ChocolateBet: June 7, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
4 truffles
Surfing Goat Dairy
1.) Tahitian Lime Truffle
2.) Lime #2 Truffle
3.) Kona Coffee Truffle
4.) Cinnamon/Chipotle Truffle
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45.28 g.), if each truffle is .4 oz.
Calories: 240 calories (estimate)
Cost: $28 for box of 12 truffles (plus any applicable shipping and handling)
Purchased from: Surfing Goat Dairy, in Kula (Maui), Hawaii

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Goats are hardy animals, able to live in warm, dry climates... such as Greece, France, and many other Mediterranean countries. And so we have feta cheese, chevre, and other variants of goat cheese.

And, then you have the Surfing Goat Dairy in Hawaii; the company (with the motto "Da Feta Mo' Betta") produces dozens of different types of specialty goat cheeses (such as the goat cheese wrapped in grape leaves, dolma style, shown here) and also a variety of soft goat cheeses (a few are shown here: O Sole Mio, Garden Fantasia, and Ivory Coast on gluten-free toast squares). Oh, and did I mention, the Surfing Goat Dairy also makes chocolate truffles? They were good. I tried to pick flavors that might be seen in the Mediterranean. Coffee originally came from Ethiopia, but travelled to Egypt, Turkey and the rest of the Mediterranean countries over the years, as did limes (from Southeast Asia), and spices (such as cinnamon).

I couldn't really taste any goat cheese in this batch of truffles, but, those who are super tasters might be able to catch a faint hint of this flavor. The Surfing Goat Dairy is located in Kula (Maui) in Hawaii. 

ChocolateBet: June 6, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Bites of different chocolate cakes
King Arthur Flour (brand)
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix
Very Good
Weight: Mix: 22 oz. (1 lb., 6 oz.) (624 g.) total box
Calories: 400 calories (estimate)
Cost: $various ingredients, flavorings, liqueurs - $28 (estimate)
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

This chocolate cake was used to make several small cakes, including:
1.) Chocolate Orange, Rose and Pomegranate cake
2.) Chocolate Absinthe cake
3.) Chocolate Fernet Branca cake

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week, and I feel like I'm just getting started. I may have to extend this theme week. Today, I focused on Mediterranean-inspired liquid flavorings -- some non-alcoholic, and some not -- to flavor several different, single-serving sized chocolate cakes that I made from King Arthur Flour's Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix.

Since there are so many countries that share a piece of the Mediterranean coast, I have included ingredients and ideas from France, Greece, Turkey, Italy, and a few other countries today.

I like floral flavors, so the main act in this three-ring cake circus was the moist, chocolate cake flavored with orange flower water, rosewater, rose preserves, and orange preserves, and a smidge of pomegranate syrup. I ate this cake with some Greek pomegranate yogurt and seeds, and a little orange peel. Lovely flavors. This evening I was up too late trying to make some matching orange rose frosting, but time ran out. I'll have to add a picture later if my guesstimate-based recipe works.

I also made small chocolate cupcake sized cakes flavored with the infamous green Absinthe from France (the version without much Wormwood); and also a Fermet versions of the cakes, a "bitter" mixer/drink with lively herbal flavors; and will try these later. (A small chocolate Amaretto and almond paste cakelet, and an Ouzo chocolate banana fruit cake, will be featured later this week.)

ChocolateBet: June 5, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Poco Dolce
Olive Oil Sea Salt Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.763 oz. (50 g.)
Calories: 264 calories (estimate)
Cost: $5.00
Purchased from: Poco Dolce

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Olives are a prominent culinary motif in Mediterranean countries. Olives were often cured in salt water from the sea. Given the tsunami of chocolate flavor pairings, mixing chocolate or cacao with olives, or more commonly olive oil, was inevitable.

Today's Olive Oil bittersweet chocolate bar from Poco Dolce  (San Francisco) was flavored with a feather-light sprinkle of tiny crystals of grey sea salt (embedded in the underside of the bar). Poco Dolce, in English, translates as just a little, or not too sweet. This bar was very smooth, almost buttery -- likely a result of the olive oil, in addition to cocoa butter and soy lecithin.

I wish I had saved some of this ultra-smooth bar to melt down to make an Ouzo-flavored fondue. Maybe later. Visions of chocolate cakes with almond flour, orange, and olive oil swam around in my head today as well.

Other possible Mediterranean-inspired savory side dishes to experiment with: an olive tapenade (flavored with either cacao nibs, or a dash of unsweetened chocolate) on gluten-free toasted bread; or maybe an eggplant, mushroom and olive dish with nibs over rice or polenta. 

ChocolateBet: June 4, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 oz. package
The Oakland Chocolate Company
Candied Tangerine Peel
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.35 g.) package
Calories: 129 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.50
Purchased from: The Oakland Chocolate Company, Oakland, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Morocco seemed like an interesting place to investigate today, and so I made some pomegranate seeds with cinnamon, sugar, and orange flower water, sipped some Moroccan Mint tea, and enjoyed two different kinds of fresh tangerines. Tangerines are rumored to have been so named after the port city of Tangiers. Apparently, this was the point of entry (from China) to Europe for this mandarin orange fruit.

Tangerines have taken root in the citrus growing regions of the U.S., such as California. Today's chocolate was a package of small slivers of candied tangerine peel coated with 70% dark chocolate (from Jamaica) from The Oakland Chocolate Company. 

ChocolateBet: June 3, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 dessert/postre
Iberia Restaurant
Higos Rellenos (stuffed figs)
Very Good
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $6.75
Purchased from: Iberia Restaurant, in Menlo Park, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week, and I chose to visit Spain, or the closest I could come to being there. I went to dinner with family to celebrate my dad's birthday at Iberia Restaurant -- located near the Menlo Park train station (south of San Francisco). It was not hard to imagine being in Spain, with dishes like Gazpacho MalagueÑo; Paella; and Lamb with Honey and Spanish Fries. And for postres (desserts) with chocolate, choices included Brazo de Gitano, Pan con Chocolate and Higos Rellenos. Not being able to eat wheat, I chose the higos (figs).

If you like figs and chocolate, this dish is a winner. The description of this dish reads as follows:
"Higos Rellenos: (3) dried figs poached in port wine and stuffed with a mixture of chopped walnuts, pistachios and chocolate. Drizzled with a port reduction." (Oh, and maybe a bit of whipped cream.)

Buen Provecho! all.

The runner-up chocolate choice for today was (making) a Valencia orange almond and chocolate cake at home. I'll save this idea for next year's Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week.

Thank you to Alec for doing a great job of capturing a picture of the higos in a dark restaurant with a cell phone camera.

ChocolateBet: June 2, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Daphne's Greek Cafe
Caramel Pecan - 1 piece
Very Good
Weight: 7 oz. (13.8 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 110 calories
Cost: N/A - sample (normally $1.25)
Purchased from: Daphne's Greek Cafe, in Alameda, CA

2.) Next Organics
Dark Chocolate Apricot
(mixed with Greek honey yogurt, pistachios, other nuts)
Very Good for Greek yogurt; OK+ for Dark Chocolate Apricot
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) (estimate) for 1 apricot; 4 oz. total package
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.69 for total package (4-5 pieces)
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Today was the start of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Opa! There are at least 21 countries that have borders on the Mediterranean Sea; however, I'm partial to Greece, Italy and a few other cuisines I must admit, in part because these nationalities are well-represented in the U.S. Today's Greek food was wonderful. I had lunch at Daphne's Greek Cafe, on the island of Alameda in San Francisco Bay. In addition to a Greek California chicken salad -- sprinkled with pine nuts, I sampled a Caramel Pecan for dessert. Think sweetened, crunch phyllo dough (like you might find in baklava), covered in chocolate and topped with a pecan. Not gluten free, but I made an exception today.

For dinner I had some Greek honey flavored yogurt, with roasted, unsalted pistachio nuts, almond pieces, dry roasted hazelnuts and walnuts. Unfortunately, I took this dish/dessert one step too far. All was wonderful until I added this piece of organic chocolate coated apricot. This chocolate may not have been stored properly; or it may have been the unsulphured, dried fruit. I can only speculate.

ChocolateBet: June 1, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Green and Black's Organic
Dark Chocolate - Cherry (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .7 oz. (13.8 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 104 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.29 total bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

2.) Kopali Organics
Organic Dark Chocolate Covered Banana
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) total package
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - from Kopali Organics

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate, Banana and Cherry Theme Week.

Most of the time, keeping things simple is better -- in life and in chocolate. But, seeing all the fresh fruit in Hawaii last week must have inspired me. And, my inner mad scientist got the best of me. Organic bananas! and cherries!, and chocolate!, and ice cream!, and...and...and.

Today I was reminded that mixing too many chocolates and flavors together can result in losses as well as gains, when I made an organic ice cream sundae using both Green and Black's Organic Dark Chocolate Cherry Bar and Kopali Organics Dark Chocolate Covered Banana pieces.

It's hard to find fault with an ice cream sundae, especially one made with high-quality chocolate ingredients. However, chocolate is better at room temperature, or even heated to make fudge sauce. Instead, the ice cream in the sundae I made chilled these two freshly unwrapped (room temperature) chocolates to a point where the wonderful, rich subtle fruit and cacao flavors were no longer detectable, and resulted in dark chocolate lumps with a numb, frozen gummy texture.

I was too full to repeat this experiment with these two chocolates melted down into a dark banana cherry hot fudge sauce over a second bowl of ice cream.  However, each of these chocolates deserved to be re-tasted, and could easily have stood on their own. The Green and Black's Organic Cherry Bar with whole, dried tart cherries had just the right tart/sweet balance for me -- which is to say the bar was not overly sweet. And the Kopali Organics dark chocolate covered covered banana pieces included some rich, earthy notes that were very satisfying.