixer - I used a pastry cutter). Add one egg and the yogurt and mix until a ball is formed. Roll out the dough into a rectangle of 1/4 inch thickness.

Mix together the second egg, cheeses, and herbs and spread out over half the dough. Fold the dough over the cheese mixture to cover it and seal the edges by crimping them with a fork or your fingers. Beat the remaining egg and water together and brush the dough with it.Bake on a greased baking sheet for about an hour, until the dough is golden brown.

(yes, this is a shameless shot of the interior of my new oven)

Let the bread cool slightly. Cut into wedges or squares and serve while still warm.Makes one square, to serve 6 to 8 as a snack or part of a meal.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm not braggin' or anything, but I sure do have some good friends. I've never been very big on celebrating my birthday (at least, not since I started getting old) and I really wasn't looking forward to it this year. But! My evening out Saturday night turned into a fantastic time, with my friends filling up a large chunk of the bar that we frequent. I couldn't have been more touched by not just the number of people who came out on my behalf, but the people, themselves. There were people I wasn't expecting along with the ones I knew would show up and it couldn't have been a higher quality group if I had hand picked them. I was surrounded by the best people I know and it was more of a birthday present than I could have hoped for. Today is my actual birthday (who wants to go out on a Monday night, right?), but after all of that, I am content to have a nice lunch out with a good friend.

If any of you are reading this, I love you guys!!! Thanks for making this year's birthday celebration the best one I've had in many, many years!