date night – OneandahalfSlices

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Valentine’s Day is so controversial. Dinner reservations are made and flowers are purchased. Anti-Valentine’s Day parties are planned among groups of single women. Me, I like the concept of a day to stop and acknowledge the uniqueness of your partner and the things you love about them. But I’ve always thought the day best celebrated with something representative of the couple, whether that’s a meal, an activity, or a favorite movie. My Valentine’s days have been filled with videogames and pizza, homemade dinners, and elaborate chocolate selections (because any excuse to buy gourmet assorted chocolates, even if purchased by yourself, for yourself, amiright?).

If you are making a dinner at home and are worried about dessert, I’ve got a solution for that. Making full dinners is time consuming, so the last thing you want to do is have to worry about making dessert on top of a full spread. Dessert should be something easy or something you can make in advance. The magic of this dessert is its simplicity. And while it makes for a beautifully elegant Valentine’s Day nightcap, it serves just as well on a Tuesday night. This is all-purpose, every day, delicate, creamy, spicy, chocolate deliciousness. And yes, we’re going to follow the chili in chocolate and chocolate in chili rule. However or whenever you choose to test drive this unique conceptualization of cocoa, I promise it will be among the best cups of hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted. Whipped cream or marshmallows… you choose.

Afterthought: Allow me to take a moment to highlight three of my favorite chocolatiers in case you are looking for last-minute gift ideas. SOMA Chocolatemaker is top of that list, headquartered in Toronto. Check out their cherries tumbled in dark chocolate, their truly artful chocolate bars, or some gingerbread ninja cat cookies (because whynot?). For chef-quality chocolatemaking, check out NYC-based Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolates. The pricetag is exorbitant on the Valentine’s Day Chef Selection but the chocolate connoisseur will not be disappointed. They also have macarons (see below). Finally, the Swiss Teuscher Chocolates has several US-based locations (I discovered it in San Francisco). The assorted truffles (emphasis on the champagne truffles) are extremely fresh.

what you need

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (or 1 cup mini marshmallows)

2 cups whole milk or dairy-free milk of choice (cashew or macadamia work pretty well)

2 generous tablespoons fresh, local honey

Ground cinnamon

Ground chili pepper or cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon sugar or maple syrup

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chips of choice (I prefer 60% or more cocoa content… 100% makes the hot chocolate a little too thick)

how to make it

Makes two small cups of hot chocolate.

Before you begin, whip the cream into soft peaks adding the maple syrup or sugar to sweeten and a dash of cinnamon at the end.

Place a small pot stovetop over medium-high heat. Make two dollops of honey on the base of the pot. Add the vanilla and healthy dashes of cinnamon and chili pepper. You will use a larger quantity of chili pepper or a smaller quantity if using cayenne; either way, adjust to your desired level of spiciness.

Using a fork, blend the spices into the honey until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir as they begin to melt, being careful not to let them stick to the base of the pot. Add the milk.

Using the fork as a whisk, whisk the chocolate continually making sure to get all the chocolate off the base of the pot blended into the milk. Whisk continually as the milk heats until you see steam rising off the top of the chocolate. At sign of the first bubble, remove from heat. Do not boil. If the hot chocolate boils, the chocolate will separate from the milk and the chocolate will acquire a frothy (in a bad way) texture.

Pour into mugs, top with a dollop of whipped cream, and a dash of chili and/or cinnamon. If using marshmallows, place mallows in cup first and pour hot chocolate over top. Serve with a truffle, a cherry, or a particularly good walnut on the side and you’re golden.

Perfectly Juicy Pork Chops

I am always on the hunt for that impressive but foolproof date night meal. You know, the one you can cook with enough confidence that you won’t completely mess it up but that will garner more praise than a jar of Prego + Barilla. My go-to has always been charcuterie. Elaborate charcuterie. Or “picada” as we call it in Argentina. But these chops are date night perfection. This recipe is adapted from Adventures in Cooking (who has much more convincing photos).

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Have you ever wondered how to make pork chops tender? What separates the salty-yet-slightly-sweet chop that you can cut with a butter knife from the dry, stringy chop cooked stovetop? I’ll tell you a secret… it has nothing to do with cooking time or method and everything to do with brining. Yep. Brining. Basically soaking the chops in salty water overnight before you cook them.

Funny story about the foolproof date night meal though… I got very comfortable with these chops a couple of years ago. This method works on just about any chop (pork, wild boar, venison) and I make these chops on the reg when a special date night meal is required, or sometimes just for friends that I like to spoil. Each time, without fail, the chops come out perfectly. Tender, juicy, salty, and slightly sweet. It is a thing of beauty… until the fire alarm goes off.

As it turns out, my beautiful Valley House kitchen has no stove hood. There is a fan, sure, and from the sound it produces, I am pretty sure it generates enough power to launch a Boeing 747. But the steam and smoke the fan intakes… where does it go? Straight into the cabinet just above the stove where I house my extensive tea collection. In other words, it does not exit the house.

So there I am with a nice glass of wine, my guest looking at me expectantly, with some ambiance and chill vibes to spare, when all hell breaks loose and the atmosphere in the room goes from elegant to tornado drill in under 3 seconds. Smoke billowing out of the oven (even though nothing is burning); cats zooming around the house at speeds unknown to light and sound. And a frenzied attempt by me and my befuddled guest to open every window and door in the house. Recently, I have taken to opening the patio door in advance and rushing steaming chops and other smoking cooking endeavors out to the deck to rest for a few moments before sliding them back into the oven… this seems to cut down on the smoke a bit. Either way, I am likely going to need to invest in a kitchen hood in the next several years. These chops are that good.

what you need

2 large bone-in, thick cut pork chops

1/4 cup salt

Black pepper

Several clusters of red grapes still on the stem, the larger the better

(optional) 1 tablespoon olive oil

(optional) 1 table spoon balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, or Tamari

For best results, use cast iron skillet

how to make it

The night before (!): Place chops in deep dish or water-tight bag along with enough room-temperature water to cover them. Add a ton of salt and mix a bit until it dissolves. Let chops brine overnight in the fridge.

The day of: Preheat oven to 400. Once heated, toss the grapes (little clusters; 5-8 grapes per stem) in the olive oil, and vinegar or soy, place them on a piece of tinfoil and roast them in the oven until the skins begin to shrivel and split, ~20 minutes. Remove the grapes and set aside.

Now start heating your cast iron skillet stovetop. High heat. We want to sear these chops well.

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse them, and pat them dry with paper towels. You can sprinkle them with a bit of olive oil and black pepper if you wish but they do not need any more salt at this point. The brine took care of that.

Once the pan is hot (flick some water in it to see if it sizzles and to make an interesting cooking show for your guest), place both chops in the skillet. You want to place them and let them rest where they landed – do not pat them down, do not move them around. The searing occurs on the meat’s first contact with the pan. Put them in the skillet and leave them alone. Sear for 3-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your chops.

Then get ready to transfer the chops to the oven. If you are using locally-sourced chops (I get mine from Longstone Farm), chances are they’ve got a good bit of fat on them which has begun to collect in the skillet (you can pour this out if you want the chops to smoke less in the oven). If you’re using store-bought chops and the skillet is dry, now would be the time to throw in a tablespoon of butter. I will occasionally add a splash of white wine and some sprigs of rosemary as well if I have them on hand and feel a little fancy.

Flip the chops a second time and then transfer all this to the oven. The cooking time here depends on the thickness of your chops and it is best to have a meat thermometer on hand. You want the internal temperature of the chop to reach 145 degrees which usually takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Due to the brining, you’ve got a little room to overcook the chops but not much, so watch them carefully. It is normal for the pan to smoke as the butter/fat in the skillet burns off – this does not mean the chops are burning.

You can also cook the chops on the grill, in the cast iron or direct #openflame

Serve with grapes on stems placed on top.

I like to accompany the chops with a green vegetable like crispy roasted brussels sprouts or blanched asparagus. It also does well with a simple arugula salad. The pork meat becomes very salty in the brining process so pairing it with a darker, more bitter green vegetable is a good call.

Also, plums, apples, or peaches may be used in addition to or in lieu of the grapes. The sweetness of these fruits pairs well with the salty pork, but plum skin can become bitter and they are difficult to find when not in season, hence my predilection towards the grapes. I once made a plum and black currant reduction (supa fancy) that accompanied the chops beautifully but it was a little labor intensive.

pork chops

Pork Chops

Wild Boar Chops