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A gourmet is a person who is knowledgeable in fine food and drink.
Featured Gourmet Recipes
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans are great fun, as
mid-day pick-me-ups or as a garnish on top of ice
cream or some other dessert item. You can buy a pack
at your local supermarket, and you'll get slightly
oblong-shaped, smooth, dark, rich and glossy nuggets
that both look and taste absolutely fabulous.
However, if you're a coffee buff like me, or just
like cooking in general, try out this recipe. Your
homemade stuff perhaps won't look as good as the supermarket
variety, and won't be glossy, single nuggets in a
shiny pack, but they'll sure taste as good. And on
top of that you'll get the satisfaction of having
made them yourself!
Get yourself some top-quality, preferably organic,
coffee beans. Since these will be eaten whole in the
form of chocolate covered espresso beans, it's preferable
to use Arabica rather than Robusta. Arabica is less
bitter, and contains considerably less caffeine. For
hard-core coffee addicts, however, Arabica may not
contain enough 'kick'. If the beans aren't already
roasted, put them in the microwave and keep them there
for about 15 minutes, at 400° Fahrenheit.
You can use commercially available thick double chocolate,
or you can make your own. You'll need to roast cocoa
berries, peel and mash them in a mortar till it's
become a smooth paste. The rest depends on what kind
of chocolate you want for covering your espresso beans.
Some people prefer milk chocolate; in which case,
you need to add milk to the dark and oily cocoa paste
and also add sugar to taste. Boil the liquid till
most of the moisture has evaporated, leaving the smooth,
light brown texture of milk chocolate.
Adding other flavours is not recommended if you're
going to use it for chocolate covered espresso beans,
because it might jeopardise the pure coffee-and-cocoa
flavour of the final product. Put the coffee beans
on a baking sheet covered with wax paper, and pour
molten chocolate over it. Ensure that the beans are
laid out in a single layer, and not too far apart
from each other. They should be fully covered all
around with the chocolate.
After the beans have cooled down somewhat, put the
whole sheet in a freezer. If you need glossier, individual
beans, you need to use candy molds. Put individual
beans in the moulds, and then pour the chocolate.
The beans will be easier to pop out of their moulds
if you mix a little peanut butter with the chocolate.
This process is lengthier, but yields better-looking
nuggets that are of more commercial value - that is,
if you're thinking of selling chocolate covered espresso
beans.
Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved. Randy
has more articles on coffee and coffee beans such
as Coffee
Enema and Coffee Makers.
Italian Biscotti
I'll bet that you never had biscotti as good as mine!
Just kidding I know that you probably make a biscotti
that is very good but I wish you would try this recipe
and see what you think of it, this recipe is as good
as they come. Now remember that all ingredients should
be at room temperature.
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons anise seeds
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup melted butter (not hot)
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
In a mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar add anise seeds,
vanilla and butter. Mix well and then add the flour
and baking powder and mix until well blended, it should
be soft but not sticky. Remove dough from bowl and
divide into two pieces, form each piece to look like
large hot dogs, place on a pan lined with baking parchment
and flatten to about one inch thick.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately
half an hour until golden brown.
Optional: Cut biscotti into pieces, place on a baking
sheet and toast until golden brown. You can also add
tiny pieces of walnuts to your biscotti if you so
desire.
About the Author
Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef for over 30
years, at persent I own a Gourmet Bakery called The
Cheese Confectioner. You can visit my site at http://www.andies.cashhosters2.com
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