White Chocolate Ganache Truffles, Sponge Candy, and Strawberry Paté de Fruit

This month is all about candy at Daring Bakers which makes me excited. I have fond memories of making candy with my mom as a child. My mom used to make candy around Christmas time. I even remember thinking to myself that I can not wait to make candy for my kids one day. I thought it was such a fun holiday tradition. Now I do have kids, and I do enjoy making candy with my kids. This was the first time I had little hands helping me make candy. Little BBQ, age 4.5, helped me make the white chocolate truffles stuffed with an almond and coated with toffee and a milk chocolate shell; he also helped me make the sponge candy. We turned the sponge candy into a science experiment that you can read about on my homeschooling blog. I also made a strawberry pate de fruit out of whole strawberries instead of strawberry puree.

All the candy turned out wonderful. The truffles were perfect and easy to roll manipulate even for little hands. The white chocolate ganache was very sweet, and I loved the crunchy almond in the middle, but I think my favorite part of the truffle was the toffee pieces that lined the white chocolate ganache under the milk chocolate shell. I made nice thick milk chocolate shell so the candy will hold up well in storage. Even picky Dr. Lazy Palate loved the white chocolate truffles. I was a little worried that he would think that the truffles were too complicated for his simple palate, but he thought they were really good and looked really professional.

The sponge candy was incredibly simple and quick to make. The sponge candy is very sweet to make. I mean very sweet. I could only handle a few small bites of this noncrystalized candy. From a science perspective this candy was a lot of fun to make. If you are interested in the science behind this candy or if you want to see some microscope pictures of the candy to verify that it indeed did not form crystals, then check out my homeschooling blog. Little BBQ did an amazing job with the microscope. I am just beaming about his work. I don’t normally beam about Little BBQ’s work on this blog, but this time I am just really proud of him.

The strawberry pate de fruit was made with whole strawberries over one week. Whole strawberry pate de fruit take a long time to make, but they are not difficult. It is just a matter of heating the sugar solution and adding more sugar every day. The hardest part is remembering to actually do these simple steps. The strawberries shrink a lot when you turn them into candy, so you need to take that into consideration if you want to make these for gifts. The strawberry pate de fruit was Miss Bubble’s favorite candy that I made. She kept trying to sneak an extra candy off the kitchen table after I finished them. They are very sweet and have gummy texture. The best part is that they will keep for 6 months in an air tight container. You can store them wrapped in wax paper so they do not stick together.

White Chocolate Ganache Truffles (makes about 30 pieces) modified from Dublin’s Cooks Academy

Equipment required:


• Chocolate or Instant Read Thermometer (Chocolate & instant read thermometers go below 38ºC / 100ºF and your basic candy thermometer does not, so you cannot use a basic candy thermometer for chocolate tempering.)

• Medium to Large Heat Proof Bowls

• Saucepan or Double Boiler

• Rubber Spatula

• Large palette knife or bench scraper (for method 1 of tempering)

• Hot Towel (to keep the tempered chocolate warmer for longer)

• Forks (either a normal fork or specialized Chocolate Dipping Fork)

• Parchment Paper

• Trays / Baking Sheets

• Rubber Spatula

• Shallow Tray or Jelly/Swiss Roll Pan/Sheet pan

• Clingfilm aka Plastic or Saran Wrap

Tempered chocolate pieces, also called “seeding”: the tempered chocolate is used for the outer coating of the truffle; I used milk chocolate

Tempering Ranges:

Fahrenheit

Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F

Milk: 113°F > 80.6°F > 86°F

White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form (about the size of almonds).

• Place about ⅔ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl

• Set aside ⅓ of the chocolate pieces

• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water)

Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that may fall into your chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!

• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly

• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)

• Add small amounts of the remaining ⅓ un-melted chocolate (seeds) and stir in to melt

• Continue to add small additions of chocolate until you’ve brought the chocolate down to 27°C/80.6°F (You can bring the dark chocolate down to between 80°F and 82°F)

• Put it back on the double boiler and bring the temperature back up until it reaches its working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart. (32°C/89.6°F for dark, 30°C/86°F for milk and 29°C/84.2°F for white)

• If you still have a few un-melted bits of chocolate, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently and watching the thermometer constantly.

• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature so that it doesn’t go over its working temperature

It’s now tempered and ready to use

Tip: Another way of adding the "seed" is by dropping in one large chunk of tempered chocolate (the seed). That way you only need to fish out one piece of unmelted chocolate and don't need to fish out several small bits of unmelted chocolate once the chocolate has reached temper.

Other Tips

• If you’re using the chocolate to dip a lot of truffles etc. which means the chocolate will be sitting off heat for a while it will naturally start to thicken as it cools. To keep it at an ideal viscosity for even coating, put the bowl over steam for 30sec - 1min every 10 - 15mins, just do not let the temperature go over the working temperature!

• Having the chocolate in a warmed glass bowl and wrapped in hot kitchen towel can also help keep the chocolate at its working temperature for longer

• It is also easier to keep the heat if you work with larger amounts of chocolate rather than small amounts. Any leftover chocolate can be kept to be used later and then re-tempered

• Remember, don’t let any water get into your chocolate at any stage of the tempering process!

• Unless you’ve been working with chocolate for a while and have developed a feel for the tempering process and can tell the chocolate’s temperature by touching it to your lower lip like a pro, it’s imperative that you use a thermometer to determine the temperature, as going a few degrees either way can ruin the temper.

• If at any stage you do make a mistake with the tempering process you can simply start again from the beginning.

• While a marble or granite top is ideal for cooling the chocolate in the first method, you can also cool it on a countertop that’s laminated, glass or steel. It will take longer to cool, but it’s possible! (but I definitely wouldn’t recommend a wood or rough textured counter top )

• Any chocolate left over after making your molded or dipped chocolate can be stored away in a cool place and then re-tempered before using again. There’s no need to ever waste good chocolate!

• Wooden spoons can retain moisture so it’s best to use a rubber spatula while tempering

Truffles

Servings: Makes +- 30 truffles, recipe easily doubled or halved

For the best tasting truffles, a high quality chocolate is ideal, especially one that is 62% cacao or higher

Ingredients (I used the white chocolate recipe)

1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Dark/Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped

2/3 cup (5 oz / 160 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)

OR

1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)

OR

1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) White Chocolate, finely chopped

¼ cup (2 oz / 60 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% - 48% butterfat)

Additional ingredients

30 almonds

1/3 cup toffee bits

Making the ganache

1. Finely chop or grate the chocolate

2. Place in a heatproof bowl

3. In a saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil (it will start bubbling around the edges of the pot)

4. Pour the cream over the chocolate

5. Gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth

Tip: If you end up with pieces of chocolate that won’t melt, put the bowl over simmering water (but not touching the water) and stir gently until it’s all melted

Tip: Be careful if you do need to heat it over simmering water, if the mixture gets too hot it will split and you’ll end up with gooey chocolate swimming in oil, so don’t overheat the ganache, steam from a gentle simmer is all you need.

6. Stir in your desired flavorings

For rolled truffles

1. Allow the ganache to firm up in a container of choice, preferably deep rather than shallow pan. I let my ganache firm up in the refrigerator.

2. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up room temperature ganache.

3. With gloved hands, press the ganache into a flat disk. Place an almond in the middle of the disk. Wrap the ganache around the almond. Roll the balls between your palms to round them off. Roll the ganache in the toffee bits until fully coated. Roll the truffle between your hands to make the ganache smooth.

4. Dip in tempered chocolate.

Tip: If dipping in chocolate, it’s best to refrigerate the ganache balls before dipping so that they’re firm and don’t melt from the warm chocolate

Tip: For a thicker chocolate shell, dip once in tempered chocolate and allow to set. Then do a second dipping or smear a small amount of chocolate over the truffle and roll in desired ingredients

5. Place on parchment paper until set

How to dip or enrobe with tempered chocolate

1. Temper the chocolate using either the marble top or seeding method

2. Once the chocolate is in temper, gently lower your truffle or candy into the tempered chocolate with your dipping fork

3. Gently remove the candy once it’s been fully submerged

Tip: It’s best to use a bowl that’s deep rather than shallow so that the truffle is easily covered

4. Tap fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate

5. Scrape off excess chocolate from under the dipping fork on the side of the bowl

6. Place dipped truffle/candy on parchment paper, decorate as you wish and allow to set

7. Once the chocolate has hardened, trim off any “feet” with a sharp knife

Tip: Try to handle the chocolate as little as possible or wear food safe gloves to that you don’t leave fingerprints on the chocolate

Tip: To help the chocolate to harden faster, you can place the chocolate into the fridge for 15-20mins, but avoid leaving them in for longer than that so as to avoid any “sweating” (water droplets forming on the chocolate)

Sponge Candy (also called honeycomb candy) from Christine Cushing’s Sponge Toffee Recipe

Equipment:

• 10” Round Spring Form Cake Pan

• OR 8”x8” Square Pan

• Parchment Paper

• Deep Medium Saucepan

• Measuring Cups & Spoons

• Candy Thermometer

• Heat Proof Spatula or Wooden Spoon

Ingredients

2½ cups (20oz/560gm) Granulated White Sugar

2/3 cup (160 ml) Light corn syrup

6 tablespoons (90 ml) Water

1 tablespoon (0.5 oz/ 15g) Baking Soda

2 teaspoons (10 ml) Vanilla extract

Vegetable oil for greasing pan

Directions:

1. Liberally grease a 10-inch round spring form cake pan with vegetable oil. Trace the bottom of the pan on a piece of parchment paper. Line the bottom of the pan with the parchment paper circle. Line the sides of the pan with a parchment paper so that the parchment paper creates a collar that sits 1 to 2-inches above the pan. Liberally grease the parchment paper.

2. In a deep medium saucepan add sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Over medium-high heat bring the mixture to a boil (without stirring) and cook until hard crack stage, i.e. until temperature reads 285°F / 140°C on a candy thermometer (if using light corn syrup, it will be light amber, if using dark corn syrup it will be the color of maple syrup). This should take about 10 minutes. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan during the cooking process, brush the sides of the pan with a clean pastry brush dipped in water.

3. Remove from heat. Working quickly, add the baking soda and quickly blend to incorporate the soda into the sugar mixture, about 5 seconds. The mixture will bubble up when you add the baking soda. Be very careful not to touch the hot mixture.

4. Immediately pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan. Let set completely before touching. Cut into pieces. It makes a huge mess. But the messy little crumbs can be saved to top ice cream. Leave candy as is and enjoy, or dip pieces in tempered chocolate and let set.

Ingredients for Strawberry Pate de Fruit (Crystalizing Strawberries) from Preserve It! p 159

1 lb strawberries, hulled

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup sugar x 5 days

1/2 cup sugar x 2 days

Directions

1. Place the strawberries in an oven safe container. I used a loaf pan.

2. Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

3. Pour the syrup on top of the strawberries. Cover the pan and let the strawberries rest for 24 hours.

4. Drain the strawberries from the pan into a small saucepot and add 1/3 cup sugar to the syrup and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar.

5. Pour the syrup on top of the strawberries. Repeat steps 3-5 for 5 days. On days 6 and 7, add 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 1/3 cup of sugar.

6. On day 8, dry the fruit in an oven preheat to 175-200 degrees F. Turn the fruit every hour to ensure an even drying. The strawberries are finished when they no longer feel sticky. My strawberries took about 4 hours.



Posted on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, 33 shades of green, delectable tuesday, tutorial tuesday

Peach Gazpacho

I have been in the mood for cold summer soups lately. I am not ready for summer end. I adore the hot long days and all the delicious summer fruits. If I had it my way summer fruits would never be out of season, but this is not my reality. I can, however, make summer fruits last all year long with the help of my freezer and canner. This time I decided to make a cold peach gazpacho. The soup is sweet and refreshing, and if you freeze it, you can enjoy it all year long. When I want to enjoy this soup, I just thaw the soup in the refrigerator and stir before serving.

The kids love this sunny peach soup because it is not spicy like my tomato-peach gazpacho. The ingredients are simple and while garlic and peaches may sounds like an odd combination, it works. I like to serve this soup before fish to compliment a nice healthy light dinner.

Ingredients modified from Martha Stewart (serves 8)

12 peaches, peeled, I used Red Haven peaches

1 cucumber, sliced (for a smoother soup you can peel the cucumber and remove the seeds; I chose to leave them in)

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp parsley, I used flat leaf

Directions

1. Add everything to a bowl or blender and puree.
2. Place the soup in serving bowls and cover. Chill for 3 hours. Serve cold.
3. To freeze, place the soup in freezer safe bowls with lids. Freeze. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Stir before serving cold.

Peach and Tomato Gazpacho

Two of my favorite summer fruits are peaches and tomatoes. Right now I have beautiful heirloom tomatoes ripening in my garden, and I got three bushels of peaches from our CSA this year, so that means tomato and peach gazpacho. I make a few patches of this cold soup and freeze it for a quicker starter to a meal later. I let the cold soup thaw in the refrigerator for a day and just stir before serving. The cold soup is sweet and spicy and tastes very gourmet.

I have played around with several different variations of this simple recipe, and I have found that I like tomato and peach gazpacho with more peaches than tomatoes. I have also found that I like a little heat in the soup with Serrano peppers, and I love the refreshing flavor of mint mixed in with the soup. I also don't like the soup diluted with water. I like strong flavors and thick soups, so I did not cut my soup with any water. If you like thinner soups, then cut the soup with a little water. I think the biggest trick to this simple soup is to let the flavors meld together with a little time. While you might be anxious to eat the soup as soon as you are done blending it, but don't dig in yet. The soup will tasted choppy. You will be able to distinctly taste every ingredient with each spoonful and the soup just won't work. Give this soup a few hours in the refrigerator and all the sudden the pepper doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. The soup will no longer taste thrown together. Instead the cold soup will taste elegant and like something that would be served at a spa or high end restaurant.

Ingredients (serves 4) inspired by many recipes around the web including Saffron Lane, The Merry Gourmet, and Not Derby Pie

4 cups peaches, skins and pits removed and chopped
2 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used a combination of yellow and red heirloom tomatoes)
4 Serrano peppers, chopped
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp mint, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or blender and puree.
2. Pour the ingredients into serving bowls and cover. Let stand in the refrigerator for 3-8 hours. Serve cold.
3. To freeze, freeze after refrigeration. Put the soup into freezer safe bowls and freeze. To serve again, allow the bowls to thaw in the refrigerator. Stir well before serving cold.

Posted on slightly indulgent Tuesday, beauty and bedlam, Delectable Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday,

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Roma Tomato Sauce

Every year I can lots of roasted Roma tomato sauce, but people often ask me what I do with my canned food. Obviously I eat it, but I think people really want to know how I prepare my canned foods. I loved the canned jars because they provide ingredients for simple meals. One of my favorite summer time simple meals is spaghetti squash with roasted Roma tomato sauce. You can either save some of your roasted Roma tomato sauce before it gets canned in the refrigerator or you can actually use a canned jar of the roasted Roma tomato sauce for this simple and healthy recipe.


One spaghetti squash will feed two people, and I have found that ½ pint of roasted Roma tomato sauce is enough for 1 spaghetti squash, so this is pretty frugal meal as well. The preparation is simple, just cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Then add the roasted Roma tomato sauce on top of the squash and bake another 15 minutes until the squash is tender. This meal is so good that even picky Dr. Lazy Palate likes it.

Ingredients (serves 2) from my own kitchen

1 spaghetti squash

½ pint of roasted Roma tomato sauce (recipe here)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350⁰F.

2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. I find a long serrated knife or butcher knife works best for this type of cut. Remove the seeds.

3. Place the spaghetti squash on a cookie sheet with the skin side down and “spaghetti” facing upwards. Bake the spaghetti squash for 30 minutes.

4. Remove the squash from the oven and drizzle the roasted Roma tomato sauce on top of the squash. I use ¼ pint per side of squash.

5. Put the spaghetti squash back in the oven for 15 minutes or until the squash is tender and easily pulls away from the side.

6. Serve hot.

Posted on Full Plate Thursday, Life as Mom: Garden Recipes, House of Hempworths, Somewhat Simple, Praire Story, Spain in Iowa, Catch a Glimpse,  It's a Keeper

Green Pumpkin Seed Mole with Chicken Breasts (Mole Verde con Pechugas de Pollo) and Canning Tomatillos

A lot of Americans have the misconception that all Mexican food is unhealthy. They associate Mexican food with the cheap grease joints that dot the US landscape. However, Mexican food is far more than just some greasy low grade meat with cheese smothered on top. Mexican food can be flavorful without being greasy and unhealthy. Many traditional dishes such as this mole verde with pumpkin seeds (pepitos) are actually very healthy and suitable for almost anyone trying to eat healthy.


I adore mole verde with pumpkin seeds or pepitos as they are called in Mexico. The pumpkin seeds add an earthy flavor to the verde sauce. I have been patiently waiting to make this Mexican dish all season since I did not have any canned tomatillos. This year I decided to can tomatillos so I can make this Mexican dish again later in the year. For the pepitos, I saved pumpkin seeds from pumpkins that I roasted last fall. I removed the seeds from the shells and saved them in a glass jar where they waited patiently on my pantry shelf until I wanted to use them.

I always make a large batch of this Mexican dish so I can freeze some for later. I am the only one in the family that is crazy about this verde sauce, so the leftovers are all mine. To reheat this dish for later I put the thawed leftovers in a saucepot and add a ¼ of water per serving to the sauce mixed with my chicken. I heat the food over medium heat until boiling and hot all the way through. The extra water allows the sauce to have a nice consistency when reheated. I love the earthy spiciness of this dish; however, Dr. Lazy Palate finds the grainy texture from the pepitos appalling.

To make this dish you can use fresh tomatillos like I did here, or you can used canned tomatillos. To can tomatillos you can them just like tomatoes. They are very simple to can, but they do require acid to be added to the jars before processing. To acidify the tomatillos add 1 tbsp of lemon juice to pint jars or 2 tbsp of lemon juice to quart jars. You do not need to peel your tomatillos, but you do need to remove the husk and fully rinse the tomatillos so they are not sticky.

Start to finish this traditional Mexican dish takes less than 45 minutes to prepare using uncooked chicken and fresh tomatillos. You can make this a very quick meal to prepare if you use precooked chicken and canned tomatillos. I find this dish to be a perfect healthy week night Mexican dish.

Ingredients for Green Pumpkin Seed Mole with Chicken Breasts (serves 4) modified from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless pp 203-205
For chicken and broth

3 large (about 3 ¾ pounds total) chicken breast, halved

½ tsp salt

1 small onion, diced

If you are using precooked chicken, then you will need between 1-4 cups chicken broth depending upon how thick you like your sauce.

For sauce

1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds, untoasted

8 medium tomatillos, husked and washed

Fresh hot green chilles to taste (I used 3 Serrano peppers)

½ onion (I used a yellow onion)

3 small garlic cloves

1/8 tsp cumin

3 sprigs cilantro

¾ inch cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 tbsp lard or 1 tbsp canola oil

½ tsp salt

Directions

1. Making the chicken. If you are using precooked chicken, then skip this step. Place the chicken breasts in a large saucepot and add enough water to almost cover the chicken. Add the salt and onion to the pot. Over medium heat, bring the chicken to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer the chicken. Cook the chicken all the way through, about 12-15 minutes. Flip the chicken at least once to make sure that it is done all the way through. Skim off any foam that floats to the top. Remove the chicken from the broth and set aside. Strain the chicken broth to remove any small particles.

2. Layer the pumpkin seeds in a single layer in a cast iron pan. Heat the pan over low heat. After a few minutes the seeds will begin to pop. At this point start stirring the seeds to prevent already popped seeds from burning. When all the seeds have popped (about 5 minutes), remove the seeds from the pan and grind them in a food processor with 1 cup of chicken broth.

3. If you are using canned tomatillos, then skip this step. Simmer the whole tomatillos in water with a dash of salt and whole chiles to taste. I used 2 Serrano chiles for this step leaving my tomatillos not very spicy at all. Perhaps next time I will use two jalapenos instead. Simmer the tomatillos until they are tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Puree the tomatillos in a blender or food processor along the onion, garlic, cumin, and cilantro.

5. In a large saucepot, heat the lard until melted over medium heat. Add the tomatillos and pureed pumpkin seed mixture to the pot. Add the cinnamon stick and cloves to the pan as well. Heat the mixture until it becomes thick and turns a slight green brown color. At this point you can add another cup to three cups of chicken broth to make the mixture more sauce like or you can leave you sauce thick. I chose to leave the sauce thick since I like thick sauces. If you add a lot of broth, then you need to simmer the broth for about 30 minutes which increase the amount of time that the dish takes to prepare. Since I use this as a quick meal I do not add extra broth.

6. Before serving remove the cinnamon stick and add the chicken to the sauce to heat the chicken all the way through. Serve warm.

Ingredients Canning Tomatillos from Oregon State Extension Office

Tomatillos, husked and washed

Water

Bottled lemon juice

Directions
1. Choose ripe tomatillos that are bright green and have firm skin. The husk should have already changed from green to tan.

2. Place the tomatillos in a large stock pot. Fill the stockpot with water until the water level is 2 inches above the tomatillos. Heat the saucepot until boiling over medium high heat. Cook the tomatillos for 5-10 minutes or until tender.

3. Place the tomatillos in sterile hot jars. Add boiling water on top of the tomatillos. Make sure the water is completely covering the tomatillos. Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice per pint jar or 2 tbsp lemon juice per quart jar. Leave ½” headspace.

4. Place the lids on top of the jars and screw the tops on until finger tip tight. Process pints 40 minutes or 45 minutes for quarts in a boiling water bath.


Posted on This Chick Cooks, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Extreme Personal Measures

South Indian Cuisine: Appam. Carrots with Tropical Flavors, and Mango Kheer

One of the things that I love most about Daring Cook’s is that they challenge you to cook well outside of your comfort zone. This month Mary from Mary Mary Culinary challenge us to make South Indian food. In particular we were challenged to make appam and a dish to go with it. Appam is a flat bread made out of rice. I also chose to make carrots with tropical flavors and mango kheer for dessert.

I must say this was one of my favorite things that I have ever made with Daring Cooks. This challenge epitomizes the reason why I wanted to join Daring Cooks. I wanted to join Daring Cooks to expose myself to foods and styles of cooking that I am not familiar with, and Southern Indian cuisine definitely falls into that category. I have enjoyed South Indian cuisine before from generous friends who have prepared wonderful Indian food for friends and family, but I have never made South Indian cuisine myself. I am glad that I finally picked up the wok and make some appam and carrots with tropical flavors along with mango kheer.

I also learned that making appam is an art form. There has to be the perfect amount of oil in the pan in a perfectly heated pan that is not too cool or too hot. A too cool pan will just get your appam undercooked in the center. A too hot pan will cause your appam to get brown on the bottom which is not the point of appam. According to some a little brown on the edges is fine but the bottom should not look like a burnt piece of toast. Too much oil and you start to pan fry the bread. Too little oil and you will never get the appam out of the pan in one piece. I also found that my wok was a much better tool for making appam than my flat iron skillet. I found it much easier to get my appam out of the pan in one piece. It took me about 5 attempts to get appam correct. The first four tasted great but ended up being a crumbled mess on my plate. By the time I got the appam perfect I felt like the snowy mess of crumbled appam was there taunting me. I did not know if I was ever going to get the appam out of the pan, but alas I finally has success.

The appam is sweet and delicate with a strong coconut flavor. The flatbread looks spongy and soaks up juice well. The carrots with tropical flavors were very straight forward to make and tasted great. I love the sweet carrots and coconut milk paired with the spicy chiles. The only downside was that I could not get any curry leaves. Curry leaves would have made this dish perfect. You would have thought in this small town with three Asian markets and a huge Asian population that I could find curry leaves, but alas all our Asian markets sell mainly Chinese food. I was disappointed but not really surprised. The carrot dish was very simple to make. I can see myself making that dish again when I need a quick week night dinner. The mango kheer was not a requirement for the challenge, but I have always wanted to make mango kheer. Mangos are an underutilized fruit in my kitchen. I adore mangos, but they do not grow locally, so I have a tendency not to cook with them much. I think that made the mango kheer even more special for me. The mango kheer came out sweet, tart, and slightly astringent. The mango kheer was a perfect end to an excellent dinner. While I love this dinner, Dr. Lazy Palate was not a fan. He does like carrots, spicy food, mango, or coconut, so this meal was an all around bust for him. Thankfully, I made him steamed tuna and rice instead.

Cooking Indian food is oddly spiritual compared to my normal every day fare. I think it is because I often meditate or practice yoga while listening to Indian music, so cooking Indian food seemed like a deep spiritual journey. Perhaps I will find myself praying in a meditation hut one day in India.

Ingredients for appam from My Diverse Kitchen

Servings: Makes about 15. I find 3-4 are enough for a serving

1 ½ cups (360 ml/300 gm/10½ oz) raw rice (I used basatmi)

1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml/5 gm) active dry yeast

2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar

½ cup (120 ml) of coconut water or water, room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons (22½ ml/18 gm) cooked rice (I used basatmi)

½ teaspoon (2½ ml/3 gm) salt

about ½ cup (120 ml) thick coconut milk (from the top of an unshaken can)

Directions

1. Soak the raw rice in 4 to 5 cups of water for 3 hours. You can soak it overnight, although I did not try that.

2. Dissolve the sugar in the coconut water or plain water and add the yeast. Set aside in a warm area for 10-15 minutes, until very frothy.

3. Drain the rice and grind it in a blender with the yeast mixture to make a smooth batter. You can add a bit of extra water if needed, but I did not. Add the cooked rice, and grind/blend to combine well. You can see that it is not completely smooth, but very thick—that’s about right.

4. Pour into a large bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 8-12 hours. You not only want the mixture to rise and collapse, but to ferment. When it is ready, it will have a slightly sour and distinctly yeasty smell. Don’t worry--they are mild tasting when cooked!

5. Add the coconut milk and salt, and a bit of water if necessary, so that you have a batter that is just a bit thicker than milk. Notice how it bubbles after you add the coconut milk. I recommend test-cooking one before thinning the batter.

6. Heat your pan over medium heat. Wipe a few drops of oil over it using a paper towel. Stir the batter and pour in 3-4 tablespoons, depending on the size of the pan. Working quickly, hold the handle(s) and give the pan a quick swirl so that the batter comes to the top edge. Swirl once only, as you want the edges to be thin and lacy.

7. Cover the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Uncover and check. The center should have puffed up a bit, and will be shiny, but dry to the touch. When ready, loosen the edges with a small spatula and serve immediately. These need to be served hot out of the pan.

Ingredients for Carrots with Tropical Flavors from Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid

Servings: 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main dish

1 pound (½ kg) carrots, about 5 medium, peeled

1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil

about 8 fresh curry leaves

2 tablespoons (30 ml/15 gm) minced seeded green cayenne chiles

3 tablespoons (45 ml/27 gm) minced shallots

2 teaspoons (10ml) rice vinegar (I used lime juice)

1 teaspoon (5 ml/6 gm) salt

¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml/1 gm) sugar

½ cup (120 ml) coconut milk

¼ cup (50 ml) water

coarse salt, optional

cilantro (coriander) leaves to garnish

Directions

1. Julienne or coarsely grate the carrots. Set aside.

2. Place a deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the oil, then add half of the curry leaves, the chiles and the shallots. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.

3. Add the carrots, stir, and add the vinegar, salt, sugar and mix well. Increase the heat and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until they give off a bit of liquid.

4. Add the water and half of the coconut milk and bring to a fast boil. Stir, cover tightly and cook until just tender, 5-10 minutes, depending on size. Mine took about 5 minutes. Check to ensure the liquid has not boiled away and add a little more water if it is almost dry.

5. Add the remaining coconut milk and curry leaves. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and taste for seasoning. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired, and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

6. Transfer to a plate and serve hot or at room temperature.

Ingredients for Mango Kheer modified from Khana Khazana serves 4 very large servings

1 litre milk

1 cup basmati rice

¼” cinnamon stick

¾ cup brown sugar

3 ripe mangos, peeled and pureed

¼ cup almonds, ground

Directions

1. Place the milk in a medium size saucepot. Bring to a boil then reduce the temperature to a simmer. Add the rice and cinnamon stick. Stir frequently. Cook until tender, about 25 minutes.

2. Remove the rice from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in the brown sugar, mango puree, and almonds.

3. Place the kheer in serving bowls and chill until ready to eat.

Posted on your recipe, my kitchen, A Southern Fairy Tale, Market Yourself Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Mangia Monday, This Week's Cravings (diary free except for the mango rice pudding)

Pressure Canning Black Bean and Corn Salsa

With our plethora of corn this year I decided to take a small amount of corn and make some black bean and corn salsa to pressure can. I was excited about doing this because I did not need to add tons of vinegar to basically pickle the vegetables like I do in regular salsa since the corn and beans were already low acid. I was hoping to find a good recipe on-line, but instead I found a lot of black bean and corn salsa recipes where bloggers were boiling water canning black bean and corn salsa which is dangerous because this salsa does not have enough justify boiling water canning.

The general rule for pressure canning mixed items such as this salsa is that you have to pressure can the entire jar for the item that takes the most pressure and the longest amount of time to pressure can. So in this case corn in pint jars takes 10 pounds of pressure for 55 minutes while black beans need 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes (the other ingredients in this recipe also call for 10 pounds of pressure at much less time than the corn and beans). This means that a can of black bean and corn salsa needs to be pressure canned for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. Following this simple rule allows you to really got nuts creating unique pressure canning recipes. I was able to come up with a slightly spicy black bean and corn salsa that I adore eating with chips. I followed Ball’s suggestion on how long to cook the black beans which left my beans a little harder than I liked fresh, but after pressure canning the beans had a perfect texture. If you want to enjoy this recipe fresh, then cook your black beans a little longer so they are more tender.

Ingredients from my own kitchen makes approximately 12 pints jars

1 pound dried black beans
8 cups corn
2 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used a combination of red, yellow, and orange tomatoes)
2 onions
6 bell peppers, chopped and seeds removed
3 hot peppers, chopped seeds removed
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 tbsp cumin
¼ cup lime juice

Directions

1. Soak the beans overnight in warm water. On the next day drain and sort the beans.

2. Add the beans to a large stockpot. Fill the pot with water to cover the beans by two inches of water. Boil the beans 30 minutes while stirring frequently.

3. Drain the beans again. Place the beans back in the stock pot along with the corn, tomatoes, onions, peppers, red pepper flakes, cilantro, cumin, and lime juice. Fill the pot with water until the water level is one inch above the vegetable level. Bring the vegetables to a boil while stirring frequently. Boil for 10 minutes or until the onions turn translucent.

4. Ladle the hot vegetables and beans into pint jars. Add brine to the jar to completely cover the vegetables. Leave a 1” headspace. Add the lids and adjust the two piece caps.

5. Process the jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Posted on Tutorial Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, These Chicks Cook, Gooseberry Patch, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party

Canning Blueberries in Apple Juice

Cherries in apple juice were excellent, but blueberries in apple juice are out of this world good. With cherries I could taste the apple juice, but with blueberries there is just good sweet blueberry flavor. The blueberries completely mask the apple juice making this my favorite way to can blueberries. The apple juice got thick with the blueberry juice and produced an intense tasting blueberry juice that could taste the place of blueberry syrup in a pinch. Like the cherry apple juice, Little BBQ loves drinking the blueberry juice. I love that there is no waste when I can these blueberries in apple juice.


The only catch when canning with apple juice is that you have to use the hot pack method for canning in order to safely can with apple juice. I do not mind since I hot pack all of my canned goods, but I know some people like the very fast raw pack method that sugar syrups allow. In my opinion, the extra work is the effort to get sugar syrup free canned blueberries.

 
Ingredients from Ball’s Blue Book Guide to Preserving p 16 and 18 (makes 1 quart or 2 pint jars)


2 to 2 ½ pounds blueberries, washed
Apple juice (I used approximately 1 cup of juice per quart of blueberries)

Directions

1. Add the blueberries to a large sauce pot and pour apple juice on top of the blueberries. Add enough apple juice to completely cover the blueberries. Heat the saucepot over medium high heat until the blueberries are heated all the way through, about 3 minutes.

2. Ladle the hot cherries into jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Place a lid on top of the jar and adjust the two piece cap until fingertip tight. Continue adding lids and adjust caps until all the jars are covered.

3. Process quarts for 20 minutes in a boiling water canner and pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Posted on Frugal Friday, Hodgepodge Friday, Thrilling Thursday, I'm Loving It

Busy Beavers: Pressure Canning Corn

Dr. Lazy Palate is officially calling us, “busy beavers” because we have been doing so much gardening and canning this year. Somewhere in between we are taking the kids swimming almost every day, and I am working on building up a stash of freezer meals and preparing homeschooling stuff for the year. Dr. Lazy Palate wants 100 quarts of corn pressure canned this year. No, I did not tack on an extra zero; he wants 100 quarts of corn. Never mind the fact that I tried to explain to him that pressure canning is a level beyond boiling water canning because it takes longer to heat up a pressure canner and even longer for the pressure to slowly come down after processing. Dr. Lazy Palate got so ambitious husking and cutting corn in the middle of the night while listening to lectures on alternative history that he husked and cut too much corn. Do you want to know what happens when you cut corn and leave it sitting too long in the refrigerator? It turns brown in the pressure canner and smells awful. Take my advice, do not husk and cut too much corn at one time. Husk and cut what you need for one load in your pressure canner. As one of our farm friends told us, “You only make that mistake once.”

I found that it takes about 3 ears of corn to fill 1 quart jar. You may find it takes you more or less corn to fill one quart jar depending upon the size of your corn. We used a sharp serrated knife to cut the kernels off the corn, and we did not scrape the cob. Not all varieties of corn are good for canning. Some types of sweet corn can turn brown during pressure canning, so I recommend doing a small test batch of corn before you go nuts pressure canning lots of corn to ensure the corn is good for pressure canning. You should pick corn that has been freshly picked and full of milky white juice. We used a sweet bicolor corn for our pressure canning. All corn will change color when pressure canned. In my photo at the top of the post you can see the corn that we started with, the corn after it was put in jars, and the corn after it was pressure canned. The corn all becomes the same color and turns a more golden yellow but not brown like my spoiled corn above. According to Ball, corn can turn brown while pressure canned if there is no liquid covering the corn while pressure canning. I found that I had to fill my jars with corn and then add liquid on top. Then, I would wait 2 minutes until all the corn and liquid settled in the jar. Finally, I would add more liquid on top since most of my jars needed more liquid on top to completely cover the corn before placing on a two piece cap. The third reason that corn can turn brown during processing, according Ball, is that the corn was processed at too high of a temperature and the pressure canner maybe faulty.

Ingredients from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving p 67

3 to 6 pounds ears of corn per quart, husked and kernels removed
Salt (optional)
Water

Directions

1. For each quart of corn, add 2 cups of boiling water and 1 tsp of salt, if desired, to a large stockpot.

2. Over medium high heat, bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Ladle the corn into quart jars. Add the hot water to the jars leaving 1” headspace. Make sure the liquid is completely covering the corn. Wait 2 minutes and make sure that the liquid is still completely covering the top of the corn. If the liquid is not covering the top of the corn, then add more liquid.

4. Place the lid on top of the jars and adjust the two piece cap until fingertip tight.

5. Process quarts in a pressure canner for 1 hour and 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. For pints, process for 55 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

Posted on Full Plate Thursday, House of Hempworths, Recipe Swap, Simple Lives Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, It's a Keeper,

Canning Cherries in Apple Juice

I am not a fan of sugar syrups when I can fruits whole of cut up fruits. I find that sugar syrup makes the fruit too sweet even when you make light syrup. Dr. Lazy Palate on the other hand loves the enhanced sweetened flavor of fruit. I think if he had it his way I would can his peaches in heavy syrup that would turn his peaches into candy. Alas, this post is not about Dr. Lazy Palate’s peaches, but it is about my cherries, my sweet, dark red, delicious Bing cherries. Cherries are one of my favorite summer fruits (I admit that I have a lot of favorite summer fruits but again I digress,) and this year I wanted to can some cherries to eat as a snack when we go on trips or when we have picnics outside during fall. However, sugar syrup was not an option, so I decided to can them in apple juice. According to my Blue Book Guide to Preserving fruits can canned in apple juice or grape juice. Sure the apple juice is still filled with sugar, but it does not have the consistency of sugar syrup and the apple juice still has less sugar than sugar syrup.


Canning in apple juice is very simple. Just add the fruit to the juice, heat all the way through, and ladle the hot fruit and juice to the jars, and process. You will spend more time pitting the cherries that you will actually canning the cherries, but the effort is worth it. I still prefer my cherries fresh, but these are the best canned cherries that I have ever tasted. You can taste the apple juice in the cherries, but the apple juice compliments the cherries well. Plus, the cherry apple juice that is left behind in the jar after you eat all the cherries is wonderful. Little BBQ keeps asking to drink the juice from all of my cherry jars, so the plus side to canning in apple juice is the lack of waste which makes my frugal nature very happy.

Ingredients from Ball’s Blue Book Guide to Preserving p 16 and 18 (makes 1 quart or 2 pint jars)

2 to 2 ½ pounds cherries, washed and pitted
Apple juice (I used approximately 1 cup of juice per quart of cherries)
Directions

1. Add the cherries to a large sauce pot and pour apple juice on top of the cherries. Add enough apple juice to completely cover the cherries. Heat the saucepot over medium high heat until the cherries are heated all the way through, about 3 minutes.

2. Ladle the hot cherries into jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Place a lid on top of the jar and adjust the two piece cap until fingertip tight. Continue adding lids and adjust caps until all the jars are covered.

3. Process quarts for 20 minutes in a boiling water canner and pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Posted on Whatever Goes Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday,These Chicks Cook

Canning Blueberry Pie Filling

I have really made it a point this year to can pie filling. Last year I froze blueberry pie filling, and it was good but not great when I thawed it out and used it in blueberry pierogi. The pie filling was thick, but I felt like it lost just a little bit of the blueberry flavor that I love. Straight out of the pot this blueberry filling was sweet, thick, and had an intense blueberry flavor. I am hoping that canning pie filling preserves the blueberry flavor a little bit better than freezing. Plus, canning blueberry pie filling does not take up precious freezer space. The dark hued blueberry pie filling would make a great gift as well. My mother was already eyeing up the blueberry pie filling when she saw it in my pantry, so perhaps I can make a blueberry pie during Christmas when she comes to visit again.

Ingredients modified from Canning USA (makes approximately 1 quart)

5 cups blueberries
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp Clear Jel (NOT Sure Jel)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Add the Clear Jel, sugar, water, and lemon juice to a large sauce pot. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon

2. Add the blueberries to the boiling mixture. Gently stir constantly. Once the jel comes back to a simmer the blueberry pie filling will thicken. Continue to cook the blueberry pie filling until it is thick and gooey.

4. Ladle the hot blueberry pie filling into a quart jar. Leave 1 inch headspace. Process in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes.

Posted on Food Renegade Fight Back Friday, Mangia Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Melt in your Mouth Monday, Market Yourself Monday, Your Recipe My Kitchen,