197 replies to this topic

[Lior]

These camels are just for milk and for selling the males babies. Perhaps they use them for rides. Milk is am important ingredient in their lives, and fresh. ALthough they did mention that the leave the milk out often times to sour it.

[Lior]

Saturday afternoon was spent cooking some basics. My older children return Saturday evening to their homes, as the week here begins on Sunday. I cook for Saturday lunch (lunch here is the main meal), to eat with them, as well as for them to take home for the week, as they are overly busy at their careers or studies. The standard here, as all over Israel is chicken. Often it is chicken schniztel, which I rarely make!



Spicy cherry chicken


Honey mustard paprika chicken


Chili chicken



SO everyone gets a bit of this and a bit of that.

[Lior]

I didn't take a picture after it was roasted, but it looked much better!! We had a stir fry of vegetables with this, and spiced/herbed rice cooked in chicken soup broth.

[baroness]

Would you please share details on the chicken? The cherry one in particular!

[Lior]

Very basic! I use tart cherry preserves. I like a certain Romanian brand. I spread it on the chicken. No oil or anything, just the chicken and the preserves. Then you sprinkle on spices. I used my dried hot peppers that I ground in my thermomix. I am sure you can do this in a processor. Also sprinkle some paprika,sumac or anything you like. I put into a very hot oven-220C for 15 mins and then lower to 200 and then 180. One hour total or until it looks just right. Either serve immediately-always the best option! Or allow to cool uncovered and then cover and place into a good container. Very basic and simple and quick.

[Lior]

Have had a very hectic day. You know, doing a million things in the span of a day, and tring to enjoy them as well... One of the things was making chocolate.
An old photo of my chocolate kitchen, for those who have not been on the pastry forum
I think these are the messiest ones ever!!!

[Lior]

I need a week off just to go through my chocolate books. Then there are the regular kitchen recipe books ...

[Lior]

I have been working on chocolates for the holiday season. Mostly Chanukah, but also quite a lot of christmas ones as I am sending friends abroad some chocolates, and there are friends here that celebrate christmas as well, from all sorts of sectors...

This is the chocolate I used first: Dark 70% from Valrhona and milk from Callebaut:


up close:


melting dark chocolate in a small tempering machine


melting milk in another small tempering machine

[Lior]

These are my two tempering machines. I also use two melters when necessary.


After the chocolate has been melted to the correct temperature, I add in "seed", which is just solid chocolate. This is part of the crytalization process required for preparing chocolate. Once the temperature of the chocolate reaches working temperature (after being agitated and "seeded"), it cools down to the temperature required. At this point I remove the left over "seed".

Almost ready!


Remove left over "seed"





I por the chocolate into a piping bag and am ready to make shapes.

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Edited by Lior, 18 December 2011 - 08:55 AM.

[Lior]

While the chocolate is getting tempered, I need to buff up the molds I use. I do this by using a hair dryer, which warms up the molds, melts any chocolate left on them and warms up any residual cocoa butter, This is good to do as it cleans out any dust, any the cocoa butter gets buffed and this makes for shiny chocolate pieces! I use cotton to buff.


Chanukah molds


Christmas molds


warm molds!



cleaning and buffing

[Lior]

It can be fun to add a few sparkly elements for holidays so I do a few that are sparkly. I use gold powder (edible of course), silver powder and pink powder.



preparing the molds


more




no gold

[Lior]

Now, I need to pipe the melted and tempered chocolate into the molds





Next, I put them aside to crystalize (harden)



When I look at the bottom of the molds, I can tell if the chocolate has shrunk back and detracted itself from the mold. This is a sign that it is ready to be taken out of the mold

[Lior]

I still have to show you the dark chocolate and even the white chocolate. This will be later on as the battery of my camera is charging!! I also made hedgehogs, which are filled with a hazelnut milk and dark chocolate ganache. Pictures will soon follow!

[ScottyBoy]

I'm loving it so far!

[annabelle]

This is exciting! I love your chocolate kitchen.

[Dejah]

Amazing ... from a Bedouin village to your chocolate kitchen...and you're just starting your blog!

[Lior]

Oh my gosh! blush! Thank you all so much! Life is weird, isn't it. I am also a high school teacher by the way, and I am preparing a powerpoint presentation on "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. I nearly uploaded the pictures here-lol!!

SO back to delightful hedgehogs.

[Lior]

I like my hedgehogs a lot. I like them to look textured so I have this cool method. Chocolatiers out there-be quiet, I know it is not special for you!!! I dip my finger into dark chocolate and shmear it well inside the hollow shape. I do this for each hedgehog. Then with the tip of a number zero paintbrush, I do the nose and eyes. This crystalizes and then I do a coating of milk chocolate. To make the "shell" I fill the shmeared hedges with milk chocolate, bang and shake to remove airbubbles, just like when making plaster of paris molds with the kids, and then empty out the chocolate. I will have to get hubby to take a picture of the chocolate "raining" out of the mold, as I worked alone, as I usually do so I could not coordinate the process along with photography!!

Here, if you look carefully you can see thenose and eyes on some of them. This is a picture of the inside of the mold:



mold 2


The way it looks from the outside of the mold

[Lior]

Now I fill them with milk chocolate, then empty them.



I knock this, and bang it and wobble it (often to a song in my mind) until no air bubbles rise to the surface. Then I turn it upside down to let all the chocolate "rain out". Then this is set aside until it crystalizes...



and



SO after this hardens I can fill it with my ganache, which as I stated previously, is a hazelnut milk and dark chocolate ganache. Hedgehogs seem nutty to me and so this is why I chose their filling as such.

Tomorrow I will photograph the finished hedges. Until then, a friend recently asked me a riddle-how do hedgehogs mate? Quite amusing actually...

[bmdaniel]

Very carefully

[annabelle]

Very carefully, would be my answer.

[Lior]

well I guess that sums it up, leaving out the details, of course!

While my ganache in the hegehogs was hardening I fill these cups with whipped coffee Gianduja. Gianduja is a wonderful sweet. It is made from toasted hazelnuts and chocolate. It is refined to the point of being as smooth as chocolate. It originated in Italy. Gianduja was invented in Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy which is the major hazelnut-producing area of Italy and where hazelnut confectionary is common. I was first taught about whipping Gianduja by Kerry Beal a few years back. Since then I have been whipping! SO here are the cups to be piped with whipped coffee Gianduja:



Tomorrow I will post pictures of the hedgies and the filled cups. I dipped them in dark chocoalted and decorated with lines.

[Kerry Beal]

Very carefully, would be my answer.

Thought that applied to porcupines.

[kayb]

Just fascinating -- both the Bedouin village and the chocolates! Keep going -- loving it!

[maggiethecat]

Very carefully, would be my answer.

Thought that applied to porcupines.

Kerry: I for real laughed out loud. Lior: from camels to chocolates,this is one incredible food trip.

[Kent Wang]

How big of a deal is Chanukah in Israel? I'm told in America it's hyped up a lot to compete with Christmas.

I noticed some of your molds are a bit Christmas-y: the pine tree, reindeer and stocking.

[Hassouni]

Oh my heavens those hedgehogs have just blown my non-confectioner mind.

I'm curious, is the market for Christmas stuff from Israeli Arab Christians/Palestinian Christians?

[Lior]

Hi, I am back after a day of teaching. So as to the questions and comments: I totally agree to positive reinforcement for all species-cannot recall punishing my own kids. I rarely even yelled!! Christmassy molds are for those that do celebrate christmas. It is complicated here. We have new/old immigrants from all over the world and some have spouses that are christian, so these people do celebrate christmas. It is odd, because mostly they come from countries taht were communist so christmas was not really allowed but new years was and so on new years they would put up christmas trees etc. SO here many think that christmas is new year... Then yes, there are arab/palestinian christians who do celebrate christmas. There are also Greek orthodox and others. This is not a population that would buy directly from me by order in general,however, from here and there, there are those who are friends and this is a gift. I never ever sell christmas or hanuka chocolate to friends. If someone I do not know orders, I do sell, but always give extras as it is holiday season.

All holidays in Israel are a big deal, but not in the way it is in the states. Perhaps long ago in the states it was different. less commercial etc and so that is how it is here. Present giving is rarer than common, but money and parties and food giving is common. Kids have no school for the holidays. I will go to shops tomorrow and take photos so you can see how it is.

I realize, Kerry, that porcupines are even worse mating partners,but being a hedge male cannot be too safe either...

[Lior]

Breakfast was rushed a bit today as I have to be in class by 8am. My son, who is home at the moment as he is studyng for psychometric exams as a pre university entrance stage, and he made himself breakfast in a flash of lightening that I missed the opportunity to document! But my youngest, who is in 9th grade, got a breakfast that was documented.
I made her "shakshuka", which is basically an egg in a tomato kind of sauce.

chop up onions, tomatoes,red peppers and dried chili peppers



Fry onions and some chili pepper in olive oil

[Lior]

Add the red ppper and after a few minutes, add tomatoes




fry well-ish and then add tomato sauce- I use this (which is concentrated tomato paste and some crushed tomatoes with a few herbs







add some water,not too much


add egg or two

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Edited by Lior, 19 December 2011 - 06:08 AM.