Dark Chocolate Mole-Inspired Panini

The Vosges Haut-Chocolat Oaxaca bar is the Exotic Candy Bar with the darkest chocolate and most cacao content of any other. The single origin Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate is 75% cacao and has an earthy, fruity flavor. The dark chocolate stands up well to the two kinds of chillies, both guajillo & pasilla chillies that reinforce the bright, plum skin fruitiness in the bar.

Chocolate was first discovered by westerners when they visited the Aztecs over 500 years ago. The ancient people drank cacao ground together with vanilla, annato, herbs, cornmeal and chillies. The xocatyl was frothed and the foam was sipped numerous times a day. When Cortez, the explorer, and his men first drank the holy beverage, they believed they were being poisoned and were catching fire from the inside. When the Spanish crew brought cacao beans back to Europe, sugar was added to make the drink more palatable. And the rest, as they say, is history.

My many chillies + chocolate creations pay homage to chocolate’s origins. Oaxaca, Mexico is revered as the birthplace of chocolate. They are known for their thick, hot beverage and their wondrous mole sauces. Pairing raisins with the Oaxaca bar in this panini recipe was inspired by the fruits that are an important part of mole recipes. A little sweetness offsets the tannic nature of this incredibly dark chocolate while bringing out its fruity undertones.

Oaxaca Raisin Panini
yields: 1 panino
Ingredients:
2 slices of ciabatta or Italian country bread
1 tsp unsalted butter, softened Vermont butter is our favorite Maldon salt crystals
1 oz. Vosges Oaxaca Bar (3 squares), chopped
6- 8 plump raisins

Heat a panini press. Lightly butter both sides of each slice of bread. Spread chopped chocolate evenly across one slice of bread with the raisins and sandwich the other slice atop. Grill the sandwich in the press until brown and crispy on the outside, about 4 minutes.

White Chocolate + Olive Panini

I get on panini kicks now and then and usually make a plethora of different recipes at once. Maybe it is because it is such satisfying result for such few ingredients and little effort. People don’t commonly think to put chocolate between bread in this country or alongside savory ingredients; but, I promise that once you get started doing both, you won’t look back.

This week, stay tuned in as I take you through a panini flight from white to milk to dark chocolate. In chocolate tasting, like win sipping, we begin with the lighter flavors (white chocolate) before moving to the darker flavors so that your palate is not overwhelmed.

White chocolate often gets a bad rap. Many argue that it is not chocolate at all. I disagree! White chocolate is made from the cocoa butter that is derived from the cacao bean. The cocoa butter is separated from the dark cocoa solids and combined with sugar and milk to create white chocolate. It is usually quite sweet and very creamy. I usually combine white chocolate with something citrus-y, salty or with a floral note to offset the sweetness. The more delicate flavor of the white chocolate allows the softer citrus and floral notes to enjoy center stage.

In this panino, the sweet white chocolate marries well with the briney olives. Together with the cheese, the white chocolate will ooze between the crunchy bread spreading sweet delight with each savory bite. It is especially important to gather the best quality ingredients. Your white chocolate should be at least 30 % cocoa butter. Don’t use the fake stuff!

If you don’t have a panini press and don’t want to own another appliance, try this panini iron, which can be pressed on top of the sandwich while it cooks on a grill pan, or a good ol’ waffle iron works well too.

White Chocolate + Olive Panini

Makes 1 sandwich

2 slices rustic Italian bread or ciabatta about 2 inches in diameter
1 1/2 tablespoon first cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
a pinch Maldon sea salt
¼ ounce (7 grams) white chocolate
1 slice of Buffalo mozzarella
2 nicoise and 2 Castelvetrano Sicilian Green Olives pitted and sliced
a fresh basil leaf

Directions:
Brush each slice of bread with olive oil front and back. Top with a pinch of sea salt, a slice of buffalo mozzarella cheese, olives, basil, and place a few pieces of white chocolate on top. Sandwich together and place in a preheated Panini press. Press until golden and melted, 2-3 minutes. Bite…mmm!
A great sweet and savory hors d’oeuvre!

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.

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.