Moodular Cooking

I'm a pretty random person.  I readily admit that.  I go from one concept to another without a seeming segway.  But it's cool.  I use my forces for good.

You might have noticed that I haven't been posting in a while.  Guilty as charged.  Life got really busy.  The boyfriend had work stuffs, it was cold, I had my birthday (got a new microplane, cutting board and vinaigrette bottle, among other things) and I frankly wasn't in the mood to cook.  We have been eating out a lot and I've ended up simply making pasta or something equally simple just to put some foods in my belly.

But I feel a swell of inspiration coming about.

My birthday graced me with lovely weather, sunny in the 60s.  In case you haven't noticed, my birthday is in February and I've lived in the northern part of the US for the bulk of my life.  60 degree weather simply doesn't happen normally for my birthday, even down here in the Mid-Atlantic states.  I got to sit on my balcony, knitting and enjoying the nice weather.

Today I was greeted with a snow day, which was equally pleasant.  Especially since all the bad weather happened last night and it's nice and sunny, if cold, right now.  Then I turned on the TV to watch some Barefoot Contessa and the two episodes were all about France and simple French food, something I'm not too familiar with but love the romanticism of.

But I always seem to start with basics when I'm resetting, which I need to do occasionally.  One of my first posts was about a farmer's lunch- bread, cheese, fruit, etc.  That was my planned menu for tonight but with a bit of a twist.

The Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer came out on Friday and I found an interesting gem- frozen mini croissants.  You proof them overnight (they puff up quite a bit) and then you bake them.  So far they look and smell lovely.  I am substituting them for the bread in my lunch equation.

Pair that up with my boyfriend and a move and it looks like I'm in for a pleasant evening... if I can pull the man away from his horror movies in his studio with one of his friends.  :)

From this inspiration, who knows?  Sandra Lee had an interesting recipe this past weekend that I'm going to try out for my traditional Friday casserole night.  I might get back on that Middle Eastern kick.  I might try a curry, even though I pretty much dislike curries across the board.

The point is that I like to learn and grow as a cook and as a person simply based on environmental factors.  "Hey, it's really nice outside!  I think I'm going to make an asparagus risotto!"  "Hey, it's really cold outside!  I think it's time for some onion soup!"  "I've been watching ___ recently!  I think I'm going to make ___!"  Taking inspiration and just running with it I think is an amazing way to live, grow and escape the doldrums of our regular lives.

And if a simple plate of bread and cheese can make me feel like I'm in a meadow on a nice spring day when I'm actually in my apartment in the middle of winter, I'll take it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry for the lapse in posting.  Life has gotten really busy so cooking has been on the back burner.  Dinners lately have been pasta, sauce, salads and eating out.

However, I was inspired today by the season.  Valentine's Day is known for chocolate and I was inspired in the grocery store to do something I've always wanted to try.

Truffles.

Truffles are delicious and rich and...  I'm losing concentration writing about them.

Truffles are actually remarkably simple to make.  I've just never taken the time to do them.  So while in the grocery store, I decided to pick up the ingredients (never made them but I know what goes in them) and decided that would be a project for this afternoon and a nice present for the boyfriend.

So what are these ingredients, you ask?  Here's what you need.

9 ounces bittersweet/dark chocolate- I don't like dark chocolate but you need to use it for this.  why?  Because you also need...

3/4 cup heavy cream- that's why.

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Chop up the chocolate into slivers so it will melt quickly and easily.  While you're doing that, put the cream in a saucepan and simmer it to get it nice and hot.  Try not to boil it... like I did.  It came out fine but still.

Put the chocolate into a bowl and put the vanilla in same bowl.  Then apply the hot cream.  Mix and mix and mix until it's nice and smooth and melted.  This is called ganache, by the way.  You can frost cupcakes, cakes, cookies, etc. with this.  You can eat it straight if you want to.

But if you're making truffles, cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the ganache to prevent a skin from forming.  Then stash it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  It needs to be nice and firm before you start messing with it.  This is a good time to do some cleaning, run errands, do dishes, stare at a wall, etc.

You'll need to do a little bit of set up before you start making the truffles.  First, take a baking sheet and line it with something- plastic wrap, wax paper, I used aluminum foil.  You will also need a plate.  Put the cocoa powder on this plate.  You will also need a teaspoon measuring spoon or a small ice cream scoop.  I do not have a small scoop so teaspoon measure it was.

Now, I said this was easy.  I didn't say it was clean.  Take the chocolate out of the fridge and start forming the balls.  The colder your hands are, the better so running cold water over them will help keep the chocolate from getting messy but it's not a guarantee, sad to say.

Take a small scoop of the ganache and roll it between your fingers to get it round.  Word to the wise, your fingers are cooler than your palms.  All you're going to end up with are chocolate covered hands if you do it in your palms.  You're going to end up with chocolate covered hands regardless, but you'll end up with actual truffles you can eat afterwards if you use your fingers.

Once it's a ball, drop it in the cocoa and cover it with the powder.  Then place on the baking sheet.  Repeat the process umpteen times until you're out of ganache.  Stash them in the fridge to have them harden.

Here's what mine look like!

There are actually a lot of ways you can make truffles.  Some suggestions:

-Use a different flavor chocolate- white, milk, etc.

-Try coating them!  Instead of dropping them in cocoa powder, place them on the baking sheet plain and let them firm up in the fridge.  Then melt some chocolate- I don't care what kind and neither should you :)- and drop the truffle in there.  Fish it out with a spoon and place it on the sheet and let it harden in the fridge.

-For the really daring, after you drop it in the chocolate, drop it into some chopped nuts or shredded coconut.  Hazelnuts and almonds would be amazing, I'm sure.

-If you're looking for something pretty, drizzle the chocolate dipped ones with a contrasting color chocolate.

-Instead of using vanilla extract, use mint, almond, orange... you get the idea.

I had a lot of fun making these!  Just make sure to keep them in the fridge or someplace cold.  It'll turn into chocolate mush if not kept well.  It's equally delicious.  But not truffles.

Let me know how your experiments went!  And Happy Valentine's Day, all!