cupid has struck: black dinah chocolatiers and b.t. mcelrath

I have recently felt myself to be one lucky duck. As I watch the weather outside my window change from sunny and warm to snowy and uninviting, albeit beautiful, I find myself enjoying some really amazing chocolate.

Apparently it only takes fifteen months of writing in excruciating detail about the subtle nuances of craft chocolate (so excruciating that your loved ones grow tired of your blather and kindly suggest you take up a new hobby) before you are generously gifted said craft chocolate for the chocolatest of all chocolate occasions, February 14th.

Not once, but twice. Love me two times!, the Jim Morrison-influenced duo of chocolate has repeatedly cried out, as somewhere, a small tinny harpsichord plays in the background. After all, this chocolate is territorial. A wonderful selection of Minneapolis’ B.T. McElrath from my parents back in Minnesota mingles somewhat suspiciously with a lovely 18-piece collection from Black Dinah Chocolatiers on Isle au Haut, here in Maine.

And all of it is dwindling fast.

 

B.T. McElrath is great at what they do. The company excels at churning out artful truffles with delicate couverture, as evidenced by this year’s Passion Fruit Hearts. But it is the popping, wowing flavors that keep me interested in what their next flavor combination will be: this passion fruit, for instance, is so intense and refreshing. It is a very cleansing truffle – if there were such thing as a dessert mouthwash [hmm... must invent], this would be it.

While the most prominently featured truffle in their 5 piece Epicurean Truffle Assortment had morphed a bit from that depicted on the label, all treasures hidden within proved more gorgeous than anticipated. With only five small truffles (and I shared each one, so more like with only 2.5 small truffles…), the flavors came and went quickly. From the sublime Chile Limón, to the snazzy Kaffir Lime with Coconut and Ginger, to the complex Signature Dark, and the perhaps slightly underwhelming Zinfandel-Balsamic – which while tasty did not quite live up to its name – this box acts as a fine introduction to what B.T. McElrath is capable of. The fifth truffle was another Passion Fruit, but I preferred the thinner, crunchier chocolate shell of the seasonal heart shape to this mainstay in the assorted truffle lot.

 

Also included in this fantastic grab bag was one of B.T. McElrath’s most recent chocolate bars: the Super Red. This pairing of red fruit and chocolate proves an enticing combination that I have been looking forward to trying since last fall. As I’ve spent the past week indulging in truffles, I will review the bar here at a later date.

A super warm squeezy hug of a thank you to my parents for this unexpected and most welcome surprise. I was floored, and I am most appreciative. I would grin wide and say “thhhankshh,” but my teeth are probably filled with chocolate, which as you may know, would just about be my worst nightmare come true (next to snakes in the basement, of course). Thank you !

   

And just a day after making a very lame and snobby offhand statement that I was filled with ‘ennui’ because I knew my fella would never buy me amazing chocolate like my parents (and really, who would want to buy chocolate for such a jerk?)….. well, he did. Truffles from Black Dinah Chocolatiers. Martha Stewart likes BDC. So do those fancy people who vacation on Maine’s rocky coast in the summer time. I, on the other hand, very much disliked their lavender chocolate bark, but have since been eager to try their truffles. Why? I think truffles are the strong suit in a chocolatiery operation such as BDC. Chocolate bark, schmocolate schmark.

Since I wasn’t able to make it down to Isle au Haut before the season ended last year, this gift was the perfect way to sample Kate Shaffer’s creations.

Knowing that my dislike of white chocolate was almost as large as my dramatic ennui, my chocolate partner-in-crime made sure to have the  fully-white and potentially-despicable Lemon truffles removed from my 18-piece Valentine’s Day box of truffles. What remained were BDC’s Varietal, as well as several amazing Persian Love and Earl Grey truffles.

The Varietal truffle ganache is made of “rare” Peruvian cacao, and is very silky smooth and creamy. I found the truffle to be reminiscent of sour cream, in a good way. Not sour cream, but sour cream. The flavor is slightly overpowering, and is not my favorite, but it is well-made nonetheless.

The Persian Love dark chocolate truffles are heart-shaped, and contain whole pistachios that have been enrobed in rose and cardamom-infused caramel cream. This is a step (or perhaps, a jump) in the right direction for me, although the cream persisted in tasting a bit sour. Whole pistachios were quite a treat, and although the caramel didn’t taste much like rose or cardamom, it tasted fully-flavored and complete.

Finally, my favorite. The Earl Grey truffles, of which there were not nearly enough. This truffle’s dark chocolate ganache was infused with the perfect amount of Earl Grey tea, pairing the bergamot flavor excellently with a Venezuelan 45% milk chocolate exterior. This was truly outstanding.

The only issue with all truffles was that the couverture tended to flake, and at times separate fully from the ganache. While not much more than an aesthetic issue, it is the only point for improvement that I could see here.

Another thank you is merited at this time. This thank you is filled with x’s and o’s, much the same as the Varietal truffles are decorated. xoxoxo.

B.T. McElrath Chocolatier

2010 E. Hennepin Ave., #78
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Black Dinah Chocolatiers

PO Box 13
1 Moore’s Harbor Rd.
Isle Au Haut, ME 04645

207.335.5010

Read more from Chocolatier Kate on her blog, Black Dinah Chocolatiers.

Tags: b.t. mcelrath, black dinah chocolatiers, chocolate, truffles, valentines

honey tangerine and lime poached pears

It was recently revealed to me that my fella has a thing for poached pears. It was recently discovered that the grocery store did not have any pomelos for sale. It was recently decided upon that honey tangerines are jewels of deliciousness, and it was recently intuited that said tangerines and lime would work nicely together.

All of these seemingly disparate items were united yesterday, when the stars aligned to create these light-yet-satisfying Honey Tangerine and Lime Poached Pears.

The closest I’d come to poached pears in my entire life (I think) were the canned kind, notably those in small Fruit Cocktail Cups that I used to eat for lunch in elementary school. The pears were always my least favorite part of the fruit cocktail equation, often eschewed for the tastier mandarin oranges and special-er maraschino cherries.

While a lot of poached pear recipes use a red wine base, I wanted something lighter, that would highlight the tart sweetness of a citrus syrup. Erin of yummy supper had a nice post last fall about pears poached in Lillet and citrus, but not surprisingly my small town grocery store was Lillet-less. Listlesslly left without Lillet, I briefly considered taking the pears in a Calvados direction.

I decided to let the citrus shine without including any frivolous (read: expensive) liqueur. Rather, a sprinkling of dried rosemary introduced an herbiness that played nicely with the tangerine-lime combination.

 

My pears, once peeled, looked as if they had been doing a bit of roughhousing with the locally-grown potatoes in the grocery storeroom after hours. It’s a nice grocery store, I promise. It has a fantastic meat selection, but bruised pears and no pomelos. You win some, you lose some: I win bacon, for instance. And if I wanted to, plenty of chicken livers and cow feet to boot.

I made this dessert as a capper to my Valentine’s Feast of Fun, which featured two kinds of pierogi, lots of butter, a smattering of Alfredo sauce, and some bubbly Prosecco. And since sweets are the best expression of my love, I made a second dessert as well. Who would only make one dessert for their sweetheart? [I would, if I had a job.] If Red Velvet Crème Brûlée (RVCB) sounds right up your alley, browse the interweb to find a good recipe. I’d link you, but the RVCB blogger’s writing style was so obnoxious that I can’t post the link in good faith, sorry.

This dessert is perfect for any occasion. The citrus makes it a welcoming choice whether the conditions outside are wintry or warm, and the pears’ juicy lightness is the perfect way to end a starchy meal – or the perfect preamble to a second dessert !

Honey Tangerine and Lime Poached Pears

{Original recipe, with pearls of pear wisdom garnered from yummy supper}

Makes 4 servings.

++Ingredients:++

2 honey tangerines (1 zested, both sliced thin)
1 lime, sliced thin
10 peppercorns
Several pinches of dried rosemary
5 c. (1.2 liters) water
1 1/2 c. (300 g) sugar
4 pears (I used both Bosc and Anjou pears)

++Directions:++

Heat all but the pears in a 4-quart pan (one that will fit the pears nicely) mixture begins to simmer. Meanwhile, peel pears and cut off a small sliver of the pear bottom to encourage them to stay strong and stand on their own.

Submerge pears in pan, and keep at a simmer. If pears are not covered by liquid, add additional water:sugar mixture until fully submerged. Put a pan-sized circle of parchment over the pears, and weigh all down with a pot lid – this way, they will be kept from additional roughhousing.

Simmer for 30-40 minutes, depending on the pears’ initial ripeness. Mine were somewhat unripe, and took 40 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit an additional 30 minutes.

Place each pear and some of its decorative syrupy allies in a small bowl or glass. Add in syrup if desired. Serve immediately, or allow to chill before serving.

Tags: cooking, desserts, lime, pears, poached, recipes, rosemary, tangerine

choccie choccie choccie starts with c

So lately, I’ve caught myself singing to my cat several times per day. That’s not so unusual, except that the song is always the same: “Kitty kitty kitty starts with C.”

My melodic genius, which excels at altering the Sesame Street standby from Cookie to Kitty, seems unable to realize that Kitty does not start with C.

But I know what does – chocolate! Considering that my new home has ample room for a chocolate-only drawer, and much of my chocolate is as old as the hills AKA covered in spidery bloom, it’s time to give the old choccie a heave-ho – into my stomach – to make room for some new delights.

Try and keep up – we have a fair bit of ground to cover.

  

Fine & Raw is a Brooklyn-based company that uses low-heat techniques to ‘save the world through silliness and chocolate.’ Kind of strange, but I was willing to give raw chef-turned-chocolatier Daniel Sklaar a chance. I’d had his mesquite bar before (featuring a cowgirl on the wrapper – how silly!), and enjoyed it. Their ingredients are organic, their cacao is fair-trade, and I like that they don’t capitalize their product names.

The bar featured here is the sea salt bar, featuring 70% cacao of Ecuador origin, and a well-mixed dose of sea salt, along with crystal palm sugars. If you aren’t a fan of grainy chocolate (like well-textured Taza bars), you probably won’t like Fine & Raw. The bars are very grainy, due to their ‘raw’ state.

The flavor is also a bit quizzical. At first taste, I would be inclined to say that the chocolate tastes… like nothing. How can this be? The flavors melt into being quickly, though, ushered in by a mild but steady stream of saltiness. Pretty interesting stuff. The chocolate flavor itself is light and fruity, but is well-masked by the salt. It’s definitely a bar to ponder over, but at only 2 ounces (54 g), it goes quickly.

 

With a website that looks straight out of 1997, The Tea Room is a bit of an odd duck, selling conceptual chocolate bars, loose leaf tea, and novelty pairings such as truffles and plush velour terry robes. Okay.

I bought this on a whim when I saw it (and three others of its ilk) in the cafeteria at the University of Maine. How it got there is a mystery that will likely remain unsolved. The Tea Room currently sells twelve organic chocolate bar ‘fusions,’ unifying their equal love of tea and chocolate. This particular offering is the Black Masala Chai, a 38% milk chocolate base that has been infused with black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, and clove.

It is reminiscent of the wonderful milk chocolate Masala bar from Les Chocolats de Chloé in Montréal, but not as well-made. The chocolate is good enough, but I’m still stuck trying to read all of the writing on the box – it’s crawling with different fonts and information. It’s a good thing you didn’t have to stand next to me when I spied these four Tea Room bars – - it was a long time before I made it to my lunch.

The milky base makes this a good snacking chocolate, but is heavily aromatic of masala chai, or ‘mixed-spice tea.’ There’s not much to say about the flavor profile of the chocolate, but that’s not the niche this chocolate is intended to fill. It is a tasty bar to store in a desk at work for an afternoon sugar craving… or for tea time.

  

TCHO is one of those interesting chocolate companies that I like to keep an eye on. Lurking concerns over the  accuracy of classifying their company as ‘bean to bar’ is just one of the reasons TCHO keeps making waves from its home base in San Francisco. Oprah is another reason. Their substantial amount of hype despite lackluster product innovation is yet another.

They have good marketing skills though, and I can’t help purchasing their products when I see them. I picked this bar up in Minnesota back in August (they have since changed their packaging a bit), and unlike some of my other bars, this shows no sign of bloom. This organic and fair-trade bar, Nutty 2.0, is another bar of Ecuadorian origin.

Silvia liked this one. So did Hannah, once Nutty got all growed up and made it to the 2.0 stage. So what did I think? I think the taste is why I continue to fall for TCHO products. Despite the hype that would normally make me cringe and avoid it, TCHO has some tasty offerings.

The aroma is enticingly deep and earthy. The chocolate melts softly on the palate, and the nuttiness that the bar takes its name from is off somewhere to the upper left of my jaw (or rather, a background note). The taste is fudge forward, with a well-rounded cocoa flavor. It exhibits none of the bitterness that its earthy aroma suggested. A welcome darkness for its 65% cacao content, and one of the only bars that I have successfully been able to re-wrap for future enjoyment.

  

One bar remains, and I hope you’re still with me. I’m powering through the review with the help of Slayer’s live disc Decade of Aggression. But hopefully the depth and length of this review have not felt like a decade of aggression to you.

We turn lastly to Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates out of Kansas City, Missouri. I’m all for Midwesterners making it big in the chocolate word. This once-pastry chef now produces an innovative line of truffles, chocolate bars, pâte de fruit and luxury candies, of which I sampled the No. 2 Dark Spice chocolate bar. A 63% cacao content (labeled 61% on my bar) is infused with Ancho chilis, Chipotle chilis, cinnamon, and additional spices, to give a deeply-flavored tasting experience.

My bar had bloomed severely since its purchase last summer, but the aroma sent nice flavor chills down my spine. This sounds painful, but was in fact quite exciting. The aroma was evocative of lazy evenings spent grilling spicy meats out of doors, and of a hot summer sun heating up the pavement in the street.

Unfortunately, the initial taste was a bit of a let-down, proving nearly identical to the aroma, but much more muted. Within a few seconds, the spice of the chilis kicked in, and I was able to appreciate the well-integrated chili heat mingling with bright, fruity flavored chocolate. I enjoyed the chocolate and its aftertaste, but found the initial taste disappointing, and enough to make the chocolate seem a bit second-rate. In addition, its texture was a bit chalky, despite having a clean snap. Not terrific, but a good effort by Christopher Elbow.

Learn more about these chocolate companies:

Fine & Raw

Check out their occasional blog, or buy chocolate here.

The Tea Room

Find them on the twitters and Facebook. If you can handle the ugly website, learn where to buy bars here.

TCHO

Take a tour if in SF, peruse their tweetaroos, or look for them in Oprah’s cupboard. Purchase bars here.

Christopher Elbow

Follow Elbow on twitter and Facebook.  Purchase products here.

Tags: chili, chocolate bar, christopher elbow, dark spice, ecuador, fine and raw, masala chai, nutty 2.0, sea salt, tcho, the tea room