A fragrant gift from an old comrade.

My dear friend, David Romanelli, has the knack for finding me the perfect gifts. I suppose it is a sign of our long and strong friendship. On the wall of my office is a rare, signed Bob Marley album that inspires my work and reminds me of my bond with Yeah Dave, yogi extraordinaire.

After a trip to Portland, Oregon, David surprised me with a specialty salt that he uncovered in a little, fantastical shop The Meadow on 3731 N. Mississippi Avenue. The Iburi Jio Cherry salt has a unique smoked cedar aroma. Have you ever been on a ski trip and noticed at the end of the day, as you walk back to your chalet, that dry smoky wood smell in the air mixing with the aroma of fresh snow? Tired winter sportsmen have ignited mountain forest wood to warm their extremities and in doing so, they send smoky fumes up through their chimneys. When I close my eyes and breathe deeply from this jar of salt, that is the memory my mind conjures.
How to use this aromatic salt? It is good on everything from reindeer meat to stream river trout.

Once you’ve used one salt, you have not used them all.

A simple formula: NaCl. Together, the elements sodium and chlorine form molecules of salt. This happens all over the world, in the seas, on land and in caves. Salt is a magical mineral that has such a deep role in our lives, far beyond the pleasure it produces on the palate. The very cells of our bodies swim in a saline solution, tying us to the vast oceans from where we are believed to have evolved.

Much like grapes, various salts have terrior picking up the aromas and flavors of the land and surroundings where it is formed. After salt is gathered in its natural form, the mineral can be smoked and finessed to create additional flavor profiles.

I have always used salt to counteract the sweetness in chocolate. But, a handful of years ago, my exploration of salt became more specific. Just as I match the proper chocolate with each recipe, a salt is also specified for each creation and carefully chosen for its flavor characteristics. Delicate Pink Himalayan salt balances the crunchy, buttery Bapchi’s Caramel Toffee. Large Fleur de Sel crystals crown the Organic Peanut Butter Bonbons offering texture, a welcome crunch and a strong salty balance to the rich peanut chocolate ganache. Alder wood smoked salt brings out the smoky bacon flavor in all my bacon + chocolate creations.

For all who cook, I encourage you to expand your salt repertoire. Once you begin experimenting, you will never go back to a solitary white table salt in your pantry. Start your collection by finding a local spice or specialty food store. You can also order a variety of salts online here or here.

Surprise Holiday House Guests with Heavenly Bread

The smell of fresh baked bread pressed with cinnamon and a hint of cacao wafts from the kitchen. We can barely wait for the hot babka to cool enough so that we can still melt butter and yet not burn the tongues.

The yeast has done its work, creating airy layers weighted only by cinnamon and chocolate. Sprinkle coarse sea salt on the best butter you can find and slather it atop the sweet, yeasty bread. Tug at the crust of your warm slice and feel the layers effortlessly unravel. The first, warm, sweet, buttery bite will stop time for a moment.

The first time I met a babka was in a Jewish deli in NY called Russ & Daughters where they offer either chocolate or cinnamon varieties. Babka is a sweet, yeast bread that is popular in Eastern European and Jewish bakeries. As I experimented with my own babka formula, I found I liked it best with dark chocolate and cinnamon together. In my particular version I love to use whole wheat flour as the basis for the streusel to add a nutty, coarse texture to the crunchy top.

If you plan to have house guests this holiday, make one of these loaves in the morning and let the smells from your oven awaken them and coax them downstairs.

Chocolate Cinnamon Babka
Yeast Dough
1 1/2 cups warm milk, whole heated to 110 F
2 (1/4 ounce each) packages active dry yeast, Fleishmanns
3/4 cups sugar, plus a healthy pinch of sugar for yeast starter
3 whole large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
6 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature,
1 teaspoon salt
2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Cinnamon Filling
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for bowl and loaf pans
2 pounds 55-62% cacao chocolate, very, very finely chopped (use a Cuisinart to chop ultra fine) not too bitter (red fire would be delicious, banana victoria or really any bar would be great here…) Or omit chocolate and just use cinnamon
2 vanilla beans,
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, Ceylon is using Cassia reduce to 2 Tbsp
3/4 cup sugar

Egg Wash
1 egg
1 Tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

Streusel Topping
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
¾ cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup oats
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

The most important tip in making a babka is that your eggs are really at room temp, around 70 and not too cold or it can stump the growth of your yeast. The butter needs to be truly at a warm room temperature also along with the milk being at a true 110F. I suggest warming up your house and adjusting your thermometer up a few degrees so it truly is in a warm environment. Yeast is a tricky ingredient. So, let’s get started.

Warm milk in a saucepan when you reach 110F, sprinkle yeast and a healthy pinch of sugar over milk. Allow the mixture to stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 eggs, and 2 egg yolks. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine. (Reminder: make sure your eggs are not cold to touch but at a balmy room temperature.)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add egg mixture, and beat on low speed until all the flour is incorporated, about 45 seconds. Change to the dough hook. Add 2 sticks butter cut in to tablespoons, and beat on medium-low until flour mixture and butter are completely incorporated, yielding a smooth, soft dough that’s slightly sticky when touched, about 10 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few turns until smooth. Butter a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 -2 hours. Do not pull it out until it truly has doubled in size. (Alternatively, let dough rise in refrigerator 8 to 12 hours; bring to room temperature, 3 to 4 hours, before baking.)

Prepare chocolate cinnamon filling: chop chocolate using a cuisinart, or by chop by hand until very fine. Put the chocolate in a bowl. Cut open two vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds, adding them to the bowl. Add sugar, 1-inch pieces of butter and cinnamon. Using your hands, combine all ingredients, creating a soft mixture. Set aside.

Prepare the streusel : In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, oats and butter. Using a fork or pastry cutter, blend until fully combined with clumps varying in size the more variety the better the texture will be when baked.

Generously butter 3, 9″ x 5″ x 2 3/4″ loaf pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Make egg wash by beating remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of cream or milk; set egg wash aside.

Punch back the dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Let rest 5 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Keep remaining pieces covered with a warm/damp towel while working with other piece. On a generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16-inch square; it should be 1/8 inch thick. Use flour to smooth out evenly with rolling pin. Brush edges with reserved egg wash.

Take 1/3 of the chocolate filling (reserving 4 tablespoons for center of the babka) and evenly crumble over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Roll dough up like a tightly rolled log. Pinch ends together to seal. Bring ends of log together to form a ring, pinching to seal.

Twist 5 turns. Sprinkle reserved spoons of chocolate filling on right half of the dough then fold left side on top of that and twist 3 more times. This will give you a great marbling effect and it is ok if the dough breaks a bit.

Place twist in your prepared bread pan. Brush top of roll with egg wash. Carefully crumble 1/3 of the streusel on top. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough and remaining filling.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. After the 55 minutes, lower oven temperature to 325 F and continue baking until babkas are deep golden, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks until cool. Remove from pans; serve with your favorite butter. You can wrap and freeze if desired.

Another tip: Use a great loaf pan like Rema hot air baking pans.

Gingerbread Black Pearl Semifreddo

There are certain flavors that taste like the holiday season. Warm spices and traditional aromas tickle one’s nostalgia nerves. At Vosges Haut-Chocolat, when creating our limited edition holiday collections, I turned to nutmeg, gingerbread, eggnog, cinnamon and chestnuts along with other doses and spots of this and that.

When entertaining at the holidays, it is always handy to have made-ahead, individually portioned desserts. They can be served at the table or set on a sweets buffet. Semifreddo has long been my favorite creamy, cool dessert. A semifreddo is made with Swiss meringue and whipped cream. Combined and then frozen, the result is nearly cloud-like in its lightness. The cool, soft chocolate cream melts in your mouth delivering the flavors it carries.

It will not surprise you that my semifreddos are always touched with chocolate and a little surprising accoutrement. This version incorporates Black Pearl Bars, which combine dark chocolate with wasabi, ginger and black sesame seeds. To further coax out the warm ginger flavor, I added an extra sprinkle of pulverized ginger.

Any of the exotic candy bar flavors will work, so experiment with your parfum of choice. The Naga bar (sweet Indian curry, coconut and milk chocolate) or the Red Fire Bar (ancho and chipotle chillies with Ceylon cinnamon) would also warm the palate this cozy season.

Gingerbread Black Pearl Semifreddo
6 ounces (2 bars) Black Pearl Bars (or your favorite)
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp ginger powder
2 egg whites
3/4  cup sugar

Directions:
1. Put the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl and melt slowly over a double boiler over simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water) and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and just warm. Set aside.
2. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl and place over a pan of low-simmering water. This process of making a meringue is called the Swiss Meringue style.  Whisk continually until the whites are just hot (110-120F) and the sugar is dissolved, about 6-7 minutes.  Be sure all the sugar crystals are melted, otherwise you will have a gritty semifreddo. As you whisk the eggs will get foamy and frothy, Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Beat the egg white-sugar mixture with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form and the egg whites are shiny and glossy,  3 to 5 minutes.
3. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, not firm; set aside.
4. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate then gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the mixture, followed by carefully folding in the meringue. Pour the chocolate mixture into individual ramekins. Place in the freezer until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.  Remove 30 minutes before serving to “temper” the semifreddo.

With what will chocolate NOT marry?

This is a question I have been asking myself regularly of late. To me, chocolate is as necessary an accessory to taste as salt. It rounds out flavors, adds depth and rewards the palate with layers of tasting sensation. For me, chocolate is not a matter of if, but a matter of which chocolate will best marry the food I am presently creating.

It is easy to understand how this particular combination works. Sweet, fried plantains wrapped in salty, smoky bacon and drizzled with dark, barely sweet chocolate? All of the flavor profiles are touched and the myriad of textures are represented from liquid to soft to slightly crunchy.

Make this recipe and try just one of the bites before drizzling the dark chocolate over top. Then, drizzle high quality dark chocolate atop your next taste. See? Continue on this path with me and find my understanding. You can no less have a proper kitchen without salt than you can a recipe without chocolate!

When buying plantains, be sure to choose specimens that are almost completely black. Since bananas are a more familiar food, it is hard for most to get used to buying the black-skinned fruits. But, plantains truly must be black to be ripe enough for recipes calling for sweet plantains.

Your bacon choice is also important. I have yet to find a bacon I enjoy more than Nueskes. Whatever you choose, find a smoked option to add flavor. And, a thinner cut of bacon will wrap around the plantains better for this recipe.

Bacon Wrapped Plantains with Dark Chocolate

Chocolate Sauce:
3/4 oz butter, unsalted
3 oz dark chocolate, 62%

Plantains:
2 sweet plantains, completely black and soft
2 oz Butter
1 package Nueskes bacon

Peel plantains and cut in 1/2 thick pieces at a slight angle. In a large sauté pan on medium high heat place your butter to melt. Work in batches and fry the plantain slices in a single layer until they are deep golden brown. About 3 minutes each side. I like to press on the plantains while I cook them to flatten them out slightly. When finished, place on a towel to absorb excess oil.

Wrap each plantain in a piece of bacon and sauté in a large saute pan until the bacon is crispy on both sides.

Make your sauce while crisping your bacon wrapped plantains. Melt your chocolate and butter on the stovetop on very low heat stirring all the while.

Place plantains on a plate and drizzle with chocolate sauce. They are great along aside black beans and rice with jerk rubbed chicken.

Inspiration finds me in a variety of places. Sometimes, it is actually found on non edible piece that drive me to create a recipe.

While meandering in Lexington, Kentucky, one of my favorite cities in the world, I found my way into a haunted, old antique shop that had vintage punch bowls, sterling silver mint julep cups and carved wooden knives. Next to the old football team photo with a line up of lovely, burly gentlemen, I spied a wooden disk haloed in a red, painted edge with a buxom knife.  It is a seemingly simple piece but its unknown history called to me. I imagined it was a hunting marker and that southern farmers used it as a cutting board to fillet their venison.

My instinct was to use the round, weathered board as a serving piece, offering up simple fare to some last minute lunch guests. A few figs and some good cheese were the perfect mates to a bunch of lucky arugula that was dressed in a dark chocolate vinaigrette. Chocolate salad dressing? Yes. Don’t spend time questioning it, refocus your energy on buying the ingredients so you can give it a try.

Chocolate Sherry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup melted dark chocolate
1/4 cup balsamic or sherry vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil ( I used Apollo olive oil Gold Series from California)

Combine oil and vinegar in a bowl. Whisk in dark chocolate. Toss over organic, fresh greens.

Chocolate Enhances an Age Old Traditional Dish

In the past year, I have been seeking out interesting and healthy recipes for my two-year old son. Ground meat is easy for him to eat and also serves as a good vehicle to sneak in all the kale I desire !

From my old Moroccan and Syrian cookbooks, I was inspired to try my hand at kefta. Kefta is a traditional Middle Eastern food made by combining ground meat with an assortment of spices. It is often shaped into cylinders of meat instead of balls. The omnipresent kefta is found on street corners, as appetizers and as the focal point of meals. Each Middle Eastern chef is as likely to adjust and personalize her kefta recipe as an Italian is her bolognese.

I remember when I was in Israel, a peaceful time in March of 2000. I went with this very cheap boyfriend who had a friend that attended the London School of Economics and who then worked for the Palestinean goverment. We stayed with this friend because my boyfriend didn’t want to spring for a hotel.  Anyway… our host was living in Ramlah and my boyfriend was Jewish, so it was a very interesting stay and conversational ping pong.  The point of this journey down memory lane is just to tell you that my first experience with kefta was on the second floor of a romantic, dilapidated Palestinian grill house.   It was by far my most memorable and romantic experience (with the kefta)  in Israel and will forever hold its place as the kefta mecca.

When I began experimenting with my own kefta recipe, it of course wasn’t long until the appropriate chocolate found its way into my mise en place. Along with the Mo’s Bacon Bar, I use cilantro, parsley, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, coriander and smoked salt. The recipe is easily adjusted based on what you have in your pantry.

Serve kefta with a salad and tahini dressing. Pickled purple cabbage would be good with this too. I prefer to toast and grind my spices in a mortar and pestle fresh. You will be rewarded if you take the time! And, if you want to make these for little ones, try chopping in a few leaves of kale cut in a chiffonade and remove the paprika from the recipe.

Chocolate Kefta

2 lb ground lamb
1/4 cup parsley, curly finely chopped
3/4 cup cilantro
2 oz bacon bar, milk grated red fire, organic milk, naga try what you like
1 medium onion, minced (1 1/4 cup)
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp coriander
1/2 tsp smoked salt

Mash all together wearing gloves. Shape into 3 inch long logs about and 2 inches in diameter. Place in refrigerator wrapped until ready to cook. When ready, sprinkle with smoked salt and black pepper. Broil in the oven for 5 minutes or grill a few minutes on each side.

Peace, Love and Chocolate Video Debut

I am through the moon with excitement to post my first video on Peace, Love and Chocolate. The feeling of video, recipe and music can be much stronger than the human voice alone and I think this will be my new language for some time to come. How better can one taste online than with seductive mood-wrangling through color, movement and song.  This soft, glowing recipe-in-action happened almost by accident and without any planning and no makeup or fashion styling, aiyei. The energy of a handful of people collided to create this small moving picture.

A month or so ago, Caroline was on her way over to collaborate on some blog posts as we often do. I pulled my big table into the morning light and began collecting some of my favorite items – old bottles, liquor tags, Kentucky antique finds, bar tools and ingredients from my garden. My plan was to create some pretty photographs and share a recipe for Strawberry Nectarine Geranium Cocktails. But, Caroline didn’t show up alone. She brought with her a recent DePaul graduate who studied video, Miss Christina.

I must mention that we discovered this talented gal, Christina, through our Twitter account (@Vosges) when we tweeted a request for someone to take videos of a Yoga + Chocolate event. Her friend who follows @Vosges suggested Christina. Caroline, who helps manage our marketing, met her and made her own video and then decided she should tag along that fateful day to see what might happen at my house.

We went about our normal business – cooking, laughing, sipping, experimenting. All the while, Christina quietly shot video in the most beautiful sun-washed light. I started by concocting a few simple syrups infused with African blue basil and cocoa nibs. The unique basil reminds me of yet another sprinkle of unplanned magic. I sent my sweet husband, Jay, to buy  some organic herbs for our new rooftop garden. I would likely have come home with Italian or Thai basil but he snooped out more rare leaves – African blue basil a robust strong basil with notes of camphor and mini Cuban basil that is a stronger more potent version of sweet basil.

From there, the video was edited, and a seemingly effortless collaboration continued and my first video was born! Stay tuned for an expanding sensory video library both on this blog and at Vosges. Follow us on Vimeo here and track our budding YouTube channel here.

Strawberry Nectarine Geranium Cocktails

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa nibs
2 large strands with flowers of African blue basil
4 oz Campari
1 fresh nectarine
4 strawberries
4 large ice cubes
1 cup soda water
geranium petals

Make simple syrup by combining 1 part sugar to 1 part boiling water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Infuse simple syrup with cocoa nibs, basil or experiment with your own herbal tincture! In a rocks glass, muddle fresh, juicy nectarines and strawberries. Add a splash of Campari, large ice cubes and top with soda water. Sprinkle organic geranium petals atop for garnish.

Plaster Project for Beverly Hills from Vosges Haut-Chocolat on Vimeo.

Carved, White and Extradorinary Arches Leave Morocco for our Beverly Hills Boutique

In September, our new purple house will be opening in Beverly Hills. Alas, all of the elements are starting to come together! I recently received the above video from the artists in Marrakesh Morocco who carved this ornamental beauty… my jaw dropped.

For me, inspirations often come together after a variety of impressions intersect. All my life, I have dreamed of traveling to Morocco. I have been drawn to the allure of spice markets, riads, Moorish architecture, the French tongue, the call to Allah and mint tea rituals. I too am fascinated with the idea of East meets West, a style I think interior designer, Alberto Pinto does beautifully. His hard cover book highlighting his work titled Albert Pinto Orientalism is perched in my office. Within it, intricate carved plaster arches creating frames of neighboring opulent spaces seems to be a stand out. He celebrates opulence with sumptuous gardens, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, exquisite parquet floors and fine damasks and silks. His work is forever a stunning piece of luxury.

As I was crafting the idea for the Beverly Hills boutique design, I kept peering into Pinto’s book and thinking of my friend Stephanie Rudloe who first suggested I buy it. She is one of the owners of Imports from Marrakesh in NY – a fabulous resource for great and fine Morrocan pieces. It was with Stephanie that I took my first step into Marrakesh (via Chelsea in New York), for she welcomed me into her elegant stall, filling an ornate teapot with voluptuous mint leaves, black tea and sugar. We sipped and talked as we sat on jewel toned poufs and admired the silver dangling wedding blankets. I left with the blanket and the tea service along with an imprint of Morocco forever being a romantic and mysterious locale.  So, when I glistened onto the idea that carved arches as I had seen in Pinto’s book had to grace our newest boutique, I called my friend Stephanie and asked if she had a connection with Moroccan artisans who could create these masterful beauties. Did she ever.

Oh, and a little more about Miss Stephanie, she is also a creative goddess with her hands as she is known for her henna work and has even painted such celebrities as Christie Turlington and Madonna. See more of her other talents at Shingara.

The Chocolate Laboratory of Beverly Hills

Beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, funnels, balances, scales, distillation equipment, pipettes and droppers. It is time for the chemistry student inside me to fully unite with my present day chocolate activist.

In mid-September, we are opening a new boutique in Beverly Hills and I am thrilled to announce that it will feature a Chocolate Lab fit for a High Priestess. I have long experimented in my various kitchens, but it is time to bring my chocolate meanderings, Practical Magic wannabe, mess-ups and un-thinkables public.

Though I can’t be there full time, I will plan to spend a number of weeks a year in Los Angeles so I can feel the west coast vibe, utilize the chocolate lab for my R & D projects and find a general escape to ponder my next move.

Our Beverly Hills/West Coast manager, Hayley, is also a pastry chef specializing in vegan creations and a veteran of famed Millenium in San Franciso. In my absence, she will ensure that the flow of creation is strong. Expect to see more hemp and brazil nut milk in the fridge (definitely not soy).

Our opening menu includes exotic chocolate bars wrapped in croissant dough to aromatize freshly baked pain au chocolat, cacao beans roasting before your very eyes and glassware of all shapes and sizes filled with chocolate concoctions, spices and distillates. This is just a sneak peek, hope to see you soon.