...success !

my mystery "project" is a success...
everything I'd hoped for...
and a lot easier than I thought...
since I've never done this before...
& sort of made parts up as I went along...

I'd recently tasted a store bakery made shortbread cookie...
dipped in dark chocolate...
a nice idea, but it disappointed me...
the shortbread was tasteless, the chocolate, waxy...

definitely NOT "good eats"...

so, having spent hours watching Ina Garten make shortbread...
and make various chocolate glazes, ganachés etc...
I did some online research, and as usual...
adapted a couple of recipes...

this is why I'm generally not a good baker...
I adapt & experiment...
and baking...is science...chemistry, to be exact...
and it must BE exact...

I, play with food...
going with a whim...adding, leaving out...
whatever strikes me...
rarely doing it exactly the same way, twice...

works for soups, stews, etc...
not generally so much for baked goods...

but, I, as usual, digress...

last night I made the shortbread...
it took NO time at all...
pressed the dough into a quarter sheet pan...
& baked it at 350˚ for about 28 mins...

after it had cooled... I cut it...
since my left hand is sore & my right hand has issues...
my cuts weren't real even... but it tasted good...
so I didn't care that the pieces were uneven...

this morning, after I portioned out stew into freezer bags,etc...

I started about 1" water simmering in my small copper saucepan...
I chopped the Green & Black 72% cocoa butter, semi-sweet, organic...
baking chocolate...& put it in a heavy glass bowl...
setting over the simmering water, but NOT touching it...

then I added about 1/2 C half & half, whisking to combine...
I zested 2 large oranges into the melting goodness...
along with the juice from one orange[1/3 C ?]...
then...2 pats of sweet cream unsalted butter...

after tasting this concoction & deciding that the consistency was right...
I began "dipping" the pieces of shortbread into the dark chocolate/orange...



I left them to "set-up"...
[fear not, I saved the left-over chocolate bits...]



I tasted one... spasms of ecstasy flooded my mouth and brain...

they are SO GOOD !...JUST what I wanted to create...

buttery sweet shortbread, with a dark chocolate orange dip...

I generally don't care for really rich or sweet things...
but these aren't...

these are perfect...

it's good to know that all those hours spent drooling...
while watching Food Network...are paying off...