I will help you can and do home preserving

I walk around the neighbourhood and I see all these apple trees that are not being picked.  It seems such a shame because so much could be done with these apples.   I have already made more apple sauce that I will eat in the next year from neighbours apples but I still want to see the apples and other fruit used.

I am more than happy enough to come to your home with Victorrio Food Mill and all the canning equipment and help preserve your fruit and vegetables.  Just drop me a line.

The Latest Cake Masterpiece from Sheila

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Stephen wanted a DnD cake for his birthday and this is what Sheila made on the weekend.

I have got to learn hot to take better food pictures.   These cakes are so much better in reality than what these pictures show.  

The cake is all edible.   The bulk of it is a basic white.   The dragon and the bushes have rice krispie squares as their core and both of them are covered with modelling chocolate.   The cake is iced in various coloured buttercream icings.  The dice, treasure chests and trees/logs are all made of modelling chocolate.

detail of a treasure chest

The backside of the cave

The dice - Mas claimed they were his

Sheila's Rainbow Cake

Sheila made this fun rainbow cake for Ben's 16th birthday.  On the outside she covered in Nerds and Pop Rocks

Angry Birds Star Wars Birthday Cake

We had hoped to get better pictures, but demands of the birthday cut pic taking short

Max turned five and is currently obsessed with Star Wars, Lego, Angry Birds and any combination of those three.   We decided to do a Star Wars themed birthday and made him an Angry Birds Star Wars cake.   I thought this cake was achievable from watching Cake Boss.  

Watching the process they go through to make the cakes in the show has given the process we would need to follow to make a special cake.  

Luke bird - the hot sun was causing the modelling chocolate to sweat

The main base cake is a chocolate cake using the recipe from Rebar.  This was then covered in buttercream icing and then a layer of fondant on top of that.   We ended buying the buttercream at Creating Occasions because we wanted to see what professional buttercream was like in texture and taste

The larger cubes on top are pound cake and the smaller ones are rice krispie squares, both covered in buttercream and then fondant.

fur detail comes from using a needle tool

Modelling chocolate allows this cape on the Obi Wan bird to sit above him

The figures are made of rice krispie square balls covered in modelling chocolate.  Modelling chocolate is easy to make and holds shapes well.    I made most of it from white chocolate which was then coloured.   The final texture of the modelling texture was ok but not great, it was a bit grainy.   I want to buy some and see what it should be like.  Most of the figures were made by Ben though Sheila finished the Chewbacca bird and made the whole Luke bird.

My first attempt at making Arancini

website for photo

I had four cups of left over rice and needed something to make with it and after a short search on the internet I decided on arancini.   Arancini is a rice ball filled with something like mozzarella cheese, rolled on bread crumbs and then shallow or deep fried.

website for photo

The problem with my choice is that I had some idea what arancini is but I have not only never made it, I have never actually eaten one.  I had no idea what the finished product should be like for flavour, texture or dryness.

The recipe I used came from the Food Network USA, a Giada De Laurentiis recipe.  It is pretty basic, the cooked rice is mixed with beaten eggs, Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.  You then make a ball of the rice-egg-cheese mixture and stick a small piece of mozzarella in the middle.  This ball is then rolled in bread crumbs and finally fired in oil for about four minutes.  I had a few issues with the recipe beyond not knowing what the consistency of the mix should be like or what the final ball should taste like.

1) I had long grain basmati rice, not arborio rice - I suspect as different as one could get with rice.
2) I had panko bread crumbs, not Italian bread crumbs.

website for photo

Using the basmati and panko made me think the mixture was a bit dry, I added an extra egg and it seemed to have a good consistency to form the balls.  I used a disher to make balls about the size of a small prune plum.   Getting in the mozzarella was easy enough and I could see how if I made slightly larger ones I could add a more liquid filling such as a thick bolognese

I suspect my use of the basmati also changed the texture of the finished rice ball but since I have never eaten an arancini I have no way to know how it was different.

The first set of arancini I put into the frying pan almost fell apart because I tried to roll them too soon,   The egg and cheese in the ball need sometime to cook to make the ball solid enough to roll around.  The panko bread crumbs are not nearly as fine as what I think Italian bread crumbs are like, they also do not have Italian seasonings.   It meant my arancini had a much rougher exterior than the ones pictured above.

In the end I had something that did look like an arancini.   The basmati and extra egg will obviously made for a different texture, the interior was almost eggy,   The whole thing was drier than I would have liked, but not at all horrible and they held up well being eaten with the marinara sauce I made.   I did make one error that I could have avoided, I under seasoned them.

I will try doing them again though I will try with a short grain rice.   I may make my own Italian bread crumbs though I think panko works well enough and I just need to add some Italian herbs to the mix.

My attempt to make Fırın Sütlaç (Turkish rice pudding)

I had Fırın Sütlaç for the first time a couple of months ago at Efes on Yates Street and it was amazing.  I have had English rice puddings and have hated them, the Turks know what they are doing and it is amazing.   The good people at Efes also do not charge enough for the dish, their price for it is insanely low, only $2.45.  If I were closer to downtown I would be buying it to take home on regular basis but since I am not, I thought I would try to make it at home.

At heart the dish is just rice, milk, sugar and vanilla - pretty damn basic and should be easy to be replicated.   I assume it came in existence as a way to deal with leftover cooked rice.

My first attempt was not really a success.   In part I think it is the recipe I used.   The details may have been all been there but since I have never made it had no idea what each step should work out.   As one example, it did not say cook the rice as one normally would, but called for the rice to covered by a 1/2 inch of water and then cooked.

I really have no idea what is expected to happen to the rice along the way so I ended with a lot of rice that had not fully disintegrated and in the end had settled to the bottom of the ramekins.   My pudding was also thicker than it should have been.   This recipe also had an egg wash, sort of, for the top of the pudding.   Most recipes do not have this but I think it is crucial to get the crust on top.  My only modification of the ingredients was that I used 1% milk and added a pinch of salt.

A different recipe I looked at but did not use called for a very different way to make.   There was no corn starch and the sugar was stirred in at the very end.

I have looked for some more recipes:

• This one calls for short grain rice - I used long grain basmati.  It also does not use corn starch
• This one also calls for short grain rice and uses corn startch, though it uses half and half cream for 1/4 of the milk.    It also notes the water needed to cook the rice.   
• Here is one with so few details of the technique that I am not sure if I could have made work.   It uses corn starch or rice flour as a thickener
• This one is closest to the one that I used - it mentions that rosewater was traditionally used in it.  I did not get rosewater in the Efes one and I am not really a fan of it because I find it to cloying.
• This recipe tells me I should cook the rice in water till it is a mush.   It also uses very, very little rice.   It makes it clear to me that the oven part is only needed brown the top and not to cook the dish.

So in considering all of these recipes, here is what I would do:

• Cook short grain rice in a bit more water than needed and cook it until it is overcooked.  1/2 cup of rice in 1 1/3 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• I would then add 3 cups of milk to the rice and cook it over low heat till the rice disintegrates.   I would add the seeds from one vanilla pod to the mixture at this time.
• I would then whisk 2 tablespoons of corn starch into 1 cup of milk, when done with that I would add it to the milk rice mixture on the heat.   I would cook this until it was the consistency of heavy cream, it should coat the back of spoon and leave a clear spot when you run your finger through the mixture.
• I would now pour this into ramekins.
• I would let this cool and set up a bit.  When it has I would make an egg yolk/milk egg wash.   I would put about a teaspoon of this on top of each ramekin.
• Now I would put it all under the broiler but do so with the ramekins sitting in a water bath.  Once it was the top was browned it would come out and be allowed to cool in the fridge.

I might add nutmeg or cinnamon to the dish

Here is a video of how to make the dish

Making bread at home

Some time back I found an interesting recipe for a crusty white bread so I thought I would try it.   I am stunned at how well it works and how forgiving it is.   The bread I get at the end of the process is better than most of the average breads I can buy in the stores and bakeries.

Here is my recipe:
Ingredients:

• 750 ml hot water 
• 10-12 grams of yeast
• 10-12 grams of salt
• 900 grams of flour, I have been using 600 grams whole wheat and 300 grams white

Instructions:

The oven set up I use

• Bloom the yeast in the water.
• Add the yeast and water to the flour and salt.  
• Stir till the flour is combined - this will be a wet bread dough.
• Do not knead the dough, just dump it in a bin to rise - if using your hands make them wet when handling the dough
• Let rise for 12 to 18 hours
• Punch down and divide into two loaves and let them rise for half an hour to an hour - use wet hands for this
• Heat your oven to 440ish Fahrenheit with two pizza stones and a bowl of water 
• Sprinkle a pizza peel with some cornmeal and then drop a loaf on the peel, push it into the oven, repeat for the other loaf  (If you do not have a pizza peel, I recommend buying one, they are only about $25 and we have found it important for anything we do on the pizza stones)
• Bake for 45 minutes to 50 minutes.

Points to know

• A wetter dough tends to be better than a drier dough - I had some drier doughs that ended up dense
• An all white dough will be very light and fluffy
• Punching down and rising and then punching down and making loaves will give you more even holes

What I like about this recipe is:

• The bread is amazing
• The actual work time involved is short - maybe ten minutes of your time.  I can make the dough while having breakfast and bake the loaves after dinner.

The cost is about 35 cents a loaf.   In the store a similar bread will sell for $3 to $4.   At 8 loaves a week, I am about $25 ahead by making this bread.

Making Pizza at Home

We have been getting better and better at making pizza at home, the Neapolitan style.   Sheila has a naan bread recipe that we use as our pizza cough and it is working well for us.  When we recently made them I quadrupled the recipe and we ended up with 21 shells.

Stephen is practicing his pizza tossing skills that he learned at the course he took at Cook Culture downtown.

Having a pizza peel and good pizza stones has made the process easier.   We bouhgt the pizza peel for like $25 at the Real Canadian Wholesale Store in Esquimalt.   The pizza stones are from Amazon.com.

 It took some time for Sheila to work out how to best get the done pizzas into the oven, but that is a skill she now has.  We have also had to figure out what temperature to have the oven at.   At 475 the oven gives off smoke from the residue on the stones and sets off out smoke alarms, at 425 they do not cook fast enough

We are finding the oven is working better than working with the barbeque.  The fact the heat only comes from the bottom does not allow the bbq to properly melt the cheese.

This ain't my Momma's cake!

Lazy Daisy Cake

Well, actually it is, but not quite.  For a while now I have been wanting to make a Lazy Daisy Cake which is a basic white cake with a coconut topping that I remember from being a kid.  I do not actually remember my Mom making it often but I have this small vignette memory of asking her about the name and liking the coconut topping and that has made the nostalgia factor quite high.

After getting the 'fancy' coconut sometime ago and using most of it for something else I finally got to the lazy daisy cake last Thursday night.  My first challenge was finding a recipe.  Though I remember my Mom having it in her personal recipe book - a little book of clear index card protectors with hand written recipe cards (they said "recipe card" at the top in orange script and were lined in orange with a special spot to note the source of your recipe) - it is not one that I have anymore and my Mom isn't around to ask either.  I was a bit skeptical about typing "lazy daisy cake" into the search bar but I got lots of results and chose this recipe at cooks.com.

It turned out to be the easy, quick recipe I was expecting and the much anticipated coconut topping that you baked on was there too.  Everything went well, the baking time was right on and I placed my topping on the warm cake, spread it out and put it back in the oven at low broil.  I walked away.

When I checked back things looked pretty good, the edges looked right and the topping was quite brown.  I took it out and realized that all was not as great as I had hoped, the centre was still very moist and slightly sunken.  Drat.

I could have just left it, and that is likely what my Mom would have done.  Putting it back under the broiler would have burnt it and there was nothing inedible about it.  Aaaanndddd, here is where we leave my Momma behind.  Faced with the dilemma of how to brown and crisp up the centre to perfect the cake I did what any self-respecting 21st century foodie with a very well equipped amateur kitchen would do - I got out the blow torch.

Lighting up the torch I began moving it briskly over the centre of the cake.  Quickly the coconut topping began sizzling and shortly I had some browning.  I kept at it though trying for the crispness of the perimeter.  In not too long, I started to have blackening - uh-oh.  I shut off the torch and re-assessed.  I could have walked away.  Instead, realizing I still didn't have the dry, crispness I sought I moved some of the topping around, thinning the centre slightly and moving some of the dark bit out of the line of fire.  Back to the torching, same process, its getting closer now.  Oh, starting to blacken again.  Torch off.  And out.  Enough I decided.  I did not have look as right as the edges but it was closer, and I was starting to be sure that I would be serving Cajun-topped cake if I didn't just walk away.

...and now with the blackened bits...

I realize that ending is a bit anti-climactic.  No burning cake - or kitchen - and it was even quite good eating, but let's look at the aftermath a bit.  As I said, it was a good cake.  Light, moist and buttery with the topping offering a slightly caramel crunch.  Then there was the middle of the top, not so much caramel, but rather chemically and charred.  As I ate I was reminded of my blow torch technique with each charcoal flavoured and fuel scented bite.

I am happy with the cake, and some nostalgia was served, but next time I will just not dump all the cold topping in the middle of the cake but spoon small amounts over the whole top and spread from there in hopes of minimizing the issue I encountered this time.  I will also accept a slightly moist, chewy topping in the middle if I must and pass on the blow torch topping.  Not crisp seems preferable to chemical charcoal for me.

Naan Bread

I ended up making the dough and was concerned I would not need it long enough, but it turns out I made a very good dough.  Sheila cooked them and they turned out better than any we have done before with them end up like the pita bread that has the pockets. 

Sheila has tried making the naan in the past with roasted garlic but it has never managed to have much of a garlic flavour come through.   I was short of time so I could not roast the garlic and used garlic powder instead and we were impressed with how much more of a garlic flavour this imparted.

Chef Heidi Fink and her classes on local harvest cooking

I like what Chef Heidi Fink is doing at Cook Culture with her cooking courses for the public.

On July 9th she has a course on what to do with berries.  Since I already do a lot with berries I am not sure there is much for me at this course, but if you do not make your own jam, you should consider taking it.  Once you make your own jam you will not go back to the store bought stuff.

The course I was interested in was the Local Harvest one on July 17th, but it is sold out.  

I have been trying to focus on cooking with what is local and in season for years now, but there are still things I am not sure what to do with and when it is really ready in this area.   I was sort of hoping to sign up for the one of the 17th to get more inspiration.

Pirate Cake

Stephen wanted to bring a pirate cake to school today as they were doing an all day pirate theme.   He baked and iced with his mother and Sheila last night and this morning to make the cake.

Stephen Making Jam

My 11 year old son discovered how easy it was to make jam. He sold several hundred dollars worth of jam in two days last summer. This summer he is planning on ramping up his production and selling more. Yesterday he used the $35 he got from babysitting Max to buy 5kg of strawberries from Galey Farms. He made this berries into 12 250 ml jars and 7 500 ml jars of jam. He hopes to sell this batch of jam for $142.

Stephen is amazed that not everyone makes their own jam at home.   He thinks it is easy to make and it tastes so much better than the store bought stuff.
 

Earth to Table food program

Stephen with Dwane MacIsaac at Moss
Street Market 

Last night Stephen finished the Earth to Table food program for youth organized by Leadership Victoria and held at the Burnside Gorge Community Centre.   It ran for six weeks for an hour and half on Fridays from 5 to 6:30 pm.  Officially Stephen was too young to take part, the ages were 12-16 and Stephen will not be 12 till the end of July, but he is keen on cooking and he got the last slot.

Stephen loves to cook and especially loved the baking aspect.  He is constantly amazed at how easy most things are to make and wonders why most adults can not make them.

The program was offered for free and one of those things that sometimes happens when something is free occurred -  people do not value it.   Of the eight youth that signed up, only Stephen came to most of the sessions.  Two other youth came to most of them as well, but they were not signed up for it and were recruited on the spot in the BGCC..   Effectively seven of the youth that were signed up for the amazing course did not take part in it.

The first night the youth learned about growing food and where food comes from in the world.  They did some plantings at the Burnside Gorge Community Centre.   The BGCC has some interesting herd gardens going on and some veggie garden boxes as well.

The second week was a trip to the Quadra Burnside where they learned about various Asian veggies and then had a food scavenger hunt in the store.   They were also fed from the Chinese food restaurant part of the store.

The third week they made sushi at the BGCC.  Stephen could not remember which sush restaurant the cehf was from.

On the long weekend we always go to Western Half Yearly Meeting of the Quakers in Sorrento, so Stephen missed the pizza making evening.

The fifth week was baking and they made cupcakes at the BGCC.  They also planted some herbs at the BGCC.  Stephen actually managed to make it home with some cupcakes for others in the family to try.  Baking is Stephen's thing.

Stephen and his gifts

Friday night they went to Cook Culture and he did not get home till 7:30 though he came home bearing an armful of gifts.   Dwane MacIssac of Passioneat Foods, and current president of the ICC, organized the night teaching the youth how to make pulled pork tacos and touring through a proper commercial kitchen.    The Island Chef's Collaborative supplied gifts for the youth that took part.  Stephen came home with high quality kitchen cooking utensils that 9 out of 10 home kitchens are not likely to have.   He got about $150 in gifts and a one month transit pass.

Stephen was impressed with Dwane and pointed out several times Friday night that he would be at the Moss Street Market and offered him a free pizza if he showed up.   I took Stephen and Max to the Moss Street Market, the first time I had been in there in six or seven years, the last time I was there I was running a friend's stall on a week she could not go.

Stephen got there and ordered his pizza from Dwane.   He also gave Dwane a 250 ml jar of his low sugar blueberry jam and told him in a meek voice, which is odd for Stephen, that he sold jam.  Stephen's jam is very good and sells very well - he uses my recipes.

Stephen watching Dwane's mobile oven

Stephen got his pizza and oddly enough did not offer to share it with me.

Earth to Table is something that I very much believe in.   I think it is very important for people to understand where their food comes from and what it takes to make it.   The boys have seen us have chickens, make pasta, make kefir, can all manner of stuff, make pulled pork that is better than what you can normally get in this town and more.   They have lived Earth to Table.

Island Parent has a piece about the program in the June 2012 edition.

Pic from Island Parent
Stephen is in brown

Stephen loved every minute of the course and would take part in it again ASAP.   It has also inspired him to cook more.  He has already made crepes twice with two different recipes - one a from the Joy of Cooking and the other from a cook book on French cooking techniques, the one in the Joy is much better.  He has also made a lemon/chocolate marble cake loaf.   He loved being able to use "his" tools.

Pizza at home

About once a month Sheila makes pizza at home.   We work with our home oven and this limits us, but we do get a decent pizza.   I am really writing this blog posting because I like the picture above.  

Sheila uses a naan bread dough for the crust.   She also makes a number of different sauces so we get more than all tomato.   The toppings are varied and not over loaded, these are not pizzas with small lakes of grease on top of them.

We bought a pizza peel at the Real Canadian Warehouse Store in Esquimalt which makes it much easier to get the pizzas onto the pizza stones in the oven.   With two stones on the go in the oven Sheila can make enough pizza in a short time to feed the hordes in this household.

Spaghetti Ice Cream

When I was nine and in Germany in 1975 I had something called spaghetti ice cream.   I am amazed no one seems to have brought it over here as it is fun desert for kids.  

What it is vanilla ice cream made to look like a plate of spaghetti topped with a tomato sauce and parmesan.   It is made by extruding the ice cream into long noodle like strands then topped with a red sauce such as strawberry or raspberry and then either white chocolate or coconut flakes.  

On Monday I decided we should try to make it here at home.   Making the sauce and the white chocolate shavings were easy.   I would have had pictures to show you, but it took three of use to handle making the extruded noodles. We put the ice cream through the meat grinder on our stand mixer, this is what caused the most trouble.  Getting the ice cream into and through the meat grinder was a problem.   It turned out OK other than the ice cream was softer than we wanted it to be.

Looking online at some recipes, they all seem to use potato ricers to make the ice cream noodles.   When we try this again, we will get a potato ricer.

2 Recipes for Nettles

This comes from an email I got today from the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society.   It is inspiring me to find some nettles this weekend, either wild or from the market tomorrow.

Stinging nettles are in season right now and a chefs favorite in the kitchen! These plants are best harvested on Vancouver Island in March and early April before they begin to flower.

There are many benefits of eating nettles. According to Small Foot Print Family, people have been using nettles for food, medicine, fiber, and dyes since the Bronze Age. Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) has a flavor similar to spinach, and is rich in vitamins A, C, D, K, and many minerals including iron, potassium, manganese, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, silica, iodine, silicon, sodium, and sulfur. They are ten percent protein—more than any other vegetable. Eating nettles or drinking nettle tea makes your hair brighter, thicker and shinier, and makes your skin clearer and healthier—they are good for eczema and other skin conditions.

Thanks to chefs and market shoppers who are more adventurous, foragers have a strong market for these obscure plants. Eric Whitehead owner of Untamed Feast will be at our first Summer Victoria Downtown Farmers Market in Market Square Wednesday April 4th from 12-5. Whitehead will be selling bags of fresh foraged nettles to the public, and a few chefs from around Victoria will be picking up their first of the season orders. “The fresh season is short, so the nettles will be harvested the same day as the market” Whitehead states. “There are many ways you can use nettles. I like to harvest nettles in large quantities so I can blanch and freeze them for later use in smoothies, pesto, hummus, or put them in soups and other dishes”. Whitehead also dries nettles for tea and uses dried nettle as an ingredient in some of his wild mushroom products.

Make sure to stop by our first summer market in Market Square and stock up on these deliciously good for you greens!

For tips on how to harvest, identify and cook nettles click on this youtube video.

Nettle-Topped Linguine
1/2 pound linguine, cooked during nettle prep
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 bunch green garlic, or 4 cloves garlic
1 shallot or small onion
Salt and Pepper
3/4 pound of fresh Nettles
fresh Parmesan or Pecorino cheese to grate
Nettle Preparation: Soak in cold water for at least 5 minutes while you put together the other ingredients. Completely submerge the nettles in cold water. Take care not to touch them yet. With a glove, remove the leaves from the largest stems. Some folks eat the stems too; it’s up to you. Cook shallot and garlic in the oil and butter over medium heat. Spin dry nettles in a salad spinner. Toss the dried-off nettles into the garlic/oil pan when the shallot is softening and toss with tongs until the nettles are wilted. At 1/4 cup or so water, turn to low heat, then cover, simmer until soft. Add cooked noodles, season to taste, and serve with grated cheese.

Nettle Frittata
1/4 pound Cleaned Nettle Tops
4 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, Chopped
6 lg Organic Eggs
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Preheat oven to 300º Cook 1/3rd of the nettles in one tablespoon of the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Cook until tender adding a small amount of water if needed. Repeat this 2 more times adding the garlic on the third batch. Place all of the cooked nettles on a cutting board and chop finely. Place the nettles in a bowl of a food processor with the eggs, salt, pepper and process until the nettles are incorporated into the eggs. Add the cream and process for 10 seconds. Heat the non-stick pan on medium with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the nettle mixture and with a rubber spatula move the eggs around to get the entire mixture warm. Place into the oven and cook for about 12 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes then turn the frittata out onto a plate and cut.

Salmon, cannelini beans, and squash - what do I make?

I thought I would make use of some of the food I have preserved and chose three ingredients to make dinner with for tonight.   I grabbed salmon and squash that I canned myself and have just finished putting some cannelini beans through the pressure cooker.   So what do I make with this?

Thoughts that come to mind:

• A salmon/squash ravioli
• Some sort of casserole
• A bean salad

None of the ideas are inspiring me a the moment.   I am interested in hearing what people think might be interesting

Making my own chocolate

I got the cacao beans last week and I winnowed the beans so that I was left with the nibs.   How hard could it be to grind up the nibs into a liquid?   I managed to make peanut butter at home in the food processor, chocolate should not be much harder, right?

I ran the food processor for some time, a lot longer than I expected, and all I ended up with was something of the consistency of coffee grounds for drip coffee with a bit of espresso grind mixed in.  I put this stuff into a propeller type coffee grinder and thought I reduced down fine enough.

Ground chocolate nibs being melted, sort of 

I had not expected to end up with the chocolate liquor at this point as I knew the melting temperature of cacao fat is higher than that of peanut oil.   I put the dust into a pot and put it on the stove.   Initially I thought there was some success as very quickly some fat was released and all of the dust was looking as if it was damp.  

Unfortunately this was as good as it got.  It did not melt into the chocolate liquor I thought it would.

I added some milk and sugar to it to see if the addition of this would aid the melting.   Not really.   I ended up with a fairly solid grainy mass that tasted like chocolate but had a bitter grit within it.  The underlying flavour is actually pretty good.

Turns out grinding your cacao nibs small enough is the single biggest problem with trying to make your own chocolate at home.  I am not the only one that has had this problem.  I also now understand why in the history of chocolate it took so long to get to the chocolate bar, it takes industrial equipment to grind the stuff fine enough.  The first chocolate bar only comes about in 1847 even thought chocolate drinking came to Europe in  the 17th century.  

I am going to try and see if I can rescue what I have.  I am also going to buy some more cacao beans and experiment some more.