Savory Chocolate

[melmck]

Hi all- what is being done out there in the world of savory chocolate items? I am doing a chocolate event, we are going to discuss/prepare savory chocolate dishes. Naturally I think of mole', and I put it in chili also, but that's as far as I've ever taken it. And after that my brain crashes, because everything else sounds too weird, unbalanced or a real stretch.

So let's hear it from the masses!

[andiesenji]

Recipezaar has several main dish chocolate recipes. that might give you some ideas.

I have often added a pinch of unsweetened cocoa to the marinade for sauerbrauten to give it a greater depth of flavor.

[sarah o]

Alice Medrich's Bittersweet also has some savory recipes using chocolate.

[chefpeon]

Coincidentally, we just started selling little Ancho-Chocolate Bars in our deli.

We also got some Chocolate Nibs from Scharffenberger and we're sprinkling them on our

salads.......really kinda nutty with no bitterness!

[lemon curd]

Art Culinare's fall issue 2004 has a 12 page section on savory chocolate.

[merstar]

Three interesting recipes to check out:

ROASTED PEAR SALAD WITH CHOCOLATE-SCENTED GOAT CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE AND ROASTED PEAR VINAIGRETTE

http://www.valleysentinel.com/archive/2003...recipes0302.htm

DUCK BREASTS WITH BLACKBERRY-CHOCOLATE SAUCE

http://www.pacificpalate.com/print_2004_2a.html

FILETE ENCHOCOLATADO (BEEF IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE)

http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/america...03/rec0394.html

[Swisskaese]

Paula Wolfert has a very interesting dish in "The Slow Meditteranean Cooking", Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks with Almond-Chocolate Picada. It calls for cocoa powder.

I am dying to try it, but I haven't found the right source here for lamb shanks.

Edited February 6, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[momlovestocook]

Here's another duck recipe using chocolate

recipe here

Sandra

[derricks]

Way back when I did an all chocolate dinner party. It may provide some ideas. I made up most of it as I went along.

[chocophile]

Though I spent most of my time here on eG here in Pastry/Baking one of my real loves is working with chocolate in savory dishes. I regularly ( 6+ times per year ) host, and often cook, multi-course dinners that incorporate chocolate in every course.

One thing I like to do is to make roasted red pepper and tomato soup. In the bottom of the bowl I place some roasted corn/bacon "hash" and then ladle the soup over that. A dollop of sour cream, and artfully placed cracker, and garnished with an artful drizzle (from a squeeze bottle) of chocolate balsamic sauce laced with chipotle pepper.

White chocolate buerre blanc works very well with fish -- you can even do this with bittersweet chocolate.

Soak some dried cherries in a peppery-spicy shiraz for a couple of hours or overnight. Drain the cherries and use them chopped in a vinaigrette in a mesclun salad with cocoa nibs and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

Pan sear some duck breasts, pour the fat out of the pan and deglaze with the red wine that the cherries have been soaking in. Instead of using butter to thicken the sauce use bittersweet chocolate. Thicken, reduce, and pour over the duck breasts (which have been resting in a warm oven).

I am going to experiment next weekend with some parmesan tuiles that incorporate cracked pepper and cocoa nibs -- and while they're still warm I'm going to mold them into cups in mini-muffin tins and serve something in them, perhaps a ragu of some sort.

I also like to make homemade pasta and add a small amount of cocoa powder (1-2 Tbsp/cup of flour). The pasta is not noticeably chocolatey with a sauce on it, but it's there if you take a piece and eat it by itself. I tend to do very rustic pastas, hand-rolled fairly thick cut with a knife and air-dried for not too long. First had something like this at Tony May's San Domenico on CPS with a "daube" made with duck.

Finally a pun/cliche that few people have caught on to: cocoa butter - as in a compound butter to finish off a steak. Warm the butter, add cocoa powder, some nibs, and complementary fresh herbs. Mold, chill, then slice and plop onto a piece of grilled tenderloin while resting. That one is truly yummy.

This coming Saturday I am doing a dinner that got auctioned off as a fundraiser that involves taking the winner shopping down (I am "up" in Westchester) in Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. No set menu ideas, that will evolve during the shopping trip as we visit my favorite butcher, fishmonger, deli, cheese place, etc., etc. I'll post what finally gets made if people are interested.

:Clay

[chefcyn]

Hi all- what is being done out there in the world of savory chocolate items? I am doing a chocolate event, we are going to discuss/prepare savory chocolate dishes. Naturally I think of mole', and I put it in chili also, but that's as far as I've ever taken it. And after that my brain crashes, because everything else sounds too weird, unbalanced or a real stretch.

So let's hear it from the masses!

←

The Mexi-ideas are already here, but here's one more:

Take chicken wings and dredge them in a mixture of 12 parts cocoa powder and 1part cayenne (which is like a cup of cocoa to a hefty pinch of cayenne more or less to your heat preference), salt and black pepper to taste, and a teaspoon or two of good chili powder.

Then dip them in an egg wash and then into a half and half mixture of flour and yellow cornmeal.

Fry in a hot skillet of peanut or other high temp oil, to brown, then finish off in the oven at 375 for about 15 min. Or spray them with pan spray and bake for 20 min or until done. Frying makes a crunchier crust, but baking reduces some of the fat calories. (almost negligible relative to the whole recipe though--so why bother!)

You can use other parts than wings, but these make a great happy hour or big game snack. I called them Coco-Loco Wings. Feel free to use the name, but if you make a million bucks, you must share!! ;)

[tsquare]

A chocolate dinner is a big player in "Eating Crow"

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