So! Now we are halfway through February, and so far this month is performing in a satisfactory manner. I’ve got an embarrassing amount of backlog to share – rack of pork, eggplant parmesan, coq au vin, lentil soup – but for today, we’ll go with the Valentine’s recap. My meal last night, courtesy of EPB, isn’t really correct fodder for this particular blog – partially because I had nothing to do with the preparation, but also because the bulk of it was either raw (oysters – EPB learned how to shuck them himself! – and ikura), or else prepared by others (huge steamed Dungeness crabs from Taylor Shellfish, also the source of the oysters - if you watch Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel you may have seen their sourcing farm featured). On a related note, these all go surprisingly well with a dry sparkling rosé.
The part where I did play a hand, though: the dessert, where I made the easiest chocolate fondue in the world. Seriously.
Like many of my easy-and-impressive finds, this came from Real Simple…and really lived up to the magazine’s name (not everything does, people. For serious).
Chocolate Bar Fondue
courtesy of Real Simple
Serves 8 // Hands-on Time: 20m // Total Time: 20m
Ingredients
· 3/4 cup heavy cream
· 1 pound milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces (*note from your blogger: I reduced the recipe since there were only two of us, but the ratio was 4:1 dark:milk chocolate. Delicious.*)
· 1 pint fresh strawberries
· 1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into 1-inch pieces
· 8 ounces dried fruit, such as pineapple slices and figs (*note from your blogger: I used fresh pineapple…simply because the store had it in cut tubs. Use whatever you want that is handy and simple.*)
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, over low heat, warm the cream and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. (*Note from your blogger: Be patient – it will seem too cool to possibly work at first, but then suddenly it will all start to go at once – keep stirring!*) Transfer the fondue to a serving bowl. (*Note from your blogger: I transferred to an actual fondue pot…which led to complications, as I couldn’t get the sterno to stay at a low enough temperature to keep the fondue from boiling without the flame going out. There were a few rounds of relighting…but in the end it worked out fine.)
2. Serve immediately with forks or the like for dipping strawberries, angel food cake, and dried fruit.
It was crazy good and alarmingly easy. Alarming, you say? Indeed. It took next to no time to make, and involved two (inexpensive) ingredients. Plus: if I used entirely dark chocolate and fresh fruit I could easily delude myself into it being a healthy treat. This is not a good thing. So, chefs: consider yourselves warned, and enjoy!
.JPG)
Like many of my easy-and-impressive finds, this came from Real Simple…and really lived up to the magazine’s name (not everything does, people. For serious).
Chocolate Bar Fondue
courtesy of Real Simple
Serves 8 // Hands-on Time: 20m // Total Time: 20m
Ingredients
· 3/4 cup heavy cream
· 1 pound milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces (*note from your blogger: I reduced the recipe since there were only two of us, but the ratio was 4:1 dark:milk chocolate. Delicious.*)
· 1 pint fresh strawberries
· 1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into 1-inch pieces
· 8 ounces dried fruit, such as pineapple slices and figs (*note from your blogger: I used fresh pineapple…simply because the store had it in cut tubs. Use whatever you want that is handy and simple.*)
Directions
1. In a small saucepan, over low heat, warm the cream and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. (*Note from your blogger: Be patient – it will seem too cool to possibly work at first, but then suddenly it will all start to go at once – keep stirring!*) Transfer the fondue to a serving bowl. (*Note from your blogger: I transferred to an actual fondue pot…which led to complications, as I couldn’t get the sterno to stay at a low enough temperature to keep the fondue from boiling without the flame going out. There were a few rounds of relighting…but in the end it worked out fine.)
2. Serve immediately with forks or the like for dipping strawberries, angel food cake, and dried fruit.
It was crazy good and alarmingly easy. Alarming, you say? Indeed. It took next to no time to make, and involved two (inexpensive) ingredients. Plus: if I used entirely dark chocolate and fresh fruit I could easily delude myself into it being a healthy treat. This is not a good thing. So, chefs: consider yourselves warned, and enjoy!
.JPG)
