Truffle Love

Truffles can be mushrooms or they can be a decadent & rich, yet almost embarrassingly simple confection. I love making the latter during Christmastime. I've made quite a few varieties over the years: simple chocolate, coconut, orange, peppermint. This time, I decided to give white chocolate a try during my last cooking class at Whole Foods. The recipe wasn't officially on the line-up, but I thought I'd try to make them as a sort of side note.

Well, my intention was to make simple white chocolate truffles, and possibly dip them in dark chocolate ganache. What actually happened was an all-natural birth of one of the best things I've ever eaten. Seriously. I've no intention of taking credit for the awe-inspiring, goosebump-inducing treat the was created; these truffles were the result of my class participants' suggestions ("Why don't you try this? Or that?") What emerged was destined to become a regular fixture of my candy repertoire: pistachio orange white chocolate truffles.

If you are so inclined, make these little devils. However, prepare yourself. Before you take a bite, make sure you've steeled yourself and are in a seated position, because they may lead to swooning.


Pistachio Orange White Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

8 ounces good quality white chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios

Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the white chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into a shallow bowl. Refrigerate the mixture until firm, about 2 hours.

Using a melon baller or small spoon, roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in the pistachios and orange zest. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

The Prospect of Being My Own Boss

I've spent the better part of the last twenty years working for others. I've had my share of bosses, some horrible, many just "OK", and few great. Regardless of how much I respected or liked my boss, one thing remained steadfast: I didn't like having one. I am assertive (controlling), driven (obsessive) & headstrong (stubborn). These qualities do not bode well for one being supervised. I love to boss others around, but I hate being bossed. So, when I acquired the amazing opportunity to teach cooking classes as an independent contractor, I rejoiced. When I began to contemplate creating my own food-based business, doing what I love (the cliche, yet so true, key to happiness), I began to dream of telling others what to do with wild abandon. Translation: I want it, and I want it bad.

I am slowly, cautiously, treading into the waters of catering, private cooking classes, and food planning. I've been quite hesitant to talk about this prospect, but aware that in order to make a dream a reality, you must make it public. I don't know what may happen, if I will succeed or fail. What I do know is that I'm very, very excited about the future of my professional life, and I haven't felt that for a while.

Salad! Salad! Salad!

"...once you put bacon in a salad, it's no longer a salad. It just becomes a game of 'find the bacon in the lettuce'. It's like you're panning for gold. Eureka!" -Jim Gaffigan

I had such a fun time teaching my salads class at Whole Foods this last Thursday! I adore a good salad, and the ones I chose to make were good (if I do say so myself!) and, what's more, pretty darn healthy. Finding a healthy salad, surprisingly, can be a difficult task: they're often covered in globs of mayo, layered in fried chicken or drowning in cheese. Damn. Now I'm hungry. There's nothing wrong with a little fatty-salad-lovin' from time to time, but I can tell ya, if you make my Waldorf Salad, you probably won't miss the lipids as much as you may imagine.   

Balsamic Vinaigrette & Marinade

Ingredients:

½ c extra virgin olive oil

½ c balsamic vinegar

½ shallot, finely minced

1 garlic clove, finely minced

½ t kosher salt

¼ t ground pepper

Method:

1.         Combine all ingredients in a spill-proof jar or container, attach lid and shake until ingredients are well mixed.

2.        Use as a salad dressing or as a marinade for meat, seafood, tofu or vegetables.

Tuna Tarragon Salad

Ingredients:

2 heads romaine lettuce, cut or torn into bite-sized pieces

2 cans oil-packed Italian tuna, drained

1 small red onion, sliced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

3 T fresh tarragon, chopped

2 avacados, cubed

About 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette

Method:

1.         Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl, toss with dressing & serve immediately.

Caesar Salad

Ingredients:

2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces

1 cup Parmeggiano Reggiano, grated

2 cups homemade croutons

2 egg yolks or 2 T mayonnaise

2 garlic gloves

3 anchovy filets

Juice of one lemon

2 t Worcestershire sauce

2 t Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1.         In a blender, combine yolks, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, Worcestershire  sauce, & Dijon & blend until smooth.

2.        Taste dressing, add salt and/or pepper, if necessary.

3.        Toss lettuce in dressing.

4.        Add cheese & croutons and toss, serve immediately.

Homemade Croutons

Ingredients:

1 loaf good quality bread, such as ciabbata, cubed

2 garlic gloves, finely minced

¼ c butter, melted

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 t kosher salt

Method:

1.         Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.        In a bowl, combine all ingredients until bread is evenly coated.

3.        Spread bread evenly on a baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, tossing once half way through cooking.

Ingredients:

2 cups apples, cubed

2 cups walnuts, toasted & roughly chopped

1 cup dried cherries

2 cups celery, chopped

1 cup blue cheese, cubed

1 cup grapes, halved

½ cup red onion, sliced thin

6 oz. bib lettuce

2 cups chicken, cubed (optional)

For the Dressing:

1 cup Greek yogurt

Zest & juice of 1 lemon

1 T honey

1 t Kosher salt

½ t ground pepper

Method:

1.         Place cherries in a small bowl and cover with boiling water, let sit for 5 minutes & drain.

2.        To make the dressing, mix ingredients until smooth

3.        Combine all ingredients (except lettuce) in a large salad bowl & toss with dressing until evenly coated.

4.        Place lettuce on a serving plate and top with the mixed salad.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

10 cups Napa cabbage, shredded

2 cups carrots, shredded

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1 cup crispy wonton noodles

2 stalks of green onion

½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

2 cups shredded chicken

For the Dressing:

½ cup rice wine vinegar

2 t sesame oil

1 clove garlic

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 T lime juice

1 T smooth peanut butter

Salt & pepper, to taste

Method:

1.         To make the salad dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.

2.        Mix all ingredients together in a large salad bowl and add the dressing, tossing until evenly coated; serve immediately.

Waldorf Salad

Risotto alla Milanese Class at Whole Foods

Well, on July 21, I taught patrons at Whole Foods how to make Risotto alla Milanese, a recipe I adapted from my mother and grandmother. The class went really well, and my risotto was by far the best I've made (if I do say so myself!). Where's the pictures, you ask? I forgot. I'm sorry. I know, I know, you want pictures. Can you forgive me? OK, thanks. Anyway, here's the recipe, and it's damn good.

Ciapponi Risotto alla Milanese

Serves 8

Ingredients:

12 cups chicken stock

¼ tsp saffron threads

I lb mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic gloves, crushed

1 ½ cup unsalted butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

4 cups aborio rice

1 glass dry white wine, such as pinot grigio

1 lb cooked chicken, shredded

2 cups Parmigiano Reggiano

Directions:

1.        In a large pot, bring chicken stock to a simmer over medium high heat. Do not boil.

2.       Once stock is simmering, remove 1 cup of stock, place in a small bowl and add saffron and cover.

3.       In a sauté pan set over medium heat, place mushrooms, 4 T butter and garlic. Sauté for 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms are browned.

4.      In a wide-bottomed, rimmed pan set over medium heat, sauté onion, salt and pepper in 4 T butter until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes.

5.       Add rice and stir over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the rice is translucent but not browned.

6.       Add the wine; reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until most of the wine is evaporated.

7.       Ladle about 1 cup of simmering stock to rice, and stir until most of the stock is evaporated.

8.       Continue to ladle the stock into the rice 1 cup at a time, as you stir – almost constantly – to cook and bring the starch out of the rice, for about 20-25 minutes.

9.       After 20 minutes, taste the rice for doneness.

10.  Once cooked to your desired texture, vigorously stir in Parmigiano and remaining 4 T butter.

11.   Stir in the chicken and mushrooms.

12. Cover and let sit for 3-4 minutes, and serve immediately.

My First Cooking Class!!!

I've been preparing for this since I was five. As a child, after watching "Great Chefs", "The French Chef", "Yan Can Cook" & "The Frugal Gourmet" Saturday afternoons on PBS, I would reenact my own cooking show. I would stare into an imaginary camera and speak to my imaginary audience as I whipped up imaginary souffles or racks of lamb. My grandmother encouraged this love of cooking by having me by her side as she prepared fabulous food. She would also send me outside with cups of dry polenta, flour and salt, which I'd mix with grass, mud or water for hours, pretending I was a chef. I've always dreamed of having my own cooking show on Food Network. I've also concocted my own Emmy Awards acceptance speech...but I digress.

When I took my little ones to Whole Foods for a cooking class, imagine my joy when the the woman who worked for Whole Foods who was teaching the class told me I could teach my own! "Here's my chance", I thought. So, I scheduled my first class, and now it's actually going to happen...I cannot wait.

On the menu is an arranged antipasto platter, a version of my grandmother's simple romaine salad, cheesy garlic bread and lasagna. Did I mention I make some damn good lasagna? I'm not good at a lot of things, but cooking, I can do. And, for the record, my lasagna is really, really good. I hope to do my grandma proud :-)

Parmegiano Reggiano, Ciao!

I miss my grandma. And when I miss her, I yearn to cook. One of my favorite food memories of her is her minestrone. It'd appear on the table randomly, almost an afterthought. Always for lunch (dinner was reserved for heartier, meatier fare, for God's sake!), always on a weekday, after my cousins and I were lassoed in from the backyard. It's accompaniments were often romaine lettuce, simply dressed in oil (extra virgin stored in a tin container), red wine vinegar (the kind my cousins and I would sneak into the fridge and do "shots" of), salt and pepper...because that's all it needs. Sliced cantaloupe, and, maybe, a piece of spice cake adorned with orange zest-laced frosting would follow. So, tonight, I whipped up a batch. The instant the onions and carrots hit the heat of the pan, the smell of home fills the kitchen.

As I'm sauteing away, my mind drifts to the rind of Parmegianno resting in the cheese drawer of the refrigerator, waiting to fulfill it's destiny. The rind patiently waits, letting the nutty, salty cheese hog the spotlight for weeks, months. The rind knows, that when utilized properly, it can provide a delicious, distinct foundation of flavor to just about any soup. A cook in the know knows to never, ever throw that little nugget of love away. Once, I was without said rind, and needed it for a recipe. At Whole Foods, I ask the "cheese gal" if she had any rinds laying around. "No, sorry" was her reply. Weeks later, I noticed that Whole Foods was selling rind! My letter demanding a portion of the profit has yet to be answered.

The devil on my shoulder says "Go...get the rind. No one will know. It'll be so good." The angel on the other shoulder replies "Ah ah, missy! Wait just a minute! You know quite well that the rind is certainly not vegan! I fear it may not even be vegetarian! Exactly what kind of rennet is used to make that stuff? Hmm? HMMMMM?!?!?!"*

I give into my base, id-driven devil, and throw the rind into the pot and the baby out with the bathwater. Oh, by "baby", I mean any shred of self-discipline that remained within my being that day and by "bathwater", I mean my pride. In my mind, I rationalized, I justified, I put off will power for another day. Essentially, what I've always done that got myself into this not-so-petite body. 

The end result, of course, was fantastic. Not quite as good as my grandma's, but who's counting? The Parm MADE this soup. It's perfectly fine without it, but when you simmer the stuff with that rind....yum.

*Wow, I never would've guessed my angel was quite the passive-aggressive little Church Lady.

Grandma Jenny's Minestrone

3 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T Kosher or sea salt

1 1/2 t ground pepper

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 t. dried oregano

2 dried bay leaves

1 can diced tomatoes

5 c vegetable stock

4 c dark greens (I use kale, but any will do)

1/2 lb small pasta (ditalini is what grandma used)

approximately 2"x4" parmegianno reggiano rind (optional)

1. In a large stock pot, saute onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes in the olive oil (add the salt, pepper, oregano & bay leaves too) over medium heat until soft (about 10 minutes)

2. Stir in tomato & stock, raise heat to medium-high and bring to a light boil

3. Add greens, pasta & parm rind & cook until pasta is done, but the longer it sits, the better!









I've been a bad vegan

Um...I can say that the reason I haven't blogged in a long time is not only because I was busy moving across the country, but also because I've been too busy stuffing my face with cheese to type. I have a cheese addiction, and I've moved to Wisconsin. Big mistake. Huge. Cheese is a religion here; a way of life. And good Lord, do I commiserate. Since moving here, I have tried some of the best cheeses ever. So, I've justified in my mind allowing the cheese because I've kinda been in vacation-mode. This has, regrettably, shown in my waistline and daily choice to wear sweats. I need to face reality. I can't , just CAN'T be a vegan 100% of the time. Surprised? Didn't think so. I can easily be vegetarian...no sweat. I just love the queso WAY too much to send it packing permanently.

Anyway....

For good or bad, better or worse, I'm back in the bloggin' game.