Schokokuss - cut

On a recent trip to Solvang we had a chance to try the Danish version of this treat known by many different names. This treat is hard to describe. It’s a light creamy puff covered with chocolate sitting on a little waffle/wafer.

I decided to try to make these at home. So I looked around the internet for recipes. There are numerous versions around. Here is what I ended up using:

Filling:
200ml (6 3/4 oz) water
300 gr (10 1/2 oz) sugar

Make a syrup by boiling the cold water while dissolving the sugar in it and set aside.

~20g (2/3 oz) gelatin
100 ml (3 1/3 oz) boiling water
1 package (~2 tsp) vanilla sugar (they have this in European grocery stores, if not available just add a little vanilla extract).

Mix the gelatin with the boiling water to dissolve it and add the vanilla sugar.
Now combine the syrup and gelatin mixture and let it cool completely to room temperature.

Once cool beat the mixture until it is really stiff, this may take some time (10-15min). I used an ice cream scoop to form the little “balls” and placed them on a greased parchment sheet (see picture below). Let the “ball” rest for about 30 min.

Schokokuss without chocolate

Coating:
150 g ( 5 oz ) double chocolate bittersweet chocolate chips
90 g ( 3 oz ) coconut butter

Melt the chocolate and add the coconut butter. Dip the little “balls” in the chocolate handling them with two spoons or forks. Then place them on individual waffles/wafers a thin cookie will also work in a pinch. For a topping I sprinkled grated coconut or ground pistachio nuts on the still wet chocolate (see picture below).

This recipe makes quite a few of these treats, depending on size.

Schokokuss with Pistachio and Coconut topping

While visiting the Asian grocery store I saw some nice pieces of Filet Mignon and suddenly got hungry :). I also wanted to try out the roasted cauliflower puree I had seen somewhere recently.

Beef: I cut the filet mignon into some nice 1.5 inch thick slices and wrapped them with bacon securing the bacon with a tooth pick. After adding a little salt & pepper I seared the assemblies in a pan and then put them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 F.

Sauce: While the beef was in the oven I sauteed some Bunapi (White Beech) mushrooms with some butter and salt/pepper. Then I poured some water into the pan I had used for the beef and used this as the base for the sauce. Now I combined the content of the two pans to make the sauce.

Puree: I cut up a head of cauliflower into florets and a tart apple into medium sized cubes. I placed everything on a baking pan, drizzled some olive oil over it and sprinkled salt & pepper over it. First I placed the pan for 20-25 minutes in the oven at 400F. Then I added half a can of chicken broth and put it back into the oven until the liquid was evaporated. Finally I put it all into the food processor and pureed it.

For plating I made some nice, round bases from the puree, placed a piece of filet mignon on top, added some sauce and topped it off with some chopped parsley from the yard.

We enjoyed this meal with a nice glass of wine!

T-bone steak with grilled vegetables (Click image to enlarge)

There was some T-bone on sale, so I brought some home and put it on the grill. In fact I did the whole meal on the BBQ on the patio.

I put the beef and slightly oiled (olive) vegetables (onion, bell pepper, king oyster mushrooms) on the grill.
While waiting I prepared some Chimichurri sauce: fresh cilantro, fresh Italian parsley, some olive oil, a clove of garlic, a little red wine vinegar, a little water, crushed pepper, some salt. For a hint of sweetness I added a tiny bit of agave sweetener.

When the vegetables were soft I took them off the BBQ and cut them. Once the beef was ready I plated and we enjoyed a good meal. What looks like sour cream in the picture is actually kefir cheese.

Vietnamese Style Salad with Pork (Click image to enlarge)

A nice little summer salad.

Topping: Slice some onions lengthwise and fry until soft. Add about a pound of ground pork [I ground this myself to have better control over the fat content] and fry until it’s done. Add a tablespoon of curry powder, a tea spoon of sugar, some fish sauce.

Salad: Prepare a bowl with some shredded (thin slices) romaine lettuce, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, celantro or whatever vegetables you have available.

Sauce: As a base I used 1/4 cup “Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken” ( you can find this in an oriental grocery or even your regular supermarket; here is an example) to which I added juice of half a lime.

To serve put salad mix in a bowl, add some of the topping, pour sauce over it. A Vietnamese salad would be topped with crushed peanuts, I didn’t have any so I used some almonds.

Bratwurst-Brussel Sprouts Raclette (Click image to enlarge)

Another block of raclette cheese – another non-traditional raclette. For this one we replaced the potatoes with brussel sprouts and bratwurst.

Trim the stems of the brussel sprouds and steam them for about 15 minutes. I try to use the smaller brussel spouts, they seem to be more flavorful and more fun to eat :). For color and variety I also added some pieces of bell peppers and some baby carrots
Cut the brats into half inch slices and fry them in a little olive oil.

Put the brats and sprouts in a casserole dish and cover them with thick slices of raclette cheese. The dish is then placed in the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese and get a bit of a brown crust on top.

It turned out to be one of those dishes that one can not stop eating…

Getting close to first harvest

A couple of month ago I once again saw upside down tomatoes for sale at the nursery. When I got home I noticed all those little tomato plants growing wherever I had applied my homemade fertilizer from the worm bin…. So I spontaneously decided give this a try. With a 5 gallon bucket, some potting soil and a drill the plant was hanging there in no time (detailed instructions are all over the net, just google for upside down tomatoes).

Not only was I curious how the plants would grow, but also what kind of tomatoes I would get! Turns out we must have had some smaller vine tomatoes at some point and those are the ones that sprouted from our compost :)

I also setup a bucket with 2 holes and 2 plants per hole, but that get’s a little crowded and since the plants have to share resources amount of grows in the two buckets is about equal.

Plenty of fruit in the pipeline

Here is the plant on day 1:

Day one - May 25, 2009

This picture was taken today:

Full plant - August 9, 2009

Halibut Filet with Brussels Sprouts

We got some more fish caught by our neighbor (Thank You!) and I had to prepare it right away. These were nice, big, thick Halibut filets!

Halibut filet: Butter a baking dish and place the seasoned (salt&pepper) filets in it. Then squeeze the juice of half a lemon over it. Now saute some onions and put on the fish, add some sun dried tomatoes. Put the dish in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts: I wanted to do these quickly, so I put them in a bowl, added table spoon of water, covered the bowl and put it in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

Sauce for Sprouts: While the sprouts were steaming I browned some butter in a pan and added some bread crumbs. I stirred the mixture until the crumbs turned golden.

When done I placed the filets topped with some thyme on plates, added some Brussels sprouts and poured some of the sauce over them.

Chicken with Cheese (click picture to enlarge)

We had some left over Raclette cheese. So I grilled some chicken breasts and melted a nice thick slice of the cheese on top in the oven.

Shrimp with Brussels Sprouts (click to enlarge)

I can’t believe almost 2 month past since I posted anything. It’s not like we didn’t eat anything during this time.

Here is a simple quick one.

Vegetables: Brussels Sprouts where still in season so I steamed some and added some cut carrots.

Sauce: Melt some butter, add some flour and saute until lightly brown. Add some chicken stock and Sigo cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Shrimp: Simply grilled with salt and pepper.

Shrimp with Brussels Sprouts (click to enlarge)

Shrimp with Asparagus (click picture to enlarge)

The local supermarket had these nice, big shrimp on sale for a very good price, so I couldn’t resist. So there will be some more shrimp posts coming… :)

Shrimp: First I made a sauce: Saute some onion until soft, then add some sun dried tomatoes, half a cup of cream (you can use milk if you want it a little lighter) and some salt & pepper. Let the sauce simmer for a while and then run it through a blender. Put the blended sauce back into the pot and add the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp is done, depending on size this will be around 5 minutes.

Asparagus: I used green asparagus and peeled the bottom part of the stems a little so they won’t be too tough. I simply grilled them.