merstar

No, unfortunately, I haven't tried any of the Pralus chocolates yet.

Hi Robert, You might be interested in seventypercent.com, a UK site with well-written, interesting chocolate reviews. You can check out their reviews of Pralus and other bars from their dropdown menu: http://www.seventypercent.com/chocop/

Ditto.

Everything looks great, Abra. Glad it was a success!

Buttermilk Blue and Gorgonzola Mountain.

Abra, Here's something you might want to check out: Grilled Shrimp with Cocoa-Nib Romesco Sauce http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/grilled...b-romesco-sauce

You're welcome, Abra - the salad is the one that attracts me the most also!

Do you have Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet?" There are several savory recipes there using cacao nibs. Also, here are some recipes from my files to check out (not T&T): Roasted Pear Salad with Chocolate-Scented Goat Cheese and Chocolate and Roasted Pear Vinaigrette http://www.valleysentinel.com/archive/2003...recipes0302.htm Hazelnut Chocolate Soup http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/01/rec0145.html FILETE ENCHOCOLATADO (BEEF IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE) http://recipesource.com/ethnic/americas/me...03/rec0394.html COCOA-ORANGE BRAISED CHICKEN http://www.recipezaar.com/187056 Poached Pears with Gorgonzola Cream And Chocolate Maple Syrup http://www.chefjamie.com/recipedetail.php?ID=146

I made the Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream last night. It tasted a little flat, so I added a touch of vanilla extract, and it was excellent. I strained the custard before adding it to the melted chocolate, and I was surprised the recipe did not indicate to do so, since this is a crucial step.

Hey Bob, I notice they have 3 grades of porcinis. Which one(s) do you get? Thanks. ← I get the AA's. They are very strong so it doesn't take much to go a long way. I probably would go for the AB for misc stuff but I don't use a whole lot and they don't have any smaller sizes than 16 ounces for the AB. Maybe I will some day. ← Okay, thanks a lot!

Thanks, Judith, but $20.00 for 1.8 oz is way too high! They're even much higher than my local supermarket, but thank you anyway - I do appreciate your help.

Hey Bob, I notice they have 3 grades of porcinis. Which one(s) do you get? Thanks.

Thanks for the link - I agree, the prices look great!

Thanks a lot, Jim, but unfortunately "The Hersch" is right - no porcini can be found on their site. Maybe I should just call them and find out what the prices are.

Hi all, Can anyone recommend a good online source for Porcinis? Thanks.

SOUR CHERRY STRUDELS http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106768

Out of season, in my opinion the best-tasting widely available tomatoes are so-called grape tomatoes from, for example, Splendido. The drawback is that it's kind of a pain to manage several of those little tomatoes onto a sandwich. But if you don't mind the labor and you have a good paring knife, you can take six of those little tomatoes, trim each so it has two flat sides the long way, then cut each in half also the long way, and you'll have twelve flat slices that will stay put in a substrate of cream cheese. ← Love grape tomatoes - yes, they're a pain to use on sandwiches, so thanks for the slicing tip!

I've had the generic "vine-ripened" tomatoes, and I've had Campari tomatoes - not the same at all! The Campari are far, far superior.

Toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese, sliced Campari tomatoes, and sliced red onion. (addition of some sliced black olives, optional).

I tried the Hershey's Extra Dark Cacao Reserve 65% the other night, and I was ready to hate it, since I've always hated all their other chocolate, but surprisingly, it was very good. Not great, not as complex as some, but still good, and a lot better than many, with a nice creamy texture and a good amount of depth.

I LOVE Campari tomatoes and always have them in the house. They are not genetically engineered. The ones I get are by Eurofresh Farms, and they're grown without pesticides. (I buy these in my local supermarket, Harris Teeter). http://www.eurofresh.com/products/products.shtml

Can you find Droste? It's is sold in many supermarkets, specialty stores, and some health food stores.

It does. I absolutely hate white chocolate - I find it tastes like sweet wax. But El Rey's is an exception. I don't care for their dark chocolate, but when I need white chocolate for a recipe, I go for El Rey. Check this out: http://www.chocophile.com/index.php/chocop...ents/elreyicoa/

In a word, no. I've tried their Manjari 64%, Le Noir Amer 71%, Guanaja 70%, and strongly disliked them all. The Chuao 65% was just so-so.

I didn't like L'Harmonie either - I found it underwhelming, both in taste and texture.