Truffles: The Fancy Pants No Bake Dessert

Some oven-free desserts are just a little bit classier than others. Consider rice crispy treats, no bake cookies or even puppy chow. All are tasty but certainly not chichi.

Now what about chocolate truffles? They evoke visions of glass cases, tiny gift boxes and high prices, and they're usually prepared by a chocolatier. But why? It turns out they're easy to make at home and just like rice crispy treats, they're no bake. You can even skip the mess of dipping the truffles in molten chocolate and instead, roll them in cocoa and chopped nuts, like I did. 

I followed the Cooks Illustrated recipe and used Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate (instead of bittersweet) to form these beauties. The author of the recipe set out to develop a smooth, non-grainy truffle with the perfect mouthfeel and she achieved it. A few extra things helped in that endeavor. One was the addition of small quantities of corn syrup and butter and the other had to do with the cooling process (2 hours cooling on the counter before putting the ganache in the fridge.) All in all, pretty minimal effort. One thing I did change was the size of the truffles. I prefer mine slightly larger than directed by the Cooks Illustrated recipe and changing that was not a problem. 

Rustic Rolled Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

The Ganache

• 2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips or roughly chopped chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened

The Coating

• 1 cup (3 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1/4 cup (1 oz) confectioners' sugar

or

• Diced almonds, macadamia nuts etc. (These should be toasted quickly in the oven first for the best taste)

Directions

1. Lightly spray 8-inch baking dish with oil. 
2. Cut two pieces of parchment paper that are approximately 8 inches wide. They should be laid down in the pan perpendicular to eachother so that excess parchment paper comes up over all four sides of the baking pan. This forms the sling with which the formed ganache will be lifted from the pan after solidifying.
3. Microwave chocolate in medium bowl at 50 percent power for 2-3 minutes. Most chocolate should be melted with a few chips retaining their shape.
4. Next, microwave cream for about 30 seconds. Stir in corn syrup, vanilla and salt. Pour mixture over the chocolate. 
5. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 3 minutes.
6. Mix the chocolate and cream mixture by hand with a spoon (will prevent air bubbles from forming and making ganache less smooth)
7. Slowly stir in butter one piece at a time until fully incoorporated.
8. Using a rubber spatula, transfer mix to prepared baking dish. 
9. Allow to sit on counter for 2 hours.
10. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
11. Remove ganache block from baking dish using parchment slings.
12. Cut ganache into 30 pieces (rows of 6 by rows of 5)
13. Combine cocoa and confectioners' sugar, sift through fine mesh strainer twice to remove lumps.
14. Using resulting mixture to dust hands, then form each ganache square into a ball.
15. Roll the balls in cocoa/confectioner's sugar mix or in toasted, diced nuts. 

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to a week. Allow truffles to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Mmmmmachaca! An Ode to Carolina's

Has any food ever brought tears to your eyes? Not the kind of stinging, onion-induced variety but real, honest-to-goodness tears?  Me neither...until the night I left Phoenix.


The day had been a long one, filled with packing, cleaning and preparing for the 1300 mile haul to Portland. While disappointed with our sluggish departure, there was a silver lining to that cloud: If we rushed, we could enjoy one last meal at Carolina's on our way out of town. Carolinas is a divey little Mexican restaurant in south Phoenix that serves up the best damn machaca this gringa has ever eaten. Oh, and having lived in Phoenix for the last seven years, I've eaten a lot! 


The machaca at Carolina's is hot, wet and a little bit spicy. If there are onions or peppers still in the meat, they're so cooked down I haven't noticed them, unlike at some other taquerias, where they constitute half the filling. Tightly wrapped in a soft, handmade tortilla and served with Carolina's addictive salsa, the machaca burro (or burrito to the rest of you) is not to be missed. It is the perfect farewell Phoenix meal and my stomach was screaming for it by the time we locked up the apartment and closed the roller door on the U-Haul. 


Unfortunately, time was tight and I knew that if I was going to score a couple of machaca burros, it was going to be right before closing time and I was going to have to race for them. Although the drive there is a bit of a blur, I know I pulled some Andretti-like moves in my little white Versa while Martin followed distantly in the cumbersome moving truck. Then, just before 7:30, I got stuck at the stoplight directly in front of Carolina's. It was 7:29 when I finally parked so I tried the door. Joy of joys, it was open! 


"Two machaca burros, please!" I said panting.


"Sorry, Mam, we're closed," said the man behind the register.


"But it's not 7:30 yet!" I cried.


"It's 7:31," he said, nodding towards the restaurants's clock.


"Please!" I begged "I'm moving and I have to have one last machaca burro!"


"Sorry, the registers are already closed," he said patiently.


I finally gave up and slunk out to the car, defeated. "I didn't make it," I told Martin over the phone, my eyes beginning to water. "I just really wanted one last machaca burro."


The ridiculousness of the whole thing didn't strike me until later and although I know moving can be a stressful time, I maintain that the machaca burro is a special food, if not a tear-worthy one. 


The following recipe is my own tweaked version of Big Dave's Beef Machaca and, despite the name, it comes astoundingly close to Carolina's machaca. We had it for dinner on Christmas Eve as a sort of tribute to our Christmases in Phoenix.


Beef Machaca

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb Chuck Roast

Marinade

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil

Additional Ingredients

• Additional vegetable or olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion-cut into large chunks
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• 1/2 a 28 oz can of Las Palmas Red Chile Sauce (or other sauce)
• 1 small can whole green chile peppers
• Dash of Tabasco Sauce
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano

Directions

1. Slice chuck roast into 3" pieces. Trim larger portions of fat off and discard.
2. Combine marinade ingredients, add meat and marinate overnight.
3. Heat a small amount of olive oil or vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat on the stove.
4. Remove beef pieces from marinade, dry with paper towels. Working in batches, brown beef in hot oil. Do not crowd pan or beef will steam instead of brown. Remove beef from pan. If necessary, add a little more oil. 
5. Add onions and saute for approximately 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute.
6.  Return beef to pan. Add broth, chile sauce, chile peppers, Tabasco, cumin and oregano. 
7. Bring to a boil, scraping browned bits off the bottom of the pan. 
8. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
9. Remove beef from pot. Allow to rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. 10. Meanwhile, strain pan juices through strainer into a bowl. Discard onions and chile peppers in strainer. Pour strained sauce back into Dutch oven. Note: This step can be omitted if you would like onions and chiles mixed in with the final machaca.
10. After its 10 minute rest, use two forks to shred beef pieces.
11. Return shredded beef to sauce in an uncovered Dutch oven.
12. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and continue cooking until much of the sauce has cooked off and mixture is just slightly wet.
13. Season with salt and chile pepper flakes as desired.
14. Serve rolled in warm tortillas with cilantro. Provide salsa on the side.

Perfect Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies

I'm three-quarters Swedish so maybe there are some things I'm just destined to like: meatballs, volvos and particleboard furniture. Genetically predisposed or not, one Swedish thing I'm definitely crazy about is the oat crisp. Waifishly thin with a delicate, lacy appearance and a sweet, buttery crunch, it's hard to resist. Over time I've only fallen more deeply in love with this unassuming little cookie. 


My first introduction was made a number of years ago by the Swedish cultural ambassador Ikea. There was a store just a few freeway exits away from the house where I lived in Phoenix, so popping in for a box of my little crisps was never a problem. The size of the box was another story. It was really more of a giant cardboard flat of them than anything else. It may have been designed for those people who rent a U-Haul trailer and drive to Ikea from hours away for an epic shopping journey rather than for the casual shopper, like myself, just dropping in. Anyway, the point is, the box was darn large and would either lead to an out-and-out cookie binge or to a slow and steady cookie consumption that threatened to leave me nutrient-deprived, uninterested in actual food. Such was the appeal of these treats. 


Fast forward to last year when a Swedish restaurant opened in Tempe and took my affection for the oat crisp to a whole new level. The cookies, like everything in the restaurant, were homemade. These cookies were much larger than their Ikea counterpart and were sandwiched together with a cold lemon cream filling between them. I'm not much of a cream fan but the cookies, oh, the cookies… 


Now with December well underway and cookie season in full swing as we approach Christmas, I've been thinking more and more about the oat crisp. Sure I could have just popped into the Ikea here in Portland or checked out the town's token Swedish restaurant but instead, I wanted to make some myself. Amazingly, I got lucky and stumbled onto what ended up being an excellent recipe on my first try. 


The cookies were the picture of perfection by themselves but then, I had an epiphany (pause for dramatic effect). This is the best cookie the world will ever know for use in an ice cream sandwich. What makes them so perfect? They are sweet, crunchy and brittle, like the top of a perfect crème brûlée. When you sink your teeth through cookie into ice cream, it's the same feeling you have when you tap the edge of your spoon through caramelized sugar into creamy custard in a crème brûlée. Maybe it's just that I love crème brûlée that much but these ice cream sandwiches are awesome! 


I used Eating Right's Black Cherry Chocolate Chip Low Fat Frozen Yogurt for the filling because it was already in the freezer, however, I highly recommend it. I also used a slightly thinner layer of filling than you would in a sandwich with thicker cookies. I feel it yields a better cookie-to-ice cream ratio. Additionally, although I didn't have any around, Nutella would probably have made these ice cream sandwiches even more amazing. (Really, is there anything Nutella can''t improve?) Just try spreading a thin layer on one of the cookies before you assemble the sandwich. 

Swedish Oat Crisps (Havreflarn)


Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 cups oats (I used quick oats)
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter over medium heat in a pot on the stove
3. Stir oats into melted butter
4. Mix eggs and granulated sugar together in another bowl.
5. Add flour and baking powder to the egg and sugar mixture, then mix everything into the oat and butter mixture.
6. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
7. Drop 1 teaspoon of batter for each cookie, spaced 3 inches apart on baking sheets.
8. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Middle will have developed a lacy appearance.
9. Remove from oven, leave cookies on cookie sheet for approximately 1 minute.
10. Carefully remove with a spatula or knife and place on cooling rack and allow to cool and harden. 

Recipe credit: Delishhh

Notes

• More batter can be used to make larger cookies. If so, space further apart, use a spatula to spread batter out and bake for slightly longer than with smaller cookies.
• Do not allow batter to sit before making cookies. Use immediately, otherwise oats will begin to absorb moisture from the batter and cookies will not spread out properly when baking.
• If desired, rather than transferring cookies to cooling rack, cookies can be place on rolling pin and allowed to harden. This will yield curved cookies. 
• Half of each cookie can be dipped in chocolate for a special treat.