For some reason today ended up being a cooking day. I had originally planned on making the Bacon
Tuffles that I found on Vanilla Garlic's blog .
Vanilla Garlic see for the recipe.
The first attempt at the
ganache was a flop, I don't know if it was because the Green&Black bitter sweet chocolate was too high in cocoa content 85% or because it was maybe an eating chocolate rather than a baking chocolate? After adding it to the scalded cream instead of smoothly melting it curdled and a big pool of oil formed on top, which I assumed was the cocoa butter. No matter how much I whisked it, it would not smooth out. I tried scalding a little more cream and added it a tablespoon at a time to see if I could get the chocolate to bind (like you would do with boiling water if a
hollandaise sauce breaks) but that didn't work either. I was left with a big pile of oily grainy looking goo. What a waste of premium chocolate and money..literally down the drain. The second try yielded the perfect
ganache as expected. This time I used 60%
Ghirardelli chocolate chips. So anyone know why the first batch didn't work? I have no clue.
As the
ganache was chilling in the fridge I decided I should make use of all the tomatoes I now have thanks to Tom who gave us a box full. I skinned a bunch and threw them in a pot and they are simmering on the stove for tomato sauce. I usually don't season mine, just simmer the tomatoes into a
medium sauce and cool and put into quart size Zip Lock bags (about 2 cups) and freeze.
I then thought I'd make some salsa..don't ask me why I got so
ambitious today. Of course this version of salsa is EASY. Tomatoes- about 6-8 ,
tomatillos- 4-5 medium, small onion,
jalapeno peppers -1-2 or to your taste. In a large skillet (do not use non-stick) heat until smoking hot. Add the tomatoes,
tomatillos and
jalapenos (you may need to do it in batches) in a single layer and let char. Do not move the veggies around, just let the sit and burn. Once charred on one side turn over and char again, charring on all sides. Removed well charred vegetable to a plate to cool. Once cooled pulse the onions first to slightly larger than desired consistency then add the tomatoes and
tomatillos. Pulse until desired
consistency is reached. Do not over pulse or you will end up with soup. To this add cilantro to taste, salt and pepper to taste , a pinch of dried oregano (optional) and a tsp and a half of granulated garlic. Mix well, adjust seasonings,
refrigerate. This salsa is like the one served at Chevy's. If you don't char the vegetables well you don't get that smoky taste. This is a recipe I got from Gigi W. who teaches at the co-op. It's so quick and easy and very good.
As for the truffles, they turned out very well and are delicious. I expected a little more of a salty taste from the bacon so I put a couple grains of smoked grey salt on top. This is a very easy very delicious recipe.
Easy, delicious..
