Marini's Vegan's Nightmare - Feb. 28, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Marini's Candies
Vegan's Nightmare Ice Cream
Good + - Very Good
Weight: unknown
Calories: 260 calories (estimate) for 1 serving
Cost: $3.50 (estimate) for single cup
Purchased from: Marini's, Santa Cruz, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week.

Santa Cruz is a college town at the beach; and it's also a fun place to look for chocolates. I discovered a new cupcake place there today (more on Buttercup Cakes later), while walking to Marini's Candies (downtown Santa Cruz, CA). Marini's carried several chocolate and bacon offerings that were a good fit for this week's theme.

Before enjoying my single scoop of Marini's own "Vegan's Nightmare" ice cream in a cup, I ate a nice savory (umami) and healthy vegetable rice paper wrap from a nearby kiosk. (Seven years ago, I debated whether to start a site about vegetables/salads or chocolate. I chose chocolate, but, I still love fresh greens.)

Then it was time to shovel into my chilly little goldmine of fresh tasting, maple flavored ice cream with small pieces of chocolate covered bacon. It was good.

Marini's Dark Chocolate Bacon - Feb. 27, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Marini's Candies
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) (estimate) for 4 pieces, 2 strips of bacon
Calories: 290 calories (estimate) for 2 strips of bacon
Cost: $4.27 (estimate) for 2 strips bacon
Purchased from: Marini's at the Beach/Marini's Candies, Santa Cruz, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week.

Dinner: Broiled fish; broccoli with tomato sauce, walnuts and parmesan cheese; sea vegetable treats with sesame oil; mushrooms; and other high umami foods and treats

For dessert: two strips of crispy, oven-baked, hickory smoked bacon smothered in dark chocolate from Marini's Candies (Santa Cruz, CA).

Marini's also offers Vegan's Nightmare ice cream (with bacon). Soon I'll return to single origin dark chocolate bars. But, this week, I've been enjoying these other fun, creative combinations.

Hawaiian Umami Nuts - Feb. 26, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Have a Ball Chocolate Factory

1.) Numb Nuts - Hot Buffalo
Good
Weight: 0.10 oz. (2.8 g.) / 4 oz. (114 g.) total package
Calories: 15 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Have a Ball Chocolate Factory, Kealakekua, HI

2.) Numb Nuts - Wassssssabi
Good +
Weight: 0.10 oz. (2.8 g.) / 4 oz. (114 g.) total package
Calories: 15 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Have a Ball Chocolate Factory, Kealakekua, HI

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week, and this afternoon I focused on a range of umami-rich nut and spicy seasoning combinations from the Kona, Hawaii area.

The first two items came from the Have a Ball Chocolate Factory (that also carries coffee, Donkey Balls, Boar Balls, Monkey Balls, and, well you get the picture). I was excited about this company's dark chocolate covered peanuts with wasabi. Part of a "Numb Nuts" spicy chocolate covered nut line, today's two Numb Nuts packages were adorned with a crazed-looking squirrel, holding a flaming nut.

I enjoyed the wasabi and peanut flavors. However, after the first bite, I realized these contained wheat flour, something I can't eat.

So I moved on to the second flavor of Numb Nuts that I purchased: Hot Buffalo -- dark chocolate covered peanuts with Buffalo sauce. These were off-the-chart spicy hot. I suggest taking a small bite first. (Note: Warning sticker on the front of the package read: "Up to 350,000 Scoville Units.") Translation: very hot.

Four Seasons Inspired Bar Nuts

The Four Seasons in Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii is worth a visit. The offerings (including specially made bread) on their gluten free menu were the best I've ever tasted. With this recent visit in mind, I loved finding a recipe purported to be for the bar nuts at this resort.

I made my own version of this recipe with smoked macadamia nuts, and coated these (as well as pecans, cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc.) with butter, brown sugar, cajun seasoning, salt, smoked cumin, paprika, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.

Probably unwise to mess with a wonderful bar nut recipe like this, but if you're feeling creative:
Add a pinch of Hawaiian cacao nibs for a bittersweet accent. Or, for an umami-rich topping, try shreds of seaweed (nori) with brown sugar (from Annie Chun).

BlackTruffle Caramels - Feb. 25, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Liddabit Sweets

Black Truffle Caramels
Good
Calories: 175 calories (estimate) in 3 pieces
Cost: $5.00 (sale) for 1 box of 12 caramels
Purchased from: Liddabit Sweets, Brooklyn, NY

Bacon Corn
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.4 oz. (39.6 g.)/ 7 oz. (198 g.) total box/package
Calories: 158 calories
Cost: $12.00 for 1 box
Purchased from: Liddabit Sweets, Brooklyn, NY

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week.

Black Truffle Caramels

Extending Chocolate and Truffle Theme Week, from this past week, today I tried some Black Truffle Caramels, very subtlely flavored with Black Truffle oil, from Liddabit Sweets (Brooklyn, NY). Liddabit makes a variety of creatively designed and flavored treats with interesting and local ingredients.

Bacon Corn

I also enjoyed a small plate of the company's Bacon Corn -- not your parents' caramel corn. This batch was made with maple syrup, Bourbon whiskey, Crop to Cup coffee beans and kosher salt.



Described as "a salty, crunchy, smoky, boozy, bacony melange of awesome" on the packaging, the smoky bacon, coffee and bourbon flavors were overwhelmed by the sugar and corn syrup covering the air-popped popcorn. (I'd be curious to see how these other flavors taste if the sweetness was dialed back.) However, this doesn't disqualify this fun snack from being a "Breakfast of Heroes" -- another self-titled moniker on the box. Fun is fun. I respect that.

Oscar Night - February 24, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Poco Dolce 
Popcorn Toffee
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.96 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in 1 tin
Calories: 180 calories (estimate) in 1.2 oz. (33.96 g.) serving
Cost: $16.00 for 1 tin
Purchased from: Poco Dolce, San Francisco, CA

Tonight a group of us watched the annual Academy Awards Ceremony. This event began with watching stars arrive and sashay up the red carpet on their way to an auditorium. And it ended when the last golden Oscar statuette was handed out three or four hours later (depending on when you tuned in).

Many chocolates were nominated to star this evening, but we enjoyed tasting small squares of Popcorn Toffee from Poco Dolce  (San Francisco, CA); nibbling on the head from a chocolate figurine; and munching on some smoked bacon popcorn.

All these items were part of Day #2 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week.

2.) Once Upon a Chocolate
Oscar Style Statue (golden chocolate man)
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.2 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) (estimate) in 1 statue
Calories: 112.5 calories (estimate) in top part of of statue
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

What a delight to have a chocsimile (chocolate facsimile) of the golden man himself (Oscar style statuette) on hand for the ceremonies. Although he did lose his head during the after-party. He was last heard to say: It was an honor just to be nominated. Thank you Megan for this gift!

3.) Fabrique Delices
Natural Uncured Bacon Butter
(Bacon butter + popcorn + smoked Alderwood salt)
Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 3 oz. (84.9 g.) in 1 container
Calories: 50 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: La Fromagerie, San Francisco, CA

Fabriques Delices (Hayward, CA) natural uncured bacon butter (made with fully cooked bacon) was a hit -- drizzled over freshly popped popcorn. We added a pinch of Alderwood smoked salt to this batch, and we were riding high on the hog.

Umami flavors (often called the fifth sense of taste -- and more recently discovered than the first four: sour, sweet, bitter and salty) include fat, smoke and salt. Expect to see this bacon butter and smoked salt in combination with chocolate again, in the next few days.

Espresso Roulade - Feb. 23, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

The Plant Cafe Organic
Espresso Roulade
Good + - Very Good
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $4.50 for 1 piece/container
Purchased from: The Plant Cafe Organic, Strawberry Village, Mill Valley, CA

The Plant Cafe Organic got its start in San Francisco, CA. The company recently opened a new location in Mill Valley (Marin County). No surprise that this small chain is expanding, as they offer some of the freshest, tastiest food around -- including gluten-free items, like today's Espresso Roulade. I picked up this roulade in the company's "to go" section.

To produce this lovely creation, I'm guessing The Plant Cafe's dessert chef created a moist, lighter-than-air, chocolate cake layer, frosted with a thick layer of whipped cream, then carefully rolled it up and cut it into slices.

I barely had to chew this cake. Each bite was flavorful and airy, and melted in my mouth. Generally, gluten free items are relatively heavy or dense. Not this time.

Today's flourless, chocolate dessert (lightly flavored by decaf espresso) followed a two-course pasta entree that I made at home.

Mushroom and Truffle Linguini

Since today was the last day of Chocolate and Truffle Theme Week, I made a truffle pasta dish with Viviana (gluten free) Wild Mushroom Linguini and two different sauces. The first, a white sauce, consisted of sauteed mushrooms, shallots and garlic, Fabrique Delices white truffle butter, and white truffle cream and parmesan cheese. The second was a red sauce with artichokes, walnuts and a bit of truffle butter. Fresh rosemary was a great flavor enhancer for both.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Truffle Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Umami or Bacon Theme Week.

Hagensborg Dark Truffle - Feb. 22, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Hagensborg Chocolates
Truffle Pig - Dark Hazelnut (Noisette Noir)
Good
Weight: 0.40 oz. (11.5 g.) in 1 truffle
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 truffle
Cost: $0.99 in 1 truffle
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Truffle Theme Week.

I would like to honor truffle pigs everywhere -- especially live ones that help to root out black truffles. These fungi/tubers resemble chocolate truffles (the small, round chocolate variety).

I could not think of a better way salute to these pigs than a Truffle Pig'lette -- an individually wrapped, bite sized Dark Hazelnut Chocolate Truffle from Hagensborg Chocolates (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada). Made with "All Natural European Chocolate," this little piggy had a smooth, melty texture. The hazelnut butter was very light; in fact, I'd say it was almost difficult to detect.

Love the truffle pig illustrations on the Hagensborg bars and chocolates. These pigs really do look like they're having the time of their life.