Category: Way Gourmet
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Tuesday, June 15
Faye’s Spanish Nut Tart
Remember this Spanish-inspired nut tart?
I am finally sharing the recipe with you! This one is pretty gourmet…which means I didn’t actually make this recipe…I just ate it.
But it was delicious, so I have to share it with you just the same. I had the pleasure of enjoying this nut tart about a month ago when my friend Faye, the pastry chef, made these tarts for her son’s elementary school class (lucky class, eh?). This tart is based on a Spanish (specifically Catalan) treat. Faye was nice enough to sit down and write the recipe out for us, which is quite the task actually. Everyone tell Faye “Thanks!” next time you see her. 
Faye’s Catalan Nut Tart
From Faye Stein, Pastry Chef and Friend Extraordinaire
The dough (pate sucree)
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 Tbs sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 stick butter, cubed
- 1 yolk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbs creamMix the last three wet ingredients and place in the fridge so that it’s cold and ready to go. Prepare the butter and refrigerate also. In a food
processor, pulse the dry ingredients. Add the butter and pulse to crumble. Add the wets and pulse until you have a cohesive dough, like a cookie dough. Smoosh into a disk in plastic wrap, and allow to rest for at least 1/2 hour.Filling
- 4 oz dried pears
- 4 oz dates
(could do any combo, such as; apples/dates, apricots/figs, cherries/figs, etc.)
- 1/3 cup pear juice (or juice to your taste)
- 1/4 cup brown sugarIn a sauce pan, allow the juice and sugar to dissolve. Add fruit. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Then process the mixture to form a thick paste. cool.
Topping
- 6 Tbs butter
- 6 Tbs sugar
- 3 Tbs corn syrup
- 6 oz total of dry roasted nuts of your choice. I used 2 oz pistachios, 2 oz cashews, 2 oz almonds.
- 1 1/2 Tbs creamPreheat the oven to 400. Roll out your dough , fill your tart shell, and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes. It should be fully baked. To blind bake, place a piece of parchment in the tart and fill it with beans. This will keep it from bubbling up. Remove the parchment and beans at the end and put it back in the oven for a few minutes. Now its ready to fill.
Cook first 3 ingredients in heavy large saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Boil vigorously 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add nuts and cream.
Spread fruit filling in crust; smooth top. Set tart on cookie sheet. Spoon nut topping over. Bake until filling bubbles, about 20 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, loosen tart pan sides but do not remove. Cool tart completely in pan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Remove pan sides. Cut tart into wedges.
Lucky me…a few friends are getting together on Thursday and Faye is bringing goodies. What deliciousness will I be ‘subjected’ to, I wonder?
Posted by Jane Maynard at 9:00 am 11 Comments
Categories: Faye, featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet
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Friday, June 11
Party Food: Pork Tenderloin, Crostinis & Grilled Radicchio
In addition to all of the amazing desserts at my little party for my friends, I had some pretty fun recipes to work with as well. As I mentioned in the original party post, Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma gave me two beautiful non-stick skillets and Michael Symon’s debut cookbook, Live to Eat. I used a few of Michael Symon’s recipes for the party after happily tasting them at a technique class at Williams-Sonoma.
For an appetizer I served Grilled Crostini with Goat Cheese and ‘wichcraft Tomato Relish, a recipe from Williams-Sonoma. These were SO easy to make and delicious. The ‘wichcraft Tomato Relish went very nicely with the goat cheese and was a big hit!
For the main dish, I served Michael Symon’s Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad alongside Grilled Radicchio with Orange and Balsamic. Fancy schmancy, right? They were actually pretty straightforward recipes but still made me feel all gourmet and stuff.
So, there you have it. You have virtually experienced the entire party. Thanks for joining us!
Click here to download a lovely PDF with more of Michael Symon’s recipes.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:00 am 3 Comments
Categories: Recipes, the goods, Way Gourmet
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Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad
Pork Tenderloin with Heirloom Tomato Salad
From Michael Symon
Marinade
- 3 tsp coriander seed (I just tossed in some ground coriander)
- 3/4 tsp cumin seed, toasted (I just tossed in some ground cumin)
- Zest and juice of 6 limes
- 9 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 tsp. salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 shallots, minced- 1 1/2 C chicken stock (which I forgot when I made this – still came out, but I recommend using it!)
- 3/4 C red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 1/2 C extra-virgin olive oilHeirloom Tomato Salad
- 9 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (whoah – I didn’t use that many…would taste good, but now that I’m typing this out I realize I TOTALLY didn’t read the recipe carefully when I made it!)
- 6 C watercress
- 3/4 C mint leaves
- 3/4 C toasted almondsCut pork int 1 1/2 – 2 inch thick medallions. Whisk together coriander, cumin, lime zest and juice, olive oil, salt, garlic and shallot. Pour over pork and marinate for 2 hours (no longer).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Preheat a Calphalon Unison Grill pan with Sear Nonstick over medium heat, remove pork from marinad, reserving marinade. Sear pork for 3 minutes per side. When pork is seared, transfer pan to preheated oven for 3 minutes.
(If you don’t have a grill pan, feel free to sear in a regular griddle. And if your griddle can’t go in the oven, just transfer to a cookie sheet to bake the meat for 3 minutes. I actually used the regular griddle so that when I reduced my sauce later it would be easy to whisk. You don’t get those grill marks, but it tastes the same.)
Remove pan from the oven and place the pork on a platter. Add marinade, stock, vinegar and honey to pan and bring to a simmer, reducing by 1/3. Whisk in 1 1/2 C olive oil. Mix tomatoes and watercress, mint and almonds. Toss warm dressing over tomato salad and serve with the pork.
Serves 12-18.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:59 am 1 Comment
Categories: main dishes, Recipes, Way Gourmet
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Grilled Radicchio with Orange & Balsamic
I’m so bummed. I totally forgot to photograph this recipe! And it was beautiful! Oh well. You can kind of see it in that bowl next to the small bouquet of pink roses.
Grilled Radicchio with Orange & Balsamic
From Michael Symon
- 6 heads of radicchio, quartered through the core (I think I used only 3 heads)
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- Grated zest and juice of 3 orangesDrizzle the radicchio with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Preheat Calphalon Unison Grill pan with Sear Nonstick over medium-high heat. (I actually did use the grill pan for this recipe…but you could use a regular griddle, too.)
Place the radicchio in the pan and cook for 2 minutes per side.
Transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle the radicchio with salt and pepper. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic, orange zest and juice together and drizzle over radicchio.
Once the radicchio were grilled, I salt and peppered them as directed, but then I cut out the hard piece of core near at the bottom and then sliced the radicchio. I then put the radicchio into a bowl and drizzled with the oil dressing.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 5:57 am 2 Comments
Categories: eat less meat, Recipes, side dishes, simple side dishes, Way Gourmet
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Wednesday, June 9
A Little Party for My Friends
Last Saturday I threw a little party for my friends. It all started when I received a PR blast from Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma. They were wrangling up food bloggers to throw parties on June 5 all across the country. They provided me with two of their new pans, a few little goodies and $100. I decided this was a good excuse to do something for a small group of close friends who deserved a fun afternoon out with the girls.
The party ended up being lovely for so many reasons. The weather was perfect, time spent with friends was so lovely, and the food was fabulous!
Normally parties are a chore for me, I’m not really the party-throwing type. But I had a blast doing this party! I was able to wrangle up some of my own contacts to really step things up. Sure, a Calphalon spoon was nice to give to my friends, but they deserved more. We ended up with some amazing food, and goodie bags that I was bursting at the seams to give to my friends. I wish I could have invited all of you, but my patio just isn’t big enough!
So…on to the fun stuff! Tomorrow and Thursday I’ll share the recipes from the party with you, but today it’s all about the goods.
Cambria Cove was amazing. They sent a cake from Elegant Cheese Cakes, filled with three layers of delicious cheese cake. Elegant Cheese Cakes is based in Half Moon Bay and the cake gets shipped to you. Can you believe this cake gets shipped in the mail? It’s a miracle!
Cambria Cove also sent a giant box of Norman Love chocolates, which are not only completely gorgeous but also really fun and tasty to eat.
And both of these gorgeous serving trays? Cambria Cove again. Without them, my serving table would have been only half as beautiful!
A few words about the cheese platter while we’re here. Alouette sent their Extra Creamy Brie, which was very tasty with a thin, mild-flavored casing. I also bought some Honey Goat Cheese from Trader Joe’s (there in the back)…it’s my new favorite cheese.
Now for the gift bags.
What could be in there? I can’t wait to show you!
Dillon Rogers was AMAZING and gave everyone a triple wrap bracelet. I have a few things from Dillon Rogers, including my own triple wrap bracelet and this lovely necklace. Everyone loved their bracelets.
P.S. Dillon Rogers is offering a special discount for all of you! Use the code DINNER to receive 20% off the entire website! I suggest you get shopping! I honestly, truly love their stuff and am so happy to be able to help get the word out about this great company.
Cambria Cove also stepped up and gave each guest one of these beautiful Voluspa candles and this Cherub Collage journal. The Cambria Cove signature gift box is almost gift enough on it’s own! But of course the things inside are just lovely.
I emailed my dear friend Ree, The Pioneer Woman herself, to see if she could swing some cookbooks. She did, because she’s awesome like that. And she even signed them. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…Ree Drummond is hands down the best lady. LOVE HER. Okay, my daily Ree worshipping is done.
Scharffen Berger sent each person one of their folios….mmmmmm….
…Alouette sent everyone their own Extra Creamy Brie to take home…and Calphalon provided everyone with a non-stick-friendly utensil.
Phew. Are you tired yet? Seriously…it was SO FUN giving everyone all these lovely things. Thank you to all the companies who shared so generously!
Like I mentioned, the original idea for the party came from Calphalon. They sent me the Unison Non-Stick Griddle & Grill Pan set (which I am actually loving, by the way) and Michael Symon’s debut cookbook Live to Cook, which is where I got several of my recipes for the party. I will definitely share recipes during the rest of this week, including my own rice and grain concoction that ended up being sooo yummy.
Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:51 am 42 Comments
Categories: the goods, Way Gourmet
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Friday, May 14
Interview with Mireille Guiliano…and a giveaway for “The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook”!
This giveaway is now closed. However there is a really fun interview with Mireille Guiliano in this post, so keep reading!
Two weeks ago I had the chance to do a phone interview with Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat and The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook, among many other books. Mireille is a lovely person with lovely books and I was so excited for the opportunity. Not surprisingly, we had a lovely conversation! I wish you could have all had a chance to chat with her. She was friendly, sincere, kind and gracious. I’m pretty much in love and ready to do anything she tells me to do. Eat my veggies? Done!
In conjunction with the interview, we are giving away two copies of Mireille’s new cookbook, The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter. The book is beautiful and full of wonderful stories and recipes. Comments must be posted by Midnight, Wednesday, May 19. Two winners will be randomly selected and announced on May 20. (U.S. mailing addresses only, please.)
On to the interview with Mireille Guiliano! (In case you’re wondering, her first name is pronounced Meer-ray, with that great French “R” sound. By the way, talking with Mireille made me want to jump on the next plance to France!)
Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:01 pm 160 Comments
Categories: fab faves, Giveaways, interviews, Way Gourmet
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Wednesday, May 5
Interview with Jody Adams from Top Chef Masters
I recently had the chance to do an email interview with Chef Jody Adams, one of the chefs from Top Chef Masters. I was super excited about this opportunity because I have eaten at her restaurant and it was one of the best meals of my life! When Nate and I were pennyless newlyweds in Boston, my boss gave us a hefty gift certificate to Rialto, Jody’s restaurant in Harvard Square. We used the certificate for our anniversary and it’s a night I’ll never forget. We enjoyed our dinner for well over 3 hours (luxurious!) and every bite was perfect. It was a special night that I’ll always cherish.Jody is a fantastic chef who is committed to supporting local farmers and charitable work. It’s been fun watching her on Top Chef Masters…and even more fun thinking up questions to ask her directly. I hope you enjoy the interview!
Q: The culinary world is traditionally male-dominated. Was it hard as a woman to break into the field? Has being a woman in this field been generally frustrating or empowering?
Jody: Mercifully, the days when a woman would be excluded from a kitchen because of her sex are mostly behind us. Even three decades ago my first restaurant job was in a kitchen under a female chef, Lydia Shire, one of the most successful chefs in Boston. My first big step up in the game was as sous-chef, for Gorden Hamersley, who had once been Lydia’s sous-chef. Kitchens are meritocracies; at the minimum, you have to be able to do the physical labor. To advance, you need more than that–you need drive, ambition, talent and a willingness to push yourself outside your comfort zone. I’m a hard worker and I knew if I could get in the door I’d have a chance. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never been employed by some moron with dinosaur attitudes toward women. That said, I think the current media tends to spin culinary culture in a way that doesn’t serve women well. It has to do with the whole I’m-a-bad-boy-chef-cooking-with-lots-of-pork affect. The press loves it, it makes good t.v., male cooks know it, and the public eats it up. It’s an easy sell. Not many female chefs enjoy playing in that arena; most of the male chefs I know don’t either. Women are just as tough as men, we work just as hard, but what we’re about as cooks is often a little more complicated. That means writers have to dig a little deeper, and the story’s a harder sell. My hope for the future is that the work I and other women chefs have done for the last 30 years will build a diverse culinary culture that moves forward toward the light rather than standing still or going backwards.
Q: You do a wonderful job of supporting local farms at your restaurant Rialto. Given the growing importance of eating and growing locally, do you think other restaurants will adopt this practice in a timely manner? As consumers, what is the best way we can support this movement?
Jody: The good news is that we ARE in the middle of a local food movement and chef/owners of restaurants like Rialto have been buying from local farmers for over 25 years. We do it because the food tastes better, we are committed to supporting and possibly saving farms and because we can. But not everyone has access to local food, and making sweeping statements about what consumers, in the broad general sense, should be doing is something I like to be careful about. We as a members of the American community that eats food, that would be all of us, should do everything we can to ensure that all members of the community have access to fresh local healthy food. People like Michael Pollan, Anne Cooper, Mark Bittman, Jamie Oliver and of course, Alice Waters are not quiet about this.
So on the personal direct level, I say, buy from local farms and producers, support chefs and restaurants that do the same and enjoy it!
On a community level–and this is going to be political–educate yourself about school lunches, urban food deserts, portion sizes, industrial food, government subsidies. Recognize that these problems are ours and belong to our community and are therefore ours to fix.
Q: We know you can’t give any spoiler alerts, so without getting too detailed, what has been your favorite part of being on Top Chef Masters?
Jody: Finding out how much fun it was. I was scared going into it–no support staff, no “do-overs,” none of the second chances I’d get in my own kitchen. But my competition and I shared an enormous amount of mutual respect. In some cases we’ve cooked at each other’s restaurants or worked fund-raisers together. Although each of us was trying to win, there was a kind of we’re-all-in-the-same-leaky-lifeboat camaraderie, so it ended up being fun, everyone in the same kitchen cooking for their lives.
Q: Any fun kitchen tips for at-home cooks?
Jody: Buy one really good knife–it’s an investment in your culinary life–and learn how to use it. Here’s my cheap tip: get a Microplane–what it can do with garlic alone is worth many times the twelve or fifteen dollars it will cost you.
Q: One final quick question I have to ask…it’s fast, but maybe impossible to answer! What is your favorite food?
Jody: It depends on the time of the year and the circumstances. A lot of what I love about particular foods is the way they evoke people and circumstances with whom I’ve eaten them, and I like calling up those feelings whenever I can. Down at the Cape where I spend time with my family every August, my favorite food is striped bass or bluefish, fresh out of the water, grilled at a picnic with friends, accompanied by local corn and tomatoes. On Christmas, it would be roast goose, followed by my mother’s plum pudding, and then a couple of days later, goose and cranberry risotto we’ve made from at my sister’s house from leftovers.
Be sure to check out Top Chef Masters Wednesday nights. And here are a few recipes from Jody!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 6:00 am 8 Comments
Categories: interviews, Way Gourmet
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Thursday, April 8
Chocolate Cake with Raspberry White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
As good as the cake I shared with you yesterday was (and it was mighty good), I simply could not resist pairing that heavenly white chocolate cream cheese frosting with some real chocolate. And since two cakes are certainly better than one, only a week after I made the raspberry cake I went ahead and threw this puppy together. I used the recipe that my friend Lindsay uses for her chocolate ganache cake and it worked beautifully.
The frosting tasted just as good on this chocolate cake as it did on the raspberry cake. The subtle flavor of raspberry in the frosting complemented the richness of this classic chocolate cake very nicely. I can’t decide which cake I liked better. Nate voted for the raspberry cake, although he had to really think about it. The jury’s still out for me. What I do know is I need to stop making cakes pronto. This is downright reckless behavior!
Chocolate Cake
From the Chocolate Ganache Cake recipe on Epicurious
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
- 1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder (I didn’t have any on hand, so I left it out – I’m certain it would deepen the chocolate flavor, though…so if you’ve got it, use it!)
- 1/2 cup whole milk (I only had 2% milk, and things worked out just fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggsPreheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 (7- or 8-inch, 2-inch-deep) round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess. (My oven is too small to bake three cakes at once, plus I don’t have three of any one size. I used 2 9-inch cake pans.)
Whisk together water, cocoa, and espresso powder until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing at low speed until just combined. (This batter is TASTY. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
Divide batter among pans (about 2 1/3 cups per pan for 3 pans), smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes for 7-inch pans or 20 to 25 minutes for 8-inch. Cool in pans on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.
White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting
– 6 oz white chocolate (melt as directed on package, then cool 5 mins)
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 tsp raspberry extract (I’m thinking of leaving this out sometime to use with other cakes/rolls/etc)
- 2 cup confectioners sugarBeat cream cheese and buter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium (I used my KitchenAid) until well blended. Add cooled white chocolate and raspberry extract. Mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy (I let the KitchenAid go for several minutes and the frosting truly got light and fluffy).
Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:00 pm 8 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet
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Wednesday, April 7
White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
A few months ago, my friend Rachel’s babysitter, Maria, made a cake for Rachel’s birthday. I couldn’t stay for the whole party, so Rachel sent me home with a generous amount of cake (that’s a good friend, eh?). The cake was white, the frosting was white…I knew it would be good, but I wasn’t that excited since there was no chocolate involved. Then we ate the cake. Oh. My. Goodness. It was wonderful, and the frosting was amazing…and completely mysterious. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was made of. As soon as we finished our cake, I emailed Rachel asking her to beg Maria for the recipe.
Thankfully Maria likes to share. Below is the recipe for the most wonderful White Chocolate Raspberry Cake this side of anywhere. I hope you love it as much as I do. (Sorry, no picture of a cut slice…we had friends over that night to enjoy this cake with us and the whole thing was gone by the end of the evening, no joke!)
P.S. – I will have a follow-up cake recipe tomorrow. You won’t want to miss that one either.
Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate
- 3 oz White chocolate; chopped
- 3/4 cup Milk; divided
- 1 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/3 cup Butter; at room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Raspberry Extract
- 4 Eggs
- White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting {Recipe Follows}
- 1/8 tsp Red Food Color
- 1 cup RaspberriesPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round baking pans.
Melt white chocolate with about half of the milk in a small, heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate starts to melt. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Stir in remaining milk. Let cool.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until soft and smooth. Add sugar and raspberry extract; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until well-combined. Alternately add flour mixture and white chocolate mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Jane Note: Several people have commented that their cake did not rise when using this recipe. This recipe has worked for me and for the woman who gave me the recipe, as well as for other commenters. Cakes are sensitive in terms of the mixing process and, when not mixed properly, can collapse when cooking. Butter and sugar should be well mixed, eggs semi-mixed, and flour barely mixed at all. I would recommend the following technique when mixing in the ingredients in the above paragraph. Beat the butter for 30 seconds alone on medium-high speed. Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating for 3 minutes between each addition, at medium-high speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating at medium speed for 30 seconds after each egg. When adding the flour and chocolate mixtures (alternating as directed), beat on low speed and mix until just combined. Beat for 10-20 seconds at medium-high speed at the end for one final mix. Following this technique should increase the chances that your cake will NOT collapse in the oven.
Spread batter in pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely.
Stir food color into 2/3 cup of the frosting until well blended (I actually didn’t do this part…I just kept all the icing white, mostly because I didn’t read the recipe carefully
). Place 1 cake layer on serving plate. Spread with the tinted frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and side of cake with remaining frosting. Top with raspberries just before serving. Store cake in the refrigerator.White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting
– 6 oz white chocolate (melt as directed on package, then cool 5 mins)
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 tsp raspberry extract (I’m thinking of leaving this out sometime to use with other cakes/rolls/etc)
- 2 cup confectioners sugarBeat cream cheese and buter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium (I used my KitchenAid) until well blended. Add cooled white chocolate and raspberry extract. Mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy (I let the KitchenAid go for several minutes and the frosting truly got light and fluffy).
Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:48 pm 53 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, Recipes, sweet things, Way Gourmet
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Friday, March 26
San Francisco International Chocolate Salon
Last weekend Nate and I attended the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. It was a LOT of fun. We went without the kids, the weather was spectacular, and we stuffed ourselves silly with chocolate.
Pictured: Chocolates from Marti ChocolattThe Chocolate Salon is an open-to-the-public event where oodles of chocolatiers and confectioners come show off all their chocolatey goodness in a hugemongous room at the Ft. Mason Center.
We tried some very “interesting” chocolates (chocolate bacon, anyone?) and some really great stuff. I have to share some of that goodness with you!
There are so many companies I could write about, but I’m going to focus on our favorite. Marti Chocolatt is based in Los Angeles and is the one company we actually purchased something from. Marti does a fantastic job integrating chocolate with very unique and sometimes unexpected ingredients. Our favorite Marti chocolate was the ube flavor, purple yams in dark chocolate.
The umeshu flavor, Japanese plum wine in white chocolate, was also quite amazing. And the jasmine citron? The only word I can think to describe this chocolate is intriguing. I am normally not a fan of flower-infused foods, but this jasmine chocolate was very appealing. When you eat it, it’s more like you’re smelling flowers than tasting them. It’s hard to describe. Marti Chocolatt took first prize in our book.
Of course there were many other amazing companies, and I just can’t write about all of them. Here is a small sampling!
As an artist, I absolutely adored these truffle bars from Sterling Confections. The truffles do in fact taste great, but I love the visual concept more than anything.
Plumeria Flours makes these beautiful chocolate covered Oreos. I’m not a big fan of Oreos, but I actually did like these. Plus, they’re so cute!
I couldn’t help but snap a shot of these pretty (and tasty!) white chocolates with flowers from Robyn’s Chocolates and Confections.
I have to tell you about one more chocolate we tried. By far the CRAZIEST chocolate we tasted was from Vice Chocolates. It was called “Vixen” – a passion fruit truffle with Thai chili, jalapeno, and cayenne, decorated with white chocolate and a caramelized red pepper on top. I’m pretty sure she said it had all the different taste flavors – Sour, Sweet, Salt, Bitter, and Spicy. And BOY was it spicy. I have a pretty high tolerance, but that one got me for sure. I’m glad we tried it!
We were completely chocolated out 2 hours into our venture. I don’t think that has ever happened to me! I am so happy that the event was at the Ft. Mason center…beautiful views of the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, downtown and the Bay Bridge. Such a lovely spot and a morning to be remembered!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 11:27 am 6 Comments
Categories: fab faves, the goods, travels, Way Gourmet
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
