No, That is Not Steamy Cream

Like any new babe, these sweet little babies are not quite ready to venture out into the world just yet, well except for maybe a potential sneak peek to some that may find themselves on a Vosges taste-tester list soon. (If you are interested, please email your name and address here. The first 100 lucky people will be put on the coveted list!) Nevertheless, by autumn, you can all be sure to to find a line of vegan truffles that are truly, my new favorite obsession.

The idea has been stirring within for some time as I am a frequent spa-goer and a fan of the master cleanse – so a vegan program is no stranger to me. I felt even more compelled toward the vegan side of things when at Le Cordon Bleu we dealt with every offal, trotter and tongue you could imagine. I often feel caught and suspended, between two worlds. One side is drawn to the decadence of haute cuisine, the indulgence in sumptuous traditions of foie gras and duck fat; while my other half is pulled towards clean, healthy, spare-the-animal, super food love.

It is likely that on a recent trip to We Care Spa in Desert Palm Springs and a visit to the island of free hippie clean eating Kauai, that the reminder and call from the mighty cacao in its purest form hit me over the head. And so my two sides crossed like a solar eclipse. A set of dark chocolate, vegan truffles packed with super foods…Could it be?

To make a traditional truffle, you often add cream to chocolate. So the trick to a vegan truffle is creating a soft, sensuous chocolate bite without any dairy. I started with 100% cacao chocolate another challenge that may lead you to a bitter over note. Instead of cream, I am using coconut milk and some agave for sweetening. But, I just read an article on how agave is actually highly processed and the old agave methods are not used for the widely distributed agave nectar. Still searching, I may be back to Stevia soon.

As for flavors, I am still playing. But, anticipate walnuts, acai rolled in young green mango powder, caramelized cocoa nibs and probably matcha green tea. Looking forward to letting the cat out of the bag tout de suite.

Hot Spanish Chorizo Meets Chocolate and the Yolk

My first foray with chorizo and chocolate came with this recipe for Bacon Bar and raw and soft Chorizo Stuffed Dates baked with Spicy Oaxaca Red Sauce.  In this latest experiment, I wanted to simplify and break it down as a quick umami seduction.  Ingredients are always important but for this, the right ingredients are CRITICAL. Below are links and exact ingredients and if you follow them… I promise that you will find yourself in a new realm of flavor phenomenon.  The combination of spicy Spanish chorizo atop a slick of tart 74% dark chocolate and a cushion of freshly baked Spanish bread will blow your mind. Seriously, I’m not just talking this up.

Start with this glossy visual — green olive oil beds the river of russet chili oil  that seeps from the chorizo into the dainty caverns of the freshly baked bread, as the dominican chocolate pastilles slowly melt from the heat.  A sprinkle of my favorite Maldon salt atop it all balances the chocolate sweet.  The rich, bitter dark chocolate stands up to the spicy hot chorizo.  And, that bread… the perfect Spanish bread serves as a magic carpet for it all. You must buy the Galician bread and bake fresh. 

For high quality Spanish ingredients, delivered right to your door, try La Tienda.  Once you start exploring this site, you may end up with more than just bread and chorizo.  The Jamon Iberico, Croquetas, Zamorano cheese…. I can almost feel the flamenco dancers stomp on my heart.  These Chorizo + Chocolate bites would work well alongside other tapas.  Or, just consider…breakfast.  In my house, we eat chocolate for breakfast. Seriously good.  Yolks and chocolate, why not?! 

Chorizo + Dominican Chocolate Tapas

Hot Palacios Chorizo from Spain
Traditional Galician Bread – Barra Gallega
Spanish Arbequina Olive Oil
Maldon Salt
Dark Chocolate – 74% Organic Dominica Noir

Per instructions, finalize the baking of the bread in your oven.  When cooled slice bread in 1/2 inch thick pieces. Drizzle with Spanish olive oil.  Place 2-3 broken bits of chocolate on top of the bread.  Place 2-3 slices of hot chorizo on top of the chocolate, sprinkle with Maldon salt.  Place in the oven at 250 for 8 minutes to melt and heat. Take out of the oven and eat immediately.

arriba!

Pairings of Tea and Chocolate

I have been submerged in tea of late though my wont of combining tea + chocolate is not entirely new.  I first infused jasmine tea in white chocolate when I started Vosges in 1998, it was in my list of first 21 truffles ever created, but it was cut from the exotic truffle collection launch. Then years later is was finally debuted in the spring Les Fleurs du Chocolat truffle collection.  The Siam truffle combines jasmine green tea, lemongrass, fresh coconut and Dominican white chocolate and topped with a bright marigold petal (the combo based on an across the river, barefoot drinking tea memory at The Oriental Hotel’s spa in Bangkok).  The fragrant jasmine tea against the sweet white chocolate is as refreshing as a honeysuckle spring gale.

Some years later, I added the Matcha Bar to our line of Exotic Candy Bars after attending my first Japanese tea ceremony in Kyoto. Japanese Matcha Green Tea (a young green tea pulverized into poudre) is combined with 41% deep milk chocolate. The grassy and bamboo undertones of the green tea gently rise around deep milk chocolate, making this a can’t-stop-nibbling bar.

More  recently, I have further immersed myself into tea + chocolate pairings through collaborations with tea experts. My friend Arsen is owner of Argo Tea, another Chicago-based food company and a neighboring boutique at O’Hare. There are many synergies between the two of us in our gathering of teas, spices and flowers from around the world, so Arsen and I decided to create a tea and chocolate series for his tea shoppes. The three new bars include Chai, Green Tea Ginger Twist and Tea Sangria.  I am currently working on my favorite with their breathtakingly beautiful hibiscus pomegranate tea. Stay tuned.

Last week, in order to taste some teas from another tea friend, MLTea, I broke out my new Zojirushi electric water heater specifically for tea.  It takes all the guesswork out of perfecting tea brewing.  You just set the temperature for the proper tea and start infusing.  If you are brewing all tea at the same temperature, you must get up to speed!  Find a basic tea brewing temperature guide here. Or, just buy a Zojirushi to do all the work for you.  Ahh… Japanese gadgets, I love you.

To pair tea + chocolate, gather a few of your favorite teas and a variety of chocolates.  (The Exotic Mini Candy Bar Library will get you off to a good start.) I usually like to take a sip of the tea first to warm my mouth.  Then, a nibble of the chocolate and another sip.  It is good to experiment taking the chocolate in while the liquid is still in your mouth or after.  Inhale deeply and become aware of the different flavors evolving on your tongue.  In a proper pairing, the two will enhance each other.

Some of my favorite MLTea-Vosges Exotic Candy Bar pairings were the Kyoto Rice tea with Matcha Bar or the Naga Bar.  The toasted rice adds a warm toasty flavor that is nice against Naga’s curry.  The Verbena Mint Organic is nice alongside a straight Organic Dominica Noir dark chocolate.

Both tea drinking and Exotic Chocolate Bar tasting lend themselves to ceremony.  This winter, break out your teacups and linens and turn a cozy afternoon into a tea pairing party.

How to Shuck an Oyster

What a lucky few weeks I have had with fresh, fragrant oysters regularly gracing my kitchen.  You see, in between holiday music and evergreen boughs, I have been scheming up Valentine’s Day delicacies.  Since chocolate is the name of my game, I am working on a way to combine the two.  But you’ll have to wait for a month or so to discover the result… I have to keep some secrets close to the vest.

Thanks to my experience at Le Cordon Bleu, I have shucked many an oyster.  A few thousand in and I am still taken by their beauty -  the roughness of the shell juxtaposed to the soft inner folds, the beautiful grays and greens, the subtle alluring aroma of sea. There is truly something magical about them.

My favorite oysters are Kumamoto.  As Hog Island Oyster company describes them, “Originally from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan, the Kumamoto Oyster takes three years to develop the small, deeply cupped shell that protects its surprisingly plump little morsel. Mildly fruity and sweet with a slightly mineral finish and a rich buttery texture, the Kumamoto is the perfect oyster for beginners.”  Hog Island will ship oysters directly to you but if you happen to be in California along Highway 1, you MUST stop at their picnic area and indulge on the spot.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with oysters at home. In the next week, I will start tempting you with some oyster and chocolate recipe ideas so you may want to practice. You will need a towel and an oyster knife.

1. Check all the oysters and discard any that are not tightly closed.

2. Scrub the oysters with a stiff brush under fresh, running water.

3. Place an oyster in a towel with the more rounded side down and the flat side up.  Hold the oyster as level as you can so that when it opens you don’t lose any of the precious juices.

4. Put your oyster knife into the oyster near the hinge.  You only need to insert about 1/2 inch of the knife.

5. Twist the knife so the muscles of the oyster are severed allowing the top to come off.

6. Carefully remove the top shell.  Scrape any meat attached off the top and into the bottom shell.

7. Slide the oyster knife under the meat to cut the oyster away from the bottom shell while keeping it sitting in the shell.

I like to serve them with the top shell alongside.

Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico

Experiencing Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico is one of the most precious memories from all my travels.  El Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead is a flavorful and ceremonial celebration devoted to honoring and welcoming back the souls of deceased loved ones. Bright and colorful altars are constructed in homes and public places adorned with a vibrant array of glowing votive candles, photos, marigolds, crafts and favorite foods of the deceased including beer, chocolate, grasshoppers, sugar skull heads as ofrendas. Every year at Vosges Haut-Chocolat, we make exotic chocolate skulls encrusted with black salt, jeweled eyes to commemorate this most vibrant of holidays.

Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 1-2,  is a historic Meso-American holiday that originated from the Aztecs 3000 years earlier. When the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico nearly 500 years ago, they encountered natives practicing this ritual that seemed to mock death. It was a ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. Although the ceremony has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles the Aztecs had intended, a view that death is the continuation of life. Life was a dream and only in death did one become truly awake.
The skulls were used to symbolize this cycle of death and rebirth. As the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual to honor the dead and exalt the sphere of death and rebirth.

Much of the holiday centers around preparation of the best foods that are offered to ancestors who come back to visit the living during this narrow window of time.  Colorful skeletons in all forms decorate homes, cemeteries and altars.   Weeks in advance, time is expressly taken to prepare moles, marzipan, tamales and calabacha en tacha, candied pumpkin soaked in clove and cinnamon spiced brown sugar syrup.  Traditional liquors such as Mezcal served with worm ground salt and pulque are also abundantly served during the celebration.

A few years ago, I hosted a Yoga + Chocolate retreat in Oaxaca during the Day of the Dead celebration with my dear friend and yoga master, David Romanelli. Daily yoga and food experiences were centered around Oaxaca’s history and culinary traditions- this is the land of 7 moles and chocolate after all.  If you are feeling spontaneous and need a break from your daily grind, I insist you book a last minute trip to Oaxaca to enjoy the Day of the Dead celebrations on November 1 and 2nd.   Below is the itinerary from our Mexican yoga + chocolate excursion full of MUST DO experiences in Oaxaca.

Oaxaca, Mexico – Travel Recommendations

HOTELS
I highly recommend staying at the amazing Camino Real. The Camino Real is a gorgeous 5-star hotel set in a 15th century former convent of Santa Catalina. Otherwise, consider the Casa Oaxaca where you should visit no matter what for a Temazcal appointment and a dinner.

DAY 1
Every morning you will have the option to enjoy Camino Real’s famous Oaxacan breakfast buffet, an event not be missed while you dine within one of the many courtyards and listen to the sounds of monks singing.  Be sure to try the chapulines (grasshoppers) and pan de yema dipped in chocolate con leche or chocolate con agua, the favored drink of Oaxaca.

During the day, enjoy a trip to Teotitlán del Valle, a small village just outside of Oaxaca that is famous for rug weaving, mezcal distilleries, and the Mendoza’s Tlamanalli Restaurant.  If you can arrange a Comida Zapotecan old-style Zapotecan cooking in a class with one of the 4 Zapotec sisters, Abigail Mendoza you will be in for a treat.  After lunch visit a local mezcal producer and distillery learn about the art of making mezcal.  Dinner at El Naranjo, Iliana de la Vega’s renowned restaurant.

DAY 2
Depart for Monte Alban, a group of hills in the center of the Valle de Oaxaca which  holds one of the oldest cities on the American continent.  It is the capital of Zapotec culture with ancient ruins dating back to 500BC. Have a quick lunch at La Capilla, a famous open-air restaurant where you can see how they make blandas and tlayudas on large griddles.  You’ll experience their excellent regional cooking, specializing in mole negro, a mole with chocolate.  After lunch, stop briefly in Coyotepec, the home of black pottery, before heading back to the hotel. You will see this lace cut pottery all over Camino Real illuinated by candle light at dusk.

In the evening, visit the village and cemeteries of Xoxocotlan for Day of the Dead festivities. Click here for the description of the history, significance, and festivities surrounding this unique Mexican holiday.

DAY 3
Arrange a cooking class at Restaurant El Naranjo with one of Oaxaca’s most popular female chefs, Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo.  Experience a hands-on cooking class after which you’ll sojourn to the Benito Juarez market and a local chocolate mill, where Iliana will explain the seasonal produce, the wide variety of fresh and dry chilies, and the making of Mexican chocolate.

DAY 4
Take a guided tour of Oaxaca City.  Visit the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca.  The fourteen halls set in this museum, within the former convent of Santo Domingo, are an absolute must see. Lunch in Oaxaca’s main town square, known as the zocalo, at La Casa de la Abuella.  This restaurant demonstrates superb local Oaxacan cooking prepared according to old recipes carefully preserved by the lovely owner, Olga Scherenberg de Martinez.  The restaurant has a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains, the town’s Cathedral and the zocalo.  The mole almendrado is highly recommended.

In the afternoon, explore 20 de Noviembre Mercado, the most popular market in Oaxaca, to experience wonderful Mexican food including Tlayuda grilled meats, chocolates, and moles. Try dinner at Marco Polo at 5 de Mayo Street.

DAY 5
Hike the mountains in the Sierra Norte, land of “the cloud people.”  The trip runs between 6-7 hours in total, including three hours of hiking. The hike is at 10,000 feet above sea level and is suitable for avid hikers only.  Then have a lunch at La Casa del Pueblo Restaurant. If staying in Oaxaca and opting out of the hike, be sure to visit the Photography Museum, a small contemporary open-air museum donated by internationally acclaimed, local artist Francisco Toledo.  The Contemporary Art Museum is another worthwhile one to visit. Dinner at Casa Oaxaca a must!

DAY 6
Spend an unforgettable day with famous chef Susana Trilling, including a comprehensive cooking class and market tour in Etla, giving you an insider’s knowledge of Mexican culture through its cuisine.  This is an experience of Mexico most visitors never have. Susana Trilling, teacher, chef, writer and television host will teach you to work with the native foods of Mexico.  The class, tour and lectures focus on pre-Hispanic foods, traditional culinary, medicinal, and spiritual herb usage, and the Spanish influence on the contemporary Oaxacan kitchen.  The participation-based class combined with the market tour provides fantastic insight into the daily Oaxacan food culture.

RANCHO AURORA, Susana’s home, is on a hillside farm overlooking the pueblo of San Lorenzo Cacaotepec in Etla.  It has a breathtaking view of the valley.  There, you will discover where the food you cook is grown, gathered, and prepared for use in the many forms of Mexican cuisine. Susana also has a marvelous store at her school for you food-ies and gadget collectors.  Note that her store only takes cash, either in dollars or pesos, or traveler’s checks – but no credit cards.  If using traveler’s checks, be sure to bring your passport.

Dinner at La Olla.

EXPERIENCED TRAVELERS… for those of you who have Oaxaca recommendations of your own, please leave comments. I am always looking for new adventures!

Sufganiyot – Traditional Jewish Doughnuts

Fried Dough. Really, what could be better? It must be the  3 Rivers Festival and 10-year-old memories of eating elephant ears from the Red Barn. There is just something about Carni’ food that tickles the nostalgia button and stimulates the salivary glands. I have such vivid memories of reaching through that sliding window to grasp my hot dough with the background music of the squeaky tilt-a-whirl and screaming kids.

In fact, it was fried dough oozing with chocolate that gave inspiration to the name Vosges Haut-Chocolat. While I was a culinary student in Paris, I longed to dine at the famed Michelin three star restaurant,  L’Ambrosie, in the Place des Vosges. Chef Patrick Terrien of Le Cordon Bleu called ahead to have the restaurant staff take special care us- thus I quickly found myself (and my palate) in the adept hands of Bernard Pacaud of L’Ambrosie. It was there that I had my first chocolate experience. This epiphany of chocolate came in the form of a truffle beignet–- a rich, dark chocolate truffle encased in light, fluffy beignet batter and fried golden to turn the molten center into a burst of liquid chocolate upon the sinking in of my teeth. In a bite, it was all at once crisp, soft, hot, rich and gushing, a chocolate moment unparalleled. When I was thinking about what to name my chocolate company, I continued to recall my first true chocolate experience in Le Place des Vosges. So it had to be and Vosges Haut-Chocolat was born.

So, I take you from the Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s 3 Rivers Festival to Paris’ Place des Vosges and now to Jewish doughnuts in Chicago.

Awhile back, I tore this recipe for Sufganiot out of a magazine. They are traditional, Jewish doughnuts usually served at Hanukkah. My husband, a Hebrew man that likes the Grateful Dead and fried food always inspires me to make him happy. So, I often find myself on a quest to master traditional recipes and serve him familiar and meaningful foods. Though I doubt he has ever had a Sufganiot, it was fried and sweet, and seemingly his perfect treat.

Though Sufganiot are usually jam-filled, I unsurprisingly altered the recipe substituting a warm chocolate center, distantly reminiscent of the truffle beignets that changed my life in the Place des Vosges in Paris years ago. I also experimented with an apricot conserve and cocoa nib filling that was delicious but only if you use preserves the likes of June Taylor’s pluot conserve or Harvest Song’s Armenian Apricot preserve.

As shown in the photo, I experimented filling each with a different square of our Exotic Candy Bars and traveling the world through doughnuts we shall go.

Sufganiyot

3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)
1 envelope active dry yeast (1 scant tablespoon)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for coating
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
peanut oil, for frying plus more for bowl
1/4 cup apricot or blackberry jam or conserve or a Vosges Haut-Chocolat Exotic Candy Bar of your choice

1. In a large metal bowl, stir together warm water and yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt; mix until well combined. Add egg yolks and remaining 1 3/4 cups flour. Mix until combined, then knead dough in bowl until all flour is incorporated. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead a few minutes until smooth. Knead in margarine until incorporated.

Transfer dough to a well-oiled bowl; turn dough several times to coat entirely with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

About 30 minutes before you’re ready to form doughnuts, remove dough from refrigerator to let come to room temperature. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into an 11 inch square about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter (or a glass), cut out about 24 rounds, dipping cutter in flour as needed to prevent sticking. Re-roll scraps and cut out about 16 more rounds.

Line a baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg whites. Brush edge of a dough round with egg white, then mount 1/2 teaspoon jam or chocolate bar pieces in center, or both. Top with another round and press edges to seal. Repeat process with remaining rounds. Transfer to prepared baking sheet; let doughnuts rise until puffy, 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat a few inches of oil in a large (4-5 quart) heavy pot until it registers 360 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer or a scrap of dough sizzles upon contact. Working in batches of 4 to 5, carefully slip doughnuts into hot oil. Fry, turning once until golden brown about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain.

Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. While doughnuts are still hot, toss them in sugar, turning to coat. Serve immediately.

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.

Dark Chocolate, Nicoise Olive, Prosciutto & Buffalo Mozzarella Panini

In the previous post, I explained my newfound love of the real McCoy, fresh (meaning 2 days old or younger) Mozzarella di Bufala. It is not easy to find in the U.S. or should I say close to impossible, so if you are unable to get your hands on this more stringy, elastic and I would say a bit rubbery, fresh cheese there are alternatives. What you typically find in the States is buffalo mozzarella that has been resting in its water for weeks and therefore the consistency becomes softer and softer, closer to a burrata style than an authentic buffalo mozzarella from Campania. Don’t get me wrong, I love burrata and I truly enjoy the mozzarella di bufala that is imported, but it is far from its mother. So, go with a firmer style mozzarella or try your stateside buffalo mozzarella and you will be ok.

Whichever cheese you use, be SURE to place the sliced mozzarella between sheets of cloth towels for at least 10 minutes before using it to help eliminate the excess water in the cheese. Otherwise, the excessive liquid will make your panini soggy. And my friends, there is nothing worse than soggy panini.

Ok, so now let’s get straight to it. The flavors that are so critical here as the threesome of dark chocolate, olive and prosciutto, which bring out the umami depth when they are melded together.

Wrap these sandwiches in parchment and take them to your backyard for a picnic. Pair them with your favorite bottle of Italian Barbaresco, I love GAJA.

Dark Chocolate, Nicoise Olive, Prosciutto & Buffalo Mozzarella  Panini

Yields One Sandwich

Equipment needed: Panini press or waffle iron or clothes iron and cast iron pan (for more on these tricks, click here)

1 ½ oz buffalo mozzarella
2 slices thick Italian country bread,  about 1/2 inch thick and 4-5 inches wide
2 tbsp olive oil
5 nicoise olives, pitted and sliced
1 oz dark chocolate : Vosges Organic 74% OR 66% Enchanted Mushroom Bar OR plain 55% cacao
a sprinkle Murray River Pink Salt
3 slices prosciutto, La Quercia (new prosciutto sulfite free from Iowa)
2 basil leaves

Cut mozzarella and place on a towel to absorb excess water. If you put straight onto the bread you will have a soggy panino. Brush olive oil on all sides of the bread. Place olives, dark chocolate and salt on one side followed by the mozzarella, basil and prosciutto. Press to golden brown and serve immediately.

For more panini making tips, go here.