Truffle Mutt

Did Someone Say Cream Sauce

The trees are being prompted to turn by the frost that softly dusts the tips of the grass and there's a chill in the air that can only mean winter, and while I'm not looking forward to the snow, I am eagerly awaiting the food that winter has to offer.  The roasted vegetables, meaty braises and cheesy pastas will be much more anticipated than the cold and well worth the trade. 

I started last week with the braised lamb and now it's on to pasta.  Dinner in this case was supposed to be ham, peas and tortellini in a creamy tomato sauce, but ended up being ham and green beans with penne in a garlic, tomato cream sauce.  I wasn't sure what the green beans were going to taste like, but I figured they were a better choice than the gone-over-to-the-darkside broccoli that I had in the fridge.   

It turned out really well.  The green beans weren't bad at all, then again, I do have a serious weak spot for anything in cream sauce.  You probably guessed that earlier...

#1 Chocolate Chip Cookie

This is it.  My new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It's taken searching and even more baking, but I'll look no further.  Yeah, who am I kidding, of course I'll keep looking, but this recipe has earned it's moment in the spotlight. 

For me chocolate chip cookie perfection is eating a day old cookie that's chewy enough to be fresh out of the oven, with browned crispy edges, a gooey center and loads of chocolate.  And lucky for me this recipe turns out a cookie that's all that.  Normally, I add toasted almonds to my chocolate chip cookies, for a more sophisticated taste, but these were pretty darn good on their own. 

Next time, and there will be a next time, I'll add the burnt almonds to half the batter and I'll try white chocolate and coffee in the other. 

Mary Had a Little...

Lamb!  Of course. 

I adore lamb and I frequently eat it at restaurants, but until now I haven't made it at home.  It would seem that I have a similar relationship french fries.  Maybe I should make those at home too, then again, maybe not.

This hearty braise of red wine, prune and tomato sauce was a perfect introduction to fall.  The sauce was rich with just a hint of sweetness from the prunes.  I thought it was slightly heavy on red wine, but I'd still give it an A .  And I got to use the dutch oven that my Grandma recently gave to me.  There's no doubt that making the lamb was exciting, but I think using the dutch oven and seeing the shiny red enamel peeking out through the oven window was much better.    

I served the shanks with potato, mushroom and tomato galettes topped with melted Asiago cheese. 

Soup to Cry Over

And not because of how fabulously scrumptious it was but because of the crazy, paint peeling strong onions that went into it.  Whew!  Those were some nasty red onions.

I used a couple of recipes for inspiration combining both red onions and leeks in a creamy puree.  Both recipes called for caramelized onions, but I do not process the ability to caramelize onions.  Without fail I end up with either a pale mushy mess, or crispy fried critters, but never anything in between.  Which is probably why the soup was a little bland, so to make up for it I added a couple of handfuls of dried and fresh mushrooms.  I topped it with a rye bread, garlic and Asiago crouton and a strip of crispy proscuttio ham. 

Layers of Disappointment

Sometimes simple is better and my Melody Cake from Pierre Herme was a prime example.  All it took was 20 hours of baking apples, 1 hour of folding and setting the caramel Bavarian cream, 1 hour of whipping and baking the sponge cake and 3 hours of layering and then chilling.  A real piece of cake, no pun intended.

Regardless of the time investment, my beef was not with the prep time but rather with the finished product.  While I was making cake and whipping creams I discovered that the tastes were turning out very bland.  So, while I wasn't altogether surprised that the sum of the parts produced equally unexciting results, I won't deny that I was disappointed.

I will mention at this point that I didn't follow the recipe exactly, leaving out the cinnamon pastry base, choosing instead to top the cake with a simple cinnamon whipped cream.  I really don't feel that this would have turned things around, but I could be wrong.  I've had that happen from time-to-time.   

So the real problem was that the majority of the flavors were just too subtle.  The buttery, orange flavored apples and the sponge cake were completely overpowered by the caramel Bavarian cream that reminded me a lot of pumpkin pie filling.  And let me tell you these flavors did not work together at all.  Of course there were two people that really enjoyed it, so maybe it is me.

If I was to make this again I'd experiment with a Bavarian cream flavored with Calvados or apple wine, which I think would better compliment the apples. I still have a lot of apples left.  What to do, what to do.

19 1/4 Hour Apples

 

Sure the name doesn't sound quite as nice as "Twenty-hour apples" from Pierre Herme, but I couldn't quite spare twenty hours when I started these.  The sliced apples went in the oven the night before, for their marathon 10 hour bake, but had to come out before I went to work the next morning, which meant a total bake time of 9 1/4 hours.  I did however, manage to give them their full 10 hour chill, before using them in Pierre Herme's Melody Cake. 

Considering that the apples were a little shy on the bake time, I'd say they turned out really well.  Of course, never having had actual "Twenty-hour apples", it's hard to compare.  Once baked and chilled the apples are tender and yet still surprisingly strong.  They should still be handled with care but can be removed from the baking dish fairly easily with an offset spatula. 

I was expecting the resulting apples to be a lot more caramelized than they turned out, but the flavor was still great.  The orange peel leaves a distinct citrus note, but the apple still comes through in the end, and the addition of sugar and butter nicely balances the taste. 

If I was going to make them again though I'd consider giving them more wow.  I think adding cinnamon and a touch of apple wine to the baking process would make these apples perfect for using in a tart or served simply over custard.  The recipe makes a lot of apples so I'll have lots of opportunity to experiment.