Double, Double, Toil and Chocolate

I'm not a choco-holic. I don't consume nearly as much chocolate as I breathe drink coffee. That being said, I am really into chocolate. Its color, nuances, undertones, texture, "hints of (enter flavor here)", basically anything having to do with the excellency of chocolate, I am into. I take it very seriously, much like my coffee.

Two weeks or so ago I was in Marshalls, a discount store full of name-brand items. I never really pay attention to the food stuff they sell (dry goods, not produce), but while in line to check out I was casually browsing through the chocolate at the counter when suddenly, hidden behind a container of other chocolates, were these:

You have no idea what that means to me. Some people become overwhelmed at discovering a silhouette of Mother Mary on a piece of toast, well, replace that with Scharffen Berger and you have me. You see, the nearest I can get any of these chocolates, in 1 ounce bars, is about a forty-five minute drive, one way. Bambers, this little pretentious market in South Bend, quit carrying them a while ago. (I should check to see if that's still true. Last I checked, they still carried Scharffen Berger baking bars.) To see these chocolates at Marshalls was a very big shock. Pretty much a 10.0+ on the Richter scale. Yup.

The Bittersweet is my favorite; namely, it was the very first flavor I ever tried and I loved everything about it. The chocolate is deep without being overpowering and has orange undertones. It melts smoothly and coats your tongue with a lusciously lingering taste.

My favorite way to eat it is to break a smallish piece off, let it start melting (whatever you do, don't chew it), then take a sip of black coffee and swish it around your mouth, then swallow. The taste immediately following is a very pronounced emulsion of the chocolate and coffee flavors. Amazing.

A week later, my dad brought Dagoba. All I really knew about Dagoba was that it is one of Scharffen Berger's sister artisan brands. I was really looking forward to tasting and comparing, though I went into it mostly comparing it unto itself, as these were actually flavored and not simply chocolate with undertones.

Innards of Dagoba Lime

Lime - Hmmm... A citrus-y note that I swear tastes like something else I've eaten, but I can't describe. I couldn't really taste the lime, just some sort of citrus-y, tangy flavor. Not bad at all, and definitely interesting, and not "interesting" in a bad way. My brother says that you need to eat a larger piece than I did to really taste that it's lime. (**As I type: Yes, I can pronouncedly taste the lime with a bigger portion of chocolate. Yummy!**)

Lavender - Smells of soap. Tastes reminiscent of soap (probably due to the mind connection with soap, hm?), but it grows on you... In the words of my dad, This is what rich kids eat when they cuss. Unlike the lime, I could actually tell this was lavender with just a tiny bit.

Eclipse - Wow. My tongue was coated in a very dense, not-at-all smoothly melting chocolate. This chocolate was probably the least sweet chocolate I've had in a while, thought besides the annoying density it really wasn't that bad. Think: taste of cocoa powder, but with a slight note of sweetness. If that's your thing, as it usually is mine, you'll enjoy this chocolate.

I'm on the lookout for other chocolates to blog about. A few brands come to mind immediately, but if there's one you like then let me know and I'll check it out.

(EoP)

Weekend Dinner Wrap-Up

The dinners I had this weekend were excellent and share-worthy, so here you are.

Saturday's dinner:

Grilled pork with mango-corn salsa and cherry peppers.

The pork was smoky, juicy, and hot and was a nice contrast against the cooling mango salsa. The mild cherry peppers added that extra dimension which made each bite of a slice of pork and salsa come together.

If you want to make the mango salsa, I followed the outline for the peach salsa recipe at the end of this post, adjusting where I wished.

Sunday's dinner:

Cashew chicken.

The chicken was cooked in the same manner the chicken in this post was. I used a different sauce, but with the same ginger-orange premise. While it would have been exceptional, I didn't add enough ginger and orange to really bring the flavors out, so it was very subtle and subdued if mixed with rice or soy sauce. Otherwise, the chicken was juicy, the broccoli wasn't mushy, the rice was perfect, and the crunchiness of the cashews was the perfect contrast.

I might make "weekend dinner wrap-up" a new reoccurring addition to my blog. What do you think?

(EoP)

Italians are Turning In Their Grave

Do you think that if I told my Italian relatives about this pizza I'd be blacklisted? I'll risk it!

This is the result of having pizza dough in the fridge, chicken that needed to be cooked, and a desire for Asian cuisine -- Chicken Teriyaki Pizza.

I made pizza last week and put half the dough in the fridge. By the looks of it last Tuesday I figured it needed to be used.

About forty-five minutes to one hour ahead of time, I took the dough, still in the plastic bag, out of the fridge to come to room temperature.

The extensibility of the dough greatly improved after being refrigerated for a few days, to the extent that I wanted to keep stretching it to see how far it would go before tearing. But I didn't.

On the left, that's what happens when the dough sticks to the peel and refuses to transfer to the baking stone. Oops!

When deciding how exactly to make the chicken, stir-frying was the first choice. After remembering this recipe for Sesame Chicken Salad from Anticiplate, I kept thinking about sesame chicken, specifically because of the breading. I remembered a recipe for Sesame Orange Shrimp from an Everyday Food magazine that I loved. It featured a tempura-like batter. (Recipe at end of post.)

Stir-frying spatters less than this did.

For not being marinated, the chicken was very moist and juicy. Not overcooking it also helped.

If you are wondering why the pan seems sauce-less, it's because this was the very last batch that was not used on the pizzas -- just enough sauce left to coat lightly.

When all the chicken finished pan-frying, I added the teriyaki sauce to the skillet on high heat until reduced and thickened. The amount of chicken per pizza was tossed in the sauce to coat lightly, then placed on the pizza, already sprinkled with a bit of cheese, and sprinkled with a bit more cheese.

The pizza was actually very good. The crunchy, breaded chicken (very moist) held just enough of the sauce, which had an essence of orange and a gingery-garlic bite. I was worried that I wouldn't like the chicken-pizza dough contrast, but I thought of it as an open-faced dumpling.

Despite the apparent deliciousness, in the back of my mind I kept thinking that I was committing some Italian sin. Shhh, don't tell!

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Chicken Teriyaki Pizza

Teriyaki Sauce:
Recipe adapted from: Cyber-Kitchen

• 2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar


• 3 Tbsp teriyaki sauce


• ¼ cup sliced green onions, white parts and halfway up the green part


• 2 Tbsp water


• ⅓ cup chicken broth


• Juice from half an orange, strained


• 2 Tbsp grated ginger


• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil


• 3 garlic cloves, minced


• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Batter:
Recipe adapted from: Everyday Food

• 3 large egg whites


• ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp corn starch


• 2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds


• 1 teaspoon kosher salt


• ½ teaspoon white pepper


• 1 or 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes


• ¼ cup canola oil, plus more if needed

Prepare teriyaki sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; stir, and set aside.

Prepare batter:

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, sesame seeds, salt and pepper until frothy. Add chicken, and toss to coat.

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet (they say nonstick; I used cast iron) over medium-high heat, adjusting the temperature if needed. Working in three or four batches, cook chicken until golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes per side (some of my pieces took less time). Transfer to a paper towel-lined cooling rack to drain. Add more oil to skillet if necessary for remaining batches.

After all the chicken has been cooked, turn the heat up to high and pour in teriyaki sauce. Cook until reduced by about half and thickened (go by eye; I didn't time it). Add only enough chicken as you'll need to top each pizza to the skillet, and toss with a slotted spoon to lightly coat. Sprinkle pizza shell with a light coating of mozzarella cheese, top with chicken, sprinkle with an additional light coating of cheese, brush crust with olive oil, and bake until cheese is bubbly and browned.

Enjoy!