goat cheese truffles

it might sound strange... goat cheese and chocolate?... but imagine a dark chocolate cheese cake with a white chocolate topping. delicious! these truffles are also incredibly quick and simple to make too.  

measure out equal parts dark chocolate and plain goat cheese (6-8 ounces perhaps). in a double boiler, melt dark chocolate (60-75% cocoa, good quality chocolate). in the mean time whip the goat cheese with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a ton of fresh lemon zest. once the chocolate has melted, let cool for a minute and then fold into your cheese mixture. chill your truffle filling in the fridge for about an hour (not too much longer, otherwise it will get too hard to work into smooth truffle shapes).

after the filling has chilled, scoop out spoonfulls of the filling and form into small balls, rolling them in your palms until smooth. if this process takes you a while (perhaps you made 100 truffles?)... pop them back in the fridge for another hour to harden.

finally, melt either white or milk chocolate in a double boiler. this will be your outside coating! using either a fork or your fingers, dip each individual truffle into the melted chocolate, shaking off excess drips. you'll work out your own technique as you go. place finished truffles onto wax or parchment paper and let stand at room temperature or chill if you are in a hurry to eat them right away!

completely and utterly the best truffle flavor i've ever made. trust me!

special dinner for two

while studying abroad in cyprus, i discovered a new cheese. halloumi! originally from cyprus, halloumi is similar to fresh mozzarella in look, but firmer, salty like feta, and grills us like meat or tofu! i'm almost certain that halloumi is my all time favorite cheese...

in cyprus, halloumi is typically serve grilled, drizzled with olive oil and herbs, along side tons of fresh bread. it's an easy and fancy addition to a simple greek or mediterranean menu! just the perfect thing for a romantic dinner for two, for a special someone's birthday...

Το μενού (the menu):

*fresh crusty bread with tzatziki (yogurt-cucumber sauce with dill), and tapenade (olive spread)

*grilled halloumi cheese with dried herbs and olive oil

*brown basmati rice pilaf with chickpeas and flavored with dill, parsley and lemon

*grilled vegetable kababs

see on flickr

kebabs:

simply chop up what ever veggies you are craving, mix together in a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice, and lots of dried dill and parsley. for these kebabs, i used green zucchini, red bell peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and red onions. arrange the marinated vegetable on skewers, and keep covered in the fridge until you are ready to grill them! cook at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until vegetables have browned an the tomatoes are starting to pop.

see on flickr

pilaf with chickpeas and dill:

( this recipe was inspired by the post punk kitchen )

rinse a 1-2 cups of brown basmati rice. drain, and let soak in a few inches of water for about 20 minutes. in the mean time, chop up an onion and sautee with olive oil for about 5 minutes. mix in some cumin seeds, parsley, tons of dried or fresh dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper. drain the rice that has been soaking, and add this to the onion mixture. stir to coat the rice with onions and oil. then add in a small can of cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed), and vegetable broth (1.5 X the amount of rice put in). bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer for about half an hour. once finished, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and serve worm or cold! this rice is amazing, topped with tzatziki sauce!

see on flickr

grilled halloumi:

heat up a grill, brushed with olive oil (george forman or outdoor grill works much better then broiling this cheese!) slice the halloumi in 1/3 inch strips. simply grill the halloumi strips on both side for about 2 minutes, until you get some lovely brown grill marks. place on a platter, drizzle with a good quality olive oil, and sprinkle with dried oregano, parsley, and pepper. serve warm! it squeezes in your mouth just like fresh cheese curds too!

roasted kale pizza

roasted kale is great on its own.

add it on top of a pizza, and it's fantastic!

see on flickr

*for an easy thin crust dough recipe, see my pizza post from january 2009

for this pizza creation i roasted a ton of garlic to make a simple garlic-olive oil base (a dozen cloves of roasted garlic, mashed together with olive oil, salt and pepper)

for the kale topping: remove the thick ends of the stems, slice kale into smaller bunches, toss in a bowl with a liberal amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. using your hands, rub the olive oil into the kale, making sure most of the leaf area is coated with oil.

after coating your rolled-out pizza crust with garlic-olive oil spread, pack on as much of the dressed kale as you can on top of your crust. leave it as is if you want a vegan pie, or crumble feta cheese on top of the kale. sprinkle your pizza with some italian herbs. cook at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until your crust is brown, and the kale is crispy but not charred.

to make a simple roasted kale salad (a great side dish to this pizza recipe): dress the kale exactly as you did for you pizza. try adding other spices (smoked paprika and smoked pepper made a great flavor contribution). spread out on a cookie sheet, and roast at 375-400 for 5-10 minutes. you want some crispiness to the kale but don't let it get charred.

vegan eggs?

i needed a dry container to store some left-over mushrooms. there was no paper bag handy, so i used a empty egg carton... funny how perfectly they fit!

the vegan egg....

vegetarian hum bow!

this recipe has yet to be perfected, but you can't go too wrong with hum bow. these steamed buns turn out perfect every time, just be creative with your filling!

to make the dough for the bun:

3 1/2 cup self rising flour

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup white sugar

2 Tb vegetable oil

1 egg white

*mix together and let rise for 15 minutes. then kneed the dough for 5 minutes.

cut the dough into 12-15 smaller dough balls.

for the filling:

super firm baked tofu, or tempeh

diced carrots

diced mushrooms

green onion

hoisin sauce

*cook the carrots and mushrooms with a bit of olive oil and soy sauce. mix in tofu/tempeh, green onion, and coat with a generous amount of hoisin sauce.

i've also tried a curried vegetable hum bow with carrots, pees, zucchini and onion.

egg is also a good added protein if you don't want to use tofu. whatever combination of filling you want, make sure that there is minimal moisture from vegetables, and that everything is pre-cooked!

to form your hum bow, work with one dough ball at a time. roll it out to about the size of a cd, making sure the rolled dough does not get too thin. fill the center with a couple spoonfuls of filling, collect the sides together with a pinch to form a round bun, place on a 3"x3" piece of parchment or wax paper. set up a large steamer (multiple layers is best so that you can cook 10 or 12 hum bow at a time, but if all you have is a small metal vegetable steamer, just flatten it out in a large pan, and steam 3-4 hum bow at a time) after water has boiled in steamer, place the buns with their individual wax papers in the steamer, leaving an inch of room in between each bun. steam for 15-20 minutes, remove, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

serve with some extra hoisin sauce for dipping, along side a simple stir-fry!

going through a savory breakfast phase

in an attempt to prevent myself from finishing off my supply of freezer jam before summer arrives, i've been experimenting with different savory breakfast combos. here's my favorite creation so far:

sourdough toast (from my old workplace, the essential baking co.), olive tapenade spread, a runny fried egg, topped with avocado and tomato slices, a bit of cilantro, and of course... salt and pepper. what could be better than avocado for breakfast? try using pesto instead of tapenade too! delicious. 

shitake french dip

as a vegetarian, i'll admit to missing a good french dip sandwich. or at least i did until i tried a portabella french dip sandwich at cafe flora! mushroom are magical.

with minimal knowledge about mushrooms, i went to ask for recipe advice from the mushroom-hunting guys at the neighborhood farmers market. portabellas are the most common type of shroom for roasting, but are not a local product. a cascadia mushrooms hunter told me that his local shitake mushrooms would be the best option for roasting. another mushroom-hunter from "foraged & found," suggested that i use dried chanterelles to flavor my mushroom au jus ("just add some worcestershire and soy sauce and simmer for no longer than an hour").

meet the perfect (vegetarian) french dip sandwich...

>marinate the shitake mushrooms with olive oil, worcestershire, soy, rosemerry, thyme, salt and pepper. spread the marinated mushrooms out on a pan and roast at 350 for about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the mushrooms.

while your mushrooms finish up in the oven, carmalize a large quantity of yellow onions, thinly sliced, with a bit of olive oil or butter.

to prep you sandwich: stack sliced mushrooms on the bottom of your baguetter or bread roll... top with thin slices of smoke gouda cheese, and toast in the oven until cheese is melted and top slice of bread is lightly toasted. top the mushrooms and cheese with carmalized onions, and the top half of your roll! perfection...

mushroom au jus (dipping broth)

>in a large pot, combine 4-5 cups of vegetable or mushroom broth, half a chopped red onion, a couple splashes of worcestershire and soy, several large pinches of thyme, rosemerry, salt and pepper, and a cup of dried chanterelles. simmer for an hour. not any longer, because the mushrooms can get bitter.

*the au jus was delicious on its own. not as painfully salty as the beef jus that i remember as a kid. leftovers would make for a great dipping sauce for a smoked-gouda grilled cheese sandwich.

*if you remove the chanterelles from the au jus, these can also be used in your sandwich! pile some on with more cheese and carmallized onions on toast, and you've got yourself another great french dip sandwich combination!

*or skip the gouda for a delicious vegan sandwich idea!