Sunday, January 27, 2013

The weeks have flown by and here we are at the end of January, already! Saturday, the 26th, I flew to Maui from Reno to start a private chef job for two weeks. I know, tough isn't it?

My plane arrived at 2pm Saturday. My employer picked me up and off we went to Ka'anapali to stay at Ka'anapoli Shores. The condo is a corner unit and is about 20 feet from the beach. Talk about a great work place! We took a walk up the beach for exercise and to look at the different properties along the ocean front.

Saturday evening I was taken out to dinner (resting up the day of my arrival) at Merriman's Restaurant in Kapalua, right up the road from Ka'anapoli. The restaurant is right at the edge of the beach with a fabulous view of the sunset. I had Scallops with Bacon and a corn salsa and a half lobster tail. Yum! For dessert, I had masalades filled with white chocolate. These are little beignets, really, tossed with powdered sugar and delivered to your table in a little paperbag. It came with a caramel dipping sauce.

Sunday morning, the 27th, we went off to the grocery store (Foodland Farms) to shop for supplies for the rest of the week. The only problem with cooking in an unknown environment is that you never know what pots and pans there are, whether the knives are sharp or dull (dull), etc. And of course, there are the usual staples if you want to bake anything or use any spices. So a trip to the store was almost $400.00! And don't forget that often food is twice the price in Hawaii as it is on the mainland. Sticker shock at it's finest.

Lunch yesterday was Ratatouille. Nothing like a big plate of seasoned vegetables as a delicious meal.

In the afternoon I went to the beach to lay out a bit to get some color (or new wrinkles as a friend of mine told me, lol). While laying there, several of the tourists along the walk starting talking about seeing something, so I got up off the lounge chair to see what they were so excited about. About six feet off shore was a sea turtle! He was about three feet long, with fins. He looked like he was surfing the waves (which reminded me of the sea turtles in Finding Nemo). Sea turtles are a protected species, so any contact with them is forbidden. Every once in a while, he would stick his head out of the water. Amazing!

After the beach, I started in on the Sunday night dessert: Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Tart. It contains a chocolate cookie crust, chocolate ganache with one raspberry in the center. A lovely recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence.



Truffle Tarts with Raspberries

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fine chocolate wafer crumbs (from Oreo cookies or chocolate wafers)
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 recipe Dark Chocolate Truffles, recipe follows, whipped but not shaped into balls
6 fresh raspberries, plus extra for serving

Directions
Use a fork to mix together the chocolate wafer crumbs and butter. Spray the cups of a 6-muffin tin with a vegetable spray. Line the cups with strips of parchment or waxed paper, cut so that they are as wide as the diameter of each cup and long enough to overhang the sides (you'll need this overhang to remove the tarts). Use the bottom of a small glass to press the crumbs over the bottom and sides of the muffin cups, building the sides up to only about 1 1/2 inches. Place a raspberry in the center of each crust and with a pastry bag or small plastic bag with the corner snipped off, fill the tarts with the truffle mixture. Smooth the tops and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Dark Chocolate Truffles:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good-quality (70 percent) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder, for dusting

In a saucepan, bring the cream just to a simmer over low heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a bowl and let stand about 10 minutes to melt the chocolate. Add the vanilla and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Then beat the chocolate at medium speed until it gets thick and light colored. Spread over the bottom of a baking dish and smooth the top. Refrigerate about 2 hours, until firm.

Pour the cocoa powder onto a deep plate or shallow bowl. Use a melon baller or small ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of chocolate; place them on the plate with the cocoa powder and roll between 2 forks to completely coat with the cocoa powder. Then use the forks to carefully transfer them to a parchment or waxed lined baking sheet.

Yield: 15 to 20 candies, depending on size

Dinner was Cumin-Crusted Grilled Tuna with Avocado Relish served with white rice. Also an easy but tasty dish from from McCormick (the spice people). After dinner we watched Downton Abbey-a PBS series. I've seen it before but have not followed up, so some things needed to be explained to me, lol. Ah, well.... After the show finished, it was dessert time. A round of approval was given the the Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Tart!