Easy Chocolate Truffles

4.5 oz 65% chocolate (9 squares of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate in the brown wrapper)

½ cup heavy cream

2 Tbl additional cream or liquid flavor

Spice, herb or dry ingredient to taste

8 oz 70% dark chocolate (Trader Joe’s chocolate in red wrapper)

Melt chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave for 1 minutes.  Stir until chocolate is melted.   Add liquid or spice.

If you use a fresh herb combine with heavy cream and bring to a boil prior to combining with the chocolate.  Let steep for 15 minutes.

Refrigerate for up at least 3 hours.

Make the truffles into balls and place on parchment or wax paper.  Cover and chill several hours or overnight. 

Melt 70% chocolate in a microwave until half the chocolate is melted, approximately 1 minute.  Stir until all of the chocolate is melted.  Submerge the truffles in the chocolate and remove with dessert forks tapping on the edge of the bowl to allow excess to drip off.  Place toping on chocolate while it is still melted.

If you have left over chocolate, it can be put in a covered jar and used in the next batch.

Enjoy!

Solstice Party, Franklin NY 2012

Solstice Party Recipes 2012

Butternut Squash with Chickpeas

http://www.marthastewart.com/870082/chickpea-and-butternut-squash-stew

Ciamotta (Stewed Mixed Vegetables

http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/4053/Ciamotta-Stewed-Mixed-Vegetables.html

Chicken Tagine with Olives and Preserved Lemons

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-tagine-with-olives-and-preserved-lemons-recipe/index.html

Iranian Tomato and Cucumber Salad

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/nutrition/13recipehealth.html?_r=0

Picadillo

http://icuban.com/food/picadillo.html

Bean Salad

1 can each strained rinced black, white, and kidney beans, chopped jalapeno, large garlic clove smashed, 2 stalks of celery chopped, red and green pepper chopped, ½ red onion chopped, cilantro and parsley chopped, juice of 1 lime, olive oil, tsp cumin.

Baked Salmon with Cherry Tomatoes

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees

In a food processor combine a handful of cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and pepper to taste and process until well combined and damp.  Slather this over the flesh side of the salmon.  Cut cherry tomatoes in half and arrange on top of the salmon.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Lebanese Roasted Chickens

Combine 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and make it into a paste and mix with enough yoghurt, to cover, juice of ½ lemon, 1 tsp Lebanese 7 spice.  Marinate the chicken for less than 4 hours.  You can use whole chickens or parts and roast, bake, or grill the chicken.

Gravlax

2 equal large piece of salmon. 3 parts salt, 2 parts sugar, and 1 ½ parts black pepper and a handful of dill.  Spread the cure on the flesh side of each and cover one with dill and put the cured side of the other piece down onto the dill.  Cover and weight it and flip it once a day for about 3-4 days.   It will give off liquid so make sure to put it in a flat dish that will catch the liquid.

Ice box Cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/274651/icebox-cookie-recipes/@center/276951/christmas-cookies#296293

Mocha Sliced Cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/340252/mocha-slice-cookies?czone=food/holiday-cookies-center/holiday-cookies-recipes&center=0&gallery=274651&slide=261632

Chocolate Truffles

http://www.marthastewart.com/319142/bittersweet-truffles?center=0&gallery=274505&slide=283535

Salmon with New Potatoes and Red Cabbage

This recipe is adapted from a recipe on Marthastewart.com

1/2 head of shredded red cabbage
8-10 red new potatoes cut in half
3 Tbl olive oil
1 pound piece of salmon
2 Tbl dijon grainy mustard
2 Tbl horseradish
1/2 lemon

Preheat the over to 400 degrees.  Mix the cabbage with oil and potatoes with oil and put them on one either side of an oblong baking dish.  Cook for 50 minutes.

Mix the mustard, horseradish, and lemon together in a small bowl.  Take the skin off of the salmon and slather it with the mustard mixture.  When the potatoes begin to be crispy, place the salmon on top of them an bake for 20 minutes.

White Chocolate Cream

Ingredients:

2 ounces white chocolate
1/2 pint heavy cream

Using the medium side of a grater, grate white chocolate into a bowl.  Bring the heavy cream to a slow boil, removing it from the heat when the bubbles begin.

Pour the cream over the white chocolate and let it sit for a few moments to melt.  Stir it until it is smooth.

Refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours.

Whip the cream forming soft peaks.

This cream is delicious with fresh strawberries.

Bargain Box Olive Zaatar Buns

Dough:

3  cups flour

1 tsp fast yeast

1 tsp salt

3 Tbl olive oil

1 cup water

Filling

1 Tbl Dried Zaatar (mixture of sesame seeds, ground sumac, dried thyme, oregano, marjoram available at Middle Eastern stores)

2 Tbl olive oil

2 Tbl olive paste (blend black pitted Kalamata olives with garlic in a small processor)

The day before you plan to serve these:

Combine flour, salt, and yeast, oil, and water in a bowl.  Mix until a dough is formed (you may need more water if it is particularly dry).   Use your hand to lightly knead it in the bowl.  Cover the bowl with a plate and let rise until doubled.  Pat down the dough and let it sit covered overnight.  It is not necessary to knead this dough because of the long rising time.

Put the dough on a board and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Make the zaatar oil by combining the herbs and olive oil in a jar.

Divide the dough in two. (You will need a long counter space to roll this dough out on, if you don’t have that divide it into three pieces.) Roll out the first piece to a long strip, trying to square off the ends.  The strip should be approximately 4 inches wide.  Let the first piece rest for ten minutes and roll out the second piece. 

Roll the first piece out longer, the rest period allows it to do this.  Once you have a long strip brush the zaatar oil on it in a thin layer.  Leave about ¼ inch on the far side.  Brush with a thin layer of olive paste (if the olive paste is thick, thin it with olive oil). 

Roll the strip up to make a long rope of dough.  Cut it into six pieces, making the pieces at the end a little longer.

Using your hand, coat a baking sheet with a small amount of olive oil.  Rolling the buns will be easier if your hands have a bit of oil on them.

Take each piece of dough; roll it so that it is longer and a bit more compact.  Turn each piece into a spiral, pat it down to flatten it out, and put it on the prepared baking sheet.  Do the same with the second piece of dough.

Let the buns rest for 30 minutes.  Bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Yield 12 buns

Adapted from a recipe from tasteofbeirut.com

New York Crumb Cake for the Bargain Box

Don’t know why this is called a New York crumb cake as opposed to a Los Angeles crumb cake.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour

½ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 egg

½ cup milk

2 Tbl oil

1 tsp vanilla

Crumb topping:

2 ½ cups flour

1 cup of packed brown sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 stick of unsalted butter melted and cooled

Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush a baking pan (I used a 9 inch round pan) with oil and dust with flour.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl stir the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula mix the dry ingredients in with the wet until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Combine the dry ingredients for the crumb topping and add the cooled butter and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle on top. Bake for approximately 40 minutes turning the pan half way through the baking.

Cool on a rack and cut into pieces.

Adapted from a marthastewart.com recipe.

Tabouli the Lebanese Way

Mint grows as a weed in my garden in Franklin. During the summer I make a version of tabouli that is heavy on the bulgur and mint. When I got to Lebanon, I learned that tabouli is actually a parsley salad with a hint of mint and a bit of bulgur. It is actually less of a production to make than my American version of tabouli.

Ingredients: These measurements are an approximation. You can use as much or little that pleases you.

1 small handful of bulgur

1 cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped mint

1 to 2 chopped scallions

1 small tomato chopped into ½ inch pieces

Juice of ½ lemon

2 Tbl olive oil

Pepper

Soak the bulgur in a small bowl of water for about an hour until softened. Chop the herbs, scallions and tomatoes and put in a bowl with the drained bulgur, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper.