Truffle Class -- Mmmm lots and lots of chocolate

Last night at Central Market Cooking School, I attended a Truffle Making Class. At first I scoffed at the $70 price for the class, but I feel that I got my money's worth from it since the price of 12 truffles can cost about $25 - $60! Luckily, we each got a handsome tin of about 65 truffles made with quality dark chocolate from the grocery store below and ganache for us to make a few more!

The class made the process seem a lot easier because there were no double broilers involved. There are special chemical qualities involved in chocolate that make it difficult to handle at times. First of all, we were told NOT to use chocolate chips. There is a particular chemical in chocolate chips that hold their shape and are difficult to melt because of it. The chips also do not have enough cocoa butter in them. So when they melt, the texture is lumpy. When making truffles, we were told to use baking squares of bittersweet chocolate like El Rey from Venezuela. At Central Market, you can actually state the dollar amount you want to spend and sample the chocolates. Mmmm! Since the heated heavy cream was used to melt the chocolate, it was a much easier process.

Truffles also take time. We were told to keep our ganache chilled for 2-3 hours! Luckily, the chefs made our ganaches ahead of time. Each chocolate and combination of ingredients are different. And, depending on how shallow your pan is or how the more ingredients that have to bond, the longer the substance will take to solidify! Different structures disrupt the crystal lattice structure thus slowing down the bonding process. Man, why wasn't chemistry class this much fun?

The chefs taught us to work with cold ganache. She just grabbed a small spoon, rolled the chocolate into a ball, and covered the ball with either coconuts, peanuts, hazelnuts or cocoa. The use of gloves is recommended since it makes things much easier and having another person with you makes it more fun too! I also enjoyed the combinations that they provided us: plain chocolate, chocolate with hazelnut, chocolate with caramel and salt, white chocolate,lime and coconut, and chocolate and banana. It seems like you can play with a lot of different mixes. So, it will be interesting what I end up with when I make some more!

I really hope that I can get to more cooking classes next year. And, what's great about cooking is that it becomes the gift that will keep on giving- to be shared with the beau, family, friends, and co-workers!

J'adore arborio rice!

My latest foodie project was resurrecting the aparagus risotto recipe I played with last summer. Hannah and I were in charge of Wednesday dinner two weeks ago. We decided to do an Italian theme. She offered to make one meat and one veggie lasagna. Jeff, our friend who just recently returned from South America, made Brazilian Cheese Puffs. And, I brought over a super easy salad and risotto to complement the meal.

The salad is very easy to make. The secret is putting in ingredients that people love. I used green leaf lettuce, yellow sweet cherry tomatoes, parmasean cheese, marinated artichokes, and avocados. The asparagus risotto recipe is based off of the Working Class Foodies segment they released last summer.

We had a bit of a snafu on the evening of our event! Hannah was running late on the lasagnas. So, people were snacking on the cheese puffs and we started a first course of salad, risotto, and these beef tonque tacos from Thuan's. By the time we finished this course, Hannah arrived with the main course. Overall, it was a tasty group dinner.

Taste @ Austin

So, over the last TWO weeks, I've taken a trip up to Austin and have been able to sample some of their tasty fare. I was pretty excited because I was able to try some new places this time instead of going to the old stand-bys like kolaches at the gas station, Kerbey Lane pancakes, or Chuy's.



One of the first places we tried out was Opal Divine's on South Congress. This was a great place congregate for pints, bar food, and football. (So maybe not any Texas football teams, but nonetheless, game-watching can be had there.) The best thing about the place is the location. It is in Penn Field, and it's an interesting re-use of space. It was formerly a pilot school, but is now used for office buildings, a bar, and coffee place.




IM Thai was so delicious! There is something comforting about eating a curry on a cold day. I think it's the warmth of the veggies and tofu along with the heat from the curry. After walking around Pedernales Falls State Park, this was a nice way to end the evening with good food and good company. I tried the masman curry which had a very sweet kick to it. The crab rangoons and the spring rolls were tasty. Both came in presentations that were different from the norm which were refreshing. Since it is a BYOB establishment, a member of our party went to World Market and picked out a lovely red wine to pair with our meal.







So on my second visit back to Austin, I was in the downtown area for a conference and I was hungry for a dinner meal. What is a bit annoying about downtown on a Sunday night is that is can be kinda dead. So, I yelped locations that were within walking distance from the Omni and found Thai Passion. The decor is really nice and fresh, and their food is delish. I tried their spring rolls, sipped their hibiscus mint tea, and had their green curry with chicken. It was so good that I ended up taking a big group of other people back over the next day! I tried out their shrimp eggrolls and had the shrimp Tom Kha. I love coconut milk and curry. So, sweet and spicy... I can't get enough of it. I was so inspired, I've bought the ingredients for Pad Thai and look forward to making it for me and the beau in a few days.



Upon a recommendation from a colleague, I decided to try out Counter Cafe. It has the welcoming smell of meat. I tried the Counter Burger which was made on a grill right behind the counter by two cooks. I like the fast pace behind the counter - almost like watching a bartender make your cocktail. I thought the medium well burger was quite good. It did lack any spicyness that I usually like in a burger though, but their sweet potato fries were awesome!




The taco truck phenomenom is alive and well in Austin. At 6th and Nueces, I went to One Taco for a delicious and welcoming barbacoa taco with cilantro, onions, and green salsa. It was convenient, warm, and oh so good.

That pretty much rounds up all my fave stops in the area. When you're in town, don't be afraid to try new things in the ATX.