And now, a word about chocolate.

[Originally posted at LJ, 2/26/10]

February's Chocolate of the Month selection arrived last Wednesday, a ridiculously tasty assortment from Chicago's Chocolate Potpourri.







They called this the Truffles, Toffee and Dunkers Assortment. They should have called it "Put down the box before you eat yourself sick, you crackhead." I couldn't wait to dive into it, and I had to force myself to put the lid back on!

In the center of the top layer, four unbelievably rich chocolate covered Oreos - the "dunkers". I did, of course, dip one in my cup of coffee, which had the effect of softening both chocolate and Oreo, making a lovely warm treat that had me melting into a little puddle of happy.

Around the dunkers, 16 truffles, each a different flavor! The kicker? Chocolate Potpourri makes 18 flavors of truffle, and they don't tell you which two you didn't get. It's apparently different in every box! Thus far, I have found the champagne, maple walnut, espresso, vanilla bourbon, and the raspberry. NOM NOM NOM.

The coverture is a little stiffer than I was expecting. At first, I thought it was because the chocolate had been hanging out in a freezing FedEx truck, but even after the truffles came to room temperature, the chocolate was a bit toothy. Not that this is an issue, it was just something different, a departure from the usual Belgian style truffles one finds in my house.

The slightly stiff coverture gives way to a velvety and rich ganache that completely steals your attention from whatever else you're doing. It's soft and melts quickly, covering your palate with rich and perfectly sweet flavors. It took me a few minutes to remember that I was supposed to be working, and was only truly reminded with a window popped up in my work interface to essentially ask if I was still there.

Ooops.

Beneath the layer of truffles, ten ounces of chocolate covered toffee that would make a stone cry tears of joy. Seriously, I love me some toffee, but

this

toffee is enough to make me commit murder for more. The rich, buttery, salty toffee, paired with a gorgeous milk chocolate coverture and topped with ground nuts is heavenly...and compelling. I'm having a hard time staying out of it, and have taken a hammer to it so the pieces are very small and easy to nab here and there throughout the day.

I originally thought that I didn't know this company. It turns out, they also make Veritas chocolate, which I've been buying for years at Erika's - it's meant to be had with wine, and is packaged such that you can hang a package of Veritas on a bottle of complementary wine. It's well made and the folks who suggest the chocolate and wine pairings clearly have a firm grasp of both.

Their actual store is in Glenview, about a 25 minute cab ride from Kenneth's from the looks of things. I may need to visit them, to explore the rest of their wares.

And the Lord Kenneth said "Let there be chocolate!"

[Originally posted at LJ, 1/26/10]


And lo, there was, and it was good.

Is good. I'm being very, very careful so this box gets me through to the next one!

A few days before Yuletide, I was greeting with this missive in the Inbox:

Congratulations!

You've been given a Gift Membership to the Gourmet Chocolate of the Month Club. In each shipment you will discover handmade chocolate confections from around the world, reminiscent of age-old traditions and presented with savoir faire! Read our newsletters and learn first hand about each featured Chocolatier, and how they craft their signature creations. You will learn how cacao beans are transformed into chocolate, secret ingredients and techniques used by the masters, and so much more...

Your membership will begin in January and will continue for 12 months, shipping consecutive months. You should look for your shipments to arrive between the third Tuesday and Thursday of each month shipped.

Kenneth had decided to spoil the HELL out of me.

I'm sure you can imagine the happy squeeing that commenced, and then continued for some minutes. Chocolate delivered right to the door is a delight, particularly from the companies this service contracts with.

My first shipment arrived last week - Nirvana Chocolates, out of Wellesley, MA. OK, not quite. The company lives in MA. The actual chocolatiere is in Bruges, Belgium, and that's where the chocolates are shipped from! What arrived? A 32 piece box of classic Belgian truffles, 4 each of 8 varieties: Amaretto Creme, Praline Chocolate, Soft Mocha, Raspberry Cream, Smooth Caramel, Classic Praline, Champagne, and Cointreau.

The presentation was so gorgeous, and the fuschia ribbon is long enough to tie my hair up with! (Actually, I have a whole bunch of ribbons that are from Kenneth's prior rounds of spoiling!):

Also included in the well padded shipping box was a newsletter - In Pursuit of Chocolate - detailing the history and methods of the featured company, an overview of the ingredients in this particular box, and a comparison of chocolate tasting to wine tasting, with instructions for proper enjoyment of these handmade delights.

Chocolate: Srs Bznz!

Nirvana uses coverture from Callebaut, one of the smoothest chocolates in existence, and fills their truffles with ganache made from the freshest organic butter and cream around. No artificial flavors or preservatives, either - that Amaretto Cream is more than a little laced with fine Amaretto! NOM.

Keeping myself to just one a day is proving difficult. I had a Cointreau truffle today, and the scent drifting out of the box was enough to make me want to sit down and shovel down the whole box! Instead, I behaved, and enjoyed the smoothness of the truffle I had selected. The crisp citrus of the Cointreau is so beautifully complemented by the lightly sweet milk chocolate coverture. I so very much appreciate European milk chocolates - they're not sweetened so much that you lose the flavor of the actual chocolate.

The lingering taste of that glorious truffle is making my work day so much better.

Who am I, and why should you care?

Hello, World!

I'm Missy.  You're reading this because I've taken it into my head to put my food and wine musings out where the general public can read them, rather than locking them down to just my friends.

I like food.  A lot.  I like wine.  A lot.  I like to write about them both, often, at length, and in detail.  Sometimes I give recipes.  Sometimes I just try to get the idea across before I short out my keyboard from drooling all over it.

For a little while, I'll be reposting some things from my personal journal that I've written about food and such.  Don't expect that to last too long, though.  I've always got something new to say about what I'm eating or cooking or drinking.

Be welcome.