a gentle reminder

"Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breath more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours." - Swedish proverb

The Super Sweet Oh so Satisfying Strawberry!

Although most people are complaining about the late spring and summer here in Vermont, it has enabled one locavore a chance to stay on top of the current offers and get picking! Heading out the farms and choosing the ripest, brightest and most perfect pieces of produce would convert anyone into a fruit and veggie lover! The problem I tend to run into is that I can’t get enough to satisfy all of my creative outlets. I want to can, freeze, cook, use raw in delicious recipe concoctions, and brew with my new picks. But that would inevitably require flats and flats of berries and endless processing, which I do not have the patients for unfortunately.

Trying to decide where the farms are? Try this link:
http://www.pickyourown.org/VT.htm

A quick nutrious bite...

Chalk full of beneficial dietary fiber, which basically refers to components that help move the unwanted, indigestible food leftovers through our gut in a more comfortable way – just don’t forget to hydrate! Strawberries are also loaded with vitamin C, folate, manganese, potassium and magnesium. Not to mention they are loaded with phytonutrients – plant based nutrients that promote health. With only 50 calories per cup, how can you go wrong?

Ever made strawberry syrup?

If your answer is YES, than you probably understand how insanely good it is. If you answered NO, well zero excuses, you’ve got to try it! Since making this just a few days ago, I have been adding it to everything! Sweet to savory, everything can have a little dab of strawberry syrup in it! My new favorite is a mock up of a Berliner Weisse. This is a sour wheat beer served in a goblet glass with a shot of flavored syrup to cut the sour tones. I’ve been serving up our homebrew German Pilsner with a slow pour of this strawberry syrup down the edge and a berry floating on top. You can say it screams summer! What’s on the menu for tonight…thinkin’ it might be BBQ chicken with strawberry hot sauce, but hey ya never know…

Syrup recipe:
- 3lbs ripe strawberries
- Sugar
- Juice 2 lemons

Puree the berries in a food processor. Pour into a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Gathering up the corners, gently press to extract as much juice as possible. *straining through the sieve first followed by the cheesecloth makes this an easier process.*

Measure out the juice. For each 2 ½ cups juice, place I cup sugar into a saucepan. Heat gently until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and allow to cool.

Process in canning jars or pour in a clean bottle and place directly into the refrigerator. Walla!

Truffles? Yes please!

Now this is where a wise person might say, "hmmm....is she referring to the chocolate variety or the fungus variety?" About 5 years ago, I didn't even know there were such things called truffles (were on the fungus type right now, otherwise I would have been a very very sheltered child). Never would I have thought that these earthy, stinky, nasty looking black and white pitted balls are edible, much less considered a delicacy. Low and behold they are, and as you might have guessed by my description, I'm not their number one fan. I think they get over used on crappy food to try and give it some dazzle, when you just end up with something tasting like you took a huge bite of earthy funkiness.

There is a time and place, though. Like just a few drops over sauteed asparagus with a poached egg on top (personal favorite), or just enough mixed into potatoes to give them depth but not dominate. A restaurant I worked at would drizzle a tiny amount over hot flatbreads from the oven, which would make the whole area stink of truffle oil, but as a customer it was a great compliment to the pizza. This being the giving season, you may want to try giving someone a small bottle of truffle oil for Christmas or just because. It may sit on the shelf for months, but when it does get used (in small doses of course) it will transform a depth-less food into something with character worth talking about.

Honestly, fungal truffles wasn't really what I wanted to write about. And it doesn't even sound pleasant so let's switch gears to Chocolate truffles!

Ahh the power of chocolate! Although it has been disproved to be a powerful aphrodisiac, only containing tiny amounts of tryptophan and phenylethylamine which create serotonin and amphetamines respectively, in the body. There is a still a benefit to consuming chocolate aside from the pure joy you get when a piece just happens to finds its way into your mouth. Chocolate is packed full of flavanoids (antioxidants) that help fight the bad cholesterol "LDL" in the body. Call me crazy, but having listened to the "Good vs Bad" related to health for so many years, I have a permanent image of little rounds blobs with wild faces flying towards each other to battle. Swords drawn, battle cries, who will win?! I'm sure its much more glorious in my mind than in actuality. The point is, don't completely discredit your chocolate, especially the darkest of the dark. This is where you will get the most "bang for your buck" - a term I don't like, but somehow find myself using constantly.

So what's in a truffle?

This is were the magic happens. Truffles are super easy to make and can be filled with a huge variety of flavor combinations. The limiting factor is really what you feel comfortable doing. I'm sure many of you have seen the surge in "Aztec" style chocolate over the past few years, where you add a little cayenne pepper to give it a deeper, spicier flavor. Well what about tea infused chocolate? Earl grey tea complements chocolate hugely, along with honey, lemon, and well pretty much any fruit. The trick is how your going to get the flavors you want into the chocolate, namely the ganache. Ganache is a combination of cream and chocolate that can be used in many different desserts. Anything that has that ultra smooth chocolate surface on it most likely has had ganache poured over it. Ganache is commonly the filling for truffles with that creamy softish chocolaty center. In order to make this, your going to need to heat some cream (or milk but I like cream, might as well go all the way right?). This is your opportunity for infusing the flavors you desire. I personally like to infuse coffee beans into my cream, scrapped vanilla beans + the pod, spices, maybe some orange rind. I'm a huge fan of citrus and find that the acids in citrus help develop the flavor to be more complex. The only thing you need to keep in mind are your ratios of cream to chocolate. I like the 2:1 chocolate to cream, although this does make for a soft ganache to work with. You also want to bear in mind the type of chocolate you are using and experiment with different amounts of dark chocolate (60 + % cocoa solids) milk chocolate, semi-sweet and so forth.

Okay, enough said. What to do?

Combine your "infusion flavors" with your cream and bring to a gentle scald. Turn off the heat and allow to steep. This is only going to intensify the flavor. While the cream is still hot, pour it through a strainer (unless old vanilla pods, spices, and rind is really something you like chewing on) right into the chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap, allow to sit 5-10 minutes. This is a good chance to get out a shallow pot and bowl that fits in the top of the pot, you are basically making a double boiler to melt the chocolate you will use to coat the truffles. Place some water in the pot and snugly fit the bowl over the top. NOTE* the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl, check the bottom of your bowl to see if it is wet as a quick check.* Now that at least a few minutes have pasted, try stirring your ganache mixture with a spoon. If all the chocolate is melted it should come together into a slightly thick, shiny mixture. Place this in the refrigerator until it is set. Prep a baking sheet (aka cookie sheet, sheet pan...yada yada) with parchment paper and grab a small ice cream scoop to make "bite size" truffles. I'm a huge fan of using ice cream scoops for portioning things out, as opposed to the old fashion not so perfect two spoon method. You should also make sure that you have room to fit the cookie sheet into the refrigerator with it lying flat. Okay, lets PORTION! Grab out the ganache mixture and portion it out using the scoop. Once the bowl is finished just place the sheet pan into the refrigerator and allow the ganache balls to set up for a minute or two. Meanwhile, melt some chocolate in the double boiler over medium-high heat. I like to use dark chocolate for coating, but once again always feel free to play. You only need the chocolate to be melted, if you over heat the chocolate it will turn funny colors when it cools. This is known as blooming, and although it has no affect on flavor, it makes for a not so appealing truffle. Now it is time to get messy. Start by washing your hands very well with luke warm to cold water. Dry off your hands and pull out the ganache balls. Working quickly, scoop up some of the melted chocolate and coat the inside of your hands with the chocolate. Pick up a ganache ball and roll it around in your hands until it is barely coated. You are going to do this with all the truffles, coating your hands with more melted chocolate as needed. As carefully as you can get the truffles back into the refrigerator to set. This will only take a minute or two. Repeat this chocolate coating process one to two more times. For the final coating, roll the truffle in your hands, coating in chocolate again, but instead of placing it back on the sheet pan, immediately place it into whatever you wish your added element to be. This can be cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chopped nuts and so forth. Once again, have fun and think creatively. Roll it around so that it is completely coated. To finish the truffles....and you thought it was over...try to brush off the excess powder. Using a gentle paint brush for this works great, and gives you the look of a perfectionist at work. Now you can enjoy your creation! This all seems like a lot, but not only do these truffles look great and handmade (in a classy way), they are your creative works. Giving these out at the holidays is a great gift and always impresses.

cel-e-brate good times come on!

'tis the season for a birthday! Which means its appetizer night....again. And, despite what you might think, this is awesome! This has been the ritual for my older sister for the past 8 years.....a smorgasbord of appetizers to have as dinner, this of course is accompanied with a barrage of wine, spirits and beer. My family has a tradition of celebrating each persons birthday at my parents house, which involves careful planning of the birthdayer's favorite meal or in many cases, craving of the week ranging from "make your own pizza's" to crab Louie salad (a personal favorite).

My sister has been know for fully expressing the indecisive gene that runs in our family, and simply wants a little of EVERYTHING! I completely agree and am always pleasantly relieved to nibble on a little of this and a little of that. My favorite moment is when I look at something that is particularly delectable and think to myself "Oh baby, YESSSSS!" Sadly, I can tune out the entire world around me for just that one second and savor all the wild flavors.

*NOTE* For anyone reading this right now and thinking that I'm completely out of my gourd, you need to go rent PIXAR's Ratatouille and watch the scene where Remy describes the flavor sensations to his brother Emile. Then you might appreciate this. Plus, how can you not like a skinny kid named Linguini. Here's a trailer to peak your interest.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3sBBRxDAqk

The above was written in the planning phase of her birthday and the appetizer throw-down was changed to the homely choice of chili, cornbread and beer. As much as I love chili and southern style cornbread, which is slightly sweetened and served with a generous pat of butter and honey, there was something lost in the ritualistic waves of food constantly streaming from the oven and my mom smiling as she sets another carefully planned item down on the counter for eagerly awaiting mouths. But all was not lost, the chili was more than I could have asked for. Loaded with green and red peppers, onions, various beans, local Shelburne Farms beef, and enough spices to last most people a year. It was food to feed the soul. The cornbread was its usual greatness, slightly sweet, crumbly and moist. Yes MOIST! I have come to find that a large number of people hate that word with a passion, but I'm going to use it so be warned. Finally the beer was great, all Dogfish Head, which if you haven't ever tried you are seriously missing out. However, it does pack a punch and each brew could be deemed a meal on its own.

Now we arrive at dessert. This is something that I have been told I can be overly critical about, but being a foodie I think that comes with the territory. In my opinion, dessert is one of the most important bites of the meal. This is your last attempt (as a host or cook) at trying to seal the deal with the diner. No matter how horrible the meal was, you still have the power to leave that person with a positive lasting impression. And if the meal was epic than all you have done is further ingrained your awesomeness. The best approach is to keep it simple! Use flavors and textures that people are familiar with and just do it right. Aside from the indecisive gene, I have the over the top extravaganza gene as well. Thanks mom and dad - you are both to blame for that one :) This has caused more stress in my life than anything else, and I'm the only one to fault for that.

For this meal, my sister did stay with the tradition of MUD PIE, and not the kind your kids make, but good 'ol chocolate crumb crust, B&J's ice cream and fudge. It sounds super simple, and it is. Ice cream is a staple in most peoples freezer, and who doesn't like a crumbly chocolate crust and to top it all off, a nice layer of fudge over the top. If you feel that this is beneath you, then by all means jazz it up. Maybe make a chocolate lace tuile cup, make your own premium ice cream and Kahlua-fudge sauce. But in the end this is just as good and takes a total of 15 minutes (minus freezing time) to create. This is a first for me, usually I never go by the amount of time something takes, I'm the one that wants to create each component and slave over the oven all day long for one menu item. However, now that I have somehow managed to sign myself up for multiple jobs, volunteering opportunities etc, I seriously am beginning to appreciate time saving techniques and recipes that are just down-right good and quick. So see for yourself and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Unclassy Mud Pie

1 Oreo chocolate pie crust
2 pints Ben & Jerry's Ice cream (personal favorites are coffee health bar crunch and New York Super Fudge chunk)
Your favorite fudge sauce

1. Soften one ice cream and spread evenly in pie crust.
2. Freeze until hard.
3. Soften second ice cream and spread evenly in pie crust over first ice cream.
4. Freeze until hard.
5. Warm fudge until liquidy but not overly hot.
6. Pour over ice cream in an even pool.
7. Freeze until ready to eat. Some people like whipped cream with this, but honestly I feel that putting cream on top of cream just begins to be too much. But every party has a pooper so don't let me influence you.