Moving

Hi y'all,

I've not updated in a while, not because I haven't been baking and photographing but because I am working on putting up a new website! Among other things. I'm trying to make it nice and pretty and professional before I make it public. In the meantime, you can still check out my articles on GoodfoodWorld.com, there's a recent one about the MOA Conference and one coming out tomorrow about the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15.

Happy Tuesday!

Things to Dip in Chocolate

Things to dip in Chocolate!

SEA-SALTED CARAMELS:

*grease an 8x8 pan or pan of similar volume with butter

*have the second set of ingredients ready to add (all in one bowl), otherwise caramel will harden on the bottom of the pan while you're fumbling for ingredients

In a saucepan combine : 2/3 cup fine sugar and 2 Tablespoons cold water. Dissolve on medium heat, stirring, then boil until the mixture turns a deep amber color.

Remove from the heat. Add:

3/4 c light brown sugar

7 Tablespoons butter

3/4 c + 2 T heavy cream

3 T corn syrup

a teaspoon of sea salt

return to the heat, and boil until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F. Remove from the heat again, stir and let settle for 30 seconds before pouring into the prepared pan. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Makes about 40 caramels

CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

3/4 c heavy cream

1/2 c fine sugar

a pinch of sea salt

9 oz of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped and in a medium sized bowl

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil, stirring on medium heat. When everything is dissolved, let it simmer for a minute before pouring the mixture over the chocolate. Stir until everything is melted and incorporated, and then add flavoring if desired (mint extract, chopped dried cherries, flaked coconut, flavored liquors...) You can divide the mixture into two or more separate bowls for separate flavorings.

Chill the ganache for a few hours, then roll into balls and place on wax paper. Chill the balls for several hours before they're ready to be coated in chocolate.

See my post below for directions on tempering!

Cover it in Chocolate!

Yess...it's a good idea. But temper your chocolate first. Here's how:

Chop your chocolate into small pieces. They don't have to be pea-sized, but marble-sized is good to aim for. Not the big marbles (what do you call 'em? shooters?) but the little ones. You know, that size.

It's good to have an amount that you can divide into thirds, because you need to have it separated into 2/3 and 1/3. It's also helpful to have a scale to weigh your chocolate. If you have a pound (and you should, because less will make it hard to have any depth for dipping) then you can divide it into 11 oz and 5 oz.

Set up a double-boiler on medium heat to melt the larger quantity of chocolate. The top pan should be heated by the steam from the water below so should not be touching the water.

Get another similar sized pot with some water to simmering on another burner.

Melt the chocolate in the double boiler, stirring, and bring it up to 115˙F.

Remove from the heat and add the rest of the chocolate. Stir until it's all melted and combined, then place the pot on top of the simmering water pot (not touching the water). This other pot just serves to keep the chocolate warm, hovering around 86 - 90 degrees. The burner should be on very low or just warm. Then your chocolate is ready to use.

messy but good! That's what my Mom always says.

Balance the squares/rounds of marzipan, caramel, or ganache on a fork to submerse in the chocolate. It's ok if you lose it! Retrieve it and remove extra chocolate by scraping the bottom of the fork on the side of the pan, letting it drip back down, then gently lay your chocolate-covered treasures on wax paper to dry.

An Image Sampling

A sampling of my favorite food photos...I've been doing my best to photograph the best-looking food I make or eat since I got back in August. It's something that I would of course love to do for others for a profit, but hadn't put much thought into. It's only been a few months since I've sort of made this my focus, so I'm very excited for any opportunity to help others out through my photography, especially members of the organic food community (Ten Spoon Vineyards, for example). Here are some samples:

Thanksgiving Images

Thought I would take some time to upload these Thanksgiving images. I really ought to more often...I think that will be my New Years resolution.

Made mini pumpkin pies/tarts. They were yummy...my first time trying this though, and I guess I didn't like the look of the end product as much as this because I didn't take any pictures of them. Then again, maybe I was just being lazy. You try taking pictures of every dish on Thanksgiving before family and friends digs in! It's not easy...especially when the Montana sky is emanating gloom.

Luckily though, we had some sunshine that morning. By the time we sat down to eat it had gone, but I grabbed a few shots of the food on the table in natural light.

It really is the very best. I envy Joy the Baker from sunny California. All of her food always looks amazing.

I really love this...Karen, in a nutshell.

And this last one to be fair is not from Thanksgiving, but late October, oh and whoops Ian took that one, it was my first experience with making and using royal icing. I got this great flying pig cookie cutter from an antique store downtown. I spent ages on these cookies and the end product was not really beautiful, but next time I will use a different recipe and watch the cookies more closely (kitchen timer on my wishlist for Christmas!)

One thing I'd like to know...how do Joy the Baker and Smitten Kitchen deal with taking photos when they're the only one in the kitchen, juggling a labor-intensive recipe? That's my main deterrent, that and the gloom.

Ginger Chicken Salad Sandwich

Here are my two favorite chicken-salad recipes (in which I would gladly substitute turkey) that can be eaten as a wrap or on toasted bread with some lettuce for a tasty lunch!

Ginger Chicken Salad

a small piece of ginger root, peeled and sliced

one chicken breast, halved lengthwise

2 scallions, chopped

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

a handful of snow peas, stringed and chopped

Bring the ginger to boil on the stove in a few cups of water. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for five minutes. Then add the chicken. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let it sit for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Reserve the ginger pieces.

Meanwhile, combine the mayo with the scallions and salt and pepper to taste. Chop the cooked chicken, the ginger pieces, and the snow peas. Toss everything together with a few teaspoons of the ginger water. Serve with lettuce on toasted bread.

Curry Chicken Salad

Well...I don't have an exact recipe on this one. The consequence of repeatedly winging it. Ingredients:

plain yogurt

curry powder

minced garlic

goat cheese (herbed goat cheese if you have it)

lemon juice

salt and pepper

Use leftover cooked chicken or turkey, or simmer a chicken breast in water on the stove. Chop it up and add a little of all of the above, to your taste.

Garnish with cilantro and lettuce, serve in a wrap or between slices of bread.

Enjoy!