Valentine's Day Treats: Truffles, Chocolate Figs and Fruit

Dark chocolate truffles

• 225 g / 9 oz dark chocolate (bitter sweet or semi sweet)
  
• 125 ml / 1 /2 cup 35% whipping cream

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces. Scald the cream in a small sauce pan and remove from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and let stand for a few minutes. With a spatula blend the chocolate and cream together until all the chocolate has melted. Let the ganache sit covered in a cool area of the kitchen until able to handle (about 1 hour). Ideally you would use a small scoop but a teaspoon will do the job. Scoop small balls from the ganache and place them on a plate. You should have about 30 truffles. When finished gently roll each truffle to form a smoother ball or leave them rough.

Almond Truffles

• 225 g / 125 ml dark chocolate
• 50 ml / 1/4 cup almond butter
• 2.5 ml / 1/2 t almond extract
• 30 ml / 2 T 35% whipping cream

Whisk together the almond butter and the cream and set aside. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie or double boiler. Add the almond cream mixture to the melted chocolate and blend together with a spatula. Remove from heat and whisk in the almond extract. Proceed with the recipe in the same way as in Dark Chocolate truffles recipe.

Ginger truffles

• Dark Chocolate Truffle recipe
  
• 30 small cubes of candied ginger

When the ganache is ready to be scooped as in the Dark Chocolate Truffle recipe insert a piece of candied ginger into the center of each ball and gently roll to close.

To dip or to roll in cocoa powder?

The almonds truffles benefit from dipping as the almond butter gives the truffles a slightly grainy appearance. Rolling the truffles in about 125 ml / 1/2 cup of cocoa powder is the quickest way to go and it gives a very satisfactory appearance. If you do want to dip the truffles you will need another 225 g / 8 oz of dark chocolate and you will need to temper your chocolate.

Tempering the chocolate

Have a parchment lined tray ready. Place a truffle on a fork and quickly dip the truffles one at a time in the melted tempered chocolate. Place the truffle on the tray. When all the truffles have been dipped place them in the refrigerator for a few minutes until firm. They are then ready to serve, but will keep for a week or so in the fridge. You can freeze the truffles for up to 2 months in a tightly sealed container. Do not serve truffles straight from the refrigerator, but at room temperature unless room temperature for you is tropical.

Dipping fruit

• 30 dried Conadria figs or other small figs
  
• 225 g / 8 oz tempered chocolate
  

Dip the figs as you would the truffles. Same goes for dried fruit like pineapple or fresh fruit like strawberries.

Need even more chocolate? Check out Ricardo Magazine. It has some amazing recipes using chocolate and interesting chocolate facts. I think I will make the rocky road brownies on Monday for the kids for Valentine's day.

Pad Thai: Valentine's Day Supper

Looking for a special dish to prepare for your Valentine? Pad Thai is a very popular in its' native Thailand, and here in North America. It can be heavenly or it can be awful depending on where you go. I have experienced the incredibly greasy over sauced version on too many occasions. But good Thai does abound in Montreal and can be found at the most humble of Thai restaurants. I do believe that making it yourself is your best bet. It is not a complicated dish, and doesn't require much more than a bit of timing, but once you start cooking you are committed. It is also a great dish for the whole family, because it is that rare Thai dish that is not spicy. For those who need the heat that is where a side of hot chilli sauce comes in.

The following recipe is originally from The Young Thailand Cookbook by Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu. The cookbook in question is without photos and is simply presented, but is packed full of great Thai recipes that I have been making for years. This cookbook includes a delicious Thai fried rice recipe. For the Pad Thai in this post I have made numerous adjustments, and although it is hard to skimp on the oil in a Thai recipe, Pad Thai is a little more flexible. I just cannot handle the original 125 ml of vegetable oil, and have brought it down to about 50 ml. It works fine. And since I have proclaimed this the year of the vegetable I have inserted some bok choy into the recipe, and it works well if I do say so myself.

Pad Thai

• 250 g / 8 oz Thai rice noodle
• 50 ml / 1/4 cup tamarind paste
• 50 ml / 1/4 cup warm water
• 125 g / 4 oz firm tofu, large dice
• Sufficient quantity vegetable oil (for frying tofu)
• 5 ml / 1 t garlic, chopped
• 50 ml / 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 small skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
• 8 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 45 ml / 3 T fish sauce
• 30 ml / 2 T sugar
• 30 ml / 2 T lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 eggs
• 375 ml / 1 1/2 cups bok choy, sliced fine
• 2 green onions, chopped fine
• 125 ml / 1/2 cup fresh mung bean sprouts or regular bean sprouts
• handful of peanuts, chopped fine

To garnish:

• 1 red pepper, julienned
• Handful or coriander, rinsed
• 1 lime, sliced in wedges
• Sufficient quantity hot chilli sauce

In a large bowl cover rice noodles with cold water for a minimum of 1 hour. Combine tamarind paste and warm water in a small bowl, and let soak for 15 minutes.

Sauté the tofu in a little vegetable oil until all sides are crispy and golden. Remove and strain on a paper towel.

Mash the tamarind paste into the water, and strain the juice through a fine mesh sieve by firmly pushing the pulp through with the back of a small spoon. Set the tamarind juice aside, and add the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice.

Heat the 50 ml of vegetable oil in a large wok. When the oil is quite hot add the garlic and sauté until it starts to turn golden (30 seconds or so), then quickly add the chicken and cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and tofu and cook for 1 minute more. Create a well in the center of your wok and add the 2 eggs to the well. Let the eggs cook for about a minute without stirring, and then add the drained noodles. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add the tamarind juice mixture and the bok choy, and continue stir frying for another minute or two.

Add the green onions, bean sprouts and peanuts. Blend and then remove from the heat.

Serve with red pepper slices, fresh coriander, wedges of lime and hot chilli sauce.

Other food news:

• Recently I tried Organic soft ripened goat cheese made by Damafro, and I have to say that it is the best goat cheese I have ever tasted. It had an after taste that I can only describe as distinctly "lamby". I am pretty sure lamby is not a word, but there you have it. I imagine this cheese is not for those who do not enjoy lamb...those few strange individuals.

• Apparently it is recommended that you store that superfood du jour Quinoa in an air tight container for up to 6 months. Ooops! source: Canadian Living Magazine March 2011.
  

• Apparently Canada No. 1 medium grade maple syrup has more of the good stuff like: vitiman B2, calcium, iron and magnesium than the more expensive Canada No. 1 light-grade maple syrup. Also maple syrup substitues may be lower in sugar, but they are higher in sodium and don't compete with the nutrition content of real maple syrup. Yeah! source: Canadian Living Magazine March 2011.