Hot Chocolate and Living Well

Dear Mr. Iyengar

2005-10-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Bowing to Mr. Iyengar

Dear Mr. Iyengar was here in San Francisco promoting his new book Light on Life. I was fortunate to see him at IYISF and hear him talk to fellow Iyengar devotees.

Farmer's Market Finds: Summer-1 2005

2005-07-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Grilling Vegetable

Red peppers and asparagus are nice grilled, but they do become just a bit too predictable for a self-respecting gourmand. Especially when one can find such bountiful selections at local farmer's markets in the Bay Area.

Baby Artichokes -
Artichokes are practically available year-round in the San Francsico Bay Area. At the Palo Alto Farmer's market, one can pick up baby artichokes from 3-4 different stands. The organic growers such as Coke's Farm or Full Belly Farm only have artichoke for a short period of time as they are from a hotter area. Those farms that are near halfmoon bay seen to have longer availabilities. I buy those that are no more than 1.25" in diameter at the widest part so there would be no risk of having fuzzy chokes that need to be removed.

Preparation (Adapt Chez Panisse Vegetable)
1. Trim ends
2. Peel outer leaves of artichoke.
3. Cut of top 1/3
4. Fill all artichoke in a pot small enough for a snug fit, but it does not come above 3/4 of the height.
5. Fill pot with olive oil (yes, that's a lot of oil)
6. Bring olive oil to a very gentle simmer.
7. Simmer until barely tender (fork, can almost punch through all the way, before the leaves start to fall) - about 10 -15 minutes
8. Remove artichoke from pot and drain; sprinkle with sea salt
9. Open the petal slightly and flatten on to the medium-hot grill. Grill until there are some nice grill marks

Baby Eggplants
Choose small purple eggplants that have smooth shiny skins, plump, and about 4 inches length.
1. Grill over high heat until the skin is charred nicely
2. Cool slightly, and gently peel skin off without damaging the flesh underneath. Keeping the egg plant still attached to the stem and whole
3. Serve with a blend of yogurt, mints and salt of some kind of raita

Chicory Salad
1. Separate raddichio, frisee, escarole in to manageable size (about 3-4 inches large chuncks)
2. In a large bow, toss salad with some olive oil and salt
3. Grill the salad over high heat for 30 seconds to get some light marks without wilting the vetable
4. Toss again. Add a sprinkle of white wine vinegar if desired.

Fava Beans
1. Poke a few small holes in the skin of fava beans with a tooth pick
2. Grill fava beans (with pod) over med-high heat until the pods start to give off juice and look soft.
3. Peel and Eat.

Other things to grill:
- Raddichio in foil (olive oil and salt)
- Quartered fennels tossed with olive oil
- Cioppino spring onion
- Figs brushed with brandy
- Various mushrooms (Shimeji, King, Cepes) brushed with olive oil
- Peach Halves

Heaven in a Cup

2005-07-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

what do you need to make hot chocolate :
a pint size or quart size copper pot
a high temperature resistance silicone whisk that is ~1/3 of idameter of the pot
Milk depending on the style
Chocolate

Best in-home:
Domori Hot Chocolate - makes smooth, rich, and complex hot chocolate that taste like chocolate - European style

Best in-store:
Jean-Paul Hevin Branch in Shinjuko, Tokyo, Japan
- Chocolate Chaud "Parisien"
- Chocolate Chaud "Equateur"
Decadence in a cup. Whisk to order right from where you could watch. Thick, rich, volutuous body. Beware of head rush and instant addiction.

Reference Hot Chocolate:
Valrhona unsweetened ground chocolate
Mariebelle Aztec hot chocolate
Dagoba fairtrade organic hot chocolate
Chuao Spicy Maya hot chocolate
Bittersweet: A Choclate Cafe, Oakland, California
Jean-Paul Hevin, Paris
Scharffern Berger cocoa powder

A Perfect Chocolate Souffle

2005-07-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is It: Chocolate Souffle

What's a perfect chocolate souffle? One I can whip up even after a glass of champagne, half a bottle of Meursault, and on my 2nd pour of Chambolle-Musigny (this is about the time during a dinner, that one should get going on dessert).

This one comes out consistently with a medium texture and a soft, lightly moist center.

Disclaimer: this recipe assumes that you have some knowledge of baking

Special Equipment
8 buttered and sugar coated 1 C. Size ramekins (shake out excessive sugar)
Standing mixture (more reliable when one is swooning from a nice buzz)

Ingredients
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate (Valhrona is my preference)
6 T sugar (Raw cane sugar is totally acceptable)
2 T all purpose flour
1 1/2 C whole milk
6 eggs separated
dash of salt
dash of creme of tartar

1. In a small bowl, mix 1/4C of milk w/flour until smooth (best do it with you fingertip)
2. Bring 1 1/4C of milk just under boil in a quart size pot
3. Add flour mixture to hot milk and cook for a minute
4. Add sugar and chocolate to hot milk mixture. Blend until smooth. Remove mixture from heat source. Cool slightly.
5. Mix in all the egg yolks in the chocolate mixture
6. In a separate clean bowl, beat egg white until stiff but not dry. Add salt and cream of tartare half way through.
7. Fold some egg white in the chocolate mixture to lighten it up. Then fold the choclate mixture with all the egg whites until mixed.
8. Fill souffle cups 3/4 way up.- Bake 18-20minutes.

Serve immediately.