Rookie Cookery

Dough Scrap Tarts

When I was a girl, my Mom made these clever cookies (more of a tart, really) out of pie dough and jam.  To this day I can't remember if she had leftover scraps from a pie, or made the dough expressly for these tarts. All I remember is how pretty they were, and how good they tasted. 

Recently I had pie dough scraps left over from making two apple pies for my father-in-law's 90th birthday.  If ever there was a chance to make these tarts, this was it!

I had no recipe,  but I was undeterred.

First I cut out circles of dough.  Then I cut out another set of circles, and then cut a hole in the center of those circles.   This part did not go so well, because I didn't have the proper size of cutter-- a doughnut hole size would have been nice. What I ended up doing was a haphazard combination of cutting and hand-forming a little "ring" of dough, placing each ring on top of a circle, so as to create a little holder for the jam preserves.  It looked like this after they were filled:

I used rasberry jam, but you could use any of your favorite fruit preserves or I suppose even bits of chocolate.

Then I baked the tarts. I started them at 350 degrees for ten minutes, but saw that they were not browning, so I turned up the heat to 425 and they browned nicely with the jam bubbling hot in another ten minutes. Next time I would try it at 450 for ten minutes or so, as if I were blind baking a pie crust.

Warning! These come out of the oven blisteringly hot because of the jam, so fight the urge to bite one right away--let it cool! Yes, the aroma will tantalize you. 

These are so good, I think it might be worth it to make a batch of dough just for these tarts. You can try several jams at once-- rasberry, strawberry, apricot, orange marmelade-- and enjoy their many jeweled colors while they last-- which won't be long!

A Map of Southern Carolina Bar B Que Sauces

In Southern Carolina, there are at least four distinct styles of bar-b-que sauce that are made in the region, with the following dominant flavor notes: vinegar and pepper, tomato, ketchup, and mustard.  How do I know this? From one of my favorite blogs, called Strange Maps, which provides a Saucy Culinary Map of South Carolina according to Bar-B-Que sauce style.

Now you know!

AND, on an unrelated note, due to popular demand, well ok the mildly curious request of a couple of my friends at work, I have FINALLY fixed a couple of Rookie Cookery comix links on the left sidebar.  Namely: comic number two and the Noshing on Fisherman's Wharf comic. I had to change the format on the Wharf comic, and I am still not satisfied with it--the text is hard to read--but how else am I going to learn these blog lessons if not through painstakingly slow and arduous and at times futile challenges such as these? I ask you?

A Chocolate Tasting with Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates

Tell people you're going to a wine or cheese tasting and they might be interested. Tell them you are going to a chocolate tasting and they are downright fascinated!

Ginger Elizabeth is a petite, brunette spitfire of a woman (pictured above with a photo from her own web site at gingerelizabeth.com ) who has a passion for chocolate, and the talent and drive to offer her own superbly crafted artisinal chocolate confections in a highly competetive market.  When my pal Garrett from Vanilla Garlic invited a small group of us Sacramento and Davis area food bloggers to a chocolate tasting with Ginger,  I was quick to get my name on the list. 

I am not one of those people (of which there are legion) who is a fanatic about chocolate. I do enjoy the occasional chocolate extravagance however, and I do have strong opinions on the quality of the chocolate I am eating.  Nothing is more disappointing than biting into a piece of chocolate that is waxy, oily or tasteless. 

Ginger Elizabeth's chocolates make me understand why people go out of their way to track down The Good Stuff.  She works with the finest raw, fresh ingredients using the traditional methods of European chocolatiers, bringing her own keen taste and experience to the party.  Her youthful appearance and years belie the amount of actual training and experience she has under her belt-- experience and craft that becomes fully apparent the moment one of her confections begins to melt on your tongue.

Lest you think the chocolate tasting was merely an excuse to sample generously from Ginger's truffles, (which we did), the experience was also educational.  Ginger explained where chocolate comes from,  how it is cultivated and processed,  and the complex chemistry involved to transform cocoa beans into world class chocolate.  From mixing and grinding, to tempering and  blending  and adding  fresh  fruit and other flavors, Ginger  gave us an overview of the combination of science and magic that go into her art.

We ate our way around that little white plate of  chocolates, starting with the tiny chocolate nibs--the purest and unrefined essence of chocolate.  Often we broke apart the pieces and saved  tender morsels in a little plastic bag for later indulgence. This is heady stuff:  Dense, creamy, the essence of luscious ganache.  The textures were voluptuous, the flavors intense and surprising.

Ginger encouraged us to compare each uniquely crafted bite. After the nibs, we tasted two different "plain" chocolates from manufacturers who used different chocolate beans, so we could begin to discern the differences in the taste due to the "terroir" of the beans themselves (much as one does with coffee beans from different parts of the world).  We also tasted a bit of pure cocoa butter,  which, while not tasty of itself, gave us a sense of the richness it offers a quality chocolate (as opposed to the insipid taste of oil or wax in the cheap stuff).

Then we moved eagerly to the confections Ginger creates with her own unique blend of these chocolates and flavorings:

First we tasted the traditional European style Palet D'Or, with it's signature glint of gold on it's glossy surface. Found all over Europe, this is the purest essence of a chocolate ganache, without further elaboration wanted. Sublime.

Then we sampled Ginger's signature offerings: First her Meyer Lemon truffle-- her current best seller for good reason.  She uses every part of the lemon--the zest, the juice--and it's wonderful-- a lovely twist on the more common chocolate and orange combination that is so popular.

Then my personal favorite (so far)-- her Olmec Spice, which features notes of vanilla, chiles, ginger and cinnamon.  Rich, with a seductive burning finish. Spectacular!

The Passion Fruit was the only milk chocolate based truffle we sampled, and it was a little miracle the way the fruit sang through the chocolate in perfect harmony, neither too loud nor too soft.

Some of us donned a hair net so we could inspect the tiny but efficient kitchen where Ginger performs her alchemy. Here's a few snaps:

There are truffles aplenty,  sixteen different types alone named in the helpful illustrated guide that comes in each box of chocolates you can buy. I bought a sampler of six truffles to take home to my family for our own little tasting party, and there are sampler boxes available in quantities of six, twelve, twenty-four or forty-eight pieces. Ginger also makes fabulous cakes, bars, and a frozen treat that is sure to be a big hit here in Sacramento when the summer temperatures soar.

Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates is located in mid town Sacramento at 1801 L Street, Suite 60.  Stroll on in for a little indulgence or a gift for that special someone. Or visit her web site at gingerelizabeth.com  and have decadence delivered to your door. 

Blood Oranges: No Such Thing As Bad Fruit, Only Ignorant Gardeners (Me)

Blood oranges got their name from the deep red color of their juice and fruit.  They are usually very  sweet and delicious. I love them. For a great article on the virtues of  blood oranges, look no further than Simply Recipes by my friend Elise.

Our tree produces lots of fruit, but I am sad to say they are uncharacteristically sour.  When we first moved into this house three and a half years ago, the neighbors said "That tree has bad fruit." Of course I thought that was absurd! How could a blood orange tree have bad fruit? But although I eat the fruit, I must admit it is barely edible.

I blame myself.  Surely we must not be feeding or watering the tree correctly?  Or perhaps the soil in our garden lacks some essential nutrient. In any case, I refuse to admit defeat.  I am feeding it with citrus food, beginning a program of slow and deep (but not too frequent) waterings.  I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Fruit Bowl