Snakes in a Kitchen

If they gave cooking awards for endurance Hannah would surely be at the top of the list. Yesterday was her night to cook. We'd been pushing this day back (all week long) because we knew the meal she chose would be labor intensive ... and the meal itself scared us!

She's up to the letter D in her A to Z of Fruits and Veggies series and the options seemed a little. Um. Well, take a look and you tell us!

Dates - check. We've had to those before.

Durian - well, here's what Necessary Pleasures reader Kris had to say:

"You do NOT (can't stress this enough) want to use a Durian. They are extremely foul in smell, the fruit inside is actually very creamy (much like a custard texture) but the smell...ugh."

Dragonfruit -- surely Hannah will choose this one!

Dabberlocks (winged kelp) - that sounds intriguing. At least half of the house likes sushi. (oops! It's from the far north Atlantic. Ain't no sushi in Iceland!)

Daikon - it's like a radish. We could go with that.

Dandelion Nettles - Olivia's former violin teacher raved on Facebook about cooking with nettles. Okay, maybe.

Dulse - Hmmmm, a sea product that's high in protein, can be made into chips, and is eaten often in Ireland. But can we find it here in Alabama?!?


In the end, Hannah chose one safe option (dates) and one riskier option (more on that in a minute).

But, back to the kitchen. Hannah's choice for a Date recipe:

Yumnutty Date Truffles was suggested by AGirlAndHerCarrot. Don't these look absolutely Yumm(nut)y!

First, to gather the supplies.

Makes: 12 truffles (we doubled it since we were having a sleepover party)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Toasted Coconut Yumnuts (we couldn't find these at the store, so we used regular roasted cashews)
• 8 Medjool Dates (pitted) (are our Medjool?!? no clue. they just say "pitted dates")
• 1-2 T. almond butter (Or other nut butter... we used peanut butter, since it was on hand)
• 1 T. water
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Flavor coatings:
• Shredded coconut
• Cocoa Powder (At least 75% cacao)
• Toasted Coconut Yumnuts, ground (about 1-2 Tablespoons) (again, we used cashews)
• Melted milk chocolate (our addition)
• Cream Cheese Cake Frosting (Hannah's suggestion)

1. Add all main ingredients in the food processor and blend until combined.

2. Keep mixing until a big ball forms. That's when you know it's ready. (hey, GirlAndHerCarrot - thanks for this tip because we thought for sure we were doing something wrong and that we might break the food processor!)

3. Remove from processor and place on a plate or small bowl in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

(looks appetizing, no?!? um. no. "Looks like poop", Hannah says.)

3. Set up small bowls with flavor coatings. Remove the nutty mixture from the refrigerator and start making balls, no larger than 1-inch. Roll each ball in the topping of your choice and set aside.

Messy Work!

And the finished product:

Okay, not nearly as pretty as AGirlAndHerCarrot's! But how did they taste?

Reviews:

Chef Hannah -- Actually, pretty good! But really messy.

Olivia -- I thought it was good. I went back for more!

Olivia's Friend Katie -- The truffles were good but if you bit inside of them they looked like poop.

Tanya -- The truffles were harder to make than I anticipated. At one point Hannah and I thought for sure we'd break the food processor. But patience prevailed and the truffles tasted good. It's a nice way to fit nuts, seeds, and other good-for-you things into a bite-size snack. One warning, though. They are messy and they stick to the roof of your mouth!

Remember the Endurance Award Hannah earned? The truffles took nearly a hour, start to finish. But that's nothing compared to how long it took to make her Risky Dinner ... the dinner I like to call "Snakes in a Kitchen". (more on that in the next post)