Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

The Best Kind of Houseguest ...

The best kind of houseguest ... brings chocolate.  A stellar houseguest brings GREAT chocolate.

We had a visitor from New Zealand recently who ranks at the top of my list.  She cleaned up after herself, didn't stay too long, was friendly to our unruly dogs, but best of all, she brought us some of the best, swear-to-god TO-DIE-FOR chocolates from the Chocolate Boutique in New Zealand. 

They were tasty and SO pretty.  Little swirly decorations and fancy shapes, melt in your mouth chocolate, and different flavored fillings and centers that were just right, not too sweet, truly something amazing. 

I would love to show you what they looked like, but unfortunately, this is all that's left:

Ok, I'll fess up, I'm the nibbler.  But I was polite.   I waited until the hubs wasn't looking.  And as you can see, I didn't leave too many bones in the boneyard.

I found their website here.  Now I just have to see if they'll deliver.  Overseas for less than an arm and a leg, intact, not melted, even when shipping to Arizona in the summer?  Oh well, that's probably asking too much.    

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, first I have to apologize.  This is NOT the recipe for cream cheese brownies that I've been promising.  I will get that posted soon. I will, no really, I will!!!  But for today, I'm bumping some old posts here by way of wishing everybunny a Happy Valentine's Day. 

Be sure to take a trip back a year and visit the Valentine's Day Carnival of the Recipes, which has some truly splendelicious goodies for you and your Valentine.

And here are some pictures I shared many moons ago, of a fun and scrummy Valentine's Tea Party I had:

First, I baked some Wally-Mari-Brownies (that's brownies with walnuts and marascino cherries inside). 

I just used a brownie mix, and these cute little heart-shaped tins I found in the baking aisle.

Added some chocolate kisses to the plate because ... well... you can never have too much chocolate.

The perfect complement to go with the brownies: Rosebud Gong Fu tea, which just arrived from JingTeas.com.

This is the perfect tea.  I lovelovelove it. Lightly scented/flavored, and there are tiny little rosebuds right in the tea.  It's a treat for all the senses.  Pretty to look at, wonderful smell, the taste is perfect, and the little afterbreath of roses is delightful.

And of course, the only possible china to use was my gold-rimmed roses cup and plate.

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

I've missed HOW MANY Chocolate Fridays? 

Well I'm jumping back into the blogosphere with something really easy that combines two of my favorite things: chocolate and coffee.  I've always wanted to try chocolate covered coffee beans.  I wasn't sure I would like them, to be perfectly honest.  I'm really addicted to my liquid coffee, but chawing on a crunchy bean... I wasn't too sure about.

I'm here to tell ya, they're great.  This is the perfect antidote for a long drive, or a hiking trip, when coffee of the liquid variety is hard to come by.  Pop a few of these for some tasty instant rocket fuel.  I'm serious, those with heart conditions beware.  I popped half a dozen and a few minutes later, the top of my head came off. 

And the recipe is so easy!  I tried using flavorings in the chocolate, and different types of coffee beans, some more exotic than others.  And the conclusion I've come to is they're best with a good hearty basic espresso bean, and just plain semi sweet chocolate.  Exotic coffee beans detract from the chocolate.  And added flavorings seem to detract from the coffee.  Basic and not too sweet is best, IMHO.

Easy Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

1/2 cup espresso beans
1/4 - 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a bowl, melt chocolate chips in microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds or so, until creamy.  Stir in coffee beans till completely covered.  Spread on a sheet of wax paper.  Allow to cool on counter for 10-15 minutes, then place in freezer.  Once completely hardened, break apart. 

The result looks like peanut brittle... so maybe this should be called coffee brittle.  :)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Friday: Good for a Laugh

Some of my favorite chocolate quotes:

I'm not overweight. I'm Chocolate-Enriched.

The Chocoholic 12-Step Program: Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate!

Chocolate doesn't make the world go around, but it sure makes the trip worthwhile.

I only recognize two food groups: fruit and chocolate.  And if it's fruit, it should be dipped in chocolate.

One of life's mysteries is how a two-pound box of chocolate can make a person gain five pounds. 

Man cannot live by chocolate alone.  But I bet a woman could.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

Say fast 10 times: A cheery chipmunk chucked chewy cherries in a cheap chocolate chip shop.

Chocolate is nature’s way of making up for Mondays.

There's more to life than chocolate ... I just can't think what.

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.

I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?.

Chocolate Friday: Chocolate in the News

I've missed how many Chocolate Fridays????  Holy cow.  Holy cacao!!!  I have so many things to post piled up here on my desk I don't know where to start. 

USA Today news on chocolate is less than heartening for those of us with serious chocolate addiction.  According to this article, research on the health benefits of chocolate is far from conclusive and much more study is needed.  And more recently, this article says dark chocolate can lower blood pressure, but it only takes a few nibbles (less than 2 hershey's kisses) to get the benefit.  Dang. 

So that ginormous bar of chocolate I'm planning on having for lunch is overkill, healthwise, huh?  Foo.  Not that that's gonna stop me.  Heh.

Also in the news, on the 7th of this month Hershey's celebrated its Kisses' 100th anniversary with a birthday bash where they unveiled the World's Largest Hershey's Kiss.  This massive hunk o' chocolate weights in at 30,540 pounds, and has been added to the Guiness Book as "The World's Largest Piece of Chocolate".  The Kiss Stamp was cool, but this here is a birthday gift I could live with.  Check out this cool video of the "making of".

Chocolate Friday: TechnoChoco

Check this out -- chocolate for the techno geek, from Corporate Gift Showcase. 

They have chocolate cell phones (no, not this kind, the kind you can EAT!), chocolate computers, chocolate microphones, chocolate computer accessories, even a chocolate remote. 

I really want some of these, but you know, they wouldn't last more than about 5 minutes on my desk. Heheh.

Found via Chocolate Nerd

Chocolate Friday: When the Cupboard is Bare

I found this nifty little site some while ago and bookmarked it for a morning just like this one.  My cupboard is indeed bare.  I need to go the grocery store, but who has time?  Where are the errand-elves when you need them?  Heh.  Not to worry!  Cookingbynumbers.com offers recipe ideas for the items you have on hand. 

This morning, I checked these items:  coffee, eggs, and chocolate.  Guess what?  That's 100% of the ingredients needed to make chocolate mousse:

Chocolate Mousse
(a la cookingbynumbers)

4 eggs
200 g/7 oz chocolate, grated
5 tbsp hot strong coffee

Separate the eggs, whisk whites until stiff.  Grate chocolate and add in hot coffee to melt the chocolate (heat gently if it needs more melting).  Whisk in the egg yolks. 

Fold egg whites into the chocolate mix. 

Decant into a bowl or individual bowls and refrigerate to chill.

Can it really be that easy?  I've avoided chocolate mousse all this time because I thought it was too hard... too much of a 3-dot recipe for this one-dot cook to even try.   But this... well, howleelooya, I'm gonna give this a try. 

cookingbynumbers.com even has a "how-to" skills list, for things like brule, folding, piping and separating an egg.  Unfortunately, there's no description there for decanting, so I'll have to figure that one out elsewhere.  Hey, maybe someday I'll graduate and become a two-dot cook!  Pics to follow.

UPDATE: I can't imagine why anybody in their right mind would actually try to hand whisk egg whites to stiffness.  Your arm could fall off.  You could grow old!  Or both!!  Go electric, that's my advice.  This recipe wasn't bad, I was pretty pleased with it.  A dollop of unsweetened whipped cream was just the thing.  Next time, I would probably use a tad bit of flavoring, maybe almond or orange extract.

I need to pause and say thanks to those folx who emailed and wondered about my blog-absence .  You know who you are, and you're much appreciated! :)

Chocolate Coffee Bread Pudding

I don't think I've ever made anything that was so satisfying for me -- on SO many levels - as this dish. 

There is something really comforting about bread.  Psychologically speaking, it ranks right up there with chocolate for sheer comfort factor.  And coffee, of course, one of my favorite things, ranks high on the pleasure list.  Put all of these together and whaddya got?  Something I'm going to have a hard time sharing, that's what.

I used foodnetwork.com's recipe as my starter and guide, but I did modify it quite a bit.  Some of the mods were because I didn't have the right ingredients, and some were ... just because.  I needed substitutes for some of the milk and cream, but it didn't seem to affect the outcome very much.  It's still a serious to-die-for gimme-comfort delish dessert.  But next time I'll make sure I have enough milk and cream on hand to try the original recipe and see how it does.

Chocolate Coffee Bread Pudding

8-10 slices of bread, cubed
2 cups milk
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup non-dairy creamer (I used a combination of Vanilla and Amaretto)
1/2 cup strong coffee or espresso
1/2 cup Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup cocoa powder
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped or grated
6 eggs, lightly beaten

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and place bread cubes in it.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, non-dairy creamer, and Kahlua.  In a separate bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and cocoa powder.  Add sugar mixture to milk mixture and stir well.  Beat eggs lightly in a separate bowl and add in vanilla and almond extracts.  Combine egg mixture with milk mixture and mix well.  Stir in the grated / chopped chocolate. 

Note: for chocolate, I used 4 oz semi-sweet, and for a little extra coffee kick, 4 oz Ghirardelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape.  I also didn't bother trying to grate the chocolate, as finely chopped was good for me.

Gently pour over the bread cubes in the pan.  Leave to set for about 20 minutes, or until the bread is saturated, stirring occasionally.

Bake for 1 hour or until set.  A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.  Serve warm or chilled, with whipped cream, ice cream, or other topping of your choice.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Friday: Ganache with Panache

I have to be perfectly honest, my first attempt at ganache didn't really have much panache.  It was mouse-waddling, if you're not fussy about blobs.  But it's not particularly pretty or artsy.  In fact, heh, this is more of a "what went wrong" story.  What I had planned as a large heart-shaped tart, covered with a lovely, swirling sheen of ganache ... turned out to be a bigfat cookie with blobby chocolate icing. 

Ok, ok, it wasn't that bad, but... well, you'll see.

Ganache, as I now know, is a French term (pronunced gah NAHSH) referring to a combination of heavy cream and chocolate. From joyofbaking.com:

The origins of ganache are debatable but it is believed to have been invented around 1850.  Some say it originated in Switzerland where it was used as a base for truffles.  Others say it was invented in Paris at the Patisserie Siravdin.

Recipes vary, depending on what you're going to do with it. It can be used as a glaze or icing, or it can be used as a filling for cakes and pastries. Some recipes call for a little bit of butter or oil to be added, which will give the chocolate a shiny quality. Flavorings can be added, such as liqueurs, extracts, etc.  But for my first attempt, I opted for this basic recipe from FoodNetwork:

  Ganache With a Sheen
3 tablespoons corn syrup
6 ounces heavy cream
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan combine the corn syrup and heavy cream.  Bring to a simmer and add the chocolate.  Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.

I used a combination of milk and dark chocolate, so maybe I can blame my blobs on that.  I tried to drizzle it in some artistic way.  Then I tried just spreading it all over and swirling it with a spatula.  I finally just gave up and left the streaks and blobs.

Ok, now for the "what happened to the tart?" part of my story.  I had originally planned to make a big heart tart with a cookie crust.  I decided to make some chocolate chip cookie dough, thinking it would cook up as a nice tart crust, with some kind of pudding filling, topped with ganache.  Silly wabbit.  I forgot how much this recipe expands.  It kept growing and growing, and pretty soon it bubbled up over the edges of the pan.  So much for crust, and so much for my heart tart!  What I ended up with was this bigfat heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie, with really delicious blobby ganache icing.

Here's the slightly modified Toll House cookie recipe, in case you ever want to follow my errant path and make a non-tart/bigfat cookie:

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 shot espresso, or very strong coffee (or 2 tbsp instant coffee)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl, cream butter, sugars, vanilla extract and eggs.  Beat until creamy.  Slowly add flour mixture and continue beating.  Add chocolate chips and stir with a spoon.

For regular cookies, drop by spoonful onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°

For a non-tart/bigfat cookie, or for bars, spread dough into pan and bake for 20-30 minutes at 375°.

The good news is, this is a very tasty bigfat cookie!  Enjoy!!

Choco-Bloggers Around the World

My BlogRoll badly needs to be updated.  I suppose I could just use one of the bloglist services and have it update automatically, but I kind of like having my fingers right IN the linky-pie, so to speak.  I'm gonna get to it, really I am.  In the meantime, here are some of the chocolate and foodie blogs I've been enjoying recently:

Chocolate Obsession - I blogged about William's site a few weeks back (see post here), but it's worth mentioning again. 

Chocolate in Context - Emily Stone, a native New Yorker, now living in Australia, writes about chocolate and travel.

Chocolate & Zucchini - Clotilde Dusoulier, a Parisian woman who lives in Montmartre shares her passion for all things food-related.  Jump directly to the most important category: Chocolate.

Ice Cream Ireland - Kieran Murphy lives and blogs about chocolate (and other things) from Ireland. 

Brownie Points - She calls herself McAuliflower, from Eugene OR.  Is that her real moniker?  No matter, the posts are wonderful, recipes mouse-waddling.

Sweet Pleasure - or plaisir sucré belongs to Sam, of Toronto, Canada.  Another foodie blog that leaves me drooling.

And this, just discovered: Food Porn Watch- for food blogs, shows latest updates and such.