Ready for Miami adventure

Written last night:

Dear Friends, 

I am home after an early dinner with new friends at a restaurant around the corner that I never went to before. Now to bed!

The alarm is set for 3 a.m. The other alarm is set for 3:05. One of my dinner friends — Liz — said she'll call me at 3:10 because she and her husband will be up then too; they are flying to Massachusetts early tomorrow.  Right now I’m relaxing on the couch and feel like I could fall asleep here. But I won’t because it’s too far from the the alarm clocks. 

The uber driver just texted me that she’ll be here on time — really, everything seems in place.

And just in case you wondered about those truffles: I gave them (with a Starbucks certificate) to Jacqui, who manages the office here, and asked her to give another plate to the young woman who dusts all the hallways. There in Jacqui’s office was a man who joked,  “Where are mine? Where’s the love??” So I ran upstairs and brought him a little plate. And then I got my hair trimmed, and Marisa the gorgeous hairdresser told me she loves food. “Do you like chocolate?” I asked. She rolled her eyes: “Oh, I live for chocolate!” So a little later I dropped off the last small plate of truffles for Marisa at The Hair Garage. She was on the second floor when she saw me arrive, and she rushed down. “Oh, I was so excited that I almost fell down the stairs!” she said.

If you have a batch of caramel walnut truffles you will not have a hard time giving them away. It was Christmas fun.

I plan to keep in touch with you daily, but if you don’t hear from me it’s because Miami has captivated me — again. 

 Love, 
k

Lebkuchen, step one: Candied orange peel

Candied orange peel
good by itself,
dipped in chocolate.
or flavoring lbekuchen

Can't help myself -- I've just got to bake lebkuchen, a traditional German cookie, for Christmas. Yesterday I took the first step -- candied orange peel. I used a slightly different recipe from the one I posted a couple years ago. Right off, I can't really tell the difference, except this one is a little easier. Most of this will go in the cookies, and any peel left over will get dipped in melted Belgian chocolate. Truly, that is as delicious as the lebkuchen. But Christmas will not happen without lebkuchen.

Candied orange peel

2 large oranges (I used navel oranges, and I used three, since they weren't that big.)
4 C. sugar, divided
3 C. water

Cut 1/4 inch from the top and bottom of the oranges. Cut the peel down to the flesh in half, then in half again. Remove the peel, pith and all.  You will have four pieces per orange. Cut each into quarter-inch-wide strips. Cook the peel in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain it, then rinse it and drain it again.

Bring 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water to a boil and cook it until the sugar dissolves. This won't take long. Put the peel in and boil it again. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until the peel is soft; 45 minutes worked fine for me.

Drain the peel. Put a cup of sugar onto a rimmed baking sheet. (I use the large crystals that you can find in the baking department of fancier grocery stores. It adds crunch. This time I didn't have quite enough, so I mixed it with regular sugar.) Toss the peel in the sugar. The peel will be limp, but don't worry.

Transfer the peel to a sheet of foil. Make sure it is not bunched up. Each strip of peel should have a little air around it. Let it stand until dry. This could take two days, depending.

Pralines

Pralines with rubber ball that lights up when you  catch it

Pralines aren't exactly pretty, but they are delicious -- especially at Mardi gras. (OK, my photo doesn't do them justice.)
I made these this morning, toasting the pecans 8-10 minutes first. Also, I used my favorite tool, the immersion blender, for beating them when the temperature reached 220°.  If you do that, be sure to stop as soon as it looks creamy. I cut four pieces of wax paper, each one the length of a cookie sheet. Then I cut them in half lengthwise and four times crosswise. I placed the pralines one to a piece. This way the pralines were ready to be wrapped when cool. I've tried other recipes, and this is the only one that calls for a cup of cream. Just rich enough and sweet enough.

I couldn't make the link go directly to the Epicurious recipe, so I've copied it here, with a few changes.

Pralines

• 
  
• 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted

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preparation

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan combine the sugars, the cream, the salt, and the cream of tartar, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side with damp paper towels  until the sugar is dissolved, and boil it over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until a candy thermometer registers 238°F. Remove the pan from the heat, let the mixture cool until the candy thermometer registers 220°F., and stir in the butter and the vanilla. Beat the mixture until it is creamy and stir in the pecan halves. Working quickly, drop the mixture by tablespoon onto the wax paper pieces and let the pralines cool. Store them in airtight container in a cool place. The pralines keep for 2 weeks. But that's unlikely!

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pralines-13543#ixzz2KigCcmCR

Candied nuts

Dear Gretchen,
I lost the recipe you wanted. Mom's candied walnuts were great, and I know I've got the recipe around here somewhere. But I haven't found it yet.
So I looked for a similar recipe online and I think here's a better one. The coating's not as thick as I remember Mom's was, but these are delicious and easy. I made them last night, with pecans and dark brown sugar. It was so easy and quick and so delicious. There--I've said it again! I put  1 1/2 C. pecans and 1/2 C. brown sugar into my heavy copper saucepan and cooked over medium flame for five minutes, stirring all the time.

Next time I could try plain brown sugar and toast the nuts ahead of time, but why mess with perfection?
(Dec. 2 -- I just did this -- toast pecans and use plain brown sugar -- and it's definitely down on the flavor scale. I'm sticking to dark brown sugar for this, and, to my surprise, I won't even toast the pecans. This time I think that extra layer of flavor fights with the simple sweet perfection.)

This is another recipe, probably more like Mom's. But I think Mom would choose the new recipe.

Pralines for Mardi Gras

Backyard pecan trees this morning

These are pecan trees. It's where pralines come from.

I made some yesterday -- Mardi Gras was the excuse. Here's the recipe, from The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima and Richard Collin, who wrote it in 1974 and dedicated it "For the city and the people of New Orleans."

The squirrels eat our pecans, so we buy them at the farmers' market. They're harvested in the fall. You can order fresh pecans from many places, such as Sheffield Pecans. You probably won't want grocery store pecans ever again.

I always toast pecans first. Spread them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 350° oven until you get a toasty whiff, between 5 and 10 minutes. Watch carefully, so they don't burn.

Pralines

1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. milk
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 C. butter (They call for salted, but I used unsalted and it was fine.)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 21/2 C. pecan halves (toasted)

Combine the sugars, salt, milk, and cream of tartar. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, wiping the crystals from the side of the pan with a rubber spatula. Cook to 236°-238° on a candy thermometer, then cool to 220°. Add the butter, vanilla, and pecans and beat until creamy. They say use a wire whisk, but I used my immersion blender. When it began to thicken, I switched to a sturdy wooden spoon (not the long-handled one). Don't beat too long. I've done that before, and you end up with grainy candy. If you're a fudge-maker, don't beat as long as you would for fudge. Stop just before that.

While still soft, drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. (They say butter it, but that's not necessary.)  When the pralines cool and firm up, cut the waxed paper between them and wrap each one.

They say leave 4 inches between the candies, but that wasn't enough. I ended up cutting more waxed paper squares,  about 7" squares. Of course, it depends on the size of your candies. I made them two or three bites worth. After I wrapped them I taped them shut because they kept popping open. Clark said he felt guilty eating them after I'd gone to all that trouble.  But he managed.