What a surprise today in class! Chef Haylee, our wonderful instructor had us make truffles today since we apparently are not only caught up but ahead in our curriculum! Rock on fellow Level One students at 105 Degrees! Another familiar arena for me! It is amazing how I fall right back into the comfortable "groove". I efficiently made my chocolate mixture, first, of course, converting everything to weight, got it into the fridge to set and cleaned up before the inevitable line at the dish sink. While our mixture set, we made a marinated eggplant concoction which I am not overly exited about, but I did not care, I was thinking about chocolate! My mixture was divided into thirds, and I quickly rolled each portion into tiny balls returning them to the fridge to keep cold while I gathered toppings. You know me, ever conservative and a purist at heart, mine were the most subtle in the entire group. I did not want to take a chance that I would not like them. I wanted to get a sense of the true basic recipe; mouthfeel, flavor balance, etc, before I leap off the deep end (which I may never do anyway). What a great recipe it turned out to be!!! I was shocked to say the least!!! I made plain rolled in cacao nibs, mint rolled in coconut (my favorite), and plain mixed with sprouted dehydrated buckwheat rolled in cacao powder, (for something with "crunch"). At home I may experiment with quinoa! Does anyone remember my facebook post about that! One of the best things I ever had! I'll figure it out. Anyway, then Chef made a batch of coffee truffle base, but it was a little too soft to roll well, and when she asked if anyone wanted to try to fix it well, you know me, that is what I love to do, to resurrect the forsaken in the kitchen! There was no way, I was going to let that expensive product go to waste. I took Chef Haylee's suggestion and simply added a little more of the luxurious melted cacao butter and it worked beautifully! I rolled those in my remaining toppings of cocoa powder and cocoa nibs to use them up. Yum, yum, yum!!! (I know I said that yesterday, but this really is yum, yum, yum!) We had a chance to try everyone's and they were all so good. I am always impressed by the flavors that my fellow students come up with! They are really an impressive bunch and I continue to draw such inspiration from them.
The garlic bread came home with me today, however, I think I would have liked to left it in the dehydrator a little longer as far as texture goes. It was also way to garlicky for me (and I am Italian). Otherwise, I really liked it. It reminded me of the delicious manna bread I had at Karyn's in Chicago. I will definitely make it again with a few modifications. Now on to my recipe research!
A very good day indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment