Chocolate & Chilli Recipes with benefits!

I remember many years ago being happily surprised when I ate a dark chocolate filled with chilli jelly.  I can’t remember where it was but it must have been somewhere peculiar because it was before such interesting food was the norm.

I then experimented with the flavour combo myself, even occasionally in our restaurants, because we had great foodie customers who were gagging for a change from the old Black Forest Gateau situation.

Dark chilli chocky such as Lindt is good (they even have it in France you know!) when I’m not in the mood to cook for just myself, my real man being so very conservative, to put it politely. When I am in the mood here are some of the things I have made, sold and eaten.  I suggest you do the same with the possible exception of the sold bit!

Dark Chilli Chocolate Ganache

A ganache is a lovely thing and so easy!  Basically coarsely chop chocolate (in this case dark chili chocolate), pour over hot double cream and stir till smooth.  Depending on what you are going to do with the ganache, and there are several options, you need a higher or lower ratio of chocolate to cream ...

~  Ganache makes a lovely chocky sauce or drizzle for ice cream, pancakes etc., for best results use one part chocolate to two parts of double cream.

~  To make a thick pourable chocolate glaze for cakes then use equal amounts of chocolate and cream. If instead of pouring you chill the mixture it can be whipped to thick and used as filling for cakes, éclairs or as a simple Chocolate Chilli Mousse.

~  If you use twice as much chocolate as cream and chill to very cold you can roll it into balls, coat in chopped chocolate, cocoa, chopped nuts and so on et voila – truffles.

Dark Chocolate & Chilli Quesadilla

This was a lovely sudden lunch pudding - chocolate quesadilla recipe here. 

Chocolate and Cayenne Soufflé – serves 4

90g dark chocolate – coarsely chopped
60g sugar
3 tbsp lovely strong coffee
1 tbsp brandy
½ tsp cayenne
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks – lightly beaten together
4 egg whites
2 more tbsp sugar

~   Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/180ºC fan/gas 6.
~   Butter 4 ramekins and then dust with a little icing sugar.
~   In a small pan over low heat stir together the first 4 ingredients till melted and smooth.
~   Stir in the cayenne and salt.
~   Remove from the heat and allow to cool a couple of minutes then stir in the egg yolks.
~   Whisk the egg whites till they start forming peaks then add the sugar and continue whisking till stiff.
~   Fold the whites into the chocolate goo and divide between the ramekins
~   Bake for 10-12 minutes till risen and wobbly and serve immediately.

Pinterest friendly image - go on!

Hot Hot Chocolate

Chili spiked hot chocolate mixes are the norm now but until they were I used to add just a drop or two of non-garlicky hot sauce to the drink. Worked for me! Worked for Montezuma too, apparently, because he was known to fortify his pre-nookie hot chocolate 
with chillies and sometimes vanilla too, speaking of which ...

Chocolate and Chilli are both considered to be aphrodisiacs and I have written about them in my ebook ...

Food for Love

Eat  your Way to a Better Sex Life ~ Win/Win Situation

Barking Mad Choccy!

Oddly enough today is the last day of both National Chocolate Week and of National Curry Week so when better, I ask you, than to write about, ta da ...

I kid you not, I saw this mentioned on Twitter a few days ago and made a comment of some sort – I think I may have said “you buggers!”, and shortly afterwards was offered an opportunity to try a sample. After my happy acceptance I received a message saying ...

"3 flavours of choccy have left the building. Don't worry they are all barking mad but do work, enjoy!"

I was a bit nervous but like the staunch foodie I am gave them my best shot!

With each flavour I put a bit in my mouth (did you guess?), closed my eyes and concentrated on the texture and flavour as per the chocolate tasting instructions given by the Independent Newspaper here.  The only thing I didn't do was try tasting with others as this sort of interesting, exciting food is really not my real man’s sort of thing.  Luckily.

The Results

The chocolate in all three bars is lovely high quality Belgian chocolate and melts smoothly and lusciously in the mouth.

Pina Colada – the most normal of the three

As the chocolate melted I immediately thought "Rum" (mind you I often do!!) which was followed by a pleasant fruity taste, I couldn't quite identify coconut and pineapple (the other pina colada ingredients) but the overall effect was a bit tropical and certainly very pleasant. 

Bubblegum

I’m afraid I don’t like bubblegum and I didn’t really like this but I didn't chicken out. I think that it is pretty true to the taste I remember as a child and if you like bubblegum then maybe this is for you! 

Orange Jalfrezi 

This was gorgeous – honestly!  A very orangey start with a hot spicy curry finish which sounds incongruous and wrong but certainly isn't.  It contains cumin, coriander, paprika, onion, salt, chilli, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, bay leaves, turmeric, garlic, ginger and black pepper no less and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

These surprising chocolate are made by Choc Amor award winning chocolatiers with tea rooms, The Chocolate Rooms, at Tarleton in Lancashire. They also have a shop at Botany Bay and luckily it’s the Botany Bay in Chorley just off the M61 rather than the Australian version.  I don’t have a list of their flavours but have read that they include things as chilli & lime, peanut butter, banoffee pie, salt liquorice & lemon meringue.  All very good ideas but nothing to rival the lovely Orange Jalfrezi Chocolate

By the way ... Two for the Price of None!

"219 Cooking Tips& Techniques you might find useful!" 

(Especially as it’s Free)

plus link to “Easy Ways to Pimp your Food” which is also free!

Chocolat Chocolat ~ handmade chocolates, a review.

Bespoke Chocolate Bars - what a good idea!
Click here to Tweet this 

Oh happy day – look what came in the post this morning! Lovely chocolate from Chocolat Chocolat, a company in Cambridge who, among other chocolatey things, are making bespoke chocolate bars. 

What an excellent idea!

First you choose your handmade chocolate (from dark 70%, dark 55%, milk 34%, caramel 34% and white 28%) and then the hard work starts – choose up to three toppings from, brace yourself:

~   Fruits: dried apples, apricots, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, raisins and sultanas plus banana chips.

~   Nuts: grilled flaked almonds or whole caramelised almonds, hazelnuts, praline, coconut flakes, pecans, caramelised pistachios and walnuts.

~   Herbs & Spices: Aniseed, cardamom, cinnamon, chilli espelette (a mild aromatic Basque chilli), fennel, crystallised ginger, lavender, liquorice, crystallised mint, pink peppercorns, poppy seeds crystallised rose petals, fleur de sel, and crystallised violet petals, Plus: Chocolate coffee beans, cocoa nibs, Earl Grey tea, espresso coffee grains

~   Confectionary: Amaretti crumbs, chocolate buttons, cappuccino callets (posh chocolate chips), crunchy balls of various flavours, chocolate coated honeycomb, fudge, fudge brownie, feuilletine wafer crunch, malt balls, marshmallows, meringue, chocolate crisp, popping candy, shortcake, gingerbread.

~   Decadent: Gold or silver flake.

There is also an option to have a message on your bar of chocolate. They suggest Thank You, Happy Birthday or I Love You but I asked for Sudden Lunch!

My Choices

I tried the dark chocolate first, for which the only addition I had asked for was fleur de sel. I love salted dark chocolate so popped a bit in my mouth almost as soon as I’d got it out the packet. I then accidentally went all dreamy and thoughtful which I think is a good sign. 

Milk chocolate with espresso powder and fudge pieces, good choice me! Although I was not immediately gobsmacked as with the dark chocky I notice that I have to keep trying it again and again so think I would describe it as moreish.

I was nervous of eating the gold flake but it was fine; innocuous but very pretty. The orange complimented the white chocolate well, the chocolate was surprisingly crumbly but that is not necessarily a bad thing!

In addition to the bespoke chocolate bars Chocolat Chocolat offer chocolate bouquets, buttons, hot chocolate, gift boxes and all sorts of other goodies.  Even more – they do Chocolate Making and Chocolate Tasting courses and all sorts of other interesting things. I suggest you get over to their site for a browse! Or pop into their shop if you are in the area, it is according to them, in historic centre of the city opposite Emmanuel and just around the corner from Darwin in a 19th century building.

A few provisos, not all of them serious ...

~  The chocolate was very well packaged indeed so don’t try to open a bar when hungry.

~  The products are not cheap, £5.95 for a 100g bar but for a special occasion or a gift probably worth the investment.

~   I think they may need to practice their handwriting a bit!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, oddly enough. Ads on the telly, Christmas themed programmes, Christmas goodies in the shops and in some cases even Christmas trees and I must say this pre-empting of the festive is season is not something I really go along with. You may remember my discombobulation a couple of years ago when this appeared in Padstow Tesco store on 2^nd May 2012!

Well, having had a bit of a rant there I think I might join in to point out that a little something from Chocolat Chocolate would make a rather lovely Christmas prezzie or stocking filler.

In Other News

~   Speaking of chocolate, if you think I’m lucky (and I am) did you see the article in The Western Morning News about The Best Jobs in Devon and Cornwall?  It mentions my blogging friend Choclette, now she’s really given some thought to her lifestyle!

Click here ~ go on!

Have your Cook’s Treat firmly in mind before you start cooking.

Despite having been aware of the fact, for over half a century, that one day I would become 60 I am still surprised that last Saturday it actually happened! So far I feel just the same ... or do I? 

I just had what may be considered a senior moment! Last night I made a lovely Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce  to go with homemade double vanilla ice cream (it’s easy peasy and in the book) and homemade choc-chip cookies.

Only seconds after putting the dirty sauce pan in the washing up water this morning I remembered what I should have done with it! Because of the caramel element this leftover sauce sticks quite hard to the pan so the correct way to deal with this is thus ...  

~   Add water (enough to fill your favourite mug or cup and no more) to the chocolatey pan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve all the loveliness.
~   Make a cup of coffee with the chocky-water.
~   Sit down, relax, sip and grin.

What a dickhead I am!  This prompts me, however, to remind my readers how very important it is to have your Cook’s Treat firmly in mind before you start cooking.  

If you are unsure exactly what constitutes a Cook’s Treat well, according to Wikipedia, it is 

“ ...a portion of the prepared ingredients not served as part of a dish, but which is nevertheless tasty and enjoyable and may be eaten by the cook.”

Some Cook’s Treat Suggestions

~   Obviously scraping the bowl is a time honoured cook’s treat but have you thought of extending this to the food processor (which, incidentally, I advise you to turn off first)? If I make hummus I wipe out the processor bowl with a piece of good bread and eat it, if I make vinaigrette (see here for lots of ideas) I wipe out the bowl with a piece of lettuce and eat it. And so on.
~   Also obvious is the “checking for quality” of random pieces of fruit as you prepare it.
~   Similar to the above I always (so far, I hope I don’t start forgetting) bake a small tester when making scones, for instance, or cookies. I’m just being greedy assiduous.
~   When starting a new, crusty, delicious loaf it’s quite likely, especially if you concentrate, that the first slice or so will be too small to make a sandwich or toast or it may be that you just have a few crusts over.  Either way dip them into some good olive oil and enjoy yourself.

~   Pastry scraps can be used to make all sorts of treats – see here for lots of ideas and here  for Brown Sugar Doo Dahs which make a pleasant treat for one.

~   Not enough batter left to make a final pancake?  Well fry some "rags" for yourself and drizzle with maple syrup.

~   Chicken Oysters – these are the two little pieces of delicious sweet tender dark meat that you’ll find either side of a whole chicken's backbone. Whilst the chicken is resting and you are waiting for the veggies to be ready scoop these out and eat them unobtrusively over the sink – they might cause you to dribble.  (If you’d like to save the oysters for yourself when cutting up a raw chicken there is some useful info here and remember that other roasted birds have oysters too, of course. 
~   Whilst on the subject of chickens you might as well have the liver for yourself too!  They contribute nothing other than bitterness to any giblet stock you might be making and on the other hand they contribute a great deal to toast, butter and brandy.

Chicken Liver(s) on Toast

~   Remove the liver from the giblet bag and trim it of any stringy and/or greenish bits.
~   Sauté the good bits in a little butter and when turning brown but still a bit squidgy add a spoonful of brandy (away from the flame), a good grind of black pepper and a little salt and turn your liver in it, so to speak.
~   Mash onto a sippet of toast.

~   Chickens again – whilst serving the dinner pop a few scraps of chicken skin back into the oven to crisp up and tease your appetite with them before joining your guests at the table.
~   When slicing cheese it is often a good idea (and is actually de rigueur in the case of Cornish Crackler) to eat any crumbs that fall off accompanied by a sip or two of “chef’s coffee”.

~   Related to the above – you have probably been asked to taste the wine when dining out, don’t you owe it to your guests that you also taste a little before serving it to them?
~   Crispy bacon crumbs should always be eaten by the cook either just as they are or sprinkled onto something accommodating such as ice cream with a drizzle of maple syrup.
~   A spare anchovy is surprisingly good crushed onto hot toast and topped with ... clotted cream!  Ta da!!!
~   Leftover gravy is great finished up by dipping bread into it. 
~   Leftover stew is good on toast even if it’s just the scrapings left on the bottom of the pan.
~   Chocolate – this is taken directly from my book "The Leftovers Handbook"

Although I have given what I believe to be the most commonly held definition of Cook’s Treat Urban Dictionary gives this alternative ...

“Street name for coke used by senior chefs.”

... and I don’t think they are talking the sugar loaded fizzy drink!  I have oft been a senior chef but never took coke in either form and I don’t blame me!

Tweetables

Please click on the links below ...

~   Have your Cook’s Treat firmly in mind before you start cooking.
~   Cook’s Treat Suggestions ~ do you have any more ideas?
~   A spare anchovy is surprisingly good crushed onto hot toast and topped with ... ?

Funny and Useful book on How to Lose Weight - Review

“A chilli a day

Keeps a fat arse at bay”

Jane Wenham-Jones

This is just a quick post for people who like eating as much as I do but who don’t want to pile on the pounds.

I have just, almost inadvertently, read a really good book by Jane Wenham-Jones that tackles this problem!  She writes for “Writing Magazine” to which I subscribe and I have read and enjoyed her “Wannabe a Writer?” so when I saw “100 Ways to Fight the Flab - and still have wine and chocolate” available on Kindle I thought I’d have a look, seeing as how I am a little heavier than I’d like to be.

Jane Wenham-Jones' writing style is easy and informal as if I was having a chat with a friend and it is also very jokey and fun but what she says is realistic, reassuring and actually very useful and, here’s the great bit ... since reading “100 Ways ...” and selecting which of the hundred ways I fancied (which isn’t difficult as many of them are very attractive) I have lost 4lb (which is 1.814 kg or about 7 cups for American readers!) in a couple of weeks!

No.1 in the "100 ways..." is Eat Chocolate, No. 2 is to cut out butter and quit drinking which happily is then immediately stated to be a joke! No 12 is the recommendation with which I started this post concerning chillies. The things is they are all seriously useful suggestions once you read on.

There is a loads more to the book than the aforementioned “100 ways ...” including chapters on dressing to look slim, losing weight fast, exercise (sorry about that), attitude and even a few recipes and a poem!  There is also an associated blog which might be of interest.

This is a light hearted, downright funny, interesting and useful book so there you have it,  I recommend ...

“100 Ways to Fight the Flab - and still have wine and chocolate”

by Jane Wenham-Jones

Lovely solstice sunset last night!

Courageous Chocolate! (in time for Easter)

“Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two but can't remember what they are.”

Matt Lauer

Last week I was lucky enough to receive 3 bars of Seed and Bean chocolate in the post!  Oh happy days.

It was difficult not to scarf the whole lot down, especially the white choc – for some reasons milk and white chocolate seem to have a kind of quenching effect for me, like drinking something refreshing when thirstily I just want to keep going. 

These seed and bean chaps take their chocolate making very, very seriously so I treated it with the utmost respect and tried each of the chocolate thoughtfully and with respect. Here are my findings.

Extra Dark Chocolate ~ Chilli & Lime

The first thing I noticed was that lovely snap that really good dark chocky has when you break it. The hit of chilli is quite strong, which suits me just fine! The lime was less obvious but the overall effect delicious.

Rich Milk Chocolate ~ Cornish Sea Salt & Lime  

Well I’m bound to be a bit biased here as Cornwall is my home! Salty chocolate is a wonderful thing especially when you bite on a grain of salt as is the case here. I was a little dubious about the lime but it works so well I can't stop eating it!

Creamy White Chocolate ~ Lemon & Poppy Seed

The lemon flavour is a mild but perfect complement to the rich creaminess of the excellent white choc and the poppy seeds are very much in evidence. 

I was loathe to do anything with this yummy chocolate other than eat it but at the same time felt I should give it a thorough testing so decided to make some chocolate chip cooking and then eat them.  It’s a hard life being a food writer.  I used my very flexible cookie recipe – see here for details – and all three chocolate performed excellently.

I also think that the Chilli & Lime Chocolate is an ideal candidate for a chocolate quesadilla!

Seed & Bean Chocolate is rather special in more ways than just delicious.

Exciting:

Just look at that!  Here is a list of the flavours in case you can’t quite read them!

Cornish Sea Salt Extra Dark

Coconut & Raspberry Extra Dark

Pumpkin Seeds and Hemp Oil Extra Dark

Extra Dark

Lemon & Poppy Seeds Creamy White

Rich Milk

Tangerine Rich Milk

Lavender Extra Dark

Chilli & Lime Extra Dark

Mandarin & Ginger Extra Dark

Mint Extra Dark

Coffee Espresso Fine Dark

Lemon & Cardamom Fine Dark

Hazelnut & Almond Milk

Just Ginger Fine Dark

Sicilian Hazelnut Fine Dark

Cornish Sea Salt & Lime Rich Milk

Raspberry & Vanilla Creamy White

British:

This is as British as chocolate can be bearing in mind cocoa is grown in the tropics – it is all handmade in England.

Made with Care:

Seed and Bean do not mix their cocoa beans, giving a much richer, smoother taste and all their chocolate is made in small batches – in the aforementioned England!

100% Ethical and Organic:

All the ingredients are Fairtrade and Soil Association approved.  This means that cocoa farmers get a fair deal. Furthermore the wrappers are recyclable and, in some cases their packaging is even biodegradable – it’s made from Eucalyptus leaves!

Award Winning:

Seed and Bean have won 5 “Great Taste Awards” for people who are passionate about the quality of the food they produce.

Secret message on the back of the wrapper:

Seed and Bean chocolate comes in 32g mini bars, 85g bars and exciting looking hampers and is stocked in Wholefoods and Planet Organic as well as a range of farm shops and delis around the UK and Europe.  It is also available from: www.seedandbean.co.uk

Guess what!  I just had to try just a little of each chocolate whilst writing this just to double check – assiduous or what!