For the LOVE of CHOCOLATE {divine truffles}

Rupali's Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup brandy (optional... can use corn syrup)
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, and/or toasted coconut, for coating truffles
• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Directions

Place the 10 ounces of chocolate and butter in a medium size glass mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, and repeat this process 1 more time. Set aside.
Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the melted chocolate mixture; let stand for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir gently, starting in the middle of bowl and working in concentric circles until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Gently stir in the brandy. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Using a melon baller, scoop chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Place the cocoa powder, nuts, and/or toasted coconut each in its own pie pan and set aside.
In the meantime, place the 8 ounces of chocolate into a medium mixing bowl which is sitting on top of a heating pad lined bowl, with the heating pad set to medium. Depending on the heating pad, you may need to adjust the heat up or down. Stirring the chocolate occasionally, test the temperature of the chocolate and continue heating until it reaches 90 to 92 degrees F; do not allow the chocolate to go above 94 degrees F. If you do, the coating will not have a nice snap to it when you bite into the chocolate. Once you have reached the optimal temperature, adjust the heat to maintain it.
Remove the truffles from the refrigerator and shape into balls by rolling between the palms of your hands. Use powder-free vinyl or latex gloves, if desired.
Dip an ice cream scoop into the chocolate and turn upside down to remove excess chocolate. Place truffles 1 at time into the scoop and roll around until coated. Then place the truffle into the dish with either the cocoa powder, nuts or coconut. Move the truffle around to coat; leave truffle in the coating for 10 to 15 seconds before removing. In the meantime, continue placing the chocolate-coated truffles in the cocoa or other secondary coating. After 10 to 15 seconds, remove the truffle to a parchment lined sheet pan. Repeat until all truffles are coated. Allow to set in a cool dry place for at least 1 hour; or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Truffles are best when served at room temperature.

Cori's Pumpkin Cookies:

2C flour

1t+1/2t baking powder

1t. baking soda

1/2t salt

1t. ground cinamon

1/4t ground nutmeg

1/4t ground cloves

2 eggs

3/4C sugar

1/2C + 1/8C butter

1C +1/2C fresh pumpkin (canned will work)

1t vanilla extract

3/4C chopped walnuts

1 Orange (Zest)

1C dried cranberries

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets w/parchment paper and butter the paper

2. stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside

3. In large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed (ok by hand) beat eggs, and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 min. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides as needed. On low speed, mix oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix the flour mixture to incorporate it. Stir in the nuts, zest and cranberries by hand.

4. Scoop mounds (aprox. tablespoon size) of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2" apart.

5. Bake cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 8mins. Let cool on the sheet for 5mins. before transferring to a rack or plate to cool completely. Makes 32 cookies

January's Cooking Club Recipe's [Asian Stir Fried Noodles with Grilled Teriyaki Pineapple Skirt Steak}

Cooking Club is always amazing, and this is one recipe I will never forget:

Asian Stir Fried Noodles with Grilled Teriyaki Pineapple Skirt Steak

Time: 45 minutes

Feeds 6

Ingredients:

· 2 lbs. of skirt steak, pounded both sides with mallet using rough side

· 1 jar of teriyaki marinade

· ½ cup of sake

· ½ cup of pineapple juice

· 2 tbs. of cilantro

· Charcoal

· 1 box of chow mein noodles

· 3 bunches of baby bok choy, bottoms discarded, sliced diagonally

· 4 large shitake mushrooms, sliced

· 6 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise (about 2 inches long)

· 20 snow peas

· 3 stalks of green onions, white discarded, green chopped

· 1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger

· Peanut oil

Tools:

· Charcoal grill

· Charcoal chimney

· Wok

Combine teriyaki marinade, pineapple juice, sake, and cilantro in a large bowl. Add steak. Marinate for 4-6 hours.

Light charcoal using charcoal chimney.

When charcoal is ready, pour charcoal into Weber, and place rack on top.

Remove steak from marinade. Save marinade for sauce later.

Grill steak on one side. When the first side is seared, flip over steak and put lid on Weber. Open top vent. Grill until steak is medium rare.

While steak is cooking, cook noodles as package directs. Drain.

When steak is medium rare, thermometer should read between 145 degrees-150 degrees, take steak off of grill and let rest for 2 minutes. After resting, slice steak diagonally into ½ inch pieces.

Stir fry veggies and ginger in peanut oil and place in a bowl. Add sauce to hot wok. Heat sauce until boiling.

Into boiling sauce, add cooked noodles, veggies, and sliced steak. Toss and serve

AMAZING... Coming from Cinnamon Campbell! I think I'm going to get out the charcoal grill, because whatever the effort, I believe it is worth it!

Our theme was 'Comfort Food' in January, and I made 'Funeral Potatoes'. Katie posted a great recipe a while ago, and here is the link: COMFORT FOOD

Apple-Cheese Crisp

6 c. cored, pared, sliced apples

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. white corn syrup (Karo)

1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. sifted flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 c. butter

1 c. grated cheese cheddar cheese

Arrange sliced apples in greased shallow dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour lemon juice and corn syrup over apples. Combine sugar, flour and salt; cut in butter until mixture is a consistency of coarse cornmeal. Lightly stir in cheese. Cover apples with this mixture. Bake, uncovered in moderate oven of 350 degrees for 1 hour or until apples are very tender. Serve warm with or without cream.

Serves 6

METHI THEPLA RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 cup Wheat Flour

2 crushed Green Chillies

1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Haldi (turmeric)

1 tbsp Ginger & Garlic paste

1 tsp Ajwain 1 pinch Hing

1/2 bunch Methi Leaves

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Cumin Seeds powder

Salt to taste

Oil as needed

How to make thepla :

• Put wheat flour in a flat vessel bowl.
• Mix all the ingredients int it including the methi leaves.
• Add 1 tsp oil and knead it. Let it stay for 15 minutes.
• Then make even size small balls of the dough.
• Roll them separately with a rolling pin into a round shape.
• Heat the griddle and roast each of the rolled out theplas one by one.
• First roast one side,turn it upside down.
• Then put 1/2 tsp oil on the turned side and again it upside down.
• Repeat the same with the other side.
• When evenly roasted remove it from griddle.
• Repeat this for all the balls.
• Serve them hot with butter or chutney or curd.

This original Indian dish was brought to the table by Rupali Vora.

Pancit Bihon Recipe

Estimated cooking & preparation time: 45 minutes

Pancit Bihon Ingredients:

1 8 oz. pack pancit bihon noodles
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
2 cups of chicken broth or 2 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in 2 cups of water
1/4 cabbage, sliced into strips
1 onion, pealed and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1/3 cup scallions, cut into pieces
1 carrot, sliced into strips
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
3/4 cup diced celery
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
5 pieces of calamansi or 1 lemon, sliced

Pancit Bihon Cooking Instructions:

Soak the pancit bihon noodles to soften for 10 minutes
Grease a large pan or wok with oil. Sauté garlic and onions.
Add the chicken broth, the shredded chicken breast and all the
vegetables until cooked.
Mix in the pancit bihon noodles and add the soy sauce, cook for about
5 minutes or until the noodles are soft.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot with sliced calamansi on the side.
Cooking Notes:
Calamansi or lemon is to be squeezed into the pancit bihon before eating.

CHAAT (a plate of savoury snacks, typically served at road-side stalls or carts in India and Pakistan)
can be made completely from scratch
half scratch half bought
.... and everything in between

Easy option.....
there are some Indian shops on Black Mountain road (no. 9484,9474 etc. you can google it) where you can purchase all the ingredients below and simply assemble the dish.
Remember this dish either needs to be put together just prior to serving or else different ingredients need to be put out in bowls for self-service so that the dish remains crispy)

Step one
Boil 4 large potatoes and when cooked dice into cm cubes, place in a bowl. (if dice before cooking sometimes they get too soggy)
Add 1 drained can of ready cooked garbanzo beans(chickpeas, chunna)... (of course this can be made fresh from dry beans by soaking a cup full over night and pressure cooking for approx. 10 mins until soft)
Add half a medium, raw, red onion (adjust to taste!)
Add salt and dried chilli powder to taste. (approx level tsp salt, 1/4 tsp chilli)
Add garam masala to taste (approx level tsp)
Add chopped fresh coriander to taste (approx. 1/4 cup)
Mix all ingredients in the bowl together and set aside.

Step 2
Make or buy ready made pappri (pastry flakes)
To make...
make a dough from 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tbsp oil, and add water a little at a time until dough is soft but not sticky.
roll out as thin as you can
cut into diamonds or square shapes approx 1 inch in size ( I use a pizza cutter for this)
deep fry in very hot oil. (They should rise to the top of the oil immediately if the oil is hot enough) cook until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and put to one side. Once cooled they can be stored in an airtight container to keep crisp)

Step 3
Buy or make servi mix (a mix of puffed rice, fried peanuts, fried chickpea flour vermicelli, spices etc)
you know what it is easiest just to buy a ready made mix from the Indian store..... it will take me all day to describe how to make all its components from scratch!)
set aside

Step 4
set aside a bowl of plain yogurt
and a bowl of ready made tamarind sauce ( make sure you buy the sauce and not the tamarind paste otherwise you will have to make the paste into sauce by mixing it with water and sugar,salt ,and chillies to taste.

Again these can both be made from scratch....if you really want to know how...e-mail me!


How to assemble the dish........
pappri (fried pastry) goes on the bottom
potatoe/ chickpea mix is layered on top
sevia (puffed rice , savoury chickpea sticks mix) goes next with the
sauce on top.

Enjoy!

'Spooktacular Fall'

Here are a few pictures from October's 'Cayenne Cooking Club's' gathering.

This is the best way I have ever heard of to prepare Spaghetti Squash! I thought it was asian noodles (seriously!).

Spaghetti Squash with Moroccan Spices

ingredients

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) spaghetti squash
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
print a shopping list for this recipe

preparation

Pierce squash (about an inch deep) all over with a small sharp knife
to prevent bursting. Cook in an 800-watt microwave oven on high power
(100 percent) for 6 to 7 minutes. Turn squash over and microwave until
squash feels slightly soft when pressed, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool
squash for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderately high
heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute.
Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat.
Carefully halve squash lengthwise (it will give off steam) and remove
and discard seeds. Working over a bowl, scrape squash flesh with a
fork, loosening and separating strands as you remove it from skin.
Toss with spiced butter and cilantro.

Apples inside!

Orange Jack-o'-Lanterns with Sorbet Invite a crew of frozen friends for dessert. Cut off the top quarter of an orange. Scoop out flesh with a spoon, then carve eyes, noses, and grins with a utility knife. Ingredients: 4 navel oranges 2 pints mango, passion-fruit, or orange sorbet, softened Directions: Slice top quarter of each orange, and reserve for lid. Using a grapefruit spoon or paring knife, scoop or cut out interior of oranges. Reserve flesh for another use, such as fresh orange juice. Create your mini jack-o-lantern by cutting out eyes, nose and mouth with a small carving knife. Pack each orange with sorbet, and top it with a "lid." Bend floral wire, and poke it in -- not through -- top of orange for tendrils. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Oranges with sorbet can be frozen for up to 3 days. I will post the recipe's from the above pictures as soon as I get them.

Cayenne Creek Cooking Club presents 'Vegetarian Snacks'

My dear neighbor, Rupali suggested that we start a neighborhood cooking club! I jumped on the idea, because of course I love to cook and try new foods. As it ends up, we all live on one of the 'Cayenne' streets, so we named ourselves the 'Cayenne Cooking Club'. Yes, like the tree, and actually I have several large Cayenne Pepper trees in my backyard, both of the male and female varieties.

Tapioca Pudding

1/3 cup sugar

3 T Minute brand Tapioca

2 3/4 cups milk

1 egg (well beaten)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix sugar, tapioca, milk and egg in saucepan. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally at first, then constantly towards the end, until it comes to a full boil (should take about 20 minutes). Remove from heat (pudding thickens as it cools). Stir in vanilla. Serve warm or chilled.

Vegetable Pizza Appetizer

4 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls

16 oz cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons dill weed

4 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 cups chopped fresh broccoli

3 green onions, thinly sliced

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

Optional: olives, shredded cheese, and whatever else you can think of!

Unroll two tubes of crescent dough and press into each of two ungreased 15*10 baking pans; seal and seam perforations. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, mayonnaise and dill until smooth. Spread over crusts. Sprinkle with vegetables, olives and cheese. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares, makes 4 dozen bars.

VEGETABLE PAKORA

1 cup chickpea flour

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garm masala

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

1 quart oil for deep frying

Prepared vegetables (see variations) -- 2-3 cups

Method

1. In a large bowl, add the chickpea flour, coriander, chili powder, cumin, salt, tumeric, garlic, garam masala, water and 2 tablespoons of oil. Whisk the ingredients vigorously to incorporate air and make a fluffy, smooth batter. Alternatively, put all the batter ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside and let the batter rest for about 20-30 minutes.
2. Heat about 1-2 inches of oil in a heavy skillet or deep pot over medium-high flame to 365-375°F. Using a fork, dip the prepared vegetables into the batter to coat. Then drop into the hot oil and deep fry until lightly browned on all sides. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and hold warm while you repeat with the remaining vegetables.
3. Serve hot with mint chutney, cilantro chutney or tomato ketchup

Variations

· Vegetables for Pakora: eggplant sliced into thin rounds; par-cooked potatoes, sliced into thin rounds; cauliflower or broccoli broken into florets and blanched; peppers sliced into rings; okra sliced into rounds; chopped tomatoes. Use your imagination.

A cooking club is a fun way to get to know your neighbors! We live in a diverse city, with people from all around the world, and it is fascinating to see what is brought to the table. I will work on getting more of the recipe's from these amazing women, and will post more soon!