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Chocolate  Tart

10/22/2014

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An easy recipe for chocolate lovers with only three tablespoons of sugar added.
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We are spending some time at our cabin in the Sierras and my sister-in-law and her family are coming to dinner. My husband is barbecuing his famous rack of lamb. Usually, I make my stuffed tomatoes with them, but as we were driving up the mountain, we bought fresh corn at a food stand. It had just been picked. So the menu changed, and we are now having corn and tiny potatoes with the rack of lamb. Everything is barbecued by the Grillmeister (master of grilling) himself. That leaves me in charge of the salad and dessert. Early this morning, the woodpecker woke me up (he thinks our cabin tastes yummy). This time of the day is the best for getting halfway decent cell phone reception, so I looked for some recipes involving raspberries. I had brought some beautiful organic ones up the mountains and even after an occasional nibble, I had some left. I came upon an old Gourmet magazine that I used as a reference. I did use their tart crust recipe, but thought it could be improved. The ganache was outstanding; I used orange chocolate and my orange marmalade. The original recipe called for Kahlua or coffee-flavored liqueur, but I used creme cassis instead. Everybody loved it and ate a lot. The mountains give you a healthy appetite.
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Fast forward and I'm home again. This time, instead of using a 9-inch tart form, I made  individual tarts. I also used a different crust recipe. This was simpler and less sugary. I think it complements the chocolate flavor. This is not a sweet dessert. The whole recipe has only two tablespoons of sugar in the crust, as well as the sugar that was added to the chocolate. What it does have is a strong, full chocolate flavor. It is divine! If you are a chocolate lover, this recipe Is for you. It is important that you use very good-quality chocolate. I love to cook with Lindt chocolate and I found an orange dark chocolate called theo at Whole Foods. This chocolate and my orange marmalade add a citrus taste to the chocolate ganache.
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Pinecrest Lake
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Our little cabin in the woods
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Two weeks later, and I'm still not happy with my crust. Everybody liked it, but I'm on the search for the perfect crust. It’s the German in me. The second crust recipe was very easy to make, a little bit more flaky and complemented the strong chocolate flavor. I made the second crust one more time using the food processor and cooling the dough a little more before baking. Voila! I  had a winner. I ran out of orange marmalade and used plum jam instead, and for the chocolate I used cherry-flavored chocolate with tiny pieces of almonds in them—very nice with a wonderful flavor and the tart is delicious without the raspberries. I just like to have a little nibble when I have a cup of tea. You will be able to make this tart in no time, yes it is easy to make.
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The rolled out dough
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Adding the ganache to the baked crust
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Enjoy!
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My collection of tartlet forms
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Blind baking the tartlets by adding some weight to the dough.
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Cooling the tartlets before adding the ganache
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

The pâte brisée (crust):
1 9-inch tart form with removable bottom
8 TBS chilled butter (113 g ) cut into ½ inch cubes
1 generous cups of flour (140 g)
2 TBS sugar
a pinch of salt 
3 TBS ice water

Ganache:
6 ounces best quality bittersweet chocolate 
cut into small pieces
½ cup whipping cream
1tsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp Creme Cassis or other flavored liquor 
½ cup orange marmelade 
Raspberries (optional)
Directions:

The crust:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Sift flour,salt , and sugar into food processor.  Using on/off to pulse, mix flour mixture. Add butter and process with the on/off a until coarse meal forms. Add 3 TBS of ice water and mix until moist clumps form. Add another tablespoon of ice water if needed. Gather dough into a ball , flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. 
Roll out dough among two pieces of floured plastic wrap, put into 9-inch tart form with a removable bottom and trim overhang. Freeze for 10 minutes . Bake crust until golden about 20 minutes; cool. 

The Ganache:
 In a small heavy sauce pan bring the cream to a boil. Immediately pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Stir in  the cassis , vanilla and marmalade. Pour ganache into cooled crust and smooth top. Cool the tart and decorate with raspberries before serving.



Guten Appetit!
recipe by ©sunnycovechef.com
​​
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Asian Shiitaki Mushrooms Stuffed With Pork

10/8/2014

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Think stuffed mushrooms with an Asian twist
In the old days, when you waited for an appointment at the doctor’s office or the hairdresser, you read magazines that were nicely stacked on tables. Today, there are just a few left and you wonder about germs and almost everybody is holding their electric devices playing Words with Friends or whatever. I miss those trashy magazines and still look at them if they are available,  but I also play Scrabble and Words with Friends. Years ago, I found this recipe in one of those magazines and since it was an advertisement for a Sonoma wine, I ripped out the page.  Normally, I ask someone to make me a copy. I found many recipes like this that are part of my cooking repertoire. Personally, I would have never thought of this recipe and the combination of ingredients. It is delicious and has a wonderful flavor with an Asian twist to it. The water chestnuts give it a nice crunch and the ginger goes well with the pork and the shiitake mushrooms. What is there not to like?! The shiitakes act as a little bowl for the pork and is a culinary delight at any party or gathering as an appetizer. Serve it on top of salad with some crusty bread, and you have a delicious lunch or light dinner. ​
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I use different sized shiitakes, which I think is nice for different appetites. The dipping sauce gives it a wonderful flavor. I never tried it, but you could substitute button mushrooms for the shiitake ones. ​
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Browning the Stuffing
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Frying the mushrooms
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Bon Appetite
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Different sized Mushrooms
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The Stuffing
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Stuffing the Mushrooms
Print Recipe
Ingredients: 

12-20 shiitake mushrooms 

4 TBS soy sauce
4 TBS rice vinegar
½-1 tbs Siracha chili sauce
5 tsp fresh ginger (minced)
1 lb. or less ground pork 
½  cup minced water chestnuts 
2 scallions (thinly sliced)
1 TBS cornstarch
1 large garlic (minced) 
1 ½ tbs salt 
½ tbs pepper
1 TBS vegetable oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°.

For the dipping sauce, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce and 3 tsp of the ginger in a bowl.

Clean the mushrooms and take the stems off. I freeze the stems for making homemade broth. In a bowl, mix the pork with the water chestnuts, scallions, cornstarch, garlic, salt, pepper and the remaining 2 teaspoons of ginger. Fill the mushroom caps with the pork mixture. In a very large, ovenproof non-stick skillet, heat the oil. Add the mushrooms, pork side down and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook for one minute. Transfer the skillet to an oven and bake for about 7 minutes or until the pork is cooked. Serve with the dipping sauce. 

Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Grace Parisi 
by©Sunnycovechef
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A Week in Stockholm

10/6/2014

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Stockholm in October
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One of the town Squares in Stockholm
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The old historic part of Stockholm
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Selling wild chanterelles and berries in Stockholm
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One day my niece took us on a lovely walk across the city. We went on a foot path above the town with some tiny parks and a great view of Stockholm and ended the walk along the river with boats that had been turned into hotels and a youth hostel. 

Our trip in October to Stockholm was unexpected. I loved it because I had my niece all to myself and didn't have to share her with the rest of the family. Our flight had a lay-over in Newark, New Jersey and  we had a great lunch at the Grant Central Station Oyster Bar. The original one in New York City being one of my favorites. Once we arrived in Stockholm we took the Arlanda Express, the fast train to town down Stockholm. The taxis in Stockholm are not controlled and can be astronomical expansive. The Arlanda Express is clean and has wifi. We were able to walk to our hotel which was convenient located near the old part of town. On the first night, after taking a nap, we took a nice walk through the old part of town. 
Here you find cafes restaurants and tourist stores. It gets much more interesting and local if you walk up the little side streets . It is here that we ate the next night. The restaurant "KRIP IN" was  recommended by an employer at our hotel. It served regional cooking at its best . My husband had venison, I had a delicious chanterelle salad  and my niece had a chanterelle soup. We  all shared  a local berry desert. ​
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Another day we took the trolly  to the Vasa Museum. Here you find a restored wooden war ship that sank on her maiden voyage in the Stockholm harbor in 1628. It is amazing to realize how much work and effort it took to restore this ship. I also loved the fantastic video display they had showing life around the world in 1628.  In my opinion the Vasa Museum is a must see when in Stockholm . I'm sorry I missed the  Pippi Longstocking Museum, Junibacken, my  beloved childhood character from Astrid Lindgren. ​

During our time in Stockholm we also visited the royal  palace which is very nice except very often parts of the palace are closed if  there is some sort of State function. ​
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The Museum of Photographs was interested . I enjoyed the Smørbrød, an open sandwich I had in the Museum cafeteria . Here we had a nice chat with the locals. ​

It was great to visit with my niece and get to see a city I've never been to.  I'm glad I decided to do this despite the long flight
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We took two boat rides, one a city tour which was very nice and we saw the outer parts of Stockholm. We took another longer boat ride to Vaxholm, a cute little coastal town in  Stockholm's archipelago . It reminds me of Carmel in California . Unfortunately the bakery that was suppose to be outstanding was closed for the winter but fortunately we found a bistro with good food where we had lunch. ​
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    WELCOME TO SUNNY COVE CHEF

    Thank you for visiting my blog.  My two passions are cooking and traveling. Traveling exposes me to a wide variety of food and experiences. I walk around cities looking for markets, restaurants, bakeries, shops, you name it, and if it is related to food you will find me there, tasting, smelling, talking to vendors, and having a great time.

    ​
    If you  have tried any of my recipes, snap a photo and tag me @sunnycovechef I'd love to see your creations!​


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