Cardamom-Laced Truffles with Murray River Sea Salt

For a recent tasting event, I paired these decadent truffles with a delightful Colorado Cab Sauv from Settembre Cellars.  The bright snap of exotic spice beautifully accentuated the wine's aromatics. 

     These truffles are simple to make: infuse several cardamom pods in about 1/2 cup warm cream for at least 15 minutes.  Strain, and pour over 12 ounces good-quality chopped dark chocolate (minimum 60%) and let sit for a few minutes.  Stir gently with a rubber spatula until the cream and chocolate marry into a luxurious, silky ganache.  Bit by bit, add 1 T. soft butter, stirring gently between each addition.  Add a few drops of almond extract, let cool completely to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours until hard.  Cut into small squares and roll between palms to form balls.  Coat with cocoa powder, sprinkle with flake salt, pour a glass of wine, and indulge.

Caramelized Leek, Mushroom and Gorgonzola Tart

Sweet leeks, earthy mushrooms and luxurious Gorgonzola, tucked cozily into a flaky spelt flour crust.  This is no ordinary vegetable tart.  The recipe is adapted from the Jan/Feb edition of Cook's.  My only addition was a generous sprinkle of Piment d'Espelette (French paprika) to give this hearty dish a sophisticated, European flair.

This recipe makes the most flaky whole wheat crust I've ever tasted:

Mix together 1 1/2 c. spelt flour, 1 T. sugar, 3/4 t. salt in a medium bowl.  Cut in 10 T. cold, unsalted butter until the size of small peas.  Sprinkle 7 T ice water and 1 t. white vinegar over mixture.  Fold in.  Gather into a loose ball (there will still be some loose crumbs), place on a sheet of parchment, flatten dough, fold parchment over and refrigerate about an hour.

Remove from refrigerator.  Press the remaining crumbs into the dough.  Roll the dough out on parchment to a rectangle the size of a sheet of paper.  Fold dough like a business letter.  Roll out again to paper-size rectangle.  Turn 90 degrees.  Fold again like a business letter.  Repeat 2-3 more times.  (You are making extra-flaky layers!)  Roll dough out again and fold into a 4 inch square, sealing the edges.  Refrigerate another hour or up to 2 days.

Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes.  Roll out on parchment to a 14 inch circle.  Lay the parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Top with filling of choice, leaving 2 inch border around the edges.  Fold up one side of the crust over filling, then move along the edge, folding up 2 inch sections to form "pleats."

Brush dough with milk, sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake at 375 until crust is golden and filling is browning, 35-45 minutes.