Daring Bakers and My Funny Valentine

Another month? Really? How’s that happen?

We’re still sleeping in our spare bedroom while we wait for the damage caused by last month’s ice storm to be repaired. There’s rumor that construction will start this week – but, honestly, I’ll believe it when the crew is here, in my house, actually doing the work. Until then… well, we continue to wait… and worry about what color to paint the bedroom.

One thing I haven’t had to worry about is this month’s Daring Baker challenge. A Chocolate Valentino Cake… beautiful in its simplicity, yet absolutely elegant (and impressive!), this one was a winner.

A note from our hosts:
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. The original recipe calls for the cake to be served with whipping cream, but we decided to make this more of a challenge and ask you to make your own ice cream – a first for the DBrs. You can choose any flavour you want and any recipe.

Because both the cake and ice cream are made up of such simple ingredients, it’s important to use the very best that you can. For the cake, I chose a combination of semisweet Scharffen Berger and Ghirardelli chocolates. And, for the ice cream, I used more of  my raw pistachios from my friends at Oh! Nuts. Chocolate and pistachios? A combination I wholeheartedly recommend!

Big thanks to Wendy and Dharm for a fabulous challenge! Be sure to check out the Daring Baker blogroll for more wonderful  interpretations of this month’s challenge!

Chocolate Valentino
(from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan)
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated

Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry). With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F. If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Pistachio Ice Cream
(adapted ever so slightly from Epicurious)
1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios, toasted
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 large egg yolks
1 cup whipping cream

Finely grind pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in processor. Bring milk and ground pistachio mixture to boil in heavy large saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in almond extract.

Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return custard to saucepan. Cook over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Strain into large bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours.

Stir 1 cup whipping cream into custard. Process mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to container and freeze.

this post sponsored by the letter “P”

Happy Valentine’s Day!
We enjoyed a quiet evening at home tonight… just us, the pets, a couple of movies, and a tasty snack after a late lunch out.

After spending the week thinking about the endless possibilities for my next Oh! Nuts feature, I finally settled in on a variation of an appetizer recipe that I stumbled upon not long ago. This little gem seemed like the perfect way to showcase the lovely pistachios that have been waiting for me in my kitchen.

When I zipped open the bag, I was pleased to find another wonderful product. Look at them… aren’t they lovely? I’ll have a hard time keeping the hubby out of these… and I’ll need to, because I’ve got big plans for the rest of the bag!

These crispy rounds of potato are topped with creamy, herbed goat cheese and pistachios. They look and taste much more fussy than they are, and I can’t wait for a reason to have a little get together so that I can show these little babies off. They’re amazing! Needless to say we made short work of them tonight.

Crispy Potato Rounds with Herbed Goat Cheese and Pistachios
(adapted from recipe by Gourmet Magazine)
1 large baking potato
1/4 cup olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup toasted pistachios, divided
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried thyme, and chives

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potato crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices and arrange in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet. Drizzle the potato slices with olive oil. Roast them in the oven, turning them once, for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Transfer the potatoes to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

In a food processor combine the goat cheese, butter, cream, garlic, 1/4 cup of pistachios, herbs and salt and pepper to taste and puree until smooth.

Top each potato slice with a dollop of the cheese mixture. Garnish each hor d’oeuvre with remaining pistachios.

oh! nuts … oh boy!!

In the midst of our recent ice storm, I received an email from a representative for Oh! Nuts inquiring whether I’d like to receive a sample of their bulk fruits or nuts to be reviewed and featured in a recipe here on Culinography. Free samples of fruits and/or nuts? Yum! Another reason to bake and blog about it? Yay! The potential to endorse a great product? Fun!

Not being quite sure how all of this works (I’m a newb with this whole “feature a product” thing), I decided to offer up two options for my bulk fruit selection and two for the bulk nuts. I expected they’d pick one… maybe two… to send my way. Instead, these great folks sent all four of my options. Not only that, but from the day I replied to say I’d be happy to give this a go, it took just four business days for the box of goodies to show up on my doorstep. That’s what I call good customer service, folks.

The first bag I broke into was the raw, shelled macadamia nuts. These macadamias were positively gorgeous… larger, I think, than any macadamia nut I’ve ever worked with, and boasting that classic, creamy, macadamia taste. I remembered a block of white chocolate I’d been hanging on to for a while and I knew immediately where I was taking my first recipe. White chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

First things first, of course, I cranked up the oven and threw some macadamia nuts into the oven to toast (350 F for about ten minutes). When they came out, they were gorgeous and toasty and boasting a wonderful flavor. Luckily, I had enough foresight to throw in more than I planned on needing…. so I could snack while I rough chopped!

The rest of the recipe is a breeze to pull together. The formula is based loosely on Alton Brown’s “chewy” cookie as I love the fact that it produces a nice, chewy cookie that stays chewy even a day or two later… provided the cookies last that long! Or, you can pour yourself a big glass of milk and just promise yourself you’ll go to the gym later.

Thank you, Oh! Nuts for a wonderful product! The website is an absolute treat… with options from candy to dried fruits to – of course – nuts… and I’ve no doubt I’ll visit often. (I’ll also be open to any samples that arrive on my doorstep in the future!) And you, loyal readers, will have to stay tuned to see what I do with the other three samples that I received!

White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk (skim works fine)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped white chocolate or chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts, toasted

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter (I use the microwave). Meanwhile, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Chill the dough for approximately 20 minutes, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets. I used a small cookie scoop and placed 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 9 minutes or until just turning golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Makes approx. 32 cookies.