CRAZY FOR COCOA

Need some ideas on what to do with all that leftover Valentine’s and Easter chocolate? We’ve gathered a couple great savoury chocolate recipes for you to enjoy, so you can start incorporating chocolate in all your meals!
Triple Chocolate Beef and Bean Chili
Recipe courtesy of Saveur.com – Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1⁄2 lb. dried pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 bay leaf
2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 dried ancho chile, stemmed and seeded
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1″ cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large white onions, chopped
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
1 (15-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (12-oz.) chocolate stout beer
1 1⁄2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 1⁄2 cups chicken stock
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tbsp. lime juice
Sour cream and roughly chopped cilantro, to garnish
Steps:

Put beans and bay leaf into a large pot and cover with 3″ water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, and stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 60-90 minutes. Drain beans, discarding bay leaf; set aside.

Heat a 6-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add chiles, and cook, turning once, until toasted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water; let sit 20 minutes. Drain chiles, reserving ½ cup soaking liquid; transfer chiles and liquid to a blender with cocoa, oregano, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon and puree until smooth. Set sauce aside.

Add oil to pan and return to medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper and, working in batches, add beef to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 4–6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a bowl. Add garlic and onions to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring until slightly caramelized, about 2 minutes. Add reserved sauce, cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return beef to pot, plus tomatoes, beer, sugar, and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until beef is very tender, 1-1 ½ hours. Stir in reserved beans, along with chocolate, juice, salt, and pepper. Serve ladled into bowls with sour cream and cilantro.

Crazy For Cocoa
CRAZY FOR COCOA
MEGAN PASCHEAPRIL 2, 2018
Need some ideas on what to do with all that leftover Valentine’s and Easter chocolate? We’ve gathered a couple great savoury chocolate recipes for you to enjoy, so you can start incorporating chocolate in all your meals!
Triple Chocolate Beef and Bean Chili
Recipe courtesy of Saveur.com – Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1⁄2 lb. dried pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 bay leaf
2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 dried ancho chile, stemmed and seeded
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1″ cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large white onions, chopped
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
1 (15-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (12-oz.) chocolate stout beer
1 1⁄2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 1⁄2 cups chicken stock
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tbsp. lime juice
Sour cream and roughly chopped cilantro, to garnish
Steps:

Put beans and bay leaf into a large pot and cover with 3″ water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, and stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 60-90 minutes. Drain beans, discarding bay leaf; set aside.

Heat a 6-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add chiles, and cook, turning once, until toasted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water; let sit 20 minutes. Drain chiles, reserving ½ cup soaking liquid; transfer chiles and liquid to a blender with cocoa, oregano, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon and puree until smooth. Set sauce aside.

Add oil to pan and return to medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper and, working in batches, add beef to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 4–6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a bowl. Add garlic and onions to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring until slightly caramelized, about 2 minutes. Add reserved sauce, cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return beef to pot, plus tomatoes, beer, sugar, and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until beef is very tender, 1-1 ½ hours. Stir in reserved beans, along with chocolate, juice, salt, and pepper. Serve ladled into bowls with sour cream and cilantro.

Chocolate, Strawberry & Brie Grilled Cheese
It’s hard to go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich, and there are so many combinations out there to try. Our latest experiment? A grilled cheese with chocolate! Since cheddar and chocolate don’t exactly go together, we turned to one of our favourite cheeses-brie. It’s delicious, but mild taste is perfect for pairing with dark chocolate and strawberries. So with that as the base, we were off to the frying pan. You can use any bread with this, but Sourdough is our preferred choice.

Ingredients:

Brie cheese
Dark chocolate bits
Strawberries (roasted or fresh), cut in half
Two slices of the bread of your choosing
Steps:

Heat up your frying pan, butter both sides of the bread, and layer on brie, sliced chocolate, strawberries and then more brie.

Put sandwich on the griddle, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on both sides, making sure cheese is nice and melty.

Eat and salivate!

Tip!

Try roasting the strawberries for your sandwich.

A quick guide: grab your strawberries, cut off the stems, and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar over the strawberries, and mix up well. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

These work great on top of ice cream, in a salad, and of course, on a yummy grilled cheese!

Don’t like strawberries?
Try chocolate plus one of these alternatives: cherries, raspberries or pumpkin puree!
Types of Chocolate
Unsweetened Chocolate

Pure chocolate with no added sugar (also known as bitter chocolate, baking chocolate, pure chocolate). Used for baking.

Bittersweet Chocolate

Needs to be at least 35% pure chocolate with small amount of sugar added. It is also known as dark chocolate. For the most part, it is usually darker and less sweet than semisweet. Use it for baking and eating.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Needs to be at least 35% pure chocolate, with cocoa butter and sugar added. It is the most versatile chocolate.

Use it for: baking and eating.

Milk Chocolate

This chocolate needs to be at least 10% pure chocolate, with cocoa butter and sugar. It contains less pure chocolate than semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolates. It has a milder flavour than darker chocolate.

Sweet Baking Chocolate

Needs to contain at least 15 percent pure chocolate with cocoa butter and sugar. Sweeter than semi-sweet.

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

This is pure chocolate that has most of the cocoa butter removed. If it is labelled, “Dutch-process” or “European Style” it means it has been treated to neutralize the naturally occuring acids, which gives it a mellow flavour and makes it appear redder.

White Chocolate

Not an actual chocolate, as it is made up of cocoa butter with sugar, milk solids and vanilla flavouring.

Mexican Chocolate

This has cinnamon and sugar added to the pure chocolate. Occasionally ground almonds may be added.