A REISSUANCE OF A POST FROM A DOZEN YEARS AGO........"I never bought the sugary candies or drinks at the Lyric Theatre's concession stand, when...for a nickel more.....one could get bittersweet chocolate covered candied tangerine peel strips at the Confectioner's Shoppe, next door." ....

this 12 year old post, from a Gather 'food' article that I wrote...for an online NPR Blog....{now, dead in the water, after being de-funded by President Philistine, during his first dictatorial Reign} alerted my brain to insist that I devour the last of the chocolate 'bark' that I made a few days ago....thinking, then, that it would last a week, as it was transformed into various visual projects; however, my favorite 'chocolate blade' has emptied the slab, as I lick the tiny remnants, leaving only regrets that I didn't produce another kilo of satisfaction.........the leftover cauliflower did not fare as well........who would awaken in the middle of the night to eat cauliflower? Maybe, Adele Davis would have...


                  
                                                                THE FORMULA

 
Gently roast the finest cocoa beans, hand picked in Madagascar or Sri Lanka, to remove humidity, then...if necessary....roast a bit more until the flavor and aroma peaks... Then nib and ground the beans, add extra cocoa butter and the finest Bourbon vanilla and organic sugars, allow this couverture to conch for a few days to refine the texture and remove traces of astringency......adding thick Normandy cream with beurre de Charentes as a foil to the rich, fatty filberts from Piedmont and almonds from Provence and perhaps some pistachios from Sicily....and perhaps a few fruit confits and citris fruit peels! Or just call Jean Jacques Bernachon and order from his chocolate shop, in Lyon, and have some delivered to your palette........I know.....I know.....I haven't disregarded Fauchon's concoctions of Valrhona or Jean-Paul Hevin's chocolate easter eggs or Le Roux's bitter chocolate sylvies that melt in one's breath on a warm spring afternoon picnic........ Now that i'm worked up, juices flowing within my cheeks and flooding beneath my hungry tongue, I'm off to the kitchen to prepare a much humbler offering for this evening.....and a bowl of chocolate-covered candied orange, grapefruit and tangerine peelings.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IN THE KITCHEN AT SUNRISE, SUNDAY MORNING

Image
  Experimental Lunch.....a croissant pastry 'box' filled with crowder and black-eyed peas, okra, onions, scallions, ginger, chilis, orzo, mushrooms, diced dried apricots, green curry, Madras curry, rasam, dried dill pickle, green dragon sauce, olive bruschetta, and sweet red peppers in harissa salsa and 'painted' with hoi sin sauce/walnut oil..... served with a ladle of marinated red peppers, corn salsa, gyoza sauce and hoi sin ....i.e. clean out the fridge......a tasty little loaf...... Served with a bowl of roasted red pepper soup with hot Indonesian curry, powdered onions and garlic paste.......
Read more

Luncheon, the day after emptying the contents of several bottles of 'stuff' from the fridge.......

Image
A TABLESPOON OF THIN BLACK TRUFFLE SLICES, MARINATED IN OLIVE OIL....A HALF TEASPOON OF ARGAN OIL & A DOLLOP OF MELTED BUTTER, WHISKED TOGETHER WITH SOME GROUND MEDITERRIAN HERBS AND CRUSHED, DRIED ROSEMARY....INTO WHICH A COUPLE OF 'END PIECES' OF 9-GRAIN TOASTED BREAD IS ADDED TO SOAK UP THE DELICIOUS 'FAT'....THEN, A TURNOVER, AFTER A MOISTENING SPRAY OF AVOCADO OIL, TO ADD A SLAB OF SLIGHTY-MOLDY EXTRA SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE AND A COUPLE OF PRESSES WITH A WOODEN SPATULA.......SERVED WITH A BOWL OF RICE-VINEGAR-PICKLED CABBAGE......AND A 'SECOND COURSE' OF PANKO-BREADED PINTO BEAN PATTIES, FRIED IN AN IRON SKILLET, IN AVOCADO OIL, INFUSED WITH WHITE TRUFFLE SLICES; SOME CHOW-CHOW RELISH WITH ROASTED YELLOW CORN AND CHOPPED RED BELL PEPPERS; A BOWL OF SPICY COLLARD GREENS, DRIZZLED WITH THICK PRELIBATO RED BASAMIC VINEGAR, SPRINKLED WITH ORGANIC OIL ROASTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS; AND A 'BALL' OF SPINACH AND YAMS, BINDED BY EGG YOLK, THEN LIGHTLY SPRAYED WI...
Read more