Cooking
Well, what do you say, wanna go NUTS? I sure did! When the lovely Viv over at Seattle Bon Vivant announced January's theme for this Sugar High Friday I clapped my little hands, chirping "Oh goody! Almond cake? Baklava?..." to myself.
Then came Christmas. And January. And uh-oh...What to make, what to make? Will I even be able to come out from my weird world of not doing anything else but studying for my exam??
Oh yes I will. I shall not miss this - I SHALL NOT!!
And then I thought about it. And thought some more. Because actually - I'm not that big in nuts. I mean, hand me a piece of cake that's got nuts in it, and I won't be all: NO WAY! - I mean, it's cake! But I don't find myself putting nuts in all my cakes and pastries. More often than not, I leave them out if they're in a recipe. I do almonds, and I like almonds. I think I've just had to many bad (read: rancid) experiences with nuts.
But what I really like about these events is how they make you think about a lot of things you could do, and then you end up doing something completely different - and of course the fact that they are often a bit challenging. So I had, obviously, very little time, and no need for a challenge I'd have to re-do the next day. And then it hit me, from out of nowhere - hazelnuts!
Equals NUTELLA! Ha! There we go!
I've made this recipe before, so it's tried and tested and tasted - but I gave the recipe to a friend (who's usually skilled enough in the kitchen) and it just didn't turn out well. I'm writing this seconds after I finished it, so I might put an update in here as to how it went after refrigeration... The taste was nice - no mistaking, it's chocolate and hazelnuts and not much else, but boy is it gooooood! I like this idea of doing commercial products myself and getting stuff that's miles better then what I can buy!
Here goes nuts! from Morten Heiberg
180 g. hazelnuts
250 g. milk chocolate (or dark, but use a little less if you go for dark) - finely chopped.
½ vanilla pod
2 tablespoons honey
1 dl. cream
Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet in a 180 C hot oven. When they start giving of that nice toasty smell, pour them straight into a food processor. Pulse for a couple of seconds, then add the chocolate and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Pulse again, the idea being that the heat from the nuts will melt the chocolate. Add the honey and cream, pulsing briefly.
Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
I'll eat it on toast or put it on ice cream, or on Digestive bisquits - or just lick it of a spoon!
Hopefully I'll be back soon from the unwanted leave of absence from my blog here, to check all of the adventurous things you're doing out there in the food-blogging world. Meanwhile, books are calling again... Man, sometimes I think they're worse than having a baby!;-)
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- Shf: Ice, Ice, Baby
It's like this. I love hazelnuts. I think chocolate is pretty nice, too. If you mix them together, I'm yours. That simple. But, as a married woman, I can not allow myself to be put in that position (I have a feeling Matt might object), so any...
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Cooking
SHF # 4: Let's Go Nuts! Nutella
Well, what do you say, wanna go NUTS? I sure did! When the lovely Viv over at Seattle Bon Vivant announced January's theme for this Sugar High Friday I clapped my little hands, chirping "Oh goody! Almond cake? Baklava?..." to myself.
Then came Christmas. And January. And uh-oh...What to make, what to make? Will I even be able to come out from my weird world of not doing anything else but studying for my exam??
Oh yes I will. I shall not miss this - I SHALL NOT!!
And then I thought about it. And thought some more. Because actually - I'm not that big in nuts. I mean, hand me a piece of cake that's got nuts in it, and I won't be all: NO WAY! - I mean, it's cake! But I don't find myself putting nuts in all my cakes and pastries. More often than not, I leave them out if they're in a recipe. I do almonds, and I like almonds. I think I've just had to many bad (read: rancid) experiences with nuts.
But what I really like about these events is how they make you think about a lot of things you could do, and then you end up doing something completely different - and of course the fact that they are often a bit challenging. So I had, obviously, very little time, and no need for a challenge I'd have to re-do the next day. And then it hit me, from out of nowhere - hazelnuts!
Equals NUTELLA! Ha! There we go!
I've made this recipe before, so it's tried and tested and tasted - but I gave the recipe to a friend (who's usually skilled enough in the kitchen) and it just didn't turn out well. I'm writing this seconds after I finished it, so I might put an update in here as to how it went after refrigeration... The taste was nice - no mistaking, it's chocolate and hazelnuts and not much else, but boy is it gooooood! I like this idea of doing commercial products myself and getting stuff that's miles better then what I can buy!
Here goes nuts! from Morten Heiberg
180 g. hazelnuts
250 g. milk chocolate (or dark, but use a little less if you go for dark) - finely chopped.
½ vanilla pod
2 tablespoons honey
1 dl. cream
Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet in a 180 C hot oven. When they start giving of that nice toasty smell, pour them straight into a food processor. Pulse for a couple of seconds, then add the chocolate and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Pulse again, the idea being that the heat from the nuts will melt the chocolate. Add the honey and cream, pulsing briefly.
Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
I'll eat it on toast or put it on ice cream, or on Digestive bisquits - or just lick it of a spoon!
Hopefully I'll be back soon from the unwanted leave of absence from my blog here, to check all of the adventurous things you're doing out there in the food-blogging world. Meanwhile, books are calling again... Man, sometimes I think they're worse than having a baby!;-)
- Matzoh Toffee & Other Sweet Treats For Passover Recipes
The traditional sweets for Passover are a mixed bag. Sponge cakes are often rubbery, flourless cakes too dense. Passover cake and brownie mixes bought at the store are usually expensive and the end product is not as good as treats made from scratch....
- Mondays With Maida - French Filbert Macaroons
Page 219 in the old book / page 246 in the new book Funny that this cookie comes so soon after my revisit with its Italian cousin, Brutti ma Buoni, or as Maria Grammatico calls them, Belli et Brutti. Last time I tried that recipe which is made with almonds,...
- Shf 4 – Pistachio Gelato
Pistachios are fairly new to me. My first pistachio purchase was a mere two months ago when I bought a one pound bag of shelled pistachios in order to make Holiday Biscotti for IMBB 10. While I enjoyed the biscotti, I was frustrated that I couldn’t...
- Shf: Ice, Ice, Baby
It's like this. I love hazelnuts. I think chocolate is pretty nice, too. If you mix them together, I'm yours. That simple. But, as a married woman, I can not allow myself to be put in that position (I have a feeling Matt might object), so any...
- The Dad Cake
My original plan was to make a cake for both local dad's; Matt would have one here, and then we'd take one to my father-in-law. Then reality set in, and I decided to let them share... Another recipe from Cocolat; Marjolaine. Four layers of roasted...