Dark Chocolate Bacon Jalapeño Bars

There is an idea that has been brewing in the back of my culinary consciousness for quite awhile now. It’s a simple idea, really, a combination of flavors that makes total sense (at least in my mind). There is only one problem. It calls for bacon.
Problem? You don’t think that’s a problem? Well then you must live alone.

See, in my house, bacon is a hot commodity. When I cook bacon, it disappears like my diet plans a week into February every year.

I love to put bacon in my recipes.... but if I want bacon to USE in those recipes, I have to be sneaky.

When I need bacon for a specific purpose, I either have to:

1. Cook it when no one else is home (and make sure I clean up the evidence before they get back) and hide it away in the fridge or freezer until I need it. If I do this, I have to make sure I hide it well, too. My boys can sniff out bacon a mile away. OR

2. Cook a meal for the family that INCLUDES bacon, cooking at least a pound extra, and chop and hide the excess while the boys are eating their share so they don’t realize there is extra.

Even under the best circumstances, these methods don’t always work. Seven times now...that’s right, SEVEN..... I have cooked bacon for this recipe and had it disappear before I had a chance to put it to use. TWICE, I chopped it up into tiny little bacon bits before hiding it, thinking that the men in the house wouldn’t eat it if it wasn’t in “Strip” form. WRONG. Instead of realizing that I must have prepped it that way for a purpose, they see it as a fortuitous occasion to top their potatoes with porky goodness when I am not looking.

Finally, this weekend, Matt was working overtime. I defrosted a package of bacon, cooked it, pre-chopped all of it, promptly made this treat, and buried the remaining bacon in the depths of the freezer, under the sun dried tomatoes and chicken carcasses being reserved for my next day of making chicken stock. Chances are, they will even find it THERE.

At least I finally got to create this little tasty treasure.... and I will again.... because there is just something very addictive about the combination of Chocolate..... Bacon.....and Jalapeño.

I melted 7 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler, added about a teaspoon of jalapeño powder, and then stirred in chopped bacon (maybe about 10 strips worth). I gently spooned the smoky mixture into my (long-ago purchased) candy bar molds, tapped them on the counter to evenly distribute the chocolatey dream, and popped them in the freezer to harden.

What a fabulous idea..... that's just all I can say. Just enough heat to make me happy but not to make my eyebrows sweat. Plenty of bacon to crunch on, and the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate.

I know someone at work who is going to be very happy when I bring my latest experiment to work today.

Brigadeiros e um Cafezinho para Receitas Regionais

There is something you don’t know about me....its not a secret.... but it occurs to me as I write this post that it isn’t something I’ve ever brought up here. Did you know I can speak a foreign language? Or five?

Everyone has something they are good at. Something that seems to come....naturally...to them. For me, it was foreign language. It started with Spanish in high school, at which I excelled from the beginning. I spent some time as a foreign exchange student south of Barcelona (which is NOT Spain, if you ask the residents there. It is Catalunya) and my life was never the same.

In college, I majored in foreign language, studying first Spanish, then Portuguese and Italian (which my professor said I spoke with a lovely Spanish accent. Asshole.). I soon discovered that my university also offered classes in the Basque language, which I gobbled up greedily. Although they did not offer Catala (the language spoken in Catalunya), I continued to pursue it at every avenue. While I never studied French or German, I am able to read and understand both to some extent, just due to my exposure to similar languages.

What is my point? Among all the things I learned about languages in my course of study,. One thing I will always know is that each language has its own personality. French is beautiful and, ahem, it knows it. Italian is Romantic. And Portuguese? Well, you may not know this, but Portuguese....well...it is SEXY. There is just something about the way your tongue moves in your mouth when you speak Portuguese that gives you the sensation of being naughty. And if you’ve ever seen an attractive man speaking it...well...let’s just say you may have had OTHER sensations. Taking it just a step further, the Portuguese spoken in Brasil is Portugal’s guttural, somewhat slutty cousin, a rhythmic song, more felt than sung. Self assured and a little dirty, but completely unconcerned by the sexuality of it.

How do I know this? Well, naturally, there was this guy.... (don’t look at me like that....he didn’t even know I existed!) and he was BEAUTIFUL. When he looked at you with his coffee colored eyes, and spoke those special words (it didn’t matter in the least WHAT words he spoke), your world went a little out of focus. He was Brasilian and he made quite an impression on my sophomore year at the U when he walked into my Portuguese class bearing Brigadeiros.

You knew this post had to turn to food at some point, didn’t you? After all, college is also where I truly began to appreciate both food and coffee (okay, okay, and gorgeous, unattainable men!) You can learn a lot about Brigadeiros by doing a simple search on the internet. These beloved little treats are Brasil’s version of truffles, and are often served alongside a “cafezinho”, a sister to the traditional espresso. Much like the Brasilian tongue, these two treats swirl around in your mouth like a romance novel on fire.

Making Brigadeiros is as simple as the cafezinho is traditional. For the Brigadeiros, cook 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 4 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon butter in a heavy pot over medium-low flame for 15-20 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent the mixture from burning. When the mixture thickens such that it doesn’t come off the spoon easily, remove it from the heat and pour it onto a tray. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. (I put mine in the fridge to set up.) Traditionally, Brigadeiros are rolled in chocolate jimmies, but since I didn’t have any on hand, I let Ty pick from my stash of sanding and gourmet sugars. Naturally, he picked orange. Butter your hands to keep the mixture from sticking, and roll it into small balls, then roll in your coating. I leave mine to coll in the fridge again until I am ready for them and then I serve them alongside my cafezinho.

(pardon the picture quality - I'm still experimenting with my new camera!)

If you ask a Brasilian how to make the cafezinho, he will explain to you that a cafezinho isn’t just a coffee. You must start with a pan that you promise to use only for making coffee. I just happen to have one such pan in the depths of my kitchen (don’t give me that look – you know by know that my kitchen fetishes are vast). Over medium high heat, bring your water to a boil and dissolve the desired amount of sugar in the hot liquid. For each cup of water, mix in one heaping tablespoon of high quality coffee (in my case, Medaglia D’Oro espresso). Then you must use a contraption to filter the coffee through a cloth filter (or coffee filter, if you want find cloth) and serve it in espresso cups (again, which I just happen to have...).

Serve this cafezinho alongside a couple of Brigadeiros and you have one sexy little afternoon treat. Maybe, if you’re lucky, your own little Brasilain Adonis will walk by and look at you in that special way they have....if he does, offer him a Brigadeiro....maybe he’ll stop by and have one with you.

This is my submission to Regional Recipes for this month’s theme – Brasil!

Pork-a-Palooza – Part Two!

Okay, you all remember the Bacon Explosion? The big log of smoked pork-a-liciousness that had us all transfixed back in June? Well, that was Pork-a-Palooza Part One. And since then, I have found several more “porky” treats that I can’t wait to foist upon you.

You see, I’ve been a slacker. Many weeks ago, I teased you with my new book of Ciao Bella gelato recipes, promising (okay, well, technically I didn’t pinky-swear) that I’d bring you a new flavor to drool over every week.

And, my dearies, I have failed you.

Summer has gotten away from me, and as I’m sure you can all relate to, we’ve been so busy that it completely escaped me.

Well, its time to rectify that.

RIGHT. NOW.

It is my great pleasure to present to you.....Dark Chocolate Bacon Sorbet.

Yes, you heard me right. BACON.

I ran across this recipe when I was doing a little recon mission before making Chocolate Covered Bacon earlier this summer. I’ve had the recipe posted next to my stove for ages. I made a special stop in the city to get dutch processed cocoa. And yet.....I dropped the ball.

Maybe it was because every time I make bacon, it mysteriously disappears....hmmm....might have to look into that. I bet it has something to do with a pork-pilfering husband....

BUT FEAR NOT!!

The time has come. Yesterday I served up a big breakfast for my family....and I made THREE pounds of bacon. Yep, that way I was sure to have enough leftover for this recipe. Nonetheless, I still made the sorbet the same day, just in case the hubs fell prey to a cured meat craving.

I took the crispiest pieces (the recipe said 8 slices, but c’mon....I bet I doubled that) and chopped them up into crunchy bits. In the end, I decided that next time (and, oh yes, there WILL be a “next time”) I will add even more bacon. The original recipe called for “candying” the bacon, by means of dredging it in sugar and then baking it in the oven, but it also mentioned that it may have diminished the flavor of the bacon, so I chose not to candy mine. I’m a risk-taker, what can I say.....

I assembled the base for the sorbet. And let me tell you, it is so rich and intensely chocolatey, you would never in a million years guess that there is no dairy in this. And, its dark chocolate, so its good for you, too...right?

You could make this with any chocolate you like, but for me, darker is better, so I used about 70% dark chocolate.
(okay, okay, so I got distracted when I got home yesterday and its a little melty...but you know what? It sure tasted good drizzled all over those slices of bacon!)

DARK CHOCOLATE BACON SORBET
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar
2 1/4 cups water
3 tbsp. corn syrup
6 oz. dark chocolate
1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
app. 8 slices of bacon

Sift the cocoa to remove any lumps, then chop the chocolate into small pieces and combine it with the cocoa.
In a saucepan, combine 2 1/4 cups water, sugar and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove it from the heat.
Slowly whisk the sugar syrup into the chocolate mixture. Don’t worry if the chocolate seizes on you, just keep drizzling the syrup into it and it will smooth out. Continue whisking this mixture for about five minutes, until you think it’s smooth and silky. Cool the mixture over an ice bath (fill a bowl larger than the one your base is in with ice cubes and water. Place your bowl inside the icy bowl, and continue to whisk it until it is cool). Place your base in the refrigerator to cool completely and thicken for a few hours.
After the sorbet base has cooled for a few hours, freeze it in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. At the last minute, funnel the bacon bits into the opening on the machine and stop the machine as soon as it is just mixed in. Your machine’s motor will protest if you let it churn too long with the chunks in it. Pour into a storage container and put it in the freezer until it reaches the desired firmness.

***I would probably save some bacon bits for garnish, also. I think it would add something to it to have the plain bacon on top as well as mixed in. This sorbet I so rich, you don’t need very much to get your chocolate fix.

There you have it, folks. Bacon....for dessert. Now, don’t despair, I still have a couple more bacon recipes to share with you, and hopefully I’ll get them up for your drooling pleasure much more quickly than I did with this one. Buon Appetito!

Oreo Truffles

Every once in awhile, the hubs actually comes home with a request for a specific food item. Since it is so rare to get this kind of input, I always do my best to make it happen. In this case, he was working a job in Granite City and he got to know one of the plant personnel pretty well. She is very interested in cooking and all things “food” and told him about a request she had from a family member to make Oreo Truffles for an upcoming wedding.

Now keep in mind that my husband really doesn’t have a sweet tooth. Generally, if he asks me to make something sweet for him, it is so he can take it to work to share, but he rarely eats any of it himself. In these cases, I try to put him off because I don’t enjoy putting time into making something that I know he’s not going to eat. So, when he kept bringing up the topic of the Oreo Truffles, I finally had to break down and make them.

It was a very simple recipe, with three ingredients. Yep, that’s right. THREE.

Here you go....

In a food processor, combine one (standard size) package of Oreos and one (8 ounce) brick of cream cheese, and pulse until the cookies have been reduced to crumbs and are well blended with the cream cheese.

Scoop the mixture into balls (I used my smallest cookie scoop) and roll between your hands for a more uniform shape. If they are too soft to handle, place the balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer until they can be handled without making you look like the perpetrator of an Oreo massacre.Once the balls are all shaped, melt about 16 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and dip the balls in the chocolate to coat. Top with something pretty (I used white sugar crystals but you could use cookie crumbs, sprinkles, sanding sugar or nothing at all, if you’re a purist), and then put the sheet back in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate sets.Then, place the tray in front of your husband and anyone else in the vicinity, stand back and watch the carnage.

I pulled these out last night while the hubs’ buddy MG was visiting and we were all hanging out on the deck. (MG was the best man at our wedding and one of our son’s favorite “uncles”) MG has a firm rule about eating. Once he has a beer in his hand, no more food is going to pass his lips until he is done drinking. Well, he broke that rule last night.

Have you ever had one of those moments where someone tastes food that you have made, and you are watching them. You see an expression come over their face that makes you wonder if something has gone horribly wrong....did you accidentally use salt instead of sugar......how old were the eggs that you used.....do beer and chocolate turn to acid when combined in a man’s mouth.....

And then, he points at you, nodding gently and licking his fingers, and through a chocolate mustache says, “You’re an evil woman.....”

Yes, that’s when you know you have achieved nirvana. Its easy enough to please someone with chocolate. But take a carnivore who is not a huge fan of sweets, and definitely doesn’t like to eat when he is drinking....and bring him to his knees with one bite. Yeah, I call that success. And yes, he took a container home with him.

Now, my co-workers are blessed with what I could salvage from the fray last night, and we’ll see what they think. But come on...its chocolate...and Oreos....really, its kind of a no-brainer.....

Bake Sale - Samoa Brownies and Pepperoni Puffs!

Last week we were asked my a co-worker at our other office to participate in the department's bake sale to raise money for their annual Christmas charity project. Bake? Me? Really? Gee, I dunno....that might be pushing it....not.

So, we talked to the group and got a whole crew of people baking. This morning we see the fruits (and sweets) of our labors making money hand over fist in our main lunchroom. I hadn't even sent out the email that it was ready and people were hovering over the display of goodies and treats...cash in hand.

I was concerned that we weren't going to have enough participation, so I made a few things to bring in. As it turns out, I needn't have worried. Not only did the tables fill up, but we had to add a third table to hold it all.

My first selection was an encore performance of the Orange Bundt Cake I made last week that was so well received.

In addition, I made another recipe I've had in my "Must Try" file for quite awhile now. Samoa Brownies. These are a take on the famous Girl Scout cookies, known here as Samoas, and in other parts of the country as Caramel Delites. These were the very first item snatched up in the feeding frenzy this morning.

Samoa Brownies 1 brownie mix (I used 2 mixes and made it 9x13 instead of 8x8)
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut

(2) 14 oz. package of caramels, unwrapped (I used the Kraft Caramel Bits so I wouldn't have to unwrap anything)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. milk
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Prepare brownie mix according to box directions. Cool.

Place the caramels, salt, and milk in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 3-5 minutes. Stop occasionally to stir. Cook until all caramels are melted and smooth.

Add coconut and mix together. Spread over cooled brownies. (since the packages of Caramel Bits are 11 ounces and the recipe calls for 14 ounce bags of caramels, and considering that I was making a larger pan, I used 3 bags of bits. As it turns out, I think two would have been plenty. They were almost TOO caramelly. is that a word?)

Refrigerate 4-5 hours or overnight. Remove at least 1 hour from the fridge before cutting. Cut into bars and drizzle with melted semi-sweet chocolate.

I was also thinking that with all the sweets that were bound to be on the table, it would be nice to have something savory. And, as it happened, I got one of my regular Rachel Ray email newsletters and saw a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Puffs. These little babies were perfect. I did not make the sauce for dipping them, as Rachel suggests. Instead I just baked the puffs and served them solo. They were quite a hit as well, and super easy to make. I actually put them together from start to finish this morning before coming in to work. (also, I made a double batch) They turned out great, and were one of the first dishes to turn up empty this morning!

Pepperoni Pizza Bites3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup) this sounded like it would be a pain in the neck, so I bought a log of pepperoni and took my mandoline to it, making thin little slices instead of cubes.
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 red bell pepper, sliced

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Like Water for....well...CHOCOLATE!!! Cook the Books

I'm actually ahead of the game for our next edition of Cook the Books. After posting my last entry, I immediately picked up our next book (Like Water for Chocolate) and started reading. I had it finished before the weekend was over. I really thought I remembered reading this book previously, but I must have been thinking of Chocolat, because I'm pretty certain I would have remembered disliking a book as much as I disliked this one. Don't get me wrong, that didn't stop me from reading it. I'm ever the optimist, always thinking, "it has to get better"....yeah, but it didn't. Maybe I'm food snob. I like real recipes, not fanciful ones with unreal ingredients. I mean, I enjoy a good piece of fiction, and I'm all about the supernatural, and Latin American cultures, so I really should have liked this book. But I just couldn't make myself enjoy it.
That being said, not much will deter me from pulling something tasty from my kitchen, no matter the motive. So, I thought about the book; its name obviously had some inspiration lying in it (I mean, really, its CHOCOLATE....) and the burning desires that Tita felt throughout the book reminded me of one of my favorite candy recipes. Aztec Chile Truffles.

Yep, if you've ever had Mexican hot chocolate, you're going to be all over this one. You can make these chocolates as mild or as spicy as you want (yes, that's right, I used 'chocolate' and 'spicy' in the same sentence.) Don't judge, just give it a try. And if you're still unsure, I'm including my other favorite truffle recipe for dark chocolate-orange truffles (another classic combo).

For the ganache base:
Start with 24 ounces of good quality dark chocolate (or milk chocolate, if you're a wussy, but you know that dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, so we can justify eating it). Roughly chop the chocolate (if you are using a bar instead of chips) and put it in a double boiler (I use a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - no need for fancy equipment here.) with about a half a cup of heavy cream. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then add in your spices:

For the Aztec Chile Truffles:
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your heat tolerance)
1 tsp good quality cinnamon (I recommend Vietnamese cinnamon!)
1/8 tsp each ground ginger, allspice, and cloves

For the Dark Chocolate-Orange Truffles:
1/2 tsp orange extract
the zest of one orange

Let the mixture cool enough to handle and roll into bite size balls. Then roll the balls in cocoa powder or sanding sugar to finish; or if you have candy molds, spoon the ganache into them to set. I have some nice silicone molds that work well.Note: if you do use candy molds, be sure to gently (but firmly) tap the trays against the counter several times to work any air bubbles out of them and help guarantee a nice shape. I do recommend letting these set up in the fridge, versus the freezer. They seem to have a better texture that way, although I'm not sure why. You can also melt more chocolate and coat the finished truffles with it, but I am too lazy for that, which is why I bought the pretty shaped molds. These keep best in the fridge, so that the chocolate doesn't soften too much (if they aren't coated).

Now we can all feel the burn, just like Tita. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake-lets for My Girl, Paula!

This post is a little belated, but I’m going to go ahead and put it out there anyway. Time has gotten away from me, but I think this was last week’s recipe for My Girl, Paula! And even though it is yet another baked good, I decided to go for it anyway.
Over the past couple of weeks, I think I have put on more than 5 pounds, and aside from all the beer-drinking that surrounded the funeral, I think it might be Paula’s fault. So, I may have to start restricting my participation in Paula’s group to the non-dessert items.
Anyway – here we go! I actually really liked this recipe, and it was very easy to prepare, not to mention fast. Since I’ve been on a roll with my muffin pans, I decided to use them again for this cake instead of making the full sized version. Ty clearly doesn’t mind, since its been easy to talk every single person who has drifted in and out of our house to get one for him. As you can see, he really enjoyed helping me make these “chocolate chip nuffins” as he has dubbed them.
I did really like these, they were dense and moist, and very, very chocolately. Paula should probably call them Chocolate Chocolate Pound Cake.

Taking Cake on a Test Drive

Here comes another recipe on a test drive for my brother in law's birthday in July. I ran across this recipe on Chef Chuck's Cucina and it really spoke to me!

I don't usually have a sweet tooth, but I do love a good, rich chocolate. I made my version with unsweetened chocolate, for two reasons:

1. my store didn't have the Bittersweet the Chef Chuck recommended.

2. I like my chocolate extra dark and bitter

So, the torta turned out beautifully, although it took almost twice as long to cook as Chuck's did, and it was definitely bitter. I liked it very much, but you've got to like it really dark to do it this way. I may try it again with a different chocolate for the BIL. But, I think we might have a winner, the texture was wonderful, very dense and rich. And as an extra bonus, it was incredibly easy to make. I didn't have a tart pan, so I lined my springform pan with foil and it worked just fine...but I'm thinking I might have to get back up to TJMaxx now for the tart pan I talked myself out of there last weekend!

Chocolate Torta

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla (I got to use my new homemade vanilla extract!)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flour

powdered sugar for dusting

Slowly melt chocolate and butter over low heat, remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, add 1 egg at a time, vanilla, salt and flour. Pour in a 9 or 10 inch pan and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or till tooth pick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar.