November 12
Kathryn
La Festa di Cioccolata
November’s theme was chocolate. Don’t even say it, because it is not true… there is more to chocolate than sweets and we wanted to explore it to its fullest. Dana offered to host… and this was an event we wanted to share with friends so we each invited some. Saturday morning was misty but warm-ish. We were at Dana’s parent’s house, a fine-looking stone house with a picturesque, well planned garden. It’s garden cottage air was strengthened when you walked inside and saw the many windows letting in light and greenery and a sense of being outdoors. I’m a garden girl so my thoughts went outside, initially… but I could not ignore the amazing array of homemade truffles, mousse cakes and tartlets, exotic chocolates, chocolate dipped fruits and tempting treats Dana had spend days preparing. Her piece’ de resistance was a Chocolate Madrilena cake topped with hazelnut cream and candied whole hazelnuts. She spent 6 hours making this gorgeous, decadent treat and the table where it sat, surrounded by bite-sized chocolate desserts, looked like a Bob Appetit cover.
But, one cannot live by sweet chocolate alone. And its worth reminding everyone that chocolate begins life as cocoa. And cocoa is not sweet… it is dark, deep and rich.
I wanted to try making a traditional Mexican molè. After some research on Epicurious (where I found a pumpkin molè and a vegetable molè stuffed cornbread), I googled molè and found The Molè Page which was full of recipes, history, suggestions and links. After a little comparison, I chose a traditional red molè made in two parts (which suits a working woman). One night I tackled the molè base – the paste. I toasted 3 kinds of dried chilis then soaked them in boiling water. While they bathed, I toasted sesame seeds, almonds and pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds), as well a a slice of French bread and one (count it) one corn tortilla. Then I ground cinnamon and cloves and mixed them with oregano and bits of Mexican chocolate. All of those ingredients were put into the food processor and ground together with some soaking water to make a paste. Wanting the flavors to take some time to meld, I refrigerated the deep-red mess. Two days later, I made a puree of roasted garlic, onion, tomatoes and chicken broth and then folded in half of the molè base. Viola! A deep, rich and slightly sweet sauce. (I braised pork short ribs until it fell off the bone and mixed it in for the final step. And served it with corn tortillas.)
Molè is often served with chicken or turkey, but Donna had promised us a cocoa-rubbed chicken. And man, oh man, did she deliver. Donna arrived with a platter and heaped it with roasted yams, potatoes and carrots topped with 2 gorgeous – browned to perfection, roasted chickens that had been rubbed with cocoa, brown sugar and spices. The birds were succulent and the veggies, fork tender.
Renee brought a bar of French Valhrona chocolate, cocoa rolled almonds and a semisoft “drunken” goat cheese… the rind of the cheese matched the chocolate exactly. Sitting on its silver platter, it was an elegant presentation. Youn might nit expect chocolate and cheese to be served together, but this particular cheese and that chocolate were a fine combination.
The biggest surprise of the evening – the biggest, tastiest surprise – came from Lesu. And she had noodled and taste-tested it so much she was not sure if her offering was going to work. Lesu put a casserole of white chocolate mashed potatoes and pork medallions in a cocoa/orange/ginger sauce. She asked if I would taste it to see if it was really going to be good. Wow. I was skeptical… white chocolate mashed potatoes? The potatoes were creamy and full of flavor. The sauce on the pork was a revelation… the richness of cocoa with the tang of citrus and the piquant bite of fresh ginger. The ginger and the orange were a lovely complement for the pork and the creamy potatoes underneath made this an elegant comfort meal. Excellent find!
Min topped us off with an incredibly rich Mexican hot chocolate that felt like velvet moving across your tongue. The flavor was a deep interplay of subtle spices and cocoa. I could not help but think of humid jungles, noble Mayans and the rituals that called for this elixir of gods and kings.
Our November event was beautiful and satisfying… good people, good food and lots of laughs. Truly, Forking Delicious was the right name for this group!
