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.

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.

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.

Bacon Bar and Chorizo Stuffed Dates with Spicy Oaxaca Red Sauce

This recipe is inspired by a signature dish of likely my favorite restaurant in Chicago, avec. Chef Koren Grieveson is epic and this is the spot I bring all out of town and in town guests to not only experience the food but the creative, easy going vibe. The air pulses with energy, the communal seating promises a chance encounter and the room buzzes with great tunes. It is an absolute must-try. They don’t take reservations and thank God they are open late. I think this is the only late night spot in Chicago where you can eat something other than a burrito. Can anyone tell me why Chicago closes shop so early? avec is open until midnight on weekdays and 1 am on weekends.

The taleggio foccaccia and bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates are two of my passions on the menu. I have created my own version of Koren’s dates, by of course, adding chocolate to the dates and in the sauce. The magic of that salty and spicy meat, a touch of sweet chocolate and some acidic tomato is heightened by a roasting process that brings it all together. Spread the flavor and try it out.

Bacon Bar and Chorizo Stuffed Dates with Spicy Oaxaca Red Sauce

yields: 15 stuffed dates & sauce

For bacon bar stuffed dates:
15 medium-sized Medjool dates
2 chorizo sausages, casings removed, raw and spicy
1, 3 oz. Vosges Mo’s Bacon Bar (or 3 segments Couverture Bar, cut into 4 pieces per square)
8 slices Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon
1 batch of Spicy Oaxacan Red Sauce (recipe follows)
cilantro for serving

For Spicy Oaxacan Red Sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium sweet Spanish onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine or sherry to deglaze
1 lb skinned, heirloom tomatoes or canned San Marzano tomatoes
2 oz. Vosges Haut-Chocolat Oaxaca Bar
1/2 dried chipotle chili, reconstituted in water, seeded
1 tbsp olive oil to finish
salt to taste
3 splashes liquid smoke
1 tsp cumin

Cut the dates on one side lengthwise and remove the pits. Break each 3 oz. bacon bar square into 4 pieces. Cut bacon strips in half. Stuff each date with 1 tbsp of chorizo and place a piece of bacon bar in the center of the chorizo. Fold chorizo around chocolate and close date. Wrap each date in half a piece of bacon. Sear bacon-wrapped dates over high heat in an ungreased pan until crispy. Set aside.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in large stock pan. Add onion and garlic with salt and sugar, cooking over medium heat until translucent. Add tomato paste and deglaze pan with sherry; cook until the majority of alcohol is boiled off, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, Oaxaca bar and chipotle chili. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Purée with an immersion blender until smooth. Add cumin, liquid smoke and season to taste with olive oil and salt.

In a deep baking sheet (about 1″ side walls) pour Oaxaca red sauce about half-way up the sheet. Transfer the seared dates to the baking sheet, spacing each about 1 inch apart. Bake the dates in sauce for 25 minutes. Serve in sauce, garnish with cilantro and bacon bar shavings.

If you have been following Peace, Love & Chocolate, you know I have been on a panini and bacon + chocolate kick.  Finally, I combine them both.  This recipe was first debuted at our chocolate degustation table at the TED conference in Monterey California three years ago.  TED is one of the most inspiring events of my year. It is a gathering of active minds and those that break new ground, reinvent, question, discuss and share.  My team and I have fallen so in love with TED talks that we now devote Friday mornings at Vosges to TED FRIDAYS and show TED talks to our entire company.  Everyone leaves feeling very inspired and thinking outside the box. Maybe it would be cool for your company?

Certainly one of the most memorable speakers I heard was Jill Bolte Taylor.  She is a brilliant Indiana native and Harvard grad who studies the brain and shares insight through the experience of her own stroke. Watch and listen here. (Warning, you may not want to watch WHILE you are enjoying your panino as she displays a real, human brain.)

Back to the panini at hand…Use your left hemisphere to follow the easy recipe and treat yourself to a Bacon + Chocolate panino. Then, step to the right of your left hemisphere to taste and feel the aromas, textures and flavors.   At our Vosges Degustation Soirees we really play up the savory element of the bacon in this paninis by adding a wonderful slice of gruyere cheese, a piece of sizzling bacon, a dollop of whole grain mustard and spear each panino with a cherry tomato and a gherkin. Try this alternative as a fun hors d’oeuvre!

Mo’s Milk or Dark Bacon Bar Panini
Yields One Sandwich

Equipment needed: Panini press or waffle iron or clothes iron and cast iron plan (see tips below)

2 Italian country bread slices about 4-5 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick
2 tbsp Sea salted butter, the great French brand, Isigny Ste Mere or make your own by mixing 1/2 tsp Maldon salt and 2 tbsp of a fabulous butter. One of my favorites is from Vermont Butter and Cheese Company
Pinch Maldon salt
2 squares Vosges‘ Mo’s Milk or Dark Bacon Bar
2 strips of crispy bacon (optional), I love the thick sliced

Spread butter on all sides of the bread. Place bacon bar squares on one piece of bread, followed by strips of bacon if you are using them and a sprinkle of salt. Place other piece of buttered bread on top and press with Panini press until golden brown.

Tips:
Make sure your bread doesn’t have many gaping holes or your fillings may seep through and burn.

If you don’t have a Panini press substitute with a waffle iron as you see I did in the photos. Or try a cast iron skillet hold with a clothes iron on top – quite the contraption I assure you.

Make sure the bread you use isn’t overly crusty or it may cut your mouth a bit when pressed. At the same time don’t choose a overly soft bread not a good quality sign either and it won’t have the rigidity. I suggest a crusty ciabatta or italian peasant bread.

Use organic or home grown where possible.

Maple Chocolate Pudding Speared with a Bacon Spoon

The first time I ordered bacon to stand at attention while knee deep in chocolate was in 2003 at the opening of our Soho boutique.  This recipe is the original ancestor of the growing Vosges bacon + chocolate family and the first manifestation of my childhood bacon and chocolate dreams. This sensuous appetizer reappeared at my 2005 gypsy wedding to my Love where mini shot glasses were handed out amongst the trees to guests who eagerly reached for the bacon spear spoon.

First you grasp the crisp strip dripping in the “pudding,” slowly bring it to your mouth and marvel at the taste of the sweet, maple-scented pudding. Dip again with your bacon and nibble as you spoon in the richness of the pudding.  Often the bacon spear is finished before the pudding has vanished and I have many times witnessed guests drink down the final drops or reach for an extra bacon spoon to finish off the last drops.  SO be sure to have extras arranged on a platter. Trust me they will disappear.

Sizzlin’ Bacon in Shot Glasses with Maple Syrup “Pudding”

5 oz milk chocolate, 45% cacao is my favorite, melted
3 oz heavy whipping cream
2 oz maple syrup – Grade A maple syrup amber
Vanilla bean, sliced in half and seeded (optional)
Bacon, Nueskes apple wood smoked thick cut
1 tbsp Alderwood smoked salt

Yields: 1 1/2 cups about 6 servings ( 2 oz per serving)

For a stronger vanilla flavor soak the vanilla bean and scraped pod overnight in the cream.

The next day:
Preheat oven to 375F.  Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and line with bacon. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Boil cream with vanilla bean seeds and pod. Once the boil is reached turn off the heat and let infuse and cool for 10 minutes. Pour the cream atop the melted milk chocolate.  Using a whisk, stir chocolate, cream and maple syrup slowly together to a glossy emulsion.

Partially fill vodka shot glass or Riedel “O” glasses or any small cute cups with the warm pudding.  Sprinkle with a pinch of smoked salt and place a spear of bacon in the center sticking out from top.  Serve “pudding” warm. Encourage guests to use the bacon as a “spoon” to eat the pudding, nibbling it down as they go. Be sure to serve extra bacon on the side.

Alternative presentation:
Skewer the bacon on long wooden skewer sticks, weaving the raw bacon onto the stick.  Bake the skewers to golden brown. Remove from oven, place on a platter and drizzle with chocolate maple “pudding.” A show shopper either way, I assure you.

These are wonderful hors d’oeuvres for breakfast and dinner.

Not Exactly a Pig in a Blanket

My bacon + chocolate experiment has been many years in the making and continues to evolve.  This year, I am taking it nearly full circle, right back to where I started:

1979: I began experimenting with bacon + chocolate at the tender age of 6, while eating chocolate chip pancakes drenched in Aunt Jemima® syrup served aside sizzling bacon.  Beside my stack of cakes, the bacon strips would swim in the flowing syrup and melted chocolate chips.  That became my favorite dipping sauce for bacon… and so the story begins.

2003: The opening of the Vosges Haut-Chocolat SoHo boutique in New York.  A desire to create sweet and savory, chocolate experiences for our guests led to a maple chocolate pudding in vodka glasses speared with crispy bacon.

2006: The Groove Collection launches.  Inside, the Blues truffle combines deep milk chocolate and my favorite, Nueske’s smoked bacon.

2007: To spread the word of bacon + chocolate far and wide, a candy bar was born.  In honor of my bacon-loving-fiend friend Mo, who believes everything is better with bacon, it was named Mo’s Bacon Bar. (Oh and he runs Zingerman’s mail order my favorite food mail order company.)

2008: Two new members join the bacon + chocolate family. For Mo’s wedding,  bacon + chocolate took flight in the form of a Flying Chocolate Pig.  Shortly after, the mini Mo’s Bacon Bar was born.

2009: And now the great unveiling…  A pancake mix that includes addictive bites of bacon and chocolate, circling the story back to its inception at my childhood breakfast plate. Keep reading and you may get to taste them….

Crystal Ball: It is still a little hazy, but it looks like a dark chocolate bacon bar.  Watch your inbox July 2009.

Ready to heat up your griddle?  Here’s a sneak preview of Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Pancake Mix for the first 50 takers.  CLICK HERE to make your way to a secret page on the Vosges site to buy the initial batch of this new product.  If you choose to partake, please use the Comments feature on this post to let me know how they work out.

For those who try the mix, here are a few extra tips for your first batch:

1. Do NOT over mix the batter.  When you stir too much, you release the carbon dioxide bubbles from the leavening agents and your pancakes will not be light and fluffy.

2. I highly, highly suggest using a little bacon fat on your griddle.  It brings all the flavors together.  Butter will also work just fine. But hey, serving the bacon is a must with the pancakes so you’ll have the fat, might as well use it.

3. You can either drop the Mo’s Bacon Bar chocolate chunks into the pancakes while cooking.  OR, put them between pancakes stacked up high.  Be sure to layer the chocolate in when the pancakes are hot so it will melt and ooze.

4. Want an extra adventure? Try making your own buttermilk.

Looking forward to your feedback!