revelations & caramelizations

chocolate turtles

Caramelizations:
A couple weeks ago I asked my boyfriend what flavor truffles I could make his mom for Mother's Day. He thought about it for a minute and then asked if, instead, I could make chocolate turtles, which are one of his mom's favorite treats. "Absolutely," I said, feigning confidence. Later that day I searched for turtle recipes, but all I could find were ones that involved using store-bought caramel candies. I wanted a recipe that used a homemade caramel, since I'd be making my own and I was looking for guidance on getting the right consistency (recently I sampled a homemade vegan turtle with caramel so chewy that I thought I was about to pull out a tooth; I decided giving Bryan's mom a missing tooth might not be the best present).

The thing is, I've experimented some with making caramel and various confections using sugar, and the results have been varied. Maybe my candy thermometer is off, or maybe it's just a bit trickier than I realized. It just seems like such a fine line between something that is too hard or too chewy or not enough . . .

So for the next two weeks I periodically looked online, became bored after looking at a few unhelpful sites, and gave up. Finally, on about my fifth attempt, I found Do Life Right's recipe for vegan chocolate turtles and David Lebovitz's site, which were helpful, although they weren't exactly what I was looking for in terms of specific guidance for my specific purposes. So, what did I do? Well, I played around until I got something I liked. And I really liked it. And so did Bryan's mom.

Unfortunately, I still don't have enough information to give a really solid recipe, with lots of guidance and specific times or temperatures. But, I'll give what I have, at least, and hopefully someday I'll have the perfect, fool-proof formula for homemade vegan turtles. In the meantime, if you find anything helpful, send it my way.

Chocolate Turtles:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup vegan milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 75 pecans, or more if you prefer
good quality chocolate with high cocoa content
cocoa butter, if desired*

Lightly toast the pecans (Put on a lined baking sheet in the oven at 350 F for 5-10 minutes). Arrange pecans in clusters of 3 (or 4 or however-many-you-want) on nonstick sheets (I use something similar to silpat but if you don't have something like that, your best bet is probably wax paper. Parchment paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray may also work, although I haven't tried it. Once your pecans are ready, begin making the caramel. Have all your ingredients measured and ready to go.

In a large, heavy pot melt the sugar over medium/low heat. Once the sugar begins to melt, stir gently to keep it from burning.

[Here's where things got a bit fuzzy]

I took it off the heat whenever I felt like it should be about right (a little earlier, just incase. Most of my disasters have been from overheated sugar, so I wanted to be on the safe side). I added the butter and soymilk and vanilla extract and drizzled the resulting syrup over a couple clusters of pecans. It spread out a lot and, after waiting about 15 minutes (and then another 15 minutes), I realized it wasn't going to thicken up enough.

So, I put the pot back on the stove and brought the liquid to a simmer again for a few minutes. I removed it from the heat and dipped the bottom of the pan in cool water. I let the caramel sauce cool a bit in the pan to thicken up before spreading it ontop of the pecan clusters. The caramel, even when completely cooled, was still very gooey (but not too liquidy). Maybe that's "soft ball stage"? For me it was the perfect consistency to fill a chocolate turtle. The only trouble was figuring out how to coat it in chocolate. I finally succeeded by chilling the caramel pecans in the fridge until they were firm enough to be dipped in the tempered chocolate.

You don't have to temper your chocolate that you use for dipping, but it makes such a difference. Not only is the presentation much nicer, but your turtles will also have that lovely snap, and they'll keep longer.

*Using a little bit of additional cocoa butter when you are using temepered chocolate for dipping helps give the coating more of a luster and is a million, billion times better than using parafin or any of the other weird things some cheap chocolates use instead. Cocoa butter is natural, it tastes much better, and you can easily find fair trade cocoa butter online (look on amazon or at Chocolate Alchemy, which is where I buy mine pounds at a time).




Revelations:
Finally, I'm about to reveal that mystery food from my last post. There were some good guesses, but the photograph is actually of a clove of black garlic.


And now I'm afraid I'll have to finish this post some other time. More to come on black garlic!

vegan MoFo 05: lessons in risotto-style barley

risotto alla barbabietola

Despite the heat hovering (still!) over these early-autumn evenings, for the past few weeks I have been craving risotti of all flavors. A novice at making this rich dish, I still have quite a bit to learn. In my pre-vegan days, I depended on butter and parmegiano reggiano to makeup for my lack of know-how, but my more-recent dairy abstinence hasn't put an end to my desires for something creamy and satisfying.

I've made risotto with arborio and carnaroli before, but since I'm trying to incorporate more healthier whole grains into my diet, I decided to use pearl barley instead. I've seen this idea implemented several times before, most notably by Heidi Swanson here.

My first risotto-style barley was a few days ago. I roasted a butternut squash (it weighed 2.24 lbs before removing the skin and seeds) and added it to the barley at the end. I also added sage, saffron, arugula and toasted pecans. The taste was delicious and the texture was pretty good for the first try.

Then I tried a new version with beets, apples, beet greens, toasted walnuts and a hint of cloves. The flavors were nice, but I think the texture was still lacking. Risotto made from barley will never be as creamy as its arborio or carnaroli counterparts because it has less starch. But, after comparing what I did differently between the two recipes, I think I've learned a few things that will help bring barley to its fullest potential. Everything basically comes back to helping the grain release the starch slowly. Here are some tips to help:

1. You want to help the steam escape as the steam cooks the grain too quickly. Use a wide-based, shallow pan and if you have a fan above your stove, turn it on. Don't cover the pan with a lid.
2. Start by cooking the onion and garlic and then adding in the grains to toast. You only need to toast the grains for a few minutes, just until they're hot and you can hear them making a kind of hissing sound. For me, this was about 2-3 minutes.
3. When you add your liquid, make sure that it is warm. Cold stock (or wine) shocks the grains and will prevent them from best releasing their starch.
4. Stirring frequently (especially after new additions of stock) helps the steam escape and makes for a creaming risotto.
5. Add liquid in small batches of about 1/2 cup, and only when the rest of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. You may not want to use broth for all of your liquid (you may want to use water or low-sodium broth for a portion of the necessary liquid). Since you will use more liquid than when you typically cook grains, the taste and sodium of the stock may be too overpowering.
7. Keep the grains cooking on a low-medium heat. Cooking too quickly will result in a poorly-textured risotto.
8. Right before serving, add a bit more of olive oil and stir really well to incorporate, giving it a glossy finish and enhancing the creaminess.
9. Allow the risotto to rest a minute before serving it on plates.

And, now for the recipe:

Risotto alla Barbabietola
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of pearl barley
4 cups of vegetable stock (you may not need all of this)
3 beets and their greens (if you don't have beet greens, use several handfuls of spinach or arugula, instead)
1 small apple
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup walnuts, lightly toasted

1. Set the oven to 425 F. Wrap the beets in foil or place in a pan and cover and set in the preheated oven. After about an hour, chop the apples into 3/4" chunks and put in the oven. When the beets and apples are tender, probably about 10-15 more minutes, remove them and allow to cool. Once the beets have cooled, remove peel and chop into 3/4" pieces.

2. Meanwhile, heat broth in a pan and keep at simmer. In a wide, shallow pan, saute onion and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add barely and toast for about 2 minutes.

3. Add wine and stir briskly until incorporated. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time, adding more only as liquid is absorbed. Continue adding liquid, stirring after every addition, until barley is just tender. The barley should be al dente, not mushy and not crunchy.

4. Add the beet greens and allow to wilt. Add the beets and apples and stir. Finally, add the olive oil and briskly stir one last time. Serve on plates and top with pieces of toasted walnuts.