Pork Chops & Chicken

Chocolate Berry Rum Shakes

Through someone talking about shakes on Twitter, this idea morphed into a good idea for an afternoon beverage, liquor fix, chocolate fix. Plus there is berries in it. Chocolate, mixed berry, rum shakes.

I had these frozen berries I bought from Costco intending to make a quick pie with. Once you freeze berries they are never the same afterward. They are like vegetables and turn to mush due to all the water in them. I had to get rid of them. Blender and ugly fruit? Bingo!



Ingredients:

1 pint of rich Chocolate Ice Cream
1 to 2 cups frozen Mixed Berries
1 cup Dark Rum (1/2 cup if you are a light weight) Not Meyers rum. Use a darker golden dark rum like Thomas Tew or Pussers. Captain Morgans will work too.
1/3 to 1/2 cup Milk
2 tbls Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Chocolate Syrup, or Hot Fudge Topping
4 to 5 medium to large sized ice cubes



Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Make sure milk and rum are on the bottom. Without a good liquid base it won't blend very well. Oh and don't forget to keep that blender lid on tight. Everyone I know has had at least one blender accident.



Serve with straw and enjoy.

*Disregard my choice of using Frozen Yogurt in the picture. Stonyfield Farms is very yummy and very rich tasting, but milky, creamy ice cream is a better idea.

Dark Chocolate Toblerone and Pecan Cookies

 

I am supposed to be on a diet, but every time I go visit family, I have to bring something sweet. My sister-in-law is pregnant with baby number 2 and she expressed love for Toblerone. I was going to make the Toblerone block into cookies a few weeks ago but opted to use dark chocolate Kit Kat bars instead. Good thing I waited.

Again I used the simple Ghirardelli Chocolate chip cookie recipe. It really is the best recipe out there. And as proven twice now you can substitute the chocolate and play around with some of the ingredients. In this case I replaced the chocolate chips with large chunks of chopped up Toblerone


(Noticeably absent from the picture is flour. I bought a giant 25 pound bag from Costco and it sits on the floor not on the counter tops.)

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

• 1 400g block/bar Dark Chocolate Toblerone coarsely chopped
  
• 2 1/4 cup(s) unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) teaspoon salt
• 1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla
• 1 cup(s) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.

Stir in nuts and chocolate bits.

Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

    

Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Cookies With Heath Toffee Bits

I had some serious chocolate to get off of my hands.



I went to London ages ago and bought like a dummy those giant Toblerone Dark chocolate bars. I also bought a freaking 8 pack of dark chocolate Kit Kat bars.

For the record, I am extremely jealous of ANYWHERE that isn't the U.S. when it comes to Kit Kat bars. They can have all the variety they want. They have freaking 70% Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars. WTF!! Kit Kat Senses with Hazelnut filling. I mean come on. Why can't we have that?

Now granted these are all made by Nestle. We do have Nestle in the states, but our Kit Kat bars are made from Hershey's. They released flavors for a limited edition. But in Australia when I was visiting, they had Cookie Dough Kit Kat. For Real! All we have is crappy Caramel and White Chocolate plus the classic milk. Big Whoop. Can I get an Amen for them to bring the Cookies'N'Cream, and Cookie Dough versions here? Mint Chocolate Kit Kat anyone?

Anyhoo...

These chocolate bars have got to go. So I made cookies. Sans the Toblerone this time, but next batch will be made with it unless I come up with something more creative.

I used the Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie recipe for the base. It's simple and it makes well perfect cookies. Don't go by the picture in the recipe. I don't know why they used those, because when I use this recipe I get the perfect cookies every time. Those pictured in the link look busted.




2 cups Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars chopped (4 packages)
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
Heath Toffee bits optional

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.

Side Note: I don't usually do this step. It would be easier, but for me I put in each ingredient one by one.



In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Side Note: When my butter is too cold to blend, I nuke it for a few seconds to soften it up.



Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.



Stir in and Kit Kat and Heath bits.



Side Note: I added Heath bits at the last minute so I didn't get a picture of it going into the mix but I added about half a cup to 1 cup.



Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Side Note: Notice the round pan in the second pic. LOL! I had to use my nonstick pizza pans because I realized at the last second all of my cookie sheets were dirty. Same thing just round.

Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Serve with ice cold, tall glass of milk.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

I stumbled on to this nifty little recipe a few weeks ago and have been anxious to try it since I love key lime anything.

It's a strange recipe that calls for lime jello and lemon extract. I was cautious about that, until I made it. It does taste exactly like key lime pie.

In this recipe I actually meant to use real key lime juice. My little earthy, hippy grocery store down the street usually has it. This time they gave attitude and said they probably wouldn't be carrying it ever again. Ahhh okay Mr. Bitter produce man.

I refuse to buy key lime juice online too. It's effing expensive. At least as far as I have looked. If I can't get it at my local stores I will go without. It's hard though. If anyone knows a cheap supplier of key lime juice, I am all ears.

So with the absence of real key lime juice, this recipe calls for lime juice with some lemon extract. It seems a shoddy substitute, and it is for the purists, but it really did end up amazing like key lime pie and very tasty. So don't front when you see the ingredients. The only issue is the name of the recipe, It shouldn't be called "truly" when there is no key lime in it.

Truly Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups milk
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract (optional) Don't make this optional.
  
• 1 (3 ounce) package lime flavored gelatin mix
• 6 whole graham crackers

DIRECTIONS

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, milk, and heavy cream.

Cook until warm, whisking frequently. Once the mixture is hot to the touch, whisk in the gelatin mix and sugar, stirring constantly until sugar and gelatin are completely dissolved.

Whisk in the egg yolks, and remove from the heat.

Stir in the lime juice and lemon extract.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. This recipe takes a bit longer to set up than the usual ice cream. 

Side Note: I tried putting the warm mixture into my Cuisinart and it did nothing but spin because it melted the ice in the maker. Notice the steam in that second image. I saved my mixture and chilled it down and refroze my ice cream maker. The mixture did not curdle as I suspected it might with the lime juice and cream. For me, it was just fine and the cooled mixture churned nicely.

Also this recipe yielded more than my little ice cream maker was ready for. I saved the left overs and churned them the next day. Monitor your mixture make sure it doesn't curdle or separate. Be mindful that the jello in the mixture doesn't start to solidify.

Once the ice cream is thick, open the canister, and place large pieces of graham cracker evenly on each side. They will break into smaller pieces as the machine churns. Mix for about 5 more minutes. Transfer to a freezer container, seal, and freeze until solid. I like to use 1 gallon resealable freezer bags.

Side Note: I did not put graham crackers in my ice cream as it churned. I used them for garnish later on. And I used containers not plastic bags, though if you have a full freezer, they might not be a bad idea.

Belgian Raspberry Brownies With (Espresso) Truffle Ganache

I stumbled upon this recipe a while ago, but decided to give them a chance now. I modified the recipe a bit to use espresso truffles as the ganache topping. I didn't make my own truffles this time around. There was no point to melt chocolate into truffles only to remelt them for ganache topping. I don't like Lindt chocolate at all and the recipe calls for Lindt truffles. For quick melting chocolate, I just ran to the store and picked up Starbucks Espresso Truffles. In this case it's not the quality of the chocolate I was looking for but more the rich espresso notes. This is to go along with the beer I have planned for these brownies. La Muerta Imperial Stout from Freetil Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas. A bottle was given to us from Scott Metzger the Founder and CEO at the Craft Brewers Conference in April.

My brownies also came out a lot lighter than the images produced for this recipe from the original source. There are two reasons why. One, I used a Belgian style blonde ale with raspberries called Éphémère from Unibroue in Quebec, Canada instead of a preferred Framboise Lambic like Lindemans. I didn't have any on hand, but I did have Éphémère instead which is very effervescent and has a strong raspberry nose, but lighter body and sweet essence of raspberry on a blonde ale. Also I didn't have an 11x8 pan to bake the brownies in. I had an 8x8 or 9x13. I went with the 9x13 to make thinner brownies. So while my brownies aren't as pretty, they did turn out AMAZING. Full of rich flavor.
 

Belgian Raspberry Brownies with Truffle Ganache (Recipe By Emiline)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup raspberry beer
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves (Mine had seeds. No big deal)
5 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate (Sharffen Berger Bittersweet)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Droste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ganache:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
5 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate truffles (Starbucks Espresso Truffles)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 11x8-inch baking dish with foil; coat with cooking spray.

 

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir in beer and raspberry preserves.



Side Note: Since you only need 1/2 cup of beer, you might as well pour yourself the rest and enjoy it while you bake.



When mixture is hot, and starts to bubble, turn heat off, and stir in bittersweet chocolate, until melted, and well combined; set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat together granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla, for 3 minutes.



Reduce mixer speed to low, and beat in melted chocolate mixture, until well combined. Stir in flour mixture, until just combined.

Scrape batter into prepared dish; bake at 375 degrees F, for 20-25 minutes, or until set.

Side Note: For the 9x13 pan 20 minutes was enough.



Plunge dish into a larger baking dish, filled with ice water, until brownies are cool.

To make the ganache,

Melt 1 tablespoon butter, in a small saucepan set over medium heat; stir in cream.



When mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat to low, and stir in chopped truffles, until melted, and smooth.

 

Pour ganache over brownies, and smooth the surface, using a rubber spatula.
Freeze the brownies until ganache is set, about 15 minutes.



Lift the foil-lined brownies out of dish, and slice into bars, using a sharp knife.

(The bottle for La Muerta is BAD ASS!!)

The beer pairing for this recipe can go in two ways. Either with the raspberry beer you made the brownies with, definitely the Lindemans over the Unibroue Blonde ale even if it has raspberries in it. The Lindemans is pure fruit though and would be a better fit. Or you can go classic and pair chocolate with an Imperial Stout.

In this case though, I am pairing them with La Muerta. Obvious reasons behind this one. A rich roasted stout 10% ABV with chocolate raspberry brownies and espresso ganache is a no brainer. The rich espresso notes from the ganache will marry perfectly with this beer as it already has roasted coffee notes on it.

I will have to update this post after I drink the beer itself and let you know exactly what I think of this pairing. I am taking the brownies to some friends house to watch the Kentucky Derby and share the beer with.

Until that time, read the reviews for this beer on BeerAdvocate. All A's. They explain the flavor profile well enough and you will understand why this beer will work with the brownies.

Chocolate Review: Romanengo Cioccolato Fondente Amaro 61%

Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano is an exquisite candy shop from Italy that has been around since the late 1700's. I fret to use a generic term like candy shop, but it is truly what they make, only they make gorgeous, world-class candies and confections. 

A quick read on their history. Romanengo Past and Present

I was mostly familiar with their Dragée's or sugar coated almonds and their candied fruits that came in amazing wooden boxes for an incredible presentation, from when I worked at Formaggio Kitchen.

They also make these wonderful candied sugars with liquid centers. The centers were flavored with rose, lemon, anise and other wonderful flavors.



As well as Fondants di Frutta with a multitude of flavors like mint, lemon, Pears, banana and orange to name a few.



Recently I was given a bar of their dark chocolate. I am mostly a fan of Italian chocolates. The time and care put into their products is seen across the board in all the chocolates from any region in Italy. Knowing what kind of exquisite candies Romanengo makes, needless to say I was very excited about the chance to enjoy their chocolate bars.

Romanengo is from the Liguria region of Italy in the Province of Genoa. The coastal, northern region of Italy.

They are purists about their chocolate. This is important when dealing with high quality chocolate bars. They use Mexican beans for their chocolate, though I am not sure of the varietal currently. Pending information request.

Updated: The information about the beans they use has been given.

The "Messicano" chocolate you are tasting does not really come only from Mexico. It is an old and traditional name used by our company for more than 150 years. The beans actually come from a variety of places, mostly in Central America (if you want, it is not a "single cru", but a "blended" chocolate).

Our philosophy does not place a great importance on origin or on high cocoa percentages but on the process. We use a 1860 mixer with granite wheels (able to bring out all the flavors, which is not the case of modern machines) and we conch the paste for 72 hours (again, in a granite-wheeled machine). And we do not use soy lecithin which would speed up the process but somehow (we feel) spoils the taste.

From their website:

We produce our chocolate by mixing cocoa paste in a traditional old mill (mélangeur) and trough, both with their own granite stones, where the chocolate is "beaten" non-stop for three days and three nights. The granite brings out the chocolate's wonderful aroma.
We never use soy lecithin: Romanengo chocolate is made exclusively from cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter with absolutely no additives (except the milk used to make milk chocolate).
Romanengo makes bars of plain chocolate (62% cocoa) and bars of milk chocolate.
Our range also includes what we call "family" chocolate, once produced in endless varieties and melted to produce a delicious drink. It is made from near-equal quantities of cocoa and sugar but no cocoa butter. The chocolate is available in the traditional "santé" version or flavoured with cinnamon. 

Cioccolato Fondente Amaro

Bean Origin: Blended Central American Beans
Varietal: Unknown
Cocoa Percentage: 61%

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa-paste, cocoa-butter, vanilla flavor. Cocoa 61%

Amaro means dark in Italian. So the name of the bar implies exactly what you are going to get with a 61% cocoa chocolate bar.

The Nose: Light smokiness, rich tobacco, almost like pipe tobacco, tree bark notes as well as rich buttery notes from the cocoa butter, and berries.

Smells like classic semi-sweet chocolate chips. This is not meant to be an insulting characteristic or a generic term, but it rather it has a smell that reminds of me of home when I was a kid making chocolate chip cookies with my mother.

Texture: Smooth when dissolving on the palate, but a little dry and crumbly when bitten into. A little chalky. It melts very slow on the palate. Not as creamy as I had hoped for.

Side Note: I learned a little neat trick when tasting chocolate about the cocoa butter used from a great new friend, Pete Slosberg who used to own Cocoa Pete's and was the founder/owner of Pete's Wicked Ale. The cocoa bean is grown between 20ºN of the equator and 20ºS of the equator.

Cacao is grown plus or minus 20 degrees north and south of the equator.  What I was told by the technical people at my chocolate provider is that cocoa butter is softest near the equator and gets progressively harder as you approach the furthest north and south limits. Also, when chocolatiers mention a cacao percentage on the label, it isn't really pure cacao directly from the beans. It's cacao from the beans plus extra added cocoa butter, e.g. a 70% cacao chocolate could be 60% cacao plus an added 10% cocoa butter. The extra cocoa butter will smooth out the chocolate. It's next to impossible to glean how much extra cocoa butter is added, but it's worth asking the supplier directly.

I find this fascinating because this chocolate is very much representative of that factor. It's a slow melt in the mouth and the beans were a blend from around Central America. This would indicate that their beans were produced further away depending upon how much coco-butter they actually used.

Taste: A complex flavor profile. It begins almost tasteless until the bar begins to melt. Once it begins to open up there are rich nutty flavors. Slight roasted cocoa bean taste that doesn't stay on the palate for very long, but pops enough upfront to let you know it's there. Then it really opens up into bright cherries, and has a slow lingering tartness. There are fresh tobacco notes as indicated on the nose and a deep red wine grape taste. The finish is a light smokiness again as indicated on the nose.

Very low bitterness, but definite higher acid content based on that lingering tartness.

To me this is the reason the Italians reign supreme on chocolate making. Even with a higher acid content, it doesn't jab you in the neck from shoddy processing or less care in the fermentation process. Sometimes with lactic acid and the bacterial process in the fermentation can't be helped. But it's those chocolate producers who go to the farms and care to research the issues with their production who make all the difference in the world. Again you are getting tart fruit flavors that are wonderful to eat and experience in the flavors of chocolate versus actual physical reactions to the acid content.

I am stickler about this because once this factor of acid content became apparent to me, it really makes or breaks chocolate bars for me.

An excellent chocolate bar over all.

Peanut Butter Cookies And Mayflower Porter

 

This ain't yo mama's plate of cookies and milk!

If you are a lover of fine beers, then you probably already know how awesome peanut butter cookies and porters are.

If you don't know how good it is, please allow me to break it all down for you.


So last week on Twitter, Logochannel posted a recipe for their favorite peanut butter cookies. I decided to give them a day in court. I also had some delicious Mayflower Porter on hand.

Side Note: I meant to post this recipe and pairing last week as well, but haven't been able to get around to until now. Also sadly I didn't realize that the quality of my images this time around are very poor. I snapped my pics quickly and they looked okay on my image screen, but low and behold they came out in poor quality.

Whole Jar Peanut Butter Cookies 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (18 ounce) jar peanut butter (or 2 1/4 cups)
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped peanuts (optional)
  

Directions:

 

In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.



Add the eggs, yolks, and vanilla; mix until fluffy.



Stir in peanut butter.

 

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture.

Finally, stir in the peanuts. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

Side Note: I didn't use peanuts. For some reason I do not like chunky peanut butter or peanuts in peanut butter cookies. Plus I only had walnuts and pecans, but no peanuts anyway.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. (Mine were a little bit bigger than walnut size.)

Place on the prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.

Side Note: I always sprinkle sugar on the tops of my peanut butter cookies. I also use a wet fork to press my cookies with a fork. After the cookies are done baking. I add a touch more sugar to the tops for a nice appearance. I do it while they are still hot and cooling so the sugar sets on top.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should look dry on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to cool completely on a rack. These cookies taste great when slightly undercooked.

 

[These two should have been my money shots and they ended up blurry. I am super pissed about it.]

Mayflower Porter

This a wonderful porter brewed by my friend Matt Steinberg at Mayflower Brewing Company. He was the brewer for Offshore Ales for quite some time, but then he left to come back to the mainland in 2007 to start up Mayflower Brewing Company.

Since then, one of my favorite session beers has been Mayflower Porter.




This porter is a rich brew and chock full of flavor. Rich coffee and chocolate notes. To me  however, it is not very English like the style suggests, but is very much a robust American style porter. What that means is, the roasted malts are much more apparent in American style porters. They are much more rich and flavorful. They tend to be thicker and slightly heavier. It's not always the case with American versions of English porters, but in some of the best porters and brown ales coming out America right now, nearly all of them have these characteristics. English Porters tend to be a little thinner, and a tad lower in ABV.

I personally love it. So when you think of roasted coffee and chocolate flavors with a just a hint of bitterness, paired with a sweet and warm peanut butter cookie, it's absolutely to die for. This is how pairings should be. Each flavor stands up and marries each other without being trounced by one and other. This allows for the richness in the beer to come out even more, and the cookies help tame it to be a smooth drinking beer.

What I mean is, it's all flavor with this pairing, but not over bearing. The peanut butter allows the roasted malts and chocolate notes to stand out without being too much, and in fact makes it much easier to drink. If that's even possible on an already smooth and drinkable porter that's only 5.5% ABV.

I prefer the beer very cold. It will open up even more as it warms to room temp. I prefer it to be cold like a nice glass of milk with cookies, and then I want the beer to warm up by my own hands. I dislike cellar temp. beers. I need them to warm in my hands so that I can taste the progression and taste the beer open up. It's a quite an experience and you can learn a lot about a beers flavors this way. If they start out already opened up, a lot of times the beers become cloying and hard to choke down as they get warm and flat. The only time I find cellar temp. beer acceptable is with Real Ale/English Cask Ale. They are meant to be drunk and not sipped on. They are some true session beers. Have a couple of pints, they are not too strong and quite delicious.

The temperature issue is my own personal thoughts. You should enjoy beer however you want and at whatever temp. you prefer. I am sure many will disagree with me about what temp to serve a beer at, but this is how I like it, and this is how I learn about it.

Quick And Easy Rocky Road Ice Cream With Marcona Almonds

"What do you want for Christmas?" is a very dangerous question. When I was asked that question last year, I immediately went for an eas answer, a childhood dream answer. An ice cream maker.

Now that I can make ice cream when ever I want to, I do. I found an easy, but good recipe for Rocky Road ice cream.

I have yet to experiment with various recipes. This one was solid enough, though I am tempted to try the recipes that call for condensed milk. It sounds fattening and awesome.

Source: Serving-ice-cream.com

                          Rocky Road Ice Cream Recipe

                                      Custard/Cream Style

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 1-2 hours
Ice Cream Maker Time: Approximately 25-30 minutes
Makes: 1 quart
Servings: Eight 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:

2 oz (1/3 cup) unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped pecans or almonds (I used Marcona Almonds)
1/4 cup chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
2/3 cup mini marshmallows

Directions: (For an ice cream machine.)

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.

Slowly add cocoa powder, stirring until smooth.

Side Note: I added a little bit of the milk in while the chocolate and powered were melting and mixing. If I didn't it would have become a ball of chocolate. My make shift double boiler, metal bowl on top of boiling water, was too hot. So monitor your temps, or add the milk in early.)

Using a whisk, stir in milk. Stir until mixture is blended and smooth. 

Remove from heat. Cool.

Side Note: I put the chocolate mixture in an ice bath. It cools its fast, and is ready for in time for the next step to mix it with the beaten egg mixture.

Meanwhile, beat eggs 1-2 minutes until they are light and fluffy.

Gradually stir in sugar and whisk for 1 minute.

Add heavy cream and vanilla extract.

Stir in cooled chocolate mixture.

Chill 1-2 hours until cold.

Pour this mixture into your ice cream maker.

Churn for 20-25 minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions.

Side Note: I sometimes churn for 30 to 40 minutes. Sometimes it's just too soft to start adding in your extra ingredients. You want it to be soft so it will get mixed in properly, but sometimes it needs to churn a bit longer.

Add chopped nuts and chocolate chunks.

Side Note: I also added a few marshmallows in the churning. If you do this, watch how much you put in as it will start to over flow in the ice cream maker. 

I also used more nuts than the recipe called for. About two handfuls of almonds. And I chopped them coarse and large. Marcona almonds are soft and excellent for this kind of ice cream.

Churn 5 more minutes.

Remove from ice cream maker and place in a storage container.

Stir in marshmallows immediately.

Side Note: I mixed in extra marshmallows and chocolate chips. I layered it through out the container.

Enjoy your homemade ice cream!

Helpful Hint: Freeze marshmallows ahead of time so that when you stir them into your ice cream - the ice cream doesn't partially melt!

 

Beer Pairing Suggestion: Serve this with a delicious stout or porter. Or make beer floats with this. Berkshire Brewing Company's Coffeehouse Porter is a personal favorite for beer floats. They also have a very well balanced and totally underrated Imperial Stout as well. It's not too big or too thin, not too bitter or chewy. It's well balanced and would be good for a beer float.

I also used Berkshire's Coffeehouse Porter for a beer ice cream I made. It was Coffeehouse Porter with a molasses drizzle and chocolate covered pretzels. This was so amazing I cannot even tell you how amazing it was. The recipe is not up however, as I am still working on it. It needs some tweaks, but boy am I ever anxious to get that recipe up.

Up next for the old ice cream machine though, is Gianduja ice cream, and Key Lime Pie ice cream. Look for those posts in the near future.

Chocolate Truffle Pie

Yeah you heard me right. Chocolate truffle pie. I have been promising the good people following me on Twitter that I would put this recipe up. I got sick and had to take a few days off. This is not my recipe, but I think I did it some justice. I served this pie at Christmas.

This recipe comes from the blog How To Cook Like Your Grandmother.

*Note that this is their recipe with my own images mixed in.

Ingredients

12 ounces bitter sweet or semi sweet chocolate
1-1/2 sticks butter
6 large egg whites
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
pinch cream of tartar
pre-baked pie crust

Directions

Make a double boiler by bringing a half pan of water to a boil, turning the heat to low, and setting a large stainless bowl over it.

Even if you already have a double boiler, do it this way. You'll be able to mix everything in this one bowl and save on clean-up.

Put the butter in the bowl, and once it's melted add the chocolate, cocoa, sugar and salt.

 

Ingredient notes: I used half bittersweet and half semi-sweet chips, both Ghirardelli. You can find them in the baking section at some grocery stores. They're the best domestic chocolate I've tried. (And I'm not saying that just because I'm a chocolate snob. Try them for yourself.)

And for the sugar, I decided to use raw instead of white. Just because I saw it in the cupboard and decided to give it a shot. More on this below.

(Candice: I used regular white sugar and the pie turned out fine.)

While the chocolate melts, separate the eggs (see here for tips). If you're thinking ahead, you'll set aside the two extra yolks to make mayonnaise once you're done with this. If you're distracted, or just don't feel like it, don't feel bad about dumping them. Eggs are cheap. They'll make more.

(Candice: I separated the egg whites at the beginning. You want your egg whites to be at room temperature for beating them or they won't peak.)

Start mixing the chocolate and butter together as soon as you see the chips start to melt.

If you've never melted chocolate before, you might want to separate the eggs first so you aren't distracted. When the chocolate is completely melted, and the sugar and cocoa are incorporated, remove it from the heat and mix the yolks in one at a time.

Set the chocolate mixture aside and let it cool to room temperature. While it's cooling, add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until it forms stiff peaks.

For the first minute the egg whites will just foam up a little. Then all at once they'll turn pure white and look like a whole different food.

 

Congratulations, you just made meringue. Add about a third of the meringue to the chocolate and mix it in. Then add the rest and fold it in gently.

Try not to deflate the eggs while folding. Once the meringue is completely incorporated, pour the mixture into a pre-baked pie crust.

Spread the chocolate evenly. If you're fussy about this stuff (like I am), make sure the top looks nice. 

Remember when I mentioned the raw sugar? You can see a little bit of a speckled texture on the surface. Because raw sugar isn't ground as fine as refined white, it didn't completely dissolve in the melted chocolate. Once it's frozen, you'll barely notice the difference. As it thaws you'll notice a slight crispy granularity. Personally, I liked it, but if you're expecting silky-smoothness you'd be better off using powdered sugar. I heard in a comment below that even refined white sugar still left a bit of graininess.

Freeze for at least two hours, four would be better. Cut with a very sharp knife, not a pie spatula. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

(Candice: Don't serve this pie right out of the freezer. Some of you may think that that would make perfect sense, but the recipe doesn't say that. If you serve it right out of the freezer, it's impossible to cut, serve, and eat. This pie does fine once it's set, in the refrigerator.)

Beer Pairing Suggestion: Berkshire Brewing Company's Imperial Stout.

In my honest opinion, one of the best and most underrated stouts, or in this case Imperial Stouts is from Berkshire Brewing Company. This stout is nearly perfect for it's definition of style. Balance is the key to this beer. It's not too bitter or robust, it's not too weak or too thin either. It is one of my favorite beers and as this blog progesses you will notice me talk about it frequently. Especially with chocolate. This the beer that I think will compliment this pie the best.

This is a sweet chocolate pie, but the chocolate is still very robust. Be careful when pairing big stouts with this pie. Beers like Southern Tier's Choklat, Great Divide's Yeti, Rogue's Chocolate Stout are all very bitter and robust Stout's. For me personally I think they may be too big. But that's not to say it would be a wrong pairing. I just find it might be too bitter. But if you really appreciate a strong bitter flavors, these beers could be right on track for you. Sometimes it's okay to pair similar flavors. A really sweet stout and a sweet dessert have this effect of canceling each other out. The sugars at like interference and when they are slapped with another similar element, it allows the other flavors to come out and shine. I don't always rely on that tactic for marrying flavors. I used to be strongly against it.

I recently paired Southern Tier's Creme Brulee (Milk Stout) with a buttery, bourbon pecan pie. Anyone familiar with this beer, knows how big and sweet it is. It's almost hard to drink because it's that sweet, but it does taste exactly like creme brulee. The pecan pie is nothing but sugar, and as per requested, it was made with so much butter, it nearly disintegrated upon serving. Not in a gross way, but in a decadent, there-is-so-much-butter-it's-sinful-to-eat-this kind of way. The sugars knocked each other out and allowed the vanilla burnt sugar tastes to marry in to the bourbon and pecan flavors. It was absolutely tremendous. That is one of the better examples I have of pitting similar flavors against one and other to get the less dominant flavors of a pairing to come out and play.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles

While Stumbling on the net for food blogs and food related posts, I came across an awesome recipe for Mexican Chocolate Truffles.

In the past I have made some pretty excellent truffles. I have some that I called "Dark Souls" which were made with a dark, bitter chocolate (70%) and espresso rolled in unsweetened cocoa powder. They were so rich and had a lovely roasted coffee flavor. They longer they sat the more intense the flavors got for those particular truffles. I also made some fun ones which I lovingly called "Ghetto Fabulous." They were made with semisweet chocolate and Courvoisier cognac rolled in powdered sugar. They were fun and delicious.

This was my attempt at these hot and spicy Mexican chocolate truffles.



Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles by Art Of Dessert.

(Note this is the entire recipe from the Art Of Dessert, with my own pictures mixed in.)

Allergy Note: contains dairy ingredients

truffle filling:
16 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used 1# of Callebaut bitter sweet chocolate chopped up)
1 cup heavy cream
4 Tbs. butter
1 oz. honey
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper *
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

coating chocolate:
1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used a .63 oz bar of bitter sweet chocolate from Scharffenberger.)
2 tsp. vegetable shortening (Because I used more chocolate than called for, I used two heaping tablespoons of shortening.)

ground cayenne pepper
ground cinnamon

*For a little kick , start with 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and see if that's enough. If you really want to knock your socks off, add 2 teaspoons or more.

For the truffle filling, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl and set aside.



Combine heavy cream, butter, honey, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in a saucepan and cook over low heat until it starts to simmer.



Remove from heat and pour over the bowl of chocolate chips. Wait for a few minutes for the chocolate to soften. Add almond extract and vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, slowly stir the mixture until it becomes smooth and shiny. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until the mixture is slightly firm.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper. (I used a super slick non-stick jellyroll sheet pan.) Measure out teaspoonfuls of the truffle filling and drop them onto the cookie sheet. ( I used to a small cookie dough or truffle scoop.) Freeze them for 15 to 20 and then roll them into balls. Freeze them again for 10 to 15 minutes more or until firm.

For the coating chocolate, combine the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening in a bowl and melt over hot water. Stir until smooth. Drop the truffles into the chocolate coating one at a time, quickly coat them and remove with a fork. Gently shake off any extra chocolate and place the truffle onto the cookie sheet. Sprinkle cayenne pepper and cinnamon on top before the chocolate sets up.

 

You can store the truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

My personal notes for this truffle are that these are very hot. It's a slow heat that will take a second to register with you that it is going to be very hot. I happen to be a bit of a wuss for these truffles, but if you like heat, you will love these truffles. I like the almond extract and honey added to this recipe. It really brings out unique flavors for this truffle. Basically you don't just taste rich, bitter chocolate and cayenne pepper.

I also took these truffles to one of my favorite bars in Boston called Deep Ellum, to do a little bit of a test run with these truffles on some unsuspecting friends. And to find a beer pairing suitable for this "kick you in the face" kind of truffle.

We tried a couple of beers, but honestly we didn't put too much focus into an exact match for this. I didn't think what we were tasting were the best possible matches anyway. They were good pairings, but not the best, therefore not worth mentioning.

A while ago when I used to work at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, I accidentally found a pairing that would be one of the oddest pairings I have found, but also one of the best. We took small bite size pieces of Venchi pure 75% Cuor di cocao, with chili peppers in it, and were sampling at the same time Avery Brewing Company's Samaels. An oaked, strong, English ale that is 14.5% ABV%. Really strong.

Why did that pairing work? It worked because the huge sweet malts and sugars that give this beer a high ABV and oaked wood flavors really took on the strength of the chocolate. The bitterness of the dark chocolate was complimented with the sweet and malts of the high alcohol content of this beer. The oak also helped tame the heat of the chili. Oak can give a buttery, wood flavor that happens to be a good match for hot chilies. This chocolate has the same effect of a slow heat and the beer gets to invade the palate first allowing notes of the chocolate to stand out that might have otherwise be taken out by the heat of the chocolate. It's usually only after the heat subsides or right before it takes hold of the palate that you can fully taste the richness of the chocolate. This beer allowed the flavors to all sort of dance around.

So after tasting a few beers and not really giving it full attention at Deep Ellum, which was fully equipped with a very big beer list and more than capable of finding a good match, I am still going to stick with Samael's as tasted in the other chili pepper chocolate pairing. I think it's ideal for this kind of chocolate. I think the honey and almond extract as mentioned above would play wonderfully with the oaked flavors.

The only other suggestion that might be fun to play with would be Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock. A deep rich brown ale with heavy smoked flavors. The smoke is so intense on this beer, but the brown ale is actually quite sweet. I think the smoke would go perfectly with the chilies to make a forced chipotle-like flavor. And the sweet urbock beer would round out the chocolate. It could be fun, but I have to go back to Deep Ellum to find out for sure. They currently have it on their line up.

EDIT: I should note that strong, flowery, IPA's were suggested both by the bartender Joel, and my husband Todd. I happen to agree, but the malt profile should be big enough to handle the strength of the chocolate. So think DIPA's for this recipe as a possibility for a beer pairing. They have the malt backbones to tackle this recipe. Otherwise you will get bitter hops and bitter chocolate with hardly any residual sweetness. It could be over kill, but the hops and spices are a good match for one other.