For the Love of Chocolate

      Valentine's Day is almost here and those heart shaped chocolate boxes are appearing everywhere. While I wouldn't consider myself a "Chocoholic," I can say I am a very big fan of the stuff. Years ago I hosted foreign students who were attending ESL school. My daughter and I knew when a Swiss student was coming - that chocolate would be coming along too. You see, host families were given gifts by the students upon arrival. The Swiss always brought ... of course - Swiss chocolate. Why wouldn't they? Chocolate is what their country is known for and who wouldn't love receiving a 5 lb Toblerone bar? I often had 4 to 5 students at a time - rotating every 2 to 3 weeks - so there was lot of chocolate flowing into my life back then. My fellow co-workers benefited also. I would bring the excess chocolate to work to pass around during teachers meetings. Heck, we needed something to keep us awake. Sorry Mr. L!  Well - the love of chocolate continues although on a more limited basis. Below are some favorite chocolate desserts - just in time for the big red heart day.



In Search of Green's favorites ...


Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter & Walnuts Makes 16

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Fudgy and chewy with a shiny, crackly top. The browned butter adds a rich, nutty flavor.

PREP TIME: 20 minutes 

 Photograph by C Griffith

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

• 10 TB (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 1/4 cups sugar

• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs, chilled

• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

• 1 cup walnut pieces

Preparation

• Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

• Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.


Chocolate Lava Cake To Die For
J. Hamlin

      1 Stick Unsalted Butter
6 oz. Good Quality Semi-Sweet Chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup All Purpose Unbleached Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
4 Lg Eggs
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (I use Nielson-Massey Brand)
To top: Good vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and raspberries or strawberries


Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F
In a double boiler, melt the butter & the chocolate, stirring
occasionally. Remove from the heat. Cool to Room temperature.
Sift the flour, sugar, salt & baking powder together. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and the vanilla until
frothy. Stir in the room temperature chocolate mixture until
incorporated. Gently and gradually stir in the flour mixture until
everything is well combined but do not over mix.
Use either 6 - 6 oz. ramekins or 8 - 5 oz ramekins or custard cups.
Divide the batter evenly among the ramekins and arrange them in a
baking dish. Add Cool water to the pan coming up 1/3 of the way
up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the tops are firm.
Serve warm and top with good vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.


Double Chocolate Sable Cookies   Yield: 36 cookies 

From Food Network Kitchens

Sable in French means "sandy" — these are a classic French cookie, made out of crumbly chocolate shortbread. To keep them nice and sandy, be extra careful not to over mix the dough. The hint of salt brightens the flavor and underlines the chocolate. For a special holiday treat, sandwich two of these together with a small scoop of peppermint ice cream.


3 oz bittersweet chocolate, frozen for 10 minutes 
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder 
1/4 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp fine sea salt 
5 1/4 oz (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup sugar 
1 lg egg yolk


Grate the chilled chocolate with a fine grater or rasp and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and sea salt.

Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until just combined. 

Mix in the yolk. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and beat lightly together until just combined but still crumbly. Fold in grated chocolate with a spatula. 

Bring the dough together by lightly squeezing in your hands; but don't knead or overwork, as the secret to these cookies is their delicate, sandy texture.

Divide the dough in half. 

Lay half the dough on a long sheet of wax paper & shape into a log along the width of the wax paper, leaving some space at each end. 

Pull the paper over the top of the log. 

Grip the edge of the top piece of paper, and use a straight, firm edge, like a ruler or the edge of a pan, to press gently against the edge of the dough where the papers come together to create a solid, firm round log. 

Repeat with remaining dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (To keep logs round store inside an empty paper towel roll.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice logs into 1/2-inch thick rounds with a sharp, thin knife. 

Divide rounds onto the prepared sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake until cookies smell fragrant with a full cocoa aroma and set on the outside, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans, about 5 minutes.

Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely. Serve