Feist, Lonely Lonely
(Billy Vanilly Remix)
It’s easy to run to others. It’s so hard to stand on one’s own record. You can fake virtue for an audience. You can’t fake it in your own eyes. Your ego is your strictest judge. They run from it. They spend their lives running. It’s easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement. It’s simple to seek substitutes for competence, such easy substitutes: love, charm, kindness, charity. But there is no substitute for competence.
— Ayn Rand (via creatingaquietmind)
(via teachingliteracy)
Culinary Adventures: Spicy Chocolate Bark
I never say this about chocolate, but with this recipe: one piece will do ya.
At first bite, you taste the creamy chocolate and sweet, sour, chewy Montmercy cherry and you think to yourself: this is fabulous, let me grab another handful. But wait. Keep chewing. As the ground cayenne red pepper and muchi curry flood your tongue with warmth the richness of the milk chocolate and pecan lingers just long enough to prevent you from breaking a sweat.
Serves: about 20 1” pieces
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 1 hr 30 minutes
Ingredients
20 oz semi-sweet milk chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 tablespoons ground cayenne red pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons muchi curry powder
2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons dried sour Montmercy cherries
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Get Cooking
Using a double boiler melt half the chocolate. Stir in the butter - the chocolate will tighten slightly, but don’t worry. Add the remaining chocolate melt until thick and smooth. Add the cayenne pepper, curry powder, and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir well. Taste the chocolate. If it needs more heat or salt, add to your preference. Stir in nearly all of the cherries and pecans, reserving a small amount to sprinkle on top of the bark.
Butter a piece of parchment paper and use it to line a baking sheet. Pour your spicy chocolate onto the parchment and spread out evenly with a spatula (you can make the bark as thick as you like; I made mine about 1/2” thick). Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more) and a handful of cherries and pecans on top. Blast chill the bark in the freezer for at least an hour.
When you’re ready to break apart the chocolate bark into pieces: use a butcher knife to cut squares from the chocolate mass.
Store the bark in an airtight container or Ziplock bag, in the fridge, for up to a month.
Posted December 27, 2011 at 12:35pm
Culinary Adventures: Crab Mac-n-Cheese
There are no photos, because we ate it too quickly! It’s that good. Trust me.
CRAB MAC-N-CHEESE
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total cook time: 1 hr 15 minutes
Ingredients
16 oz (2 cups) orecchiette pasta (you can use whatever pasta you want. I liked how the “little ears” served as vessels to trap every last bit of cheese and crab)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 gallon whole milk, warmed
4 cloves garlic, left whole
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/3 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
2 tsp anchovy paste
16 oz lump crab meat (during colder months: pick up a quality pasteurized can. During warmer months: spend the money and pick up fresh picked. Trust me. It’s worth it).
8 oz white cheddar, shredded (your favorite kind, sharp or mild; I used an Aussie (mild) kind)
8 oz yellow sharp cheddar, shredded
6-8 oz gouda, shredded (hard, I used a Dutch kind)
Get Cooking
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cook your pasta until just al dente. Drain, salt and toss (so as not to stick together), and set aside.
Warm (don’t boil) your milk on the stove. In a separate pot/pan on medium heat, make a rue with the butter and flour - I never use an exact ratio of butter to flour (the raw flour taste never dissipates for me if I do). Keep the heat on medium and make sure no flour lumps are left. While stirring, slowly add the warmed milk by the cupful until your béchamel is homogeneous. Add the garlic cloves, salt, wine, and anchovy paste. Stir and cook for 3-4 mins or until anchovy paste has distributed evenly. Turn the heat to low, and stir occasionally while the sauce cooks for another 8 mins.
Meanwhile, pick through your crab meat to remove unwanted shells. Drain and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess water. Set aside.
Turn off the heat to your béchamel and drain the sauce through a sieve into a large bowl. Discard the garlic. Pour the garlic-infused sauce back into the pot/pan and add the shredded white and yellow cheddar. Stir well until cheese has incorporated and sauce is nice and thick. Fold in the crab meat and stir until the crab and sauce are happy together.
Place your cooked pasta in a large casserole dish. Pour in your béchamel cheese sauce, and fold and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate the sauce (I prefer this method over adding the pasta to the sauce, but you can do whatever works for you). Once the sauce and pasta are happy together, add the shredded gouda on top. Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the top edges of the cheese start to brown. Bump up the temperature to 375F and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
ENJOY!
Posted December 21, 2011 at 10:28am
