Je Mange la Ville is going on Spring Break. Back in about a week!

This month’s Sugar High Friday is hosted by Chocolate in Context and the theme is — wait for it — chocolate. But, ha, not just any chocolate, raw chocolate — “an unrefined cacao product, such as cacao beans, cacao nibs, cocoa butter, or cocoa powder.” After some thought, I chose nibs, as I thought they would be easy to find. However, the store I was completely sure would have nibs (Pasta Works) did not. So sad. And I didn’t really feel like trudging over to Zupan’s searching for nibs.

*Sigh*

I was nibless.

But, I did have a box of cocoa powder in the cabinet. So, that’s what I used. I also utilized some crushed almonds as a coating. About half in the powder and half in the almonds. Everyone’s happy. Especially me because these are delicious.

The flavor is smooth, rich and cool. And oh so good. Definitely use Meyer lemons. All tarty sweet, no bitterness. The combination with the dark chocolate and hint of thyme flavor is out of this world. I upped the lemon juice content on advice from the Epicurious reviews and decreased the cream. I found the ganache smooth and very easy to work with. This is the first time I’ve ever made truffles and I have to say, I can’t wait to make some more!

Meyer Lemon & Thyme Truffles
Adapted from Bon Appétit magazine.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
9 ounces high–quality bittersweet chocolate chopped
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
3 tbsp fresh Meyer lemon juice (this will be about 1 lemon)
1 tsp Meyer lemon peel zest (yellow part only)
cocoa nibs (broken up into small pieces or cocoa powder or chopped almonds (or a combination)

Bring the cream and thyme to simmer in heavy small saucepan.

Let sit for 15 minutes, then bring back to barely simmering, remove from heat and strain the hot cream over the chocolate pieces.

My extremely “foodie” mix of Trader Joe’s bittersweet chips and pieces of Dagoba 50-something% chocolate

Add the zest and juice and stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until ganache is firm enough to work with. Use a small ice cream scoop (you can also use a tablespoon or two spoons, and shape little balls of chocolate.

Roll the truffles in the broken nibs, crushed almonds or cocoa powder. Try to touch the truffles as little as possible, trying to use mostly just your fingers (your fingers are cooler than your palm). Place on a parchment lined sheet to store.

I found it helpful to do half, then stick the ganache back in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Store the truffles in the fridge, on parchment paper, in a covered container. To serve, let sit at room temperature for a little bit before eating. Or not. Seriously, these are really good no matter what, I’m sure.

Thanks again to Chocolate in Context and The Domestic Goddess, the originator of the SHF event. Now, what to do with those extra lemons, as I bought three at the store. Hmmm, I think there will be a Meyer Lemon Drop with my name on it tonight after work!

I just made this to bring to a potluck at work and I think I’m in love with it. jwa and I had some for dinner tonight (I made extra) and it was so good. I highly recommend it. I’ve adapted it from Bon Appétit magazine, by adding the cheese, cilantro and tortilla strips. Oh and a little hot sauce.

Funny story — when I read through the recipe I could have sworn it said “figs”, to which I thought, oh! awesome, I have just about that many in a bag at home!. Then, when I got ready to make the salad, I reread the recipe and realized it said “dates”. Oops. Well, I used the dried figs anyway and I think they worked just fine. Dates (or figs) and honey may sound weird in a dressing for black beans, but it all comes together very well. I did find that I really did like it with a few dashes of the green Tabasco sauce, though.

The salad would probably also be very good with a diced avocado added to the mix — this was jwa’s suggestion. I think it’s a pretty good one.

Black Bean Salad with Bell Peppers and Tortilla Strips
Serves 6-8

Vinaigrette
1/2 cup water
16 dates (about 4 ounces), pitted, chopped — or, you know, figs’ll work too
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (3-4 limes, depending on how much juice you get from each one)
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp dried oregano
4 tsp honey
4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
dash or two of hot sauce (I used jalapeno Tabasco)
salt & pepper

Salad
4 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped yellow or orange bell pepper (I used a little of both kinds)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup crumbled Cotija cheese (you could substitute cubed cheddar or crumbled feta)
3 corn tortillas, halved , then cut into strips
1/3 cup canola oil
salt

Boil water and dates in heavy small saucepan for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour to soften.

Transfer date mixture to blender. Add lime juice, oil, oregano, honey, cumin and coriander. Then purée. The mixture will be nice and thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (This can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature before using.)

Heat oil in a large skillet and fry the tortilla strips (in batches if necessary), until crisp. Salt and let cool on paper towels.

Combine beans, bell peppers, onion, cheese and cilantro in large bowl. Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat nicely. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Top with tortilla strips.

And look — your compost pile will be happy too!

Just when I start to think about changing the blog theme to something more Springy, it gets all cold again. The kind of weather where you want to make a creamy sauce and bake something in it. Something like potatoes. The kind of weather where there’s a pork tenderloin involved in the whole thing as well.

I started with an idea — mmmmm…lavender and goat cheese — and ended up with a whole meal.

Lavender-Goat Cheese Potatoes
This made two 1-cup ramekins. In fact I had a little extra sauce left over. I’m sure I will be able to figure something out. My point is though, if you want to double this, add another potato, then double the whole recipe, and it should serve around 6).

3 small yellow potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thinly, peeled or unpeeled, your choice (figure about 1.5 potatoes per person for a generous serving)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups fat free, 2% or full fat milk (I used fat-free and it was very creamy)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dried culinary lavender
2 oz goat cheese
dash of nutmeg
salt & pepper
1/4 cup + 2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
Some non-stick spray or some butter
Garnish: A sprig or two of fresh lavender

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the milk and lavender to a small pot and bring to a simmer (don’t boil). Let the lavender steep for a few minutes.

Melt the butter in a larger pan over medium-high heat and add the garlic. Saute for two minutes and then add the flour. Let that cook for a couple of minutes more and then strain the hot milk into the roux. Whisk until smooth. It should bubble and thicken. Reduce the heat and add the goat cheese, whisking until melted.

Then add the nutmeg, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and a little salt and pepper. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Spray individual ramekins with non-stick spray (or coat with a little butter) and ladle a little of the sauce in the bottom.

Layer a few potato slices around the bottom and cover with sauce. repeat until you reach the top. Ladle a generous amount of sauce on top and cover each with a teaspoon of Parmesan and some black pepper. Give a quick spray with canola or olive oil or dot with butter.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until the potatoes are nice and tender and the tops are golden. Garnish with fresh lavender if available (our plants are still sleeeping for the Winter…).

Now, what to serve with the potatoes? I know — how about some Parmesan-sage crusted pork tenderloin? Well, okay then.

Parmesan-Sage Crusted Pork Tenderloin
Will feed about 3 — double it for 6.
1 pork tenderloin
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp good quality dried, rubbed sage
salt
pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Blend the cheese, sage and a few grinds black pepper in a shallow dish. Before dredging, sprinkle the pork with a little salt on all sides. Then, lay the tenderloin over the cheese and push down. Turn over and repeat. You can also kind of pat the cheese and sage into the pork. When you are doe it should look something like this.

If you don’t mind an extra step, you could also coat the pork in Dijon mustard before dredging. I was just too lazy to do that. Heat an oven proof skillet and add the oil. Sear pork on all sides. Then, pop in the oven for 15 minutes or so, until the pork registers about 150-155 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

If you wanted a sauce to go with your pork, when you put the pork in the oven, add about a cup of chicken broth to another small pot, along with about a tablespoon of dried lavender, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a splash of wine, and a teaspoon of Herbes de Provence. Put it over medium-high heat. This way, it can reduce on the stovetop while the pork cooks in the oven. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, reducing by about half.

If there isn’t a lot of Parmesan fall-off in you pork skillet(after you remove it from the oven, of course), strain the reduced sauce into the pork pan and continue to reduce for another minute or so. Taste and add salt/pepper as needed. Finish by melting about a half tablespoon of butter into the sauce.

Serve everything with the vegetable of your choice. I chose roasted carrots. Excellent. jwa thought so too. Now go ahead and finish the wine you opened for the sauce with dinner and call it a tasty, not-quite-Spring-yet night.

Hooray for crusty cheese!

Saturday, jwa and I headed to the Dundee/Dayton area in Yamhill County, where the wine flows like, uh, water or somethng. Seriously, so much wine, so little time. You could not throw a rock and not hit a winery. Add to this, it was a beautiful day (high of 66 and blue skies).

Here’s what we saw and did.

The first stop was at Red Ridge Farms in Dundee. Of course, google maps got us a little lost and it directed us to Sokol Blosser instead of the farm (not necessarily a bad thing) but we eventually found our way to the herb farm.

They had a greenhouse open, along with many herbs, olive trees, herbs, flowers and a small store with olive oil, some art and other things. They were also having a wine tasting — this will be a theme of this post.

View from the balcony. It’s hard to see but the hills are covered with grape plants. Trees? Shrubs? Whatever. It’s all grapes, all the time.

Above the store, there is a great little apartment you can rent. It has a full kitchen, living room and bedroom. But the best part may just be the balcony. It overlooks hills and vineyards — maybe Domaine Serene and the previously mentioned Sokol Blosser, but I could be wrong there. I’m probably wrong. It was hilly and it was grapes. I know I’m right about that, though.

I captured a little bug in this shot

After checking out the farm and walking around, we got back on 99 and headed again to Dundee. Once there, we stopped at Argyle, which is one of our favorite wines.

Here, we tasted some brut, some riesling, a pinot and some merlot. jwa carried the box of six wines to the car afterwards.

The Argyle Nuthouse — unfortunately the Nuthouse Pinot and Chardonnay weren’t ready to taste yet

They also had some cheese, crackers and other snacks out but we were saving ourselves for lunch.

Argyle porch — cute!

Lunch at the Dundee Bistro, which is conveniently across the street.

I started with the cauliflower & manchego cheese soup — which was amazing — and a glass of the Ponzi pinot.

Then, we moved on to halibut fish and chips (jwa) and coq au vin for me. Both were really good.

How to finish the day? A slice of lemon-marscapone cheesecake with an espresso crust, bittersweet chocolate drizzle and white chocolate shavings.

Yeah, it was really good. After all that, we drove back to Portland (well jwa drove back as he just tasted at Argyle and had ice tea at Dundee Bistro). Not a bad way to spend a sunny St. Patrick’s Day Saturday afternoon!

Places:
Red Ridge Farms
5510 NE Breyman Orchards Road
Dayton, Oregon 97114

Sokol Blosser
5000 Sokol Blosser Lane
Dundee, OR 97115

Argyle Winery
691 Highway 99W
Dundee, Oregon 97115

Dundee Bistro
100-A SW Seventh Street
Dundee, OR 97115

Google Map of Red Ridge Farms and Surrounding Wineries