Chef Adventures

The Daily Edit |17|

/ Amanda N. Young / Leave a comment

SingleThread Farms, CA | January, 2017

“Two sommaliers geek out over a wine list”.  Or, Camilla Laugerud takes a vacation to California from Norway (and it rained the whole time), and our friend John was gracious enough to offer her a tour. I just got to tag along.  

Here is a photo of something I love to see, people excited and passionate about what they do.  I’m the wine noob, so I mostly listened as these two pros gushed. 
This was my first look at the restaurant since it’s completion, and it is truly designed with utmost care and beauty. 

The Daily Edit

/ Amanda N. Young / Leave a comment

This is from a bit of a photo mission with Hubert and John. We didn’t hike up the mountain that day, deciding instead to take the aerial tramway. It wasn’t snowing at home, so we weren’t well dressed for the weather change. Should have known better. Still, we did wander around the top, taking careful steps over steep rocks and trying not to slide in the ice and snow. I took a few shots of Hubert with his camera, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had captured the snow coming towards my lens.

There’s a Viking King Buried in the Parking Lot & Other Stories

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I’m not kidding.  Really.  But I’ll get to that in a moment.

Leon has this way of explaining things last minute.  I imagine that running a business while working as a Chef at a local hotel means that there isn’t a lot of room for extraneous details.  I arrive in Måløy by ferry late one night, left Bergen on one of the rare sunny days of my stay.  Leon picked me up and we drove the 40 minutes to Eid, catching up, chatting.  There’s a lot of “Oh, and did I mention…” .  He tells me that we’re doing an interview with a local paper the next day.  He tells me that there’s a party the following Saturday (in three days) for the Bakery, and I have something nice to wear, right? [I didn’t.]  Oh by the way, did I tell you… etc.   It’s pretty amazing, and great.  Kept me surprised, that’s for sure.

Now back to the Viking King.  We’re driving into Eid, and pass a big construction site on the fjord edge.  Leon tells me in his by the way fashion that there’s a viking king buried in a mound behind the bakery.  Buried with his ship as is tradition.  The town is putting more earth into the fjord. Building out into it for more space as they have done in the past.  And the structure that they are working on is going to be a museum for the Viking finds in Eid.  I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, but literally a mound of dirt in parking lot behind the bakery wasn’t it.  IMG_3678Leon said that Khang didn’t believe him.  I laughed, but honestly I couldn’t blame him.  It looks like some of the mounds my dad used to create with his tractor so we could ride motorcycles on new trails every year or so. No markings, no pomp and circumstance.  It’s just there.  It’s just so Norwegian. By the way there’s this huge archeological find, but we just know it’s there and live our lives around it.

I even hesitate to post this on the off chance that Leon was just screwing with me. Still, the point is that there’s a difference in the way that people think in Norway compared to the states.  I’m no expert, so I could be completely wrong.  But there are a lot of things that hold value in the U.S. that simply don’t in a country where religion hasn’t really held value in a long time.  There are things that don’t hold value in a society that isn’t based on capitalism. Of course there are more influences than those two things, and it’s much more complex than a few sentences in a quick blog can express.  My point is there are a lot of little differences in the way that our societies look at the world.  And it’s fascinating to me.  I have been spending a fair amount of time noticing the way that people in different places are still very much the same, how people are people with the same emotions and general wants and needs.    Still, the ways in which we diverge are also something I have been contemplating.   In social expectations, in mindsets about how the world should be.  Ideas of how to behave and react.    It’s an education for myself.  Makes me question my own ideas of how I think.  Or if not question, then to be able to reexamine them.  It’s not a bad thing, opening up your mind to possibilities.  To different views.    Suddenly the world is bigger and smaller and a whole lot more and less complex, all at the same time.   I plan to keep my eyes and ears open, understand a little more before I can tell you what I’ve learned.

I hope that you might have the chance to experience that there is a world that someone else lives in and sees.  The same world that you currently occupy.  That there is more than one way to live in it, to value it.  I hope that you might have the chance to open your eyes and live side by side with that world.  Maybe, merge a bit of yours should you desire.

Because there is a Viking King buried in the parking lot, and we’re going to live in that world that he once occupied.  I love the idea that I could live in my world with respect for his.  I love the idea that really, it’s all one and the same.

 

Spiced (á la Mexican) Hot Chocolate Pops

/ Amanda N. Young / 3 Comments

I had a list. A list of items I was coming up to Eid (Norfjoreid, Norway) to make that I thought was fairly ambitious.  Over the last few months when Leon and I messaged back and forth the list grew.  Still, I thought that I could make it work.  Well, I hoped. It has grown, this list, even more since I got here.  We’ve made a few things I wasn’t expecting to get to at all, and left a few things that I was excited about behind.  I’ve loved the process, and I wish I had more time, more of me to make more of these fun things.  It’s in this last week that we’re stuck trying to play catch up to a demand we weren’t expecting that I’m having to pare back down to what feel like the essentials. Or the “best sellers we’ve had so far”.    Slowing down a bit on new things.  Ramping up on everything we (and that we is mostly me) make, getting ready for Christmas shoppers.

The Hot Cocoa Pops that Chef Leon asked me to make have been the sneaky guys on the shelf, getting sold when I least expect.  Almond brittle far outsells them, but I like them just the same. I intend to make time to keep some on the shelves of Minibakeriet for stocking stuffers. They are pretty tasty.  Also very simple to make.   And I promised I would post a recipe, so that my mom and my cousins (and anyone who wanted, of course) could make them at home.

I want to mention that I have adjusted a recipe I found from The Giver’s Log to suit my personal tastes and the bakery’s needs.  I have always loved chocolate that is spicy and rich, and the darker the better. If it was me, I would double the amount of chocolate on one pop, or use two for one 8oz glass of milk, top it off with more spices- stir it with a cinnamon stick even.  A good thick sipping chocolate.  But I wasn’t just making this for me. So we’ll go with the version I made for the bakery.  Something that appeals to even the kiddos, and still evokes in me memories of the Ibarra chocolate I love and have no chance of finding here in Norway. (Mom, mail me Ibarra!)

Spiced Hot Chocolate Pops

Ingredients:

  • 455 g  72% Valrhona Araguani (Dark Chocolate)
  • 40g   Valrhona Cocoa Rouge (Cocoa Powder)
  • 110g  Powdered Sugar (Confectioners Sugar)
  • 8g      Cinnamon
  • 1/8t   Cayenne

You will also need: Wooden spoons or popsicle sticks, a silicon mold- a silicon Ice cube tray will work great, and a piping bag.

Method for pops:

  1. Make sure silicon mold is as clean and dry as possible.  I recommend washing it and popping it in the oven for a few minutes.  It won’t melt, and should cool down enough to use once the chocolate mixture is ready.
  2. Sift together the Cocoa Powder, Powdered Sugar, Cinnamon, and Cayenne.
  3. Melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl, either stirring carefully over a pot of simmering water or in a microwave in small increments of 30-60 seconds.
  4. Mix the sifted ingredients into the melted chocolate thoroughly.
  5. Pour mixture into piping bag and pipe into prepared molds.
  6. Once the chocolate starts to set, place wooden spoons in each mold.
  7. Do not refrigerate. Let harden in a cool, dry place.  Package as desired.

A note on Chocolate: In the bakery I use Valrhona or Callebaut.   High quality chocolate is best, not “melting chips” or chocolate with a lot of added oil. Valrhona’s 72% is one of my favorites.  It may also be harder to get, and a little pricey.  Guittard, Scharffenberger, Cacao Barry are all good options. Still, my best recommendation is to use something that you like.  And if you’re saving a penny or two: the Trader Joe’s Dark chocolate will work just fine.

A note on Spices:  The freshest spices will have the best flavors.  This is especially true of ground spices.  The ideal is to use a smaller amount of fresh spices, rather than worry about the overall mixture becoming gritty. Cinnamon, cayenne or whatever chile mix that might be available are all good options, adjust to fit personal tastes.

To Make Hot Chocolate:

Heat 1 cup/8oz/2.4 dL of Whole Milk just to a simmer. (I really love using a dash of Heavy Cream with my milk).  Stir in chocolate pop until melted. Keep spoon around to make sure you get all of that chocolate goodness from the bottom of cup.

Variations:

For Peppermint Chocolate: Omit Cinnamon and Cayenne, finish melted chocolate with a 2-3 small drops of Peppermint Oil before adding in dry ingredients.   Coat finished pops with powdered sugar OR sprinkle crushed peppermint candy on top of pops before they set.

For Marshmallow Chocolate: Finish pops with mini mallows before set. Make your own if you can. Fresh Marshmallows are fantastic.

For (ALL OF THE POSSIBILITIES): Add what you like.  Keep in mind that a few drops of essential oils, extracts, liquor should be okay. BUT too much liquid makes the chocolate seize and discolor. This is a best as a dry ingredient recipe. Add other flavors in as toppings for best results.

 

A note to my cousins and my mom and anyone who wants to make these: I’m happy to answer questions. I hope you make them with your monkeys and take photos. And send me the photos.  And drink lots of Ibarra for me.

 

Love,

Amanda