Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles

Someone I hold near and dear recently commented that I talk about some, well, strange food combinations on this blog, and I know he's sitting out there somewhere looking at the title of this recipe and shaking his head.  Because it is not every day that you run into a combination of chocolate and merlot in the same truffle, not to mention the tarragon.  I'll get to the tarragon in a sec, but this gives me yet another opportunity to mention my favorite merlot...Red Bicyclette.

It's a little hard to track down, but if you ever spot it and you are a merlot-lover like me, give it a try.  Yum.  Meanwhile, back at the tarragon...I know you might be thinking, why on earth would I toss some herbs into a mixture of perfectly good chocolate?  Merlot maybe, but tarragon?  But be brave and do it...tarragon gives these babies just a teeny hint of that anise flavor that cuts the sweetness just the right amount.  That and rolling the truffles in a nice coating of unsweetened cocoa powder.

I'm pretty much in love with this recipe, and I think it has all kinds of possibilities.  Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I might swap out the tarragon for a little bit of cayenne pepper to get a sweet and spicy thing going on.

Fun fact: this recipe was created by Giada de Laurentiis, who made them for Prince William and his new bride when they visited the States.  I'm guessing that once they had a bite of these, they started planning their return trip.  :)

Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles, from Giada de Laurentiis

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 3 tablespoons Merlot wine
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the cream and chocolate in a medium bowl and place over a panof barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has melted and themixture is smooth, which takes about six minutes.

Stir in the tarragon, wine and salt until smooth.

Refrigerate for two hours until firm. Let the mixture stand at room temperature until moldable, which takes about 45 minutes.

Using a melon scoop, scoop level amounts of the truffle mixture on to the prepared baking sheet. Roll into 1/2-inch balls.

Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl. Roll the truffles in the cocoa powder until coated.

Arrange on a platter and serve or refrigerate in an airtight container.

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Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

So, those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know all about my wild love affair with bacon.  The bacon cinnamon rolls.  The bacon pancakes.  The bacon cheddar bagel panini.  I thought I knew what true love was, bacon-wise.

And then one fateful day, I made buttermilk bacon pralines, and the universe shifted...bacon-wise.  As the devoted wife of a Southern man, I've had my share of pralines, those sugary, pecan-filled circles of heaven.  But until I ran across this recipe in Screen Doors and Sweet Tea,  I didn't know what a praline truly could be.  I actually didn't think I ever would or could make a praline.  But the bacon called out to me, and one afternoon I found myself with a candy thermometer, some pecans and a plate of bacon, and there was no turning back.

By the way, a quick word about candy thermometers.  I used to be terrified of them.  I would get to a recipe that looked fabulous, see the words "candy thermometer" and then wistfully turn the page.  And then I bucked up and bought this one, and my life has changed for the better, and believe me...if I can do it, so can you.

Back to the pralines.  I promise you, they are SO simple, and once you make them you will wonder how you lived so long in this life without them.  All you do is boil up some sugar, some buttermilk and a few other things for about 20-30 minutes or until your trusty candy thermometer tells you it is ready.   Then stir in some pecans, some vanilla, some orange peel and the BACON.  Drop it by spoonfuls onto parchment paper or a Silpat, and in about 30 minutes you will be changed forever.  While they are of course the perfect little dessert, the original recipe suggests they are equally perfect with a glass of wine before dinner...and I'm here to tell you that if you try that, you might not even NEED dinner.

 Buttermilk Bacon Pralines, from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook 

• 
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
• 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1. In a heavy deep saucepan, combine the sugars, the buttermil, corn syrup, baking soda and salt.  Cook slowly over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the mixture reaches 235 on a candy thermometer.

2. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, pecans, orange zest and bacon and beat with a wooden spoon until creamy.  Be very careful - this stuff is HOT.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a silicone mat or buttered parchment paper.  Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool and firm.

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Shadow Shot Sunday/Cheerful

Haven't participated in Shadow Shot Sunday for such a long time. Anyway it's lots of fun.

This first picture isn't about shadows really. More something cheerful in this miserable cold weather.

This is the shadow shot. The local diner with decorations by Berch

 on the window and the paint casting shadows.

Some shadows here too. Late afternoon from our sitting room window.

Yesterday we went up to 66th Street to deliver a painting.

Such a view from the collector's apartment! This looking North.

This looking  directly down from the 29th floor. (Not highly recommended....)

This looking towards Central Park. It looks like fall because I tweaked the color......

It still feels like the middle of winter here!

*

Peppermint Fudge

So, the holidays are over.  The shopping is over, the  presents are unwrapped, the cards have arrived, and you can sort of, maybe get a parking spot at the mall that isn't 5 miles from the door.  Does this mean our making of chocolate treats is over for another 11 months?

HECK no!  

I know, I know - new year, new you, and by all means get on the treadmill - I could certainly stand a little of that.  But you still need to keep your energy up, and you only go around once, and...and...okay, the only other excuse I have is basically the name of this post, which is Peppermint Fudge. 

Peppermint.

Fudge. 

This is one of those things that I truly did mean to post before the holidays were done, but between the chocolate pretzel bites and the mixed nut brittle and the eggnog cookies, well, you know how it goes.  One moment it is November and then you turn around and somehow it is January.

So with a teeny apology for sabotaging some very well-behaved New Years resolutions, here's some peppermint fudge.  Because honestly?  It's really really good all year long.

Peppermint Fudge, adapted from Everyday Food

• 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghiradhelli)
• 1 cup peppermint candy - canes or the round candies
• 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 3 1/3 cups mini-marshmallows
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Lightly coat a 9 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  Line with two pieces of parchment paper going in both directions, leaving about 2 inches of overhang on each side.  Spray parchment with cooking spray.

2. Put chocolate chips in food processor and process until finely chopped.  Transfer to large bowl.

3. Now put peppermint candies in food processor until finely chopped.  Set aside about 1/8 cup for garnish.  

4. In medium saucepan, combine chopped peppermint, cream, marshmallows, butter, sugar and salt over medium high heat.  Stir until everything is melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.

5. Pour peppermint mixture through a strainer into the bowl with the chopped chocolate.  Let stand for one minute and then stir until smooth.  Pour into baking pan.

6. Sprinkle reserved chopped peppermint over top and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.  Using the parchment sides as handles, lift out of pan and cut into 1 inch squares.

Click here for printable recipe

Devil's Food Butterfinger Cake

Oh, this cake.

I'm kind of at a loss, and probably the best thing to say is simply the following:

1. Devil's food cake.

2. Caramel glazed poured OVER the devil's food cake. While it is still warm. After you have poked holes in it so that the caramel can soak deep into the warm cake.

3. Freshly whipped sweetened cream on the top of the cake.

4. Crushed Butterfinger bars sprinkled liberally over the cream topping. And I do mean liberally.

At this point you may need to breathe into a brown paper bag because of all the excitement. This recipe comes from a great new cookbook called SOUTHERN PLATE that holds a particular special place in my Southern husband's heart, for obvious reasons. I think you'll be able to see from this cover why he was very happy to see this particular book on the kitchen counter.

It's full of all sorts of great stuff, but the desserts are what really caught my eye. Many of them call for packaged ingredients like cake mix, which is just fine with me because they are combined in various ways that make me need to breathe into a brown paper bag. As a matter of fact, this particular recipe called for using Cool Whip instead of homemade whipped cream, and I'm sure that would have worked out just fine. I happened to have some cream in my fridge that needed to be used, but I am certainly no stranger to the wonders of cooking with Cool Whip.

Luckily for me, my house was full of teenagers the weekend I made this cake, or there is an extremely good chance that I would have just sat down with the entire cake and a fork. You have been warned...

Butterfinger Cake, from SOUTHERN PLATE

• 1 box devil's food cake mix
• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 12 ounce jar caramel topping
• 1 12 ounce container whipped topping (aka Cool Whip. Or make your own by whipping 1 cup heavy cream with 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until soft peaks form.)
• 1-2 Butterfinger bars, crushed.

1. Prepare the cake according to package directions. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, poke several holes in it with a fork or a skewer. Mix the condensed milk with the caramel topping and spread over the entire cake.

2. Cool cake completely, then spread the whipped topping over the top, and sprinkle the crushed Butterfinger over the topping.

3. Stand back!

Click here for printable recipe

More Holiday Kitchen Gifts

So, if you've been following this blog this week, you know that I have been up to my ears in sugar and spice and lots of things VERY nice as I have been trying out all kinds of treats that are perfect for wrapping up and giving to near and dear ones for the holidays. And while I do love all these new recipes, it reminds me that I have some old favorites that are pretty delectable as well.

So just as a reminder, here are a few treats from Christmas Past, starting with one that is absolutely guaranteed to be a huge hit, and that is Cookie Truffles! Super-easy to make, and you can make them in either Chocolate Nutter-Butter variety (pictured above) or the equally wonderful White Chocolate Oreo version. Here's the link:

Cookie Truffles

Now, for all you fudge fans out there, here's the perfect marriage of fudge and the holidays...

...and that is Eggnog Fudge, with a little nutmeg sprinkled on top. And if you give it to your true love on a pretty holiday plate, you won't even have to look around for any mistletoe. Here's the link for this one:

Eggnog Fudge

Next is a recipe that is SO fabulous, I actually had to make an entire secret batch for my sweet little sister last year and sneak it to her out of sight of the rest of the family. As she will tell you, this crunchy, salty, sweet, chocolate extravaganza is, um, well worth hiding from the rest of the gang!

It's called Cookie Brittle, and you actually make it with not cookies but saltines, and you really MUST make it because it is crazily good. Here's the link:

Cookie Brittle

And now that you have made all these delectable treats for everyone else, here's one that you need to make for yourself. This is my most beloved recipe because it came to me from my grandmother, and it is - day in and day out - the single most popular recipe on my blog. So if you haven't made them already, give yourself a gift from the kitchen... make them this holiday season, settle down with a cookie and a cup of tea, and you will know why they are my very favorite cookie. From me to you, my grandmother's molasses cookies, with love.

Here's the link:

My Grandma's Molasses Cookies

And now for the most important recipe of all this holiday season: Gather up your favorite people. Mix in some babies and grandparents and stir well. Wrap securely in hugs and sprinkle with kisses.

From my kitchen to yours - a sweet holiday season, my friends!

xox * Kate * xox

Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle

OK, our week of Gifts from the Kitchen continues with this super-easy brittle that I pretty much adore for two reasons: you make it in the microwave, not on the stove, and there is no candy thermometer required. I actually do own a candy thermometer, but I'm a little afraid of it. I only have a dim sense of what things like the "soft crack" stage is, and usually anything with terminology like that is enough to make me move on to something safer, like chocolate chip cookies. But THIS particular recipe is a whole 'nother story.

You need a nice big microwave-safe bowl and a baking tray with sides. Line the baking tray with non-stick foil, and either give the foil a good spray with Pam or butter it well. Now measure out all the ingredients, including the butter and the vanilla and the baking soda, because this baby is going to go FAST at the very end.

OK! So you start by putting sugar and corn syrup in the microwave, first covering the bowl with plastic wrap and then uncovering it. That mixture is going to melt and bubble dramatically, which is exactly what we want. Now, throughout all of this, be very, very careful when taking that bowl out of the microwave - molten sugar is as hot as hot gets. Next you drop the nuts in, and nuke it one minute longer. Now comes the really fun part - drop in the butter, vanilla and baking soda, and it will literally transform before your very eyes into something that looks like liquid brittle. Now pour it FAST into the foil-lined baking sheet and spread it around with a spatula or spoon that you have cleverly sprayed ahead of time with Pam. That's it! Once you have spread it out as best you can, leave it alone on the counter for about an hour, and when you come back you will have a glorious sheet of hardened brittle.

Lift the brittle off the foil - it may be a little buttery on the bottom from the butter or Pam, and if so you can blot it with a paper towel. Now break it up into chunks, and congratulate yourself for making brittle with No Candy Thermometer. Triumph!!

Next up: Chocolate Pretzel Bites. Oh, baby.

Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle, adapted from Southern Living

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 12 ounces lightly salted mixed nuts
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Line a large baking sheet with non-stick foil, and butter or spray with Pam.

2. Combine sugar and corn syrup in large microwave safe bowl, stir well and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Carefully uncover and microwave for an additional 8 minutes.

3. Carefully stir in nuts and microwave for 1 more minute.

4. Working quickly, stir in butter, baking soda and vanilla. Quickly pour into foil-lined pan, spreading to edges with a spoon or spatula that is sprayed with Pam.

5. Cool in pan on countertop. Once fully hardened (about 30-60 minutes) break into pieces.

Click here for printable recipe

Chocolate Nut Clusters

It's that time of year again!  We are racing around shopping, wrapping, decorating, making our lists and checking them twice.  And if you are like me, either cooking, getting ready to cook, making notes about what to cook, or cleaning up after the cooking.  My kitchen and I have our closest relationship at this time of the year, and even though it is EXHAUSTING at times, I do pretty much love it.

And one of the things I like most is making things that I can give as holiday gifts,  things that are sweet and salty and just a little bit decadent.  And at this time of the year, if they are easy and reliable, that's a gift to ME as well.  So while I usually try and make my weekly blog posts a well-balanced mixture of main dishes and sides and desserts, this week we are going to have a steady diet of sweet treats, all of which are easy and scrumptious and just right for popping in a pretty bag with a ribbon and handing over to someone you love.  Ready?

Here's the first and probably the easiest one - this one will be ready to wrap in about 30 minutes from start to finish.  It's a sinfully good, completely addictive nut bark made with (and this is the full list of ingredients): mixed nuts, semi-sweet chocolate and sea salt.  Yep, those three ingredients are the only things standing between you and one more gift checked off your list.  Here's the deal:  Spread out 2 cups of salted mixed nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment or no-stick foil.  Now pour six  ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a bowl and microwave them for 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until they are smooth and melted.  (This took me 90 seconds with my microwave).  

Once your chocolate is nice and smooth, scoop it into a ziplock bag.  Cut the teeniest bit you can off of one of the bottom corners of the bag, and squeeze the melted chocolate down towards that corner.  You have now made yourself a pastry bag!  Now squeeze the chocolate out of that opening into lovely little drizzles all over the nuts, making sure you cover all of them with at least a little chocolate.

Now take just a little sea salt - about 1/2 teaspoon is plenty - and sprinkle it lightly over the chocolate nuts.  Make sure you use sea salt and not regular table salt, which will be too intense-tasting.  Now pop the whole thing in the fridge, and in about 20 minutes it will be hardened enough for you to break into glorious little chunks.

Now all you have to do is summon the willpower not to eat all of it before you package it up for that lucky someone.

Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle coming next so stay tuned!

Chocolate Nut Clusters, adapted from Real Simple

• 2 cups mixed nuts
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli morsels)
• Sea salt

1. Spread nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

2. Pour chocolate chips into a bowl and microwave them for 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until they are smooth and melted. 

3. Spoon melted chocolate into a ziplock bag. Snip off of one of the bottom corners of the bag, and squeeze the melted chocolate down towards that corner. Squeeze the chocolate out of that opening into lovely little drizzles all over the nuts, making sure you cover all of them with at least a little chocolate.

4. Take just a little sea salt - about 1/2 teaspoon is plenty - and sprinkle it lightly over the chocolate nuts.  Make sure you use sea salt and not regular table salt, which will be too intense-tasting.  

5. Put the tray in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is hardened.  Break into chunks.

Click here for printable recipe

Spruced up for the Holidays

It started with one. A nice fresh Christmas pine each year, decorated in whatever I had on hand. Then I bought my house. And while I still put a real tree in the livingroom-- like the red-and-gold fellow up above-- I soon stumbled on these four-foot-tall fake trees at Family Dollar for just $10. So I treated myself to a second tree, especially for the dining room, and decked it in mint-and-rose Victoriana that color-coordinated with the room.


Shortly, I determined the spare room needed a little “sprucing,” too-- and lo, the “Fun Fir” sprung up, all bedecked in a hat, scarves and vintage jewelry...


This was followed by the entry-way tree-- AKA the “Sweetie Tree”-- covered in enough candies and cookies to tempt Hansel and Gretel. (Sorry, kiddies, no cookie for you-- the food is faux.)...


In no time, I was decorating the potted palm in my Victorian/India-influenced bedroom with glittering bulbs in spicy shades...


And peer pressure drove my housemate to add a tres chic tree to her French blue abode...



It’s not quite a case of being unable to see the forest for the trees here at Waterhouse. But it’s close…

And I love every minute of it.

Now, you might think having all these trees must be completely unmanageable. You might say, “There’s enough to do around the holidays without causing extra trouble; you have obviously been hitting the eggnog too hard, missy.”

Ah, but no: I am no fan of ‘nog. And also, decorating these mini-trees has been very, very easy. I simply set up the tree and decorate it once. Then when the holidays are over, I cover it in two trash bags (one over the top, one over the bottom) and store it in my attic for the rest of the year. The tree remains dust-free. If any bulbs fall, they fall into the bags. And the tree is ready-to-go for next year with minimal effort.

The joy of these trees has been in decorating according to theme and room scheme. And because I pick up appropriate ornaments at Christmas sales and at thrift stores around the year, I’m able to keep the costs low, too.

So if you’re looking to branch out in your Christmas décor this season, I can safely say, a mini-tree can make some mighty pine--er, fine-- memories.

Spruced up for the Holidays

It started with one. A nice fresh Christmas pine each year, decorated in whatever I had on hand. Then I bought my house. And while I still put a real tree in the livingroom-- like the red-and-gold fellow up above-- I soon stumbled on these four-foot-tall fake trees at Family Dollar for just $10. So I treated myself to a second tree, especially for the dining room, and decked it in mint-and-rose Victoriana that color-coordinated with the room.


Shortly, I determined the spare room needed a little “sprucing,” too-- and lo, the “Fun Fir” sprung up, all bedecked in a hat, scarves and vintage jewelry...


This was followed by the entry-way tree-- AKA the “Sweetie Tree”-- covered in enough candies and cookies to tempt Hansel and Gretel. (Sorry, kiddies, no cookie for you-- the food is faux.)...


In no time, I was decorating the potted palm in my Victorian/India-influenced bedroom with glittering bulbs in spicy shades...


And peer pressure drove my housemate to add a tres chic tree to her French blue abode...



It’s not quite a case of being unable to see the forest for the trees here at Waterhouse. But it’s close…

And I love every minute of it.

Now, you might think having all these trees must be completely unmanageable. You might say, “There’s enough to do around the holidays without causing extra trouble; you have obviously been hitting the eggnog too hard, missy.”

Ah, but no: I am no fan of ‘nog. And also, decorating these mini-trees has been very, very easy. I simply set up the tree and decorate it once. Then when the holidays are over, I cover it in two trash bags (one over the top, one over the bottom) and store it in my attic for the rest of the year. The tree remains dust-free. If any bulbs fall, they fall into the bags. And the tree is ready-to-go for next year with minimal effort.

The joy of these trees has been in decorating according to theme and room scheme. And because I pick up appropriate ornaments at Christmas sales and at thrift stores around the year, I’m able to keep the costs low, too.

So if you’re looking to branch out in your Christmas décor this season, I can safely say, a mini-tree can make some mighty pine--er, fine-- memories.