by Buck on February 23, 2010
This hot chocolate recipe was given to me by a friend a few years ago without attribution to its origins. It is so good that I adopted it as my own and call it LHC Hot Chocolate.
On a bright sunny Colorado day with a few feet of champagne powder covering the mountain and decorating the pine trees, hot chocolate is a perfect accompaniment for sitting on the deck contemplating only pleasant thoughts.
The prep time is only minutes and it is so rich that a small demitasse size serving will suffice for most folks.
LHC Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
½ cup cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder ( unsweetened)
2 cups Ganache (recipe follows)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
Whipped cream & chocolate shavings
Preparation:
Step 1. Place milk, cream & cocoa powder in a small saucepan
Step 2. Bring to a boil over medium heat
Step 3. Remove from heat and add the ganache
Step 4.let sit for 1 minute then stir well(3 or 4 minutes)
Step 4.Stir in the vanilla
Service: Serve in a small cup topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings
Ganache Recipe
Ingredients:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
Preparation:
Chop chocolate into fine pieces and place in a food processor
Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat
Pour hot cream over chocolate in the food processor
Let sit for one minute
Pulse processor 3 or 4 times
Scrape down sides of processor
Pulse again a few times
Transfer ganache to a bowl or baking sheet
Allow to cool for several hours on a kitchen counter
When it cools to 70’ it is ready to be used or covered and stored in the fridge
Storage: The ganache can be stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks
The LHC Hot Chocolate can be refrigerated and reheated for service
This hot chocolate is such a treat that I did some research to see where it was likely to have originated. I found a number of similar recipes but the most likely origin is with Sherry Yard who wrote The Secrets of Baking. She suggests the traditional Master Ganache preparation using a heatproof bowl and small sauce pan then stirring until the chocolate is melted in the cream and emulsified. I think the food processor works fine!
Tip: Lindt Bittersweet Chocolate is excellent for making the Ganache
by Buck on February 19, 2010
This is a dish that can surprise. It tastes great, looks good on the plate and is simple and quick to prepare
Ingredients
1 lb. orzo (2 1/2 cups)
1/3 C lemon juice
½ C olive oil
1 C Toasted pine nuts
1 ¼ C feta
3 or four diced Scallions to taste
Preparation:
Step 1. Boil Orzo for about 7 minutes, drain excess liquid and then set aside
Step 2. Whisk together lemon juice & olive oil. Some salt & pepper to taste.
Step 3. Add liquid to Orzo and let cool. (only enough liquid to taste, not all )
Step 4. Just before serving, toss in remaining ingredients and additional liquid
with additional salt & pepper.
The orzo can then be served at room temperature or warm but now is a time for some fun. Your favorite add-ons can add taste and color to the orzo. Here are a few suggestions of additional possibilities to start your thinking about expanding the salad. Mixing one of these with the Orzo might strike a cord.
1. Kalamata olives and grape tomatoes add color and interest
2. Grilled chicken breasts sliced in 2 inch pieces with mushrooms sliced & roasted red pepper works nicely together.
3. A Hawaiian feeling can be created by adding diced ham slices and pineapple diced
4. A medley of roasted vegetables works well mixed with the orzo
By now you can start to understand the special nature of this Orzo Salad.
It can be the canvas on which your can create your own special dish.
The salad can be made ahead and held nicely for a day or two in the fridge.
If you want it as a simple accompaniment it is excellent without the additions but they add the color and fun to your prep time.
Service: Either chilled, warm or at room temperature
by Buck on February 17, 2010
In a conversation with a college classmate he interjected a few comments and questions about my Blog. With a questioning tone he asked if I remembered some of our youthful food favorites now that I was writing with an often healthful tone to my posts.
He stimulated the trip down memory lane by mentioning Spam as something he still sneaks into the house a few times a year. I confessed that I have done the same thing from time to time. I take a lot of criticism from my wife when I buy that small can about once every five years. I admit that I still enjoy that very rare trip down the Spam memory lane. I make sure that I do not review the ingredients and nutritional value. That might spoil the moment.
Joe then mentioned some of his youthful favorites which he smuggles into the house occasionally. Deviled Ham, Scrapple and Taylor’s Pork Roll were three other items of food contraband that are quietly brought home occasionally.
Those items were favorites of mine at in my youth, that time, distance, availability and nutritional pressure have eliminated them consumption in our house. The time factor is simple to understand. I have lived for decades during which I have been pleasantly indoctrinated to a sensible eating regimen in a household having a nutritional Czar running the kitchen.
Distance is another factor. I live 2000 miles away from Philadelphia, the center of fast food excellence where nutritional concerns are only accidentally encountered. My friend Joe is not burdened with my distance from Philly. He only lives 15 miles out of town.
My location near Boulder Colorado is an area where excess weight is almost a capital offense. Scrapple is probably considered an illegal substance and if available would hardly sell enough to warrant the space in the market. Taylor Pork Roll, a Trenton NJ specialty, is a past favorite I have not seen since I crossed the Mississippi.
The Deviled Ham is an item of particular interest. I haven’t had that on a Ritz cracker for at least forty years. I’m no longer sure what devils the ham, if I ever knew or cared. I’m not even sure if it is still available. Thinking about it almost has brought back a remembrance of the taste and how much I enjoyed opening that small can of spreadable bliss.
My old college friend has revived pleasant memories of youthful food favorites. I think that the conversation concerning the foods of our youth is a pleasant combination to serve on a snowy winter day. We didn’t even have to set a table.
I think I am about to make a quiet search of the markets to see if I can find and recreate a dangerous moment or two of enjoyable food memories. This will be a time travel experiment back to years ago when we were only concerned with the taste and not calories, fat content and cholesterol levels. I know that there will be questions raised concerning my apparent loss of good sense and apparent lapse into some form of senile dementia. I’ll take the gaff and see if Deviled Ham is as good as the memory.
by Buck on February 16, 2010
This post could also be called: Confessions of a Pizza & Pasta Eating, Hoagie Loving, Cheese Steak fan from Philadelphia.
Several years ago when a family member was opening his Pizza restaurant in Boulder I got involved in a conversation about his proposed menu. The menu outline contained an item called Gluten Free Pizza with Dairy Free Soy cheese as an option.
My astute opinion was offered concerning these items. I told him he was complicating his operation by offering a pizza item that nobody would order. I told him that people who had wheat problems would never even come through his door.
Luckily he ignored my advice and put the Gluten free pizza on the menu. He now sells a ton of this pizza. He was the first to offer the product in the Boulder market and has an appreciative faithful audience even though other pizza places are now adding a gluten free offering. I’m not convinced that all those ordering a gluten free pizza have a wheat problem but those that do are especially grateful. Many of those folks have not been able to sit down with family to enjoy a pizza on a Friday night as do millions of Americans.
Gluten free items are extending beyond pizza. I saw a store window with a poster featuring gluten free beer. Gluten Free products are sweeping across the country.
I digress a bit so, lets get back to the pizza. Gluten free pizza is not exactly like a South Philly pizza but serves a need for an important audience. Those who have a serious wheat allergy should take some precautions when ordering a Gluten Free pizza in a pizza joint also serving typical pizzas.
1. The Gluten free pizza must not be cooked on an oven deck that is used for wheat pizzas.
2. The sauce needs to be applied from a container used only for gluten free and has its own ladle. A ladle that has been used on a normal pizza all night will not be good practice. That ladle will carry flour into the sauce and defeat the gluten free option.
3. The pizza maker cannot be the one who does gluten free. If you wonder why, just check out the floured hands and apron of a pizza maker.
4. Gluten Free preparation needs to be segregated in the kitchen from the flour laden area where pizza is hand tossed.
Taste of a gluten free pizza can be improved by the addition of certain toppings. Salty and hot spicy toppings help a lot. Green olives, anchovies, marinated artichoke hearts and jalapeños are some likely candidates.
Real whole milk mozzarella instead of dairy free imitation cheese is a big taste enhancer. If you have both a wheat and dairy problem learn to love anchovies.
A pizza crust of any description serves as a plate for the toppings. If you need gluten free, concentrate on the meal being served on that crust. You are now able to join the family pizza party and maybe even bring along a six pack of that Gluten Free Beer.
Enjoy the party!
The photo is from a Celiac oriented site with good information for those with wheat problems.
