cooking ala mel

Mocha Truffles

February 6, 2011

I made my mom almond joy truffles for Christmas, and I had some leftover cream that I didn’t have a use for, so I decided to make Alex some mocha truffles. Alex loves anything mocha. These truffles were no exception. He ran out of truffles right before we got back to school, and he’s been begging me to make them again for him ever since. We’ll see..

Truffles are extremely easy to make, albeit a little bit messy. You can definitely trick people into thinking you spent a lot of time on them; truffles are a pretty fancy treat!

Mocha Truffles
(yields about 18 truffles)
5 oz. semi sweet chocolate
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T hot coffee
1 T espresso liqueur
1/2 t chocolate coffee liqueur
more semi sweet/dark chocolate for dipping
mocha cappuccino mix, two packets, about 1/2 cup

Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat cream over medium-high heat until it reaches a boil. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in coffee and liqueurs. Cover mixture and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Using a small ice cream scoop (or cookie scoop), make scoops of chocolate mixture and place on lined cookie sheet. Return to the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Remove truffles from fridge about four at a time (I did it one at a time) to precent unnecessary melting. Melt the extra semisweet chocolate in the microwave or using a double boiler. Roll the chocolate dollops into balls with your hands and dip into melted chocolate until completely coated. Once coated, place onto lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with cappuccino mix. Package as you wish and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

I found it useful to wash my hands with cold water in between every four truffles to ensure they would’t melt so quickly in my hands.

Tomato Artichoke Soup

February 6, 2011

With the weather being so cold lately, I’ve been having some mad cravings for soup. Alex loves his cheddar, so I figured one night, tomato soup with grilled cheese (cheddar) would be a great meal. To mix it up, I decided on this tomato artichoke soup and wasn’t disappointed.

This soup is slightly tangy with a really nice flavor. It’s a very, very quick soup to make when you don’t have much time! And it’s perfect for dunking grilled cheese or some crusty bread.

Tomato Artichoke Soup
28 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
15 oz can artichokes
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil

In a large soup pot, heat the butter (or olive oil). Sauté the onions, garlic and bay leaves until onions are translucent. Chop the artichokes into smaller pieces. In the soup pot, add the tomatoes, artichokes, water, oregano and basil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender (or blender), blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Add 1 cup milk. Serve immediately.

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad (as bruchetta)

February 5, 2011

I saw this on Shutterbean, and I knew I had to try it. I love sun dried tomatoes, and this sounded like it would taste a decent bit like them. I showed it to Alex, and he readily approved, so we made it once we got some tomatoes.

We made them as we were roasting things for dinner, so we started it off at 350-400ºF, which isn’t what you’re supposed to do, but after making them several times since the correct way, we decided that we’re always going to start it up at a higher temperature and then lowering it, because really, the flavor is so much better from the balsamic and sugar being caramelized more.

Now we just roast up the tomatoes and keep some in the fridge, which I add to other dishes (like Bagels with Roasted Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Egg). They’re so yummy!

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad as Bruschetta

12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not cores) removed
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 T balsamic vinegar (I used a lot more)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 t sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
16 oz. fresh mozzarella
12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 loaf of ciabatta or baguette

Preheat the oven to 275 ºF. Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature. Cut the mozzarella into slices slightly less than 1/2-inch thick. If the slices of mozzarella are larger than the tomatoes, cut the mozzarella slices in half. Slice the bread into small slices, just large enough for the tomatoes. Broil the slices until lightly toasted (make sure you keep a good eye on it so it doesn’t burn) and top each slice with a slice of mozzarella and a tomato.