Slow and steady wins the race

In contrast to my last post, this one takes a few hours to do. But it is worth every second! Osso buco is an Italian stew originated from Milan. Loosely translated from Italian it means "hollow bones." Hence the name, it is made of veal shanks (with a bone in the middle) cooked in meat broth, and flavored with white wine and vegetables. Slowly braised, this tough, yet flavorful cut of meat becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the connective tissues and marrow dissolve into the sauce, making it rich and creamy. This dish can be fabulous or just mediocre. A really good osso buco has that tangy, rich depth of flavor that can only be obtained by layering flavors.

A risotto has been the perfect match for a pot of Osso buco. I made a saffron risotto, which gives a very attractive shade of yellow to be topped off with the dark and rich osso buco gravy. Risotto is an Italian rice that is quite time consuming to make. But when done right, it is rich and creamy while still al dente! What you get at a restaurant will never compare to a homemade risotto that wasn't effected by the dinner rush.

Osso Buco
1. In a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, heat:2 T olive oil over medium high heat
2. Season:
4 veal shanks with salt and pepper on both sides
3. Brown them on all sides. Then remove the shanks to a plate, set aside
4. Add to the same pot:
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
½ green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
½ red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large stalk celery, coarsely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
5. Stir well to coat, then cover. Sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes
6. Then deglaze with:
1/3 cup Marsala wine (or dry sherry)
1/3 cup brandy
1 T balsamic vinegar
7. Simmer for 5 minutes
8. Add:
2 T tomato paste
1 sprig rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
9. Simmer for a few minutes
10. Add:
The reserved browned shanks
2 cups chicken broth
11. Then put your Dutch oven in a 325 F preheated oven and cook for 1-1.5 hours.
12. When it's time to take your dutch oven out, remove the shanks to a plate then strain the sauce.
The dish is to be garnished with a gremolata mixture:
Combine:
2 T chopped Italian Parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
½ t grated lemon peel
1 T lemon juice

About half an hour before the Osso Buco comes out of the oven, prepare your risotto.
In a small sauce pan, heat about 4-6 cups of chicken broth and a tsp. of crushed saffron. Keep simmered while preparing the rice.
In a saute pan, heat:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
then add:
1 Tbsp. minced shallots
After the the shallot is fragrant, add:
2 cups short-grained round or semi-round rice; among the best rices for making risotti are Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli.
Saute the rice until translucent, about 7-10 minutes
Heat up about 1/2 cup of white wine in the microwave then pour the hot wine over the rice and stir (if it is cold you will shock the rice, which will flake on the outside and stay hard at the core).
Once the wine has evaporated completely, add a ladle of simmering broth; stir in the next before all the liquid is absorbed, because if the grains get too dry they will flake.
Continue cooking, stirring and adding broth as the rice absorbs it, until the rice barely reaches the al dente stage (if you want your risotto firm, time your additions of broth so that the rice will finish absorbing the broth when it reaches this stage; if you want it softer, time the additions so there will still be some liquid left).
Stir in a tablespoon of butter and the grated cheese, cover the risotto, turn of heat. Let it sit, covered, for two to three minutes.

Serve your risotto with a ladle or two of the osso buco sauce, top with a veal shank, and garnish with the gremolata mixture.


This dish takes quite a bit of time and effort, but the result is worth it. This can easily cost $40/plate at a nice Italian restaurant. But making it at home will cost you about $20 to have a dinner party of four. The tangy and rich flavor of the stew together with the creaminess of the risotto will keep your guests coming back for more!

Dinner in a zip!

This is one of my favorite things to make. But then, if you haven't noticed, everything is my favorite thing to make. What I like so much about this dish is it is perfect for those days when you don't feel like spending an hour making dinner. This is one of those meals that you spend 15 minutes at most without compromising its freshness.

I am a big fan of making things from scratch. So the down side of that is if I don't cook, there's nothing edible in the fridge. That's why I keep a few of these recipes on hand for a quick dinner without sacrificing its gourmet-ness.

Shrimp Scampi

Preheat your oven to broil
Melt in a saucepan:
1 Stick butter
then add:
1 Tbsp. fresh dill
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice.
Let it sit while preparing the bread crumb

Combine:
1/2 cup bread crumb
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Shell and de-vein about 1 lbs of shrimps. Arrange them on an oven proof pan. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimps and top with the bread crumb mixture. Broil the shrimp for 5 minutes until the bread crumb brown and shrimps turn pink. The time varies with different ovens, but it shouldn't be much longer than 5 minutes.

Pair the shrimps with a salad and dinner is served!

Anyway you slice it

In college, one of my roommates' aunt had an apple orchard in Pulaski, about half an hour away from Virginia Tech. We would go apple picking almost every other weekend. These were the most organic apples I had ever seen. Some even had worms in them. Quite a treat. And of course, there would always be apple pies at our house. This was when I mastered the pie making skill. I probably made 20 something pies every fall.

It's not too far from the truth to say that Seth fell in love with me for my pies. Not a big fan of eating apple pies myself, but I love making them and giving them away to friends. These were our thank you gifts to anyone who ever helped us with anything around a house of four college girls who couldn't seem to get any appliance to work properly.

This pie crust recipe is almost foolproof. And once you taste it, store bought pie crust will never do. Butter and shortening ensure that your dough will be both flaky and tender. You can use this recipe for any kind of pie you are making, pumpkin, apple, pecan..., and even quiches.

Through trials and errors, I've learned a few tricks over the years:
1)Always use cold ingredients, butter, shortening, even put your flour in the freezer for a few minutes. This helps keep the dough flaky.
2)Always chill your dough for at least an hour before rolling. This makes the dough easier to handle.
3)After assembling your pie, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes for the butter to harden again before baking. What make pie crusts flaky are the pieces of butter in the dough that melt during baking (not rolling), leaving flaky pockets in your dough.

Pie Dough (enough for 2 pie crust or 1 double crust)
Blend together:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Then using a pastry cutter or the paddle attachment to your stand mixer to cut in:
1.5 sticks cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold shortening, cubed
Cut until the consistency of split pea. Then stir in:
4-6 Tbsp. cold water
2 tsp. distilled vinegar

The vinegar helps break down the protein that might develop in the dough to keep it tender.
Divide your dough in half, wrap them in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

Peel and cut into wedges about 7-8 apples of any variety that you like. I personally like pink lady because they are crisp and slightly tart, great for baking. Toss your apple wedges with:
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. nutmeg

Roll out half your dough, transfer it to a 9" pie pan. Be careful not to stretch your pie dough. If your dough is stretched, it will shrink during blind baking.

You can choose whether or not you blind bake your crust. I wouldn't worry about it if it's apple pie made from fresh apples without too much juice. But if you are making a pecan or pumpkin pie, you should blind bake your crust before pouring your filling in the crust. This will help the crust from getting soggy.

To blind bake your crust, preheat oven to 400 F. After fitting dough to the pan, line it with foil and chill in the freezer for a few minutes. Fill with beans or rice and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and foil, and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool completely before filling.

Arrange your apple wedges inside the pan. Roll out the other half and cut into strips to make a lattice design. Flute the edge of your pie. This is an apple pie so I didn't blind bake it. And you can't really blind bake if you want to do a double-crust pie. Weaving lattice strips is too much work for you? Just roll out the dough and place it on top to make a full top, cut slits for the steam to escape. You'll still get a beautiful pie. I really enjoy making lattice though!


Pop the pie in the freezer for a few minutes. Then bake for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes in a 400 F preheated oven. During baking, if the edge your pie is getting too brown too quickly, use a pie shield to keep it from burning. Otherwise, your pie will turn out like the one in the picture below. I was busy with a few other things and forgot to check the pie while baking.

Not quite a cook out without sides

I think my husband and his male friends would be perfectly content with the a few racks of ribs at a BBQ. But it is not quite the same for me without the potato salad, baked beans, and such. Here are a few recipes I got from Cuisine at Home to spice up your cook out.

Bourbon Beans


Saute 3 strips bacon, diced, until crisp
Add 1 cup diced onion and cook until soft
Off heat, deglaze the skillet with 1/4 cup bourbon. Simmer til bourbon nearly evaporated
Stir in:
2 cans red bean, drained and rinsed (15 oz. each)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes.

This is one of the best homemade baked beans I have ever had. The bourbon is subtle, keeping your guests guessing what's so special about your baked beans.

Potato Salad

Boil 12-15 minutes:
1.5 lbs. white potato, cubed
2 large eggs.

Drain the potato and let the eggs cool.
Toss the potato with 1/4 cup pickle juice and let cool to room temp.
Peel, chop, and add the egg to the potato.
In a separate bowl combine:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped sweet gherkins
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour dressing over the potato and stir gently to coat. Serve salad chilled.

Deviled Eggs


There are a few tricks to making deviled eggs.
1) Use 7-8 day old eggs, they peel a lot easier that fresh eggs.
2) The night before making these eggs, put your egg carton on it side so that the yolk gets moved to the center, making your deviled eggs look more even and pretty.

Put 12 eggs in a saucepan covered with cold water. Bring eggs to a boil over high heat. As soon as water boils, turn off heat, cover pan, and let stand for 12 minutes. This will ensure your yolk is cooked just right, not too runny and not to turn blueish from over cooking. Run cold water in the pan, then peel and halve lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the yolks, set whites aside.

Mash yolk with:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. each pickle juice, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar.
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. dry mustard

Spoon or pipe the yolk mixture into egg white halves.

Grilled Vegetables
While your grill is hot, why not throw some vegetable on there and have yourself some healthy sides? It's so simple and really enhances the flavor while keeping in all the juices. Toss them in oil, salt, and pepper before throwing them on the grill.

Green beans: grill over direct high heat for 3-5 minutes
Sweet potatoes: peel and slice into 1/2" wedges, grill over direct medium heat, turning often, 15-20 minutes
Summer squash or regular zucchini: Bias-slice into 1/2" planks. Grill over direct high heat 5-7 minutes.
Whole baby zucchini: Grill over direct high heat for 7-10 minutes
You can also grill other varieties of vegetables, such as asparagus, corn, peppers, tomatoes, onions, ect.

These sides go great with ribs, BBQ chicken, or even just burger and hot dogs. They really make any gathering so much more filling and festive. Enjoy!

Robin Hood Chicken

Not sure how the dish got its name. But it is characterized by the rub mixture of herbs, olive oil, and lemon juice. The chicken has such a tangy flavor from the lemon juice, while the herbs are infused into the meat through indirect grilling techniques. This is so far one of my best chicken recipe that I collected from Cuisine at Home.

For the rub, combine and pulse in a processor:
1.2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. each chopped fresh rosemary, parsley, and garlic
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper

I use chicken quarters for this recipe because sometimes they can be on sale for pretty cheap. You can buy whole chickens and cut them yourself by cutting along both sides of the backbone and along the breastbone to separate the two halves.

Rinse chicken and dry with a paper towel. Rub the chicken pieces generously with the herb mixture and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat half of your grill to medium high. Put the chicken on the unlit side of the grill and cover. Rotate the chicken every half an hour for even cooking. They are done when an instant thermometer reads 165 F. This will take a while, around 25 minutes per pound. After the chicken is done, let them rest for 15 minutes before serving.


This techniques is so gentle that even if you leave the chicken on there for longer, they still come out tender and moist. Indirect heat grilling is one of my favorite way to grill. Everything comes out so moist and induced with a smoky flavor from the amount of time they were on the grill. Direct grilling doesn't quite give you that affect that meat tends to dry out a lot faster over the flame.

BBQ Ribs

My husband, like most men, is a big fan of BBQ ribs. They can be pretty expensive at some restaurant. But as shown in my previous post, making them at home doesn't cost much at all.


Before we start, I just want to give you a little background about ribs. You have probably seen the two types of ribs on rack out there, Spareribs and baby back ribs. These terms simply refer to different portions of the same rib cage. Baby backs are the ribs at the very top of the hog's back. These ribs are small and often pricey. Calling them "baby" has nothing to do with the age of the hog but rather their size and weight.

Spareribs are the lower section of the rib cage near the hog's belly. There are more muscles in this area, making the meat tougher and fattier than baby back. Because spareribs come from the same area as bacon, they are very flavorful. I actually prefer spareribs for their flavor and cost over baby backs.

Now, let's get started. These techniques can be used on both spareribs and baby backs. Hard core meat smokers will look down on me for this, I pre-roast my ribs in the oven! I haven't gotten into smoking meat yet. It seems like a pretty expensive and time consuming hobby. But for now, pre-roasting will do just fine. Pre cooking your ribs in the oven gives your ribs the tenderness, while charring it on the grill afterward gives it the crunch around the edge, which are the characteristics of quality ribs.

First step, rubbing your ribs (recipe from Cuisine at Home). Combine (This will be enough for two racks of ribs):
2 Tbsp each of salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and chili powder
1 Tbsp each paprika, dried oregano, and thyme leaves

Generously rub both sides with the rub, place your ribs on a baking sheet and cover them tightly with aluminum foil. Than roast them for 2 hours in a 300 F preheated oven. After 2 hours, your ribs should be ready for the grill. You can tell by the way the meat shrinks back to expose 1/2-1" rib bones around the edge.

While waiting on your ribs to roast, you can start on your BBQ sauce. By no mean, you can use any store bought sauce out there. But if you are up for the challenge, making your own sauce will let you be in control in choosing flavors that fit your appetite. Refer to my chicken wings post for a few ideas. Here is another flavorful recipe to get you started. This tangy BBQ sauce uses bock beer, which gives it a non-bitter, malty flavor. It can also be use for dipping sauce.

Bock Barbecue Sauce
Sweat in 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until onion is soft:
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tsp. chipotle in abodo, minced

Add:
1 bottle Bock beer
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp. ground celery seed

Increase heat to high, bring to a boil and reduce to 1.5 cup. Then stir in
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste.

You can either grill your ribs over direct heat until charred, 15 minutes, or you can smoke them over indirect heat. Smoking them takes about an hour for the ribs to develop a nice charred layer on the outside and induced with a smoky flavor.

To prepare for smoking your ribs, soak a bag of wood chips in water according to directions on the package. You should be able to get a varieties of wood chips in any grocery store down the charcoal aisle.

To smoke your ribs, preheat half of your grill to high and leave the other half unlit. The temperature of your grill should be maintained between 300-400 F. Place the soaked chips in a disposable aluminum pan with small holes poked in the bottom for the smoke to get through. Then place the aluminum pan on the lit portion of the grill and the ribs on the unlit portion of the grill. Slather your ribs with the bock BBQ sauce every 15 minutes. This helps keep them moist.

After an hour of smoking, your ribs should be done, tender in the middle with a nice crunchy layer on the outside. These ribs have a lot of flavors and texture. Let the ribs rest 10 minutes, then slice them into individual ribs by holding the rack vertically and slicing down between the bones. I thoroughly enjoy making these ribs. Quite a bit of work, but the result will impress all your rib-loving guests.

Low cost high volume

As you see, I've been a little delayed in making new posts but give my blog a face lift instead. Really rusty in my html, but it's coming back to me with some help. Hope you enjoy this new pinkie-up look.

Having a lot of company but trying to save money? A cook out is your answer. We had a dinner party for twelve two nights ago. With the main dish, sides, and desserts, you can spend hundreds of dollars easily. But guess what, you can get away with as little as $40. The secret is a freezer and stocking up when there are good deals. Below is a break down of the cost for the dinner party. I didn't include things that people usually already have in their pantry/fridge like mayonnaise, pickles, mustard, flour, sugar, spices, and such.

MAIN DISH
BBQ Ribs: $9/2 racks from Sam's club
Grilled Chicken: $2.99/10 pieces special at Kroger
Total cost for main dish: $12

SIDE DISH
Classic Potato Salad: $4
Deviled Eggs: $1.44
Bourbon Bean: $3
Grilled Vegetables: $4
Grilled Corns on the Cobs: $4
Total cost for side dishes: $16.44

DESSERTS
Homemade Apple Pie: $3.49
French Chocolate Silk Pie: $8
Total cost for desserts: $11.49

Total cost for a dinner party of 12: $39.93

Very affordable! Of course there is an opportunity cost involved here. Less money spent means more making from scratch. It really isn't as bad as it sounds. It took me around 3 hours to finish everything. Well, that is not counting the hours scrubbing our grill after a winter of idleness. We probably should clean our grill right after the last use this fall before putting the cover on it for the winter.

There are quite a number of recipes here. So I think I am gonna make a few different posts so that it's not too overwhelming to scroll through a mile-long post. Enjoy!

Pot roast is how you spell comfort food

It is true. Or at least for me it is. It's not quite as appealing in the summer heat, I suppose. But a pot roast will take away your blue on rainy days like these in Blacksburg, VA.

There are numerous different recipes for pot roasts out there. But this one is my favorite so far. A rich flavor is induced in the meat through two simple techniques, searing and braising. It is so tender you can cut with a fork!

A lot of pot roasts are made with a slow cooker but I prefer my cast iron Le Crueset French oven. But really, I like to cook anything in my French oven. Enameled cast iron is expensive but it is worth every penny. I assure you that you will pass one of these down to your grandchildren in almost perfect condition.

But with this recipe, I like my French oven because it takes less time to cook than a slow cooker. The tight lid keeps the moisture from escaping the pot, keeping my roast from drying out. I also use a chuck roast since it is more marbled, which gives the meat more flavor as the fat melts during cooking.

Pot Roast
Mix together:
2 lbs. chuck roast
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp thyme leaves
2 tbsp olive oil

Cut slits in the roast on both sides and stuff the garlic-thyme mixture into the slits. Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a French oven and sear both sides of the roast (Searing means quickly cook the outside of the meat on high heat til brown. It helps seal the flavor and the juice). Take the roast out and let it rest on a platter.With the dripping in the pot, sweat:

1 onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced

Once the onion is soft, stir in 1 tbsp of tomato paste. Cook until the tomato paste is brown, stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook till the flour is mixed in. Then deglaze with 1/4 cup red wine, make sure to loosen any brown bit on the bottom of the pot. This add a lot of flavor to the sauce. Cook until nearly evaporated. Then add 2 cups of beef broth. Return the roast to the French oven, cover, and put the pot in a 300 F preheated oven. Let roast for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, take the pot out of the oven, take the roast out on a platter. Strain the sauce, return it to the pot and add:

2 cups cubed potato
a few carrots, quartered

Put the roast back in your pot. Put the pot back in the oven for another hour or so. And your pot roast is ready.


I thoroughly enjoy this recipe. It requires quite a bit of time, but you can totally ignore it in the oven. Next time the weather calls for something warm and savory, give this pot roast a try and let me know what you think!

Crazy for Panini?

My husband is. He can have a panini for every meal if I was willing to drag out and clean up our Mario Batali cast iron panini press everyday. It is quite a heavy press. But I've been very happy with it for the past two years every time I felt like it's time to treat my boy friend now husband to a homemade panini.


Panini is an Italian sandwich. What makes it so unique is after the sandwich is assembled, it is grilled and pressed so that the cheese melts, gluing the two pieces of bread together. Quite an invention, I tell ya!

Paninies are quite easy to make. They do take time and patience if you choose to do everything from scratch. I made my own sourdough bread for Panini until I discover Panera's sourdough, which they even slice them for me. I've gotten a little lazy.

This is one of those dishes that you can make with anything that fancies your apatite. Chicken, roast beef, tomatoes... anything you want. Just have to choose the right condiment to go with your main ingredient.

On Saturday, I made a South-western Chicken Panini for lunch after my husband (Seth) spent the whole morning digging 3-foot deep holes in our yard for a fence. He was quite pleased.

South-western Chicken Panini
For the cilantro pesto, pulse together:
3 tbsp. cilantro, packed
1 jalapeno (seeded diced, use less if you don't like spicy)
2 cloves garlic
salt
olive oil

The pesto should be creamy in texture when done.

For the chipotle mayonnaise, mix together:
1 tbsp. minced chipotle in abodo*
1/4 cup mayonnaise

*Chipotle in Abodo comes in a can. I usually only use 1-2 tbsp. at a time. So I usually put the rest in a ziplock bag and freeze it. Next time you need some, just cut out the desired amount and put it back in the freezer.

And you will need a few slices of sourdough bread, left over chicken cut into pieces, Havarti cheese, and butter.

To assemble the panini, spread the pesto on one slice of bread, top with a few slices of cheese, then chicken. Spread the chipotle mayonnaise on the other slice of bread and put it on top of the chicken. Spread butter on the outside of the sandwich, this will keep the bread from sticking to your grill.

Now you are ready to grill and press your panini. Don't have a panini press? Use a regular frying pan and press with another frying pan on top.

Preheat your press/frying pan on medium high heat. Grill your sandwich 2-3 minutes per side. Press down on the sandwich while grilling for even toasting and make sure that the bread slices stick together. And you just made a panini!


South western is not your thing? Substitute the cilantro pesto with a regular pesto by using basil instead of cilantro and pine nuts instead of jalapeno. Skip the chipotle in your mayonnaise. And use mozarella instead of havarti cheese. And you got yourself an Italian Panini. Or skip the chicken from the Italian Panini and you got a Caprese Panini. Try roast beef with horseradish mayonnaise and cheddar cheese. Or even take your favorite sandwich and grill it (without lettuce though, unless you like your lettuce soggy and wilted). This is where you let your taste buds take you wherever it wishes! Have fun and Bon Apetit!

Chocolatier-ship

Chocolate lover? Craving those chocolate truffles? You can make them right in your kitchen for much less than what the cost at the store. Truffles can be easily $5/piece. Making your own? They cost about $0.50, quite a deal! And again, making your own truffles let you choose what flavors you want, imagine that!

I always keep baking chocolate tuck away in my pantry for when time calls for some serious chocolate making like a tea party! I prefer Ghirardelli chocolate products. Believe me they are worth the buck. Hersey and local brand chocolate has too much wax in my opinion. Food grade wax is usually added to chocolate to cut down the cost at most companies in the US. It also makes chocolate easier to work with but it does a lot of damage to the flavor of chocolate in my opinion. There are a few tricks to working with chocolate without adding wax.

A little background about chocolate, cocoa solids and cocoa butter are separated from a processed cocoa bean. These substances are combined in different ways to give us the different kinds of chocolate: milk, dark, and white.

White chocolate contains only sugar and cocoa butter, not cocoa solids. This is why its melting temperature is much lower than other type of chocolate. White chocolate is very easily scorched if you don't keep an eye on it.

The other two products use both cocoa solids and cocoa butter. There are other variances in chocolate type listed below occur by varying the temperature and time at which the beans are roasted before grinding.

Unsweetened chocolate is made of pure chocolate solids mixed with cocoa butter. It's also called baking chocolate or bitter chocolate. The flavor of this chocolate is strong, but it's not usually eaten on its own. Instead, unsweetened chocolate is used for making cookies, brownies, cakes and similar foods.

Dark chocolate is made from cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. Usually dark chocolate has the cocoa solid concentration of 65% or more. This is my personal favorite. Besides tasting great it has some health benefits as well.

Milk chocolate is made similarly to dark chocolate, but it uses less cocoa and adds milk powder.

Semi-sweet chocolate is used mostly for cooking (such as in chocolate chip cookies). It's a low sugar type of dark chocolate.

Bittersweet chocolate is similar to semi-sweet chocolate, but uses more cocoa butter and less sugar. It's interchangeable in baking, but higher cocoa percentages usually indicate a less sweet chocolate.

Couverture is French for covering and refers to any chocolate with a high cocoa butter content. These chocolates contain high cocoa percentages as well as a high total fat content. Great for dipping! The price can be rather steep ($20/lbs) but you are still not paying $5/truffle. Couverture comes as tempered or untempered. You can find out on the package. Read below about the necessity of tempering your coating chocolate.

Cocoa powder is made by removing almost all of the cocoa butter from chocolate liquor and allowing the solids to dry. They're then ground. There are two main types of cocoa powder - natural, which is more acidic, and dutch process.

Compound chocolate refers to cocoa combined with vegetable fats like palm oil and wax. Not a true chocolate. This is what chocolate coating is. Very easy to work with but you sacrifice the taste of real chocolate. Most Hersey and local brand chocolate chips are compound chocolate. And believe me, the low price just isn't worth the taste. (Information from www.isnare.com)

So after a little back ground on chocolate. Let's get you started on your chocolatier-ship.

Truffles

To begin, you need to make a ganache, which is a mixture of melted semi-sweet chocolate and cream. The ratio should be 8oz of chocolate to 6 tbsp. of cream. And you can add any flavor you want. Add a little Creme De Menthe for a minty flavor, kirsche for cherry, amaretto for almond... the list goes on. This is why I like making my own truffles so much, there are so many choices! A table spoon of butter can be added to help the ganache stay tender.

Ganache can be used as a glaze over pound cake too, skip the butter for the glaze. The other thing you can do with ganache is adding 2 tbsp. of corn syrup and you got yourself a to-die-for chocolate sauce to top a sundae.

Let the ganache sit at room temperature until set or refridgerate a few minutes but not too long or it will be impossible to scoop it out. After the ganache is set, use a #60 scoop or any side you want to scoop out the chocolate. Drop the little scoops of chocolate onto a baking pan lined with wax paper.

You can either coat your truffles in cocoa powder, confectioner sugar, or melted dark, milk, or white chocolate, or one of each.

With a double boiler, melt in chunks around 8oz of couverture or any kind of chocolate that suit you taste. I use a double boiler because the heat is more gentle and you can monitor it a lot better to prevent scorching. Especially with couverture and white chocolate, since its cocoa butter content is so high, the melting point is much lower than regular chocolate, it scorched a lot more easily. You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave and stir every 5 minutes.

Tempering chocolate is very important for coating chocolate. The tempering process ensures that the cocoa butter in chocolate hardens in a uniform crystal structure. Chocolate that is tempered has a smooth texture, a glossy shine and a pleasant “snap” when bitten or broken. Chocolate that is not tempered might be cloudy, gray, lumpy, and sticky at room temperature.

Melt 2/3 of your chocolate first, cook on the double boiler until the temperature reaches 115 degrees or 110 for couverture and white chocolate. Then take off heat, stir in the remaining chocolate. When the temperature reaches 84 degree, put it back on the double boiler until it is 88-89 degree. Your chocolate is now properly tempered.

Dip your ganache balls in the tempered chocolate. The best dipping tool is your hand! Wear gloves for a neater clean up. But be ready to be covered in chocolate, quite a messy process. Put your dipped truffles back on the wax paper.

Melt some more dark or white chocolate for decoration.

Another chocolate product that I love to make is chocolate cups. They will dazzle your guests if the chocolate truffles don't. Mix 4 oz of chocolate chips with 1 tbsp. of shortening. Using a pastry brush, paint the chocolate onto mini muffin tinfoil. The paper ones are to filmsy. Pay close attention to the edge. The cup will break if the chocolate is too thin around the edge. Then put them into a mini muffin pan and refrigerate until set.

When the chocolate is dry, use a pair of tweezers to peel off the tin foils. And you got yourself some pretty little chocolate cups

These cups can be filled with your favorite dessert mousse like white chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse... I like a cherry mousse with a maraschino cherry on top.

Cherry mousse

Heat 1 cup cherry preserve with 1 tsp unflavored gelatin and 1 tbsp. maraschino cherry juice over low heat until the preserve and the gelatin are melted, about 10 minutes. Then whip 1/4 cup of whip cream until stiff. Fold the whip cream into the cooled cherry mixture. Refridgerate until set.

After the cherry mousse is set, scoop it into the chocolate cup using a #60 scoop. Top the cup with a maraschino cherry. Chill until ready to serve. They are best served chilled.

I don't quite have a picture of the finished product. I will post it once I get some! They are not only pretty but also taste amazing!

Making chocolate takes a lot of time and practice. Don't give up after your first time. Trials and errors are a chocolatier's best friends. Soon you will packaging these for your friends and family with ease.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

The title of this post is from John 1:12-13. We who believe in the name of Jesus are qualified to be children of God. And guess what! This is why I am such a tea party fanatic. It reminds me that I am a princess, daughter of the King. So I am telling you, tea is a spiritual thing. Plus, I just have so much fun throwing a proper tea party, every time!

I had a big tea party at my house yesterday morning. This is probably the biggest tea that I've ever thrown, 26 women total. Praise the Lord that the weather was beautiful so we could sit outside. I just want to give my readers a few pointers about how to throw an English tea party. And next time the opportunity arises, you will throw the best tea party in the area!

The first thing you want to decide is what kind of tea party you would like to throw. There are three:
1) Cream tea: tea, scones, clotted cream, and jam.
2) Light tea (sometimes calls part tea): tea, scones, clotted cream, and sweets.
3) Full tea: tea, scones, clotted cream, sweets, and savories.

You can use the above terms at a hotel in England and they will know exactly what to serve you. But be aware, a full tea could cost you up to £51 at a hoity-toity hotel.

So if you want to do something simple with a few friends, a cream tea would be an excellent choice. A light tea would be my favorite because I love making sweets and those tiny sandwiches are not my expertise. But I usually do a full tea because it can be a replacement for lunch or even dinner.

Another thing, the term high tea is often thrown around in the United States, but high tea is often refer to a full meal, which the British used to have for dinner. So if you are having a full tea as a meal, it might be ok to use the term. But otherwise, you are having a low tea. The term has nothing to so with how classy or not the event is.

The second thing you need to do is preparing for the tea. You will find some recipes in a few posts under dessert/sandwiches. But I am including the scone recipe here since it's not quite a tea party without scones.

Cream Scones
Whisk together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Then cut it:
1/3 cup sold butter till pea size

Then mix in until just combined:
1 egg
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Roll the dough out immediately or chill until ready to bake the scones. I like to bake the scones right before they are ready to be served but they can be kept for a little while too. It's really up to you. Roll the dough out to about 1/3-1/2 of an inch in thickness. I cut them into small circles using a biscuit cutter instead of triangles. Trianglar scones are rather American. British tea scones are made into circles. I do believe they taste better too because the scones come out smaller, leaving you wanting more. Bake for 14 minutes in a 375 degree preheated oven. These scones are to die for. They are light and sweet, a perfect companion with any kind of tea.

Clotted cream/devonshire cream can't be forgotten (I did forget yesterday though, I was quite ashamed) to top those heavenly scones. I think clotted cream is the best thing the British ever came up with. It is rather hard to find such a thing in the US. In bigger cities, you can find it at a higher-end grocery store. But in a small town like Blacksburg, VA, it is almost impossible. I spotted some at a kitchen store, Gourmet Pantry in town a little while ago. But they were out when it came time for a tea party, quite sad! This is what a bottle of devonshire cream looks like:
You can also order a bottle online. They have very good shelf life in the fridge before opening. They last around 2 weeks after opening. Can't find it online, make it yourself!

There is only one ingredient: heavy whipping cream (best if unpasteurized or pasteurized instead of ultra-pasteurized and find one with the highest fat content possible). Use as much as you want. The clotted cream will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Pour the cream into a heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot. The cream should come up the side of the pot between one and three inches. Cover the pot and put it in the oven on 180 F. Leave the covered pot in the oven for at least 8 hours. It is done when there is a thick yellowish skin above the cream, which is the clotted cream. Let the pot cool at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator for another 8 hours. Remove the clotted cream from the top of the pot. You can still use the cream underneath for cooking or baking.

The work above is not your cup of tea? You can settle for this recipe:
Whip together until thick:
4 oz mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar

Much easier, eh? Doesn't taste the same though. But it will do the trick!

Here is a list of a few sweets that you can have with your tea: chocolate truffles, chocolate cups (see my post on chocolatier-ship), mini muffins, petit fours, tea cakes, fruits... The list goes on. Be creative, use your favorite cake recipe and cut them in bite size. The list is endless with bite size as the rule of thumb.

Recipes for savory sandwiches can be found here. As I said before, this is not my strongest suit. The only piece of wisdom I have to offer is slightly freeze the bread will help cutting them neater.

Lastly, setting the table! Go all out! Need fine china tea sets? Let me know and I'd be more than happy to help you out as long as you are within 20 miles of my abode. Get your friends to help! There are a few guidelines to setting the table: Napkins are to be placed on the left side of the place setting. Tea cups are to be placed right side up on the saucer with handles facing the the right side, teaspoon handles facing the same direction. Tea pot is to be placed close to the hostess since she will pour the first cup of tea.


As much as I like tea ettiquettes, I'd rather my guests have fun and enjoy the party than making them feel like they have to follow every single rule ever exists. I would explain a few guidelines just for fun though.
The pinkie up, title of this blog, is my favorite thing to do. The reason is to hold the handle of a tea cup, you don't loop your finger around your handle, you put your thumb and a finger on each side of the handle. The pinkie has no choice but to stick up for balance, absolutely adorable! Black tea can be served with milk while herbal tea is much better with lemon and/or honey. I prefer to serve lemons in slices and not wedges. They are just more elegant.

One more thing, always keep some boiling water in your kettle!! It's a pain to have to wait for more water after the teapot goes around half of the table.

I think that is all you need to know about throwing a tea party, big or small! I was a little busy running around getting things taken care of that I didn't get to take a lot of pictures. I will have to post them once I get a hold of some. Meanwhile, I hope you can feel like a Prince/Princess through the name of Jesus as well!

Smoother than Silk

We had a group of guys over to play games last night. I was wondering what to make since they are coming over after dinner. It is pretty hard to make a manly dessert. Let's face it, dessert was made for women! But thankfully, men will eat anything! So I decided to make a French Silk pie.


Interesting enough, French silk pie did not come from France. It is strictly American and came from the South. Hard to say who invented it. But it is heavenly for sure. I am surprised the French didn't already come up with something like that.

For the crust:
8 oz chocolate wafers (Oreos are fine without cream in the middle)
1/2 stick of melted butter (1/4 cup)

Traditionally, French silk pie is made with a graham cracker crust. But I made mine with a chocolate crust just because you can never have too much chocolate in one dessert. So for the crust, I put 8 oz of chocolate wafers in the food processor with half a stick of melter butter. After the wafers are all pulsed, press the mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 375 degree for 10 minutes then cool completely.

The filling:
3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
4 oz bitter sweet chocolate morsels
1 stick butter
1 cup whipping cream

For the filling, originally, eggs were used without being cooked. I am sure most of us are sketched out by that idea. So I cook my eggs over a double boiler. Bring some water to a simmer in a sauce pan and put a heat proof bowl on top of the pan, be careful not to let the bowl touch the simmering water. Put 3 eggs and 1/3 cup sugar in the bowl and whip with a hand mixer on medium.

My hand mixer broke a while ago and I've been just fine without one thanks to my stand mixer. But I can't quite use my stand mixer for this task. My husband got creative (he's extremely good at that) and attached a whisk to his electric screw driver and voila, I have a hand mixer (entirely too heavy and way too much power for whipping a few eggs) that works wonders.

Back to the pie filling, whip your egg mixture in the double boiler for about 10 minutes until it double in volume and the temperature gets to 160. Take the bowl off heat and continue to whisk while adding 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate morsels a table spoon at a time. The egg will subside as you add the chocolate. After the chocolate is incorporated, add 1 stick of butter in small cubes and whip. You should add one cube at a time and let the butter be whipped into the egg and chocolate mixture instead of melted it. This will help thicken the filling and keep it light.

Whip 1 cup of whipping cream and fold into the egg mixture. Folding will keep the volume of the whipped cream keeps your pie filling lighter than air. Spread the mixture onto cool crust and let chill for a few hours until the filling set. It takes no time at all with the eggs and whipped butter.

After the filling is set, whip 1 cup of whipping cream and spread over the top of the pie filling. I prefer whipping my own cream over cool whip because it is more stable and a lot creamier without any artificial flavoring that cool whip has (I think if you have read the label on a tub of Cool Whip you'd agree with me). Garnish with a few chocolate curls or chocolate shaving. Chill until you are ready to serve. The pie did not last very long last night. I am glad I sneaked a picture before it was devoured. It is truly smoother than silk!!

Entertaining Bachelors?

My husband works with a group of high school boys at church through Christians Service Brigade. So between those boys and his co workers, we have a pretty constant flow of bachelors to entertain. When in doubt of what to cook for such events, always go for meat!!

Last night, my husband had his co workers over to play games. This is a pretty regular event where my homemade wings have been a hit every time. Wings is another dish with unlimited possibilities that I love to make. Change the sauce and voila, you got yourself a brand new dish, just let your imagination roam.

I make my own sauce at home because I like the flexibility of choosing my own flavors and not boxed in by what the grocery stores have chosen for me. There are a few tricks when it comes to wing sauce though.
1. Sugar will act as a thickener in your wing sauce, this can be in the form of soda or brown sugar.
2. For a tomato base sauce, use ketchup or tomato paste. This will also help thicken your sauce as well as adding flavor and color.
3. Just like how wine would enrich the flavor of a dish, beer does the same thing to your sauce. Totally optional but it will take your sauce to a whole new level.
4. Always boil your sauce down to thicken it but not too long or the sugar will burn and you will end up with a thick molasses-flavor sauce!

With that in mind, let's make some wings!

Wings are not hard, they are just a little time consuming. I am very much convinced that homemade wings are much healthier for you than store bought or at any restaurant. This is because I broil my wings without any extra oil. Also, making your own sauce takes care of all the extra preservatives that your body doesn't need.

To begin, broil your salt and pepper seasoned wings for 6 minutes. Then baste with sauce, broil another 4 minutes. Then flip and baste with sauce one more time. Broil for another 4 minutes. And then your wings are ready.

Here are a few recipes for wing sauces to get you started.

1. Jamican Jerk wing sauce (My husband's all time favorite on wings and anything else)
Wish together and boil to thicken:
1 cup ketchup/tomato paste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsps soy sauce
2 Tbsps Jamaican Jerk seasoning
4 Tbsps Pickapeppa sauce (You will find it next to all the other hot sauces or down the hispanic isle)
salt to taste

2. Cranberry glaze (from Cuisine at home magazine)
1/3 cup frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate, thawed
3 Tbsps prepared yellow mustrad
2 Tbsps brown sugar
2-3 tsps Tabasco
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3. Sweet Teriyaki sauce
1 cup store bought or homemade teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 Tbsp grated ginger.
Salt to taste

With the base of ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar, the possibilities are endless. Be bold and soon you will have your own collection of wing sauce. The other plus to these sauces is you can use them on a rack of ribs!! There will be another post on ribs in the near future once the summer is here!


You will not hear from me for a few days, my husband and I are off to celebrate our first anniversary!! Until then, bon appetit!

New Beginning

Today marks a new page in my life. I am official done with my academic life (unless you I choose to go back...)! I have been spending the last couple of weeks writing and editing my thesis. Needless to say, my house is a mess and my husband hasn't had a real meal in a while. So to celebrate, I decided to make seafood gumbo.

Originated in Louisiana, seafood gumbo is full of flavor with a little kick of cajun spices. If you love sea food, this is your dish. You will hear me refer to my husband's pickiness quite a bit through out my blog. He is not a big fan of seafood like most people. But there are certain seafood that he will eat. And that's what I love about seafood gumbo, you can use any combination of seafood that pleases your appetite (imagine the possibilities um...). I picked cod fish, shrimps, and scallops simply because my husband will eat those things.

To begin, you will need a Roux (Roo) to thicken the stew with. A roux is a combination of fat and flour used as a thickener in many southern dishes. I used Kielbasa to flavor my roux. Brown the Kielbasa in oil on medium high heat for a few minutes, remove the sausage onto a paper towel lined plate. Add some more olive oil if needed. Reduce heat to medium low and add flour one table spoon at a time until the consistency is lightly thinner than sour cream while stir. Cook until light brown if you want a Creole gumbo version. If you want Cajun gumbo, cook until it's much darker, more like a peanut butter color.

Sweat okra, onion, celery, garlic, and green pepper in a dutch oven. Stir in cajun spices and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste for Creole gumbo (omit the tomato for Cajun). Deglaze with Sherry. Sherry is a Spanish wine with a lot of flavor, I use it in most of my cooking. Always choose dry Sherry for cooking. Add chicken broth (you can use homemade fish broth. I will share a few secrets about making fish broths with you in another post) and lemon juice and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes. The lemon juice helps the flavor of the spices, Sherry, and the seafood jump out at you with every bite. Stir in thr roux and let simmer until thicken. Don't add the seafood until you are 10 minutes away from being ready to serve otherwise they will disintegrate and you won't find them in the soup (which I just did).

I serve this stew with a scoop of long grain rice. I did not include a detailed recipe because there is really no way you can mess this dish up by adding too much or too little of something. The most important part is the roux, stop when its consistency is slightly thinner than sour cream or your gumbo will be very thick.

A former roommate of my husband recently moved to New Orleans. Never been there myself, but I am crazy about Cajun food. Maybe dinner tonight will take us on a short and sweet trip to New Orleans to see our dear friend. Bon appetit!

Tea Time?

One of my favorite things to do is having a tea party. A trend seems to have started in the little town of Blacksburg, Virginia. Tea party every week seems to be a norm in the Taylor household. My next scheduled full tea at my house will be May 13, 2010. I cannot wait to prepare for it and will make sure to include you all in the adventure. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to a tea party on Sunday at church where I don't have to lift a finger except for my little pinkie.