Lemon Tart

The Daring Bakers: A chocolate challenge

I'm not sure if I've conveyed how much I've enjoyed this little ol' blog of mine.  It's been a pleasure to share with whomever is reading my joy of baking, cooking and food in general.  Today is my first challenge with The Daring Bakers,  a group of bakers worldwide who get together once a month, bake something specific from the same recipe and blog about it on the same day.   Its sorta like getting together with a few hundred of your favourite friends and baking up a storm.  I'm sincerely honoured to join these super enthusiastic bakers and look forward to many more challenges to come.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The flourless chocolate cake is remarkable in its inclusion to the gluten free crowd, which so many desserts cannot claim.  I love its ability to call itself a cake while really holding more similarities with fudge, truffles and brownies.  Egg whites provide the structure that flour would normally, but once baked, set and refrigerated 24 hours the flavours mellow and meld together, while the texture changes from light to dense and fudgey.  The refrigeration step is completely optional and if left at room temperature it will be soft and sorta spongy- a very different texture. But I think it help the chocolate develop and the texture is inviting.  Its composition is a testament to quality ingredients and how to appreciate them fully as there is 3 simple ingredients in this dessert- butter, eggs and chocolate.   Using a chocolate with flavours you adore is a must.  And since the sweetness comes from the chocolate itself and no added sugar, you must use a good eating chocolate.  The kind of chocolate you can see yourself munching on throughout the day.  Using your deepest, darkest bittersweet 75% chocolate is likely not going to translate well here.  However I do recommend mixing as well. I used half 70% bittersweet chocolate and half 55% semisweet, which still turned out a decidedly chocolate flavour with just the right balance of sweetness, while not being too sweet at all. This gives the ice cream room to shine with its creamy sweetness.  The icing on the cake, pardon the pun, is that this is perhaps one of the easiest desserts there is AND few desserts will have the kind of crowd appeal that this one does.  There's always something about chocolate...

My Little Piece of Earth

Something amazing happened to me recently, and I forgot to mention it, what with the being all giddy over my acquisition.  I'm thankful to have this public way to share my joy with you.  What what what?  Well, I'll be honest, for most people it was a small joy, which are usually the best kind for a food lover like me.

I bought my first black winter truffle! Yes this is cause for jumping up and down excitement for me.  If you've been following this blog recently you've have already seen my beautiful darling, enjoyed on a very special Valentines dinner.  And it was bea-u-ti-ful!  I cannot overstate this fact.  The smell was intoxicating, with its rich deep wild mushroomy aroma and an overwhelming reminder of earth and dirt.  All of that along with a floral pungency. This is the best way to describe the sensory nature of such a unique gift from the earth. 

It traveled a long way from the chalky soiled forests of the Perigord region in Southwestern France, sniffed out by a well trained dog likely, who was hopefully rewarded with filet mignon.  The truffle hunter perhaps would have been a weathered old timer who knows how to find a truffle by a shadow at the base of a tree or the sound of the earth as his trusty hound pitter-pattered about on his task.  This may sound overly romantic but given that we are speaking of a part of the world that I'm already head over heels in love with you can understand my desire to paint an idyllic picture of how this little nugget moved about its way towards me. Of course, deep down I know that its likely a very different story, hopefully not one full of danger and darkness and shifty characters, which has been known to happen in this high priced high demand world truffle trade.   Soon after harvest it would have made its way to a raucous truffle market such as Sarlat or Carpentras where it was purchased and eventually made its way here to Vancouver.

So what's the big deal, you ask?  You might never have had the opportunity to enjoy a truffle, or even given them a lot of thought.  Well I have, which is why I went to the trouble of calling a local specialty food distributor that supplies the finest restaurants in Canada and the US with such things as truffles and other wild products. They don't normally sell to the public, but with an appointment and some cash in hand, he was kind enough to let me come by.  An address error which left me unable to find the location of this nondescript, signless warehouse space almost evaporated my anticipation.  But after persevering I made it, not willing to give up on this opportunity.  My contact gave me a quick tour of the tickle trunk that is their warehouse.  This utilitarian space is packed with the kinds of specialty products most of us only enjoy on a restaurant plate.  There were boxes full of the finest aged risotto rices from Italy, fresh chickpeas, wild mushrooms galore, unique greens, gorgeous French green beans, nut oils and hard to find Provencal olive oils from France, barrel aged maple syrups and every kind of truffle product you have imagine.  If I knew I wasn't taking him away from his very busy job I could have spent hours in there.  I thanked him for the gracious tour and left with a beautiful black truffle carefully wrapped in paper towel and a plastic bag to preserve its aroma and flavour, sneaking whiffs at every traffic light on the way home.  My little glorious bit of earth that was worth the adventure and the hefty pricetag. I left like a kid with a new kitten- gloriously excited, dreaming of the best scrambled eggs and pasta I would ever taste.

Dried Orange Peel

  I've always felt a tiny twinge of guilt whenever I juice a lemon or eat the flesh of an orange and throw away all the peel.  After all, the deepest flavour of a citrus fruit is in the rind, where all the essential oils lie waiting for you to brush your hand along or squeeze with your fingers.  When we make a lemon cake, its the peel that gives it the lemon flavour, not the juice. Lemon extract comes from the oil of the rind, as does limoncello and citrus vodkas. And while I do make an effort to candy peel once in awhile, which is  great way to deal with excess citrus, the truth is I do not like candied orange peel enough to eat it every day, which is what I'd have to do to keep up.  Since I don't plan on starting an orange peel candying business anytime soon, I've been trying to come up with other ways to use my excess of perfectly good orange peel around here.

During my time in the area around Nice, last year, I became familiar with Daube, a Provencal beef stew which gets its unique flavour, in part, by the addition of dried orange peel. The bouillabaisse of the region also is flavoured with dried orange.  This makes sense as citrus grow easily in the south of France and what better way to brighten something hearty and rich. 

Anticipation

One of the things I enjoy about having this blog, is the freedom I have to share whatever is on my mind at any time.   So far,  those things on my mind have been food, which is actually what is on my mind most of the time.  But other things do hold my interest from time to time.  I was getting ready to do a photo shoot of a food for a future post, when I looked onto my patio and squealed with delight as I noticed a splash of colour on on my grey lifeless patio.  My crocuses were blooming!  I'm not sure how I missed their little buds peaking this week.  Too busy making sourdough bread and marmalade I suppose. In time these short lived beautiies will be followed by cheery dafodiles and ruffled tulips.

The arrival of these flowers creates anticipation of spring and the beginning of another cycle of life, especially edible life.  See there's almost a segway into food. We are lucky here in Vancouver as our Spring follows quickly after our usually short  and mild winters.  And while I realize its only mid February I cant' help by gaze upon these simple brilliant blooms and think of the arrival of asparagus, morel mushrooms, fava beans and tender arugula as the growing season begins again and we are abundant with fresh and tasty vegetables.  Keep coming spring, I'm missing you.

A Dinner Pictorial

   Well, that Valentines dinner I spoke of yesterday was indeed lovely.  Plenty of very special ingredients and drinks, lots of candlelight and the best company I could ever hope for now and forever.  Here is a photographic menu to share with you.  I apologize for the less than perfect photographs.  But since it was Valentines Day, the atmosphere simply had to be dim and romantic, hence the low light conditions. I think you can get a feeling for the very romantic and indulgent evening that it was.

A little aperitif...
Blood Orange Martinis
Parmesan shortbread with pepper jelly
Locally made red wine prosciutto and merlot saucisson sec.

Our Valentines gift to each other...
One amazing, intoxicatingly aromatic French black truffle.  To be seen later in the evening.  Eat local you say?  Not today and no apologies necessary.




The First Course:
Oysters of course!  The ultimate aphrodisiac, right?  Well, I don't know about that...I just know they are super tasty.  These ones are Kushi oysters from Vancouver Island and Shigoku Oysters from Washington. Both were sweet and succulent, with the real taste of the ocean.  Washed down perfectly with a glass of Champagne.

Happy Valentines Day

We are avoiding the crowded restaurants tonight and enjoying a Valentines dinner at home. This will be as special as eating in a grand restaurant, minus the service staff and dishwasher of course. Add in the option of pajamas at the table and the company of our beloved dog, Emma, and it couldn't be more perfect. If we were in France Emma would be welcome under the table, but I don't think the pajamas would be. I'll be posting photos tomorrow of our dinner which will include oysters, champagne and a very special fungus.

Book Review: The Flavor Bible

I have a lot of cookbooks and food books, which is certainly not a big surprise given that I have this food blog and all. They are the books that claim priority in my limited bookshelf space these days. Novels tend to have to convince me that I'll want to enjoy them again and again to be worthy of their place in the community. Cookbooks are the "popular kids" around here. However, even with that sort of preferential treatment I'm also fairly ruthless about those  that do stick around. If I haven't opened you in 6 months you are probably facing an eviction. Most people might subscribe to the notion of "just what the world needs, another cookbook", but I am always looking forward to new thoughts and ideas by new authors and those I've learned from before, so I'm always infusing my beloved collection with new tenants. Each time I crack open a new book with a cup of tea, I'm hopeful this book will become a classic in my collection, a book fully worth its cost and fanfare or worthy of more fanfare than it has received. You can't really know the relevance of a book such as a cookbook until you've spent some time with it in your home. Lately I've been drawn to reference food books. For someone cooking as long as I have, its important to keep learning and to trust your own instincts about things, but its nice to have some guidelines. Which leads me to the book I'd like to tell you about today.

 

The latest book by authors of Becoming a Chef, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, has been around for a few months and has been on my radar since then.  With birthday money in tow (thanks, sister), I purchased it last month and I'm not sure there's ever been a book that I have consulted more in 6 weeks than this one.

World Nutella Day

I bet YOU didn't know it was World Nutella Day did you? Well, as decreed by Sara of
Ms. Adventures in Italy and  Michelle of Bleeding Espresso, today is the day to break out your spoon, knife, or finger (I mean, really, why not) and celebrate the ultimate hazelnut chocolate treat that is Nutella (and of course the number of high quality gourmet versions out there that share the same spirit).

Sadly, I came to Nutella quite late in life. Call it abuse if you will, although I suppose I had my share of treats in my early years, so its probably for the best that I didn't know about Nutella back then. I had my first spoonful of Nutella not too many years ago and feel like a better person for it. Although I tend to gravitate towards the more expensive versions of chocolate hazelnut spread, but I can appreciate a classic too.

Today, in honour of the glory of thy hallowed nut and blessed bean of the gods (that's chocolate folks), I made Nutella Profiteroles. Very creamy Philadelphia style Nutella Ice cream sandwiched between choux pastry and a rich bittersweet chocolate sauce on top to complement the sweetness of the ice cream.

 

Pistachio Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

What a  pretty ice cream? I dare say, I do believe it is one of the prettiest I've ever seen. Beautiful jadite green with deep crimson tones. A nod to the pink and greens of spring to come, or a reminder of a recent Christmas.

This beautiful nod to complimentary colours and flavours is an original recipe I created out of necessity. I had a lovely bright green brick of pistachio paste  that had been neglected, as does happen to some of my food treasures. It had been sitting in my freezer begging me to do something with it. I'd been wanting to make pistachio ice cream for as long as I've had an ice cream maker. However, I've realized that good quality, fresh green pistachios are a difficult, well pretty much impossible, food to source where I live. So that beautiful green tinged, pistachio flavored dessert was going to have to wait until I could get those pistachios of my dreams. But while cleaning out my freezer it occurred to me that this would be the perfect use for this paste. Using paste rather than fresh nuts saves a lot of time roasting, skinning and pureeing.

Tea Soaked Prunes

Disclaimer: I realize now that prunes are not that photogenic. But I hope you'll stay long enough to perhaps give them a chance.

Last June I brought home 2 pounds of Agen prunes from France in my suitcase. That act itself tells a lot about the kind of traveler I am given the current luggage weight limitations of budget airlines these days. It probably also reveals a lot about my personality and my desire to have a memory of a place in the form of food. They were worth the effort, I must say.

Why these prunes, you might ask?  There is a town in southwestern France called Agen. The prunes grown here are so special they have an AOC designation. This is a French certification that governs a geographical area for a certain food product. Prunes grown here get to say "Pruneaux d'Agen" on their labels, which is similar to calling a wine a Sparkling Wine or Champagne. In southwest France you see piles of them in the markets all plump, shiny and inviting. On one occasion a couple years ago we had the pleasure of enjoying them wrapped in bacon and warmed in the oven, enjoyed with a pre dinner drink. In my opinion this is the single best preparation to change anyone's mind about prunes. I also enjoyed them as a dessert  in which they were poached in red wine and touch of citrus and served with those juices with ice cream. That dessert inspired me to try a classic French method of soaking them in tea.

 Belonging mostly in the health food category, we don't give prunes much thought in North America.  So much so, that its now becoming more common for them to be called dried plums. A little marketing genius if you ask me. I'll admit that until a couple years ago when I enjoyed prunes in France on several occasions, I've been a little lukewarm to them as well. But I've come around and now view them as a dried fruit worth my attention.