Monthly Archives: March 2012

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Recipe: Chocolate Mendiants

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Tempering chocolate is one of those things that freaks me out.

Not the kind of freak-me-out that spiders induce–you know, the screaming, running, jumping kind–but rather, the kind that looms large on the horizon. The kind that chips aways at my brain, promising disaster, wasted pounds of ingredients, time, and mountains of frustration. The kind that I have always wanted to attempt, but always approached with such trepidation and nerves, that I have avoided it for years now.

The other day, I decided to go for it. It’s one of my goals of the year that I can now check off my list. Not that my list is long and/or difficult, but it feels like an accomplishment nonetheless. Tempering the chocolate gives the finished candies stability, an even, satiny appearance, and delightful snap when broken. I found an approachable technique on Martha Stewart’s website that worked really well for me. Instead of using the microwave–mine is in  an awkward area of my kitchen–I used the double boiler method. The heating pad trick is genius and instantly set my mind at ease, knowing there would be some insurance for keeping my painstaking efforts at temperature. Majorly big sigh.

These little gems are simplistic in composition. A disk of chocolate studded with fruits and nuts. Mendiants are a French confection, generally found around Christmas, but with Easter around the corner, I thought these would make a wonderful, adult-like treat in lieu of (or addition to!) chocolate eggs and bunnies.

Chocolate Mendiants

Technique found on Martha Stewart

Since the ingredient list here is simple, I would encourage using your favorite chocolate for these, as well as quality ingredients for nestling. You could certainly make these without tempering the chocolate, though you may find that you need to refrigerate to keep the candies hard. 

1 pound good quality chocolate–I used Callebaut

assorted nuts, fruits, salt for topping–I used blanched/toasted almonds, toasted hazelnuts, toasted coconut, candied orange peel (recipe here), and smoked sea salt

Cover a heating pad in a clean dish towel and set pad to lowest setting. Using a sharp knife, shave the chocolate. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

In a heatproof glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt 2/3 of the chocolate while stirring, until the chocolate registers 120F on an instant read thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate–I did this gradually–stirring, moving the mixture up the sides of the bowl and back down into the mixture until the temperature reads between 86-89F. To test the chocolate, drizzle a small amount onto a stainless steal surface–the chocolate should harden into a matte finish in about 5 minutes. Place the bowl on the heating pad and working quickly spoon level tablespoons full of chocolate onto lined baking sheets. Allow the chocolate to begin to set before studding with desired fruits, nuts, etc. Once completely set, chocolates can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Recipe: Roasted Strawberry Stracciatella Ice Cream

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I have a confession to make.

I used to be totally weirded-out by strawberry ice cream. Though, admittedly, I can’t resist a ripe and perfectly red, fresh berry, I have carried this strong aversion to all things strawberry-flavored for most of my life. From ice cream to jam, I just couldn’t deal.

I’m getting over it now and with dreams of spring and summer evenings on the horizon, I’ve been picking up less-than-perfect berries from the store. Mostly I’ve been blending them into smoothies, but last weekend I roasted a pint with a split vanilla bean and the smell was just perfect. Sweet, vanilla-scented, strawberry heaven.

This ice cream starts with syrupy, heady, roasted berries which get stirred into a creamy, custard base, there’s a long chill where everything mingles, followed by a churning in an ice cream maker, and finally, near the end of churning I drizzled a bit of homemade “magic shell” in for a stracciatella effect. The chocolate/coconut oil combo vs. straight-up melted chocolate makes for extra-crisp little bits of chocolate in every spoonful of ice cream. It really is like ice cream magic.

Roasted Strawberry Stracciatella

For the berries:

1 pint strawberries

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2-4 Tablespoons sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Pick through the berries, rinse, drain, and hull. Toss berries in a baking dish with vanilla bean and sugar. Roast for 30-40 minutes until berries are dark pink, and the juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For Ice Cream:

2 cups half and half

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

Set a mesh strainer over a large bowl and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan heat half and half over medium-low heat to scald.

Meanwhile, whisk sugar, salt, and yolks in a heatproof bowl until pale and thick. Slowly add the hot half and half to the yolk mixture and scrape back into the saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the mesh strainer into the bowl and stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

Mash the roasted berries coarsely with a fork and stir into custard base. Cover with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

For the Stracciatella:

4 1/2 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1/2 ounce coconut oil

Right before you are ready to churn, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water until smooth and combined. Process in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. At the very end of churning, drizzle in the melted chocolate/coconut oil to form crackling ribbons of chocolate throughout the ice cream. Scrape the ice cream from the ice cream maker into a airtight container and freeze.

 

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A Photo A Day: Week 12

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I totally dropped the ball this week and didn’t even pick my camera up ALL DAY on Saturday, for shame! So, I leave you with a phone picture…hopefully it will suffice :)

 3.18.2012: Ranunculus and asparagus.

 3.19.2012: Late afternoon on the tabletop.

 3.20.2012: Making brioche buns.

 3.21.2012: Finally re-arranged the wall stuffs post-painting.

 3.22.2012: This little taxi magnet keeps my recipes in place. What a pal.

 3.23.2012: Glassware props, for an ice cream I am posting this week!

 3.24.2012: An Instagram of a Dutch Baby I made. I love these things and this one rose like a champ! It totally impressed me.

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A Photo A Day: Week 11

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 3.11.2012: Roses always make me smile. Growing up my mom had a rose garden with 50 bushes…it was amazing.

 3.12.2012: Washi tape toothpick flags, for these dudes.

 3.13.2012: Sunny day tomato roasting.

 3.14.2012: The weather has been gorgeous lately. Luxe thinks so too.

 3.15.2012: Showing some washi-tape-love to my handsoap dispenser.

 3.16.2012: Foggy morning, tree house views.

 3.17.2012: Sporting my fave kicks for a long bike ride with the guy.

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Recipe: Coconut Oil Granola

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This is a far different breakfast post than the last. Rainbow doughnuts aren’t exactly the wisest of breakfast choices, but oats definitely can be.

We all know oats are a super healthful breakfast choice…the thing is, I kind of, sort of don’t love oatmeal. Not really at all. I know a lot of people that are big fans of the stuff, but I just can’t get with it. I can, however, get with granola. I think it’s the crunchy, toasty nature of the stuff that wins me over. Add in some nuts, spice, and any number of mix-ins and I’m sold.

This batch has is full of toasty coconut, as well as coconut oil, macadamias, sunflower seeds and almonds for nuttiness, chewy and sour dried cherries, a little lemon zest for brightness, a variety of spices for warmth, and honey for a little something sweet. There’s also a beaten egg white in there, making this granola the chunky variety. Granola comes together quickly and only requires a bit of baking and stirring before you have crunchy, golden brown goodness for topping yogurt or tossing into a cereal bowl with milk.

Coconut Oil Granola

Adapted from The Kitchn and this recipe.

You can switch up the nuts, seeds, and dried fruits to your liking. You can also use olive oil instead of coconut. Chocolate chips even make a great mix-in, but should be added after baking and cooling.  

3 cups rolled oats

2/3 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup dried sour cherries

1 cup unsweetened coconut chips

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white, beaten

Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large mixing bowl combine oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, cherries, coconut, salt, lemon zest, and spices, toss to combine well.

In a medium saucepan melt together honey and coconut oil, just to combine. Add vanilla, remove from heat and pour over oat mixture, stirring to combine and coat well. Add the egg white and mix to coat well. Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet in an even layer and bake 15 minutes, stir and continue to bake in 10 minute intervals, stirring between each until granola is uniformly golden. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before breaking up and storing in an airtight container. If you do not allow it to cool completely the granola will not be chunky, but just as delicious still.

To make the yogurt granola cups start by macerating some berries in a bit of sugar to taste, spoon into the bottom of a clean jar, top with greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey, and a handful of granola. If you use a jar with a lid, you can take this treat on the go.

 

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Recipe: Rainbow Doughnuts!

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I am sort of obsessed with the trio of pink, purple, and teal together–though admittedly it’s not exactly a rainbow of color, it’s close enough for me. I always call it the Care Bear/Rainbow Pony color scheme. It’s the girliest and while I love, love it there aren’t a lot of applications of it in my life these days…as I am no longer 8-years-old and prone to hoarding my cache of Lisa Frank stickers. Those days are, sadly, long gone.

I originally purchased myself a heart shaped doughnut pan with plans for Valentine’s treats that never really happened, so when I was toying with the idea of something rainbow inspired for St. Patrick’s day I just knew it was time to make some heart-shaped, candy-colored doughnuts happen.

These doughnuts are the baked cake variety, all vanilla with a bit of pure maple syrup in the glaze for fun. They are tender, light, and unabashedly bright. I made them on a gloomy, rainy day…which we all know is just the sort of day that makes the best rainbows.

I made the little flags out of washi tape and toothpicks–I thought they came out super cute and they were really simple too. *Also, the plates, bunting, and cups were c/o Susty Party and were part of a fun, compostable party kit. You can find this kit, among other supplies on their website. The cups hold hot and cold liquids like a charm and the plates are SUPER strong. They also carry those paper straws we all know and love!

Baked Vanilla Cake Doughnuts

Adapted from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni

I used vanilla sugar and vanilla extract in these, you can certainly omit the vanilla sugar for regular sugar if you do not have any on hand. This recipe make about 12 doughnuts. 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup vanilla sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup warm milk

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

Gel food coloring, optional

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly spray a doughnut pan with cooking spray.

If coloring, place a small drop of food color in 3 separate bowls and set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, nutmeg, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry mixture, as if you were making a pastry crust, until evenly distributed. Add the milk, yogurt, vanilla, and egg, stir until just combined, OR if using gel color leave slightly under-mixed, divide evenly among 3 bowls and fold to combine with the color.

Using a piping bag or spoon, fill each donut well 3/4 full, making sure the center post is free of batter. Bake until doughnuts spring back to the touch–6-10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Glaze as desired.

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2-2 teaspoons milk–depending on desired consistency

In a medium bowl whisk together all ingredients except milk. Add milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time to reach your desired consistency for the glaze. Dip donuts, rounded side down, in glaze and add sprinkles as desired.

** For the sake of full disclosure, I have to note that these items were given to me by Susty Party, however I was not paid for my review and all opinions are my own. 

 

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A Photo A Day: Week 10

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Week 10! Last week was crazy-ness and disarray around here…painting is finally done everything is back in it’s place…so, look forward to recipes and tasty-ness once again.

 3.4.2012: Pancakes! I used to hate them, now not so much. Yay!

 3.5.2012: chickpea salad–simple vinagarette, roasted sweet peppers, cucumber, red onion, goat cheese.

 3.6.2012: beaded flats, sunny day, mossy sidewalk.

 3.7.2012: I used this recipe, subbing peppermint castille soap for unscented. Super easy and smells nice too! I painted an old/clean spray bottle with some chalkboard paint and taped on a frame with washi tape.

 3.8.2012: this girl cashed in on her upgrade…finally!

 3.9.2012: strawberry/banana/greek yogurt smoothie and a pink straw for good measure.

 3.10.2012: IKEA trip! strapping our new bed to the roof.

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Random Stuff I Love: Pinterest

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In leiu of a real-deal post, I’m sharing some Pinterest love–I’m still painting/organizing/spring-cleaning like a maniac and the various states of disarray are distracting/uninspiring to say the least.

I cannot tell you how much I L-O-V-E Pinterest, though there does seem to be a bit of controversy over it. I don’t mind having my content pinned, in fact…saying it makes me a bit giddy is an understatement. I do try to pin from the original source and try not to pin something at all if it doesn’t seem to have a working link. That said, it is my number one source of inspiration AND time-wasting-management.

Double edged sword, that it is.

The screen shot above is just a little snippet of things I’m doing/coveting for sprucing up our place. In all honesty, we don’t plan to spend a long number of years in the midwest…we hope to be west coasters again in the next few years…but, we do want to make our place feel comfortable, homey, and reflect our style while we’re here. We want to enjoy dwelling in our dwelling, you know? So, it’s been a whirlwind of paint rollers, furniture re-mixing, and this weekend some new purchases are happening.

Do you Pin? If you do, I’d love to check out your boards! Leave me a link in the comments and feel free to check out mine as well!

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A Photo A Day: Week 9

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 2.26.2012: I love icicles.

 2.27.2012: Sewing projects. Throw pillows are expensive and often not cute/what I want. DIY’ing it up!

 2.28.2012: Dried Shitakes. Those dudes got mixed into potsticker filling.

 2.29.2012: Leap day! Check out that animal leaping on that label…North Peak has the best bottles of all the beers.

 3.1.2012: Treat! Sweet Cherry Pecan bar from Wild Ophelia. Sean ate 90% of this bar, fyi…he liked it.

 3.2.2012: Pillow talk. Old pillow meet new pillow.

 3.3.2012: Spring is coming! Painting happened all weekend…furniture and decor remixing is happening too.

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Recipe: Brown Butter Cookie Ice Cream

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Sometimes we don’t get to all the cookies in the cookie jar before they get all stale and sad. In this case the cookies were those delightful bars I made last week. I l-o-v-e those bars, but sometimes even I can’t eat a whole batch…and most of the time, I really shouldn’t. Instead of letting them go stale on the counter, I chopped them up and toasted them crouton-style in the oven.

Cookie Croutons!

That happened and it was a pretty amazing idea…not to high-five myself or anything. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to try out a brown butter ice cream for a while now and I thought it would be great with the cookie croutons as a mix-in. This ice cream is toffee-like from the brown butter and brown sugar, crunchy from the cookies, and creamy-dreamy from all that cream and those egg yolks. It’s definitely a special treat.

Those little cups up there are compostable, super cute, and the perfect size for a decadent little sampling of this crazy ice cream. I got them c/o Susty Party, home of biodegradable, eco-friendly party supplies.

Brown Butter Ice Cream with Cookie Crouton Mix-In

Adapted from Epicurious

I put rum in this ice cream to keep it from freezing solid…and because, butter + rum = love. Feel free to leave it out for kiddos or if you don’t want to add it. 

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

5 egg yolks

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

1 cup cookie croutons*

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat, until solids brown and turn fragrant like toffee. Be sure to watch closely so the butter doesn’t burn. Pour into a small heatproof bowl and set aside.

Pour rum into a large bowl, set a fine mesh strainer over the top, and set aside.

In  a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt to combine. Set aside and heat cream and milk in a saucepan to scald (just before boiling, look for tiny bubbles along the perimeter of the saucepan). Slowly whisk hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk in the browned butter. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and thickens. Remove from heat and pour the custard mixture through the fine mesh strainer into the bowl and stir to incoporate rum (if using). Set the bowl over a large bowl of ice water and stir to cool. Cover the surface with plastic and chill well (I like at least 6 hours).

Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions. Fold in cookie croutons by hand before storing in the freezer.

*to make the Cookie Croutons, chop up 4-5 cookie bars (or cookies). Preheat oven to 300F, place cookie pieces on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until golden brown and crunchy.