Dark Chocolate Truffles

Small decadent bites of perfection. No other words required.

3/4 cup whole blanched almonds or 1/2 cup silvered almonds

8 squares dark/bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sifted icing sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup rum, almond, orange or raspberry liqueur

Cocoa powder

1. Preheat broiler. Whirl almonds in a food processor until finely chopped but not ground. Spread on a baking sheet and place 6 in from broiler. (Or do what I do: place almonds in a non-stick frying pan over low heat and toast that way). Watching carefully and shaking often to avoid burning, toast until lightly golden, from 2 to 3 mins. Set aside to cool.
2. Break chocolate into small pieces and place with butter in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Using a rubber spatula, turn into a medium size mixing bowl. Stir in icing sugar and almonds. Refrigerate, uncovered, until firm enough to roll into balls about 2 hours. Form into 1 inch balls and roll in cocoa powder. Store in airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 weeks.

Recipe courtesy of “Chatelaine Recipes: Easy Holiday Cooking.”

Festive Mustard

This recipe comes courtesy of “Chatelaine Recipes: Easy Holiday Cooking”. I decided to make it because it looked easy and I thought I could include it in my christmas gift baskets. As soon as I tasted it I realized that this is probably one of the best mustards I have ever tasted. I will probably make this mustard all the time now. This is a must try! It’s quite tangy and goes great with ham.

p.s. I actually didn’t give anyone a jar of this mustard.. I kept them all to myself!! :)

2 tbsp mustard seeds

1/4 cup cold water

3 tbsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp Worcestershire

3 tbsp dry mustard

1/3 granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs yolks

In a small bowl, stir mustard seed with water, vinegar and Worcestershire. Let stand 30 minutes. Measure out dry mustard, sugar and salt into a small saucepan. Whisk egg yolks until lightly beaten. Pour into pan along with mustard seed mixture. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens, approx 5 minutes. Spoon into sterilized jars and seal, keep refrigerated.

Makes only 3/4 cup of mustard, so if you are planning to give away as gifts, you will need to make the mustard in batches.

Marbled Candy-Cane Bark

This is a easy chocolate bark that looks quite beautiful and makes a great gift for the chocolate lovers on your list.

6 squares of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

6 squares of white chocolate

3 candy canes, crushed

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Coarsely chop semi-sweet chocolate. At this point you can either melt your chocolate in the microwave or on the stove top. Melt both of the chocolates separately. 
2. Pour the dark chocolate onto the waxed paper making 2 thick strips about 1 1/2 inch apart. Pour the white chocolate in the middle and along one side of the chocolate. 
3. Take a knife and drag the chocolate back and forth to create the marbled look. Tap the pan to level chocolate as required. Sprinkle with candy canes. Refrigerate until it hardens approx 45 to 60 minutes. Break into large pieces.

Shortbread Cookies

Soft, crunchy, melt in your mouth shortbread that is seriously easy to make and always a hit with guests. Avoid over-mixing.

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sifted icing sugar

2 to 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Place butter in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, gradually beat in the sugar until smooth and creamy. Mix well. Using a wooden spoon stir in the 2 cups of flour until just mixed, do not overmix. Finish forming dough with your hands. If dough is sticky add more flour.
2. Place a quarter of the dough on a floured board and using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness for more depending on how thick you want your cookies. Cut shapes out with a floured cookie cutter. 
3. Place on an ungreased baking sheet with at least 1 inch apart. Decorate as desired.
4. Bake in preheated oven until pale golden  colour and set in the middle with lightly touched, 15 to 18 minutes.

Makes approx 65 cookies

Turkey Stock

I’m giving you two posts today. The first is how to make turkey stock from your leftover turkey carcass. The second, is a recipe for a leftover turkey and vegetable soup. Both are easy to make and super yummy. 

Turkey Stock

This stock recipe can also be used for chicken carcass’s too. Either way, it’s fresh, homemade and can be frozen and used later for many things. I like to freeze my stock in ice cubes trays. This way I can use them in rice, quinoa, or other recipes which call for a little bit of stock. 

Turkey Carcass

2 carrots, rough chop

4 stalks of celery, rough chop

4 cloves of garlic

2 med. onions, quartered

2 parsnips, rough chop (optional)

salt, pepper, thyme

Put all in a large stock pot. Fill with water so that turkey is covered. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

Strain the bones and veg. 

Allow to cool (I put in the fridge overnight).

Strain the fat from the top of the stock. 

Freeze or use right away.

Endive with Cranberry Cinnamon Goat Cheese

The title says it all. There's really no recipe to post here. I simply purchased the cranberry cinnamon goat cheese and stuck it into endive. The sweetness of the cheese takes away some of the bitterness of the endive. It also looks pretty on a plate. :)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Appetizers:

• Endive with Cranberry Cinnamon Goat Cheese
• Shrimp with Seafood Sauce
• Baked Brie with Onion Marmalade

Starter:

• Butternut Squash Soup

Dinner:

• Roasted Turkey
• Stuffing
• Glazed Carrots and Parsnips
• Buttery Green Beans
• Gratin of Potatoes, Shallots and Sage

Dessert:

• Apple Crumble Pie from Andrew Scenic Acres Farm

I had a couple of disasters this thanksgiving that made me laugh but also reminded me that I am an amateur foodie. On the other hand, if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

So my lovely boyfriend picked up a turkey for me. I fully appreciate his effort, however he picked up a pre-stuffed Butterball turkey. “Cook from Frozen”. OK, I’ll roll with it. It just meant that I didn’t have to make stuffing, but I had to watch to make sure that the stuffing (which I never put in turkey), didn’t dry out the turkey. A frozen turkey also means I can’t add much flavor to it. On Sunday morning, I read the package carefully to make sure I cooked it within the time. The package said it would take 6 hours. It only took 4 1/2. All my best laid plans out the window! My turkey got to rest for 1 hour.

Luckily it was still warm when we carved it and it turned out really moist. Phew! 

Then, my Gratin of Potatoes didn’t thicken. They were runny as hell. They tasted ok, but I still can’t figure out what I did wrong. I think I used the wrong potatoes. And if that wasn’t enough, while I was sautéing the carrots and parsnips, my 30 year old electric stovetop burner caught on fire. 

I blew the fire out, opened the windows and laughed. I served said glazed carrots and parsnips, however I didn’t cook them enough (probably because I was smoked out of my kitchen), so they were crunchier than they should have been. Thankfully the wine was perfect!

Well I can’t say that dinner was a complete success, but it was still fun to put it together.  I have lots of leftovers and am completely fooded out now.  

Individual recipe posts to follow!

Cranberry Sauce

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s here already! The Thanksgiving long weekend! Tomorrow I’m hosting a small intimate family dinner. But of course I am going all out. This is my time to show off a bit. I have to prove that I am actually making all these foods I put on the blog. 

Today has been a busy day of cleaning and prep work. The house is immaculate, the table is set, I’m organized and ready for tomorrow. I just finished making my Cranberry Sauce. I like to make it a day ahead just to get it out of the way and I like my cranberry sauce chilled. If you have never made Cranberry Sauce, then you are crazy. It is so easy to make. It literally takes 10 minutes. Once you make your own you will never buy another can of sauce again, I promise! 

Here’s my super easy recipe:

Cranberry Sauce

1 pkg. of fresh cranberries (12oz)

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Zest from 1/2 an orange

1 whole star anise

Rinse the berries under cold water. In a saucepan mix together water, sugar, zest and star anise. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the star anise and add the cranberries. Boil for approx. 5 minutes, until the skins pop. 

Serve either hot or chill in the fridge.

Makes approx. 2 cups of sauce.