One minor quibble with his preparation: you really do need to bind the ribs up with twine. So much of that collagen around the bone will dissolve, it's important to keep the pieces together because the bones help keep the meat submerged in the braising liquid.

Anyway. I both gave and received chocolate this holiday.

I received an absolutely wonderful bar of chocolate made by Santander and enjoyed its fruity, coffee-like notes. I do admit that I fear that "Single Origin" will become the new culinary fetish term.

I should add as a side-note that there was an interesting piece on NPR this evening about a French woman who works as a chocolate taster. Worth a listen.

For my part, I opted for homemade. Truffles are deceptively easy. One is often tempted to monkey with the basic firm-ganache formula of 2 to 1. Do not add sugar, or butter or salt, or too much extra liquid. Just... chocolate.

Zen-Like Truffles

2 parts Dark Chocolate(~60-70%)
1 Part Heavy Cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or spirits (Kaluah, Amaretto, etc.)

(cocoa powder, for dusting, is also optional)

Chop the chocolate into very small pieces.

Add the (whatever) to the cream. Bring to a boil.

Pour cream on chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Stir until the chocolate has melted and is glossy.

Pour the mixture into a soup bowl, cover with wrap and let cool. The soup bowl will allow for easy scooping.

Use a melon baller to portion out little spheres of chocolatey goodness.

Place spheres in the freezer for a few minutes to re-firm.

Smooth spheres into more careful spheres with your fastidiously clean hands.

Dust spheres with chocolate...

Package and send to your Valentine. Or just eat em'

Posted by Jeff at 11:58PM :: Permalink :: Leave Comment

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