Chocolate Covered Goodness

 A Valentines' treat is chocolate covered strawberries. yet they can be expensive thanks to the rising costs of fruit and sugar. However - you can save money  easily. How Create chocolate goodness yourself.

Regular contributor and Chef Eric Kim wrote about this treat in today's New York Times Food Wednesday section.even though these should be given up for Lent (today is also Ash Wednesday), this recipe can also be used on other fruit and treats for Easter. Its all in the tempering according to Chef Kim. Once home candymakers learn this then they can make all sorts of  dark, milk and white chocolate coated treats. The candy's make up can be mystifying according to Alice Medrich in her award winning cookbook, Cocolat:extraordinary Chocolate Desserts and other books about chocolate. Chocolate is made up of sugar, cocoa solids and butter. Sometimes flavorings like vanilla are added along with emulsiers like lecithin.It's the cocoa butter, the natural fat extracted from cooca beans  is what makes it liquid when melted and solid when cold. It has to be heated to the right temperature to get that crisp , crackly shell that candy store strawberries have. They were first made by Lorraine Lorusso in suburban Chicago.

In order to get that perfect coating the cocoa has to go through a crystallization process The cocoa butter has to melt competely whether in a microwave or on a kind of bain marie on the stove top. You ned to reform those crystals by stirring the newly melted candy.Use finely chopped or seeded chocolate.if it becomes too thick then gently reheat it.If it doesn't set thempop it into the fridge to harden.what chocolate should you use. Steer clear of the baking section and those bags of chocolate chip.  They and baking chocolate have stabilisers that make them harder to temper.Go directly to the candy section and pick out very good chocolate such as Lindt or Ghiradelli,.For more glossiness add a teaspoon of light olive oil. As for the strawberries, get the fresh and not the frozen ones. They should be thoroughly rinsed and air dried in the fridge. Air drying the berries makes the chocolate adhere better and contributes to the crackliness upon biting.

Happiness is a chocolate covered strawberry. Try this recipe to have a candy store quality bite. You'll never want anything else.

A Special Home COoked Valentine's Day

 Yes, it will be a different Valentine's Day this year but it's bound to be a special one. Why? Because it will be a home cooked one, from appetizers to dessert. Nothing says "I  love you" more than something from the oven - or stove for that matter. Forget the candy and flowers. Time and effort are the true gifts here.

David Tanis knows this and he gave a full Valentine's Day menu in yesterday's New York Times Food section.  It's the type that can be served in one meal or the courses broken up with the appetizer served on Saturday and the main meal on Sunday. The first course is a mouth watering wild mushroom tart baked in a homemade buttery crust. You can use store bought puff pastry but this is an easy recipe. Just make ti the day or night before. The recipe leaves you with enough dough for two tarts so you can easily make another one midweek. He suggests using chanterelle mushrooms but you can also try a mix of sliced shiitake,  white button , oyster or king trumpet. Portobellos and cremini are also acceptable but would yield a darker , yet still delicious filling. The mushrooms are cooked with onions and garlic and them spread upon the crust which has been slathered with creme fraiche. Parmesan cheese is then sprinkled over the tart's top.It can be sliced into wedges or spices and served warm.

The main course is seared sea scallops with a spicy carrot coulis. This may sound lux but it's actually a simple cook. Mr. Tanis recommends getting what's known as day boat scallions and searing them in a pan or cast iron skillet. To offset the scallops sweetness there is a carrot coulis, a thin sauce made from young carrots cooked in chicken broth. Vinegar and sugar give it an interesting zing and flavor along with cilantro and serrano, Fresno or jalapeno chiles. The sauce is ladled into plates, and the scallops placed on top of it.Add lime wedges for color and flavor. Of course the piece de resistance is dessert. Mr. Tanis doesn't disappoint here. He offers a dark chocolate mousse with candied ginger. It's the classic French one with the egg whites whipped in for that frothiness the dessert is known for. He uses dark chocolate like the 80 to 90 per cent  Ghiradelli and Lindt bars (DO NOT use regular baker's chocolate for this) along with two table spoons orange liqueur such as Gran Marnier. The mousse is then  topped off with fresh made whipped cream and candied ginger, the last for some heat and bite.

Forget the flowers and box of drugstore candy,Make this delicious meal your gift to your sweetie. They will appreciate the time and effort not to mention memory of a fantastic home cooked dinner.

Gifts For The Gourmet Dad

Father's Day is a week away and it's time to start seriously thinking about gifts for his special day. If he's into serious cooking then think about some interesting cooking and baking gadgets and ingredients your gourmet dad may like. It's be a true surprise and a real treat to receive something unusual.

Men love gadgets. That's a given. A gourmet father may enjoy the various ones designed to make cooking  easier. A sous vide or a water oven is the perfect present, especially for the fussy cook. It's basically a water oven that cooks food perfectly. The food is put into a vacuum sealed pouch and then cooked for a period of time. The end result is juicy. flavorful cuts of meat and tender vegetables.  It can even bake a cake ! Everything comes out restaurant perfect every time.  It is pricey at five hundred dollars but dad will get a lot of use out of it. A bit cheaper but still fun is an air fryer. Whatever is cooked in it also comes out perfect. A big plus is that you can cook fried food in the air fryer without all the grease and calories. Price wise they come as low as $39,99 at Target or Wal-Mart. It will get a lot of use. If your father loves the smokiness of a good barbecued rib or chicken, then think about getting him a smoker. These can be pricing with the most expensive starting at $1,200 however you can buy a simple charcoal one for $170 to $180. It can smoke everything from beef to fish  along with chicken and pork.

For dads who love flavor think about exotic spices. Berber spice is big right now, since it can be used in the Moroccan egg dish shakshuka. It can also be used in Ethiopian dishes along with being a tangy rub for chicken and beef cuts.For a more Asian vibe consider a large shaker full of Chinese five spices. One of the pluses is that this can be made at home.It's a mix of star anise, cloves,Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds. You can also add anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg and turmeric.It's great for rubs but also adds to stews and batters for fried foods. For the baker dads,  think about bottles of Neilsen Massey extracts. The company has such interesting and classic flavors as vanilla, peppermint, coffee and lemon.It also sells vanilla paste and sugars which produces a more vibrant vanilla flavor. You can also buy whole vanilla beans that come from such exotic islands as Madagascar and Tahiti along with Mexico. The company also  sells rose and orange blossom water for Greek and Middle Eastern dessert recipes. A box of Ghiradelli baking chocolate is perfect for those dads who love to bake brownies and cakes.

There's plenty to buy for the gourmet dad.  It can be a fun gadget or an interesting spice. Whatever it will be he will love it, that's a guarantee.