Tempting co-workers with afternoon sweets, especially when few people can say no to chocolaty goodness, is not the most helpful thing to do for a group of health conscious folks, however, many still appreciate an afternoon pick-me up so I didn’t feel too bad about bringing in brownies twice last week. Thanks to my co-workers’ willingness to be my brownie taste-testers, I have a delicious chocolate rum brownie recipe to share that’s received multiple approvals.

Have you made brownies from scratch lately? They’re incredibly easy to make, so if you haven’t, put the box aside and give it a try. You don’t even need an electric mixer.

There are a large variety of brownie recipes out there, but your basic chocolate brownie recipe usually consists of ½ cup flour, ½ cup butter or oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and cocoa powder or melted chocolate along with a few other ingredients for an 8” x 8” pan. Of course some recipes include nuts and some don’t.

For the real brownie lover, texture is often a question. Some recipes yield fudge-like gooey brownies, and some offer up spongy cake-like brownies. Personally, I love a brownie that’s in between these two textures. When making brownies, generally the rule of thumb is the more dry ingredients used the fudgier the brownie, and the more liquid ingredients used the more cake-like the brownie.

After two tries, I’m going with the recipe below for a chocolate brownie that’s a little fudgy, but not too much and that throws in a hint of rum just for a surprise flavor. Enjoy!

Chocolate Rum Brownies

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) (organic)
2 oz. bitter-sweet chocolate
2 large eggs (organic or cage-free)
1 cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 tablespoons dark rum
2 pinches salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (organic and unbleached)
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (instant coffee powder)
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8″ x 8″ square baking pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside. In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate until smooth stirring often, then transfer to a separate bowl and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs for about 1 minute. Add sugar and a pinch of salt and beat until smooth (about 2 – 3 minutes). Add vanilla extract and rum, and mix well.

In separate smaller bowl, whisk together flour, espresso powder, baking powder and a pinch of salt. In the large bowl with the egg and sugar mixture, stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Then, stir in the flour mixture a little at a time with a spatula until just combined. Do not over mix.

Using a spatula, transfer the brownie batter evenly into the greased baking pan. No need to spread batter around with the spatula. Just lightly drop the pan a few times on the countertop to get the batter to settle. Bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes. Allow brownies to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before serving.

What’s a Thanksgiving without sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Pies and tarts are actually quite similar so you can feel good about using this tart recipe as a substitute on your table if you want to add a slight change to your Thanksgiving dessert routine.

The filling for this pumpkin tart is pretty much interchangeable with a pumpkin or sweet potato pie filling. I love the look of tart shells and I especially love graham cracker crusts, so I combined the two for this easy-to-make recipe that I hope you will enjoy.

I’m keeping the writing as short as possible today because I have cooking and baking of my own to do before tomorrow’s day of giving thanks. As always, I’m thankful to all of my readers for your support and comments, and I hope you all have a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Tart with a Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (see note below)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)

Note: Using about 12 – 13 graham crackers, finely crumble them up in a food processor or place them in a closed zipper plastic bag and smash the bag with a rolling pin to break up the crackers into fine crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, add all ingredients for the crust and stir well to combine. You should have a wet crumb mixture that looks like wet sand. Evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture into a lightly greased two-piece tart pan.

Using the bottom of a flat-bottom measuring cup or glass, press the crumbs into the tart pan (including up the sides of the pan) to make a tart shell that’s about 1/4″ thick. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside to cool.

Pumpkin Filling
1 15-oz can of pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (see below to make your own)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pumpkin Pie Spice
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Dash nutmeg

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer or just your own strength and a spatula, mix together the pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs and sugar along with the spices and salt. Incorporate all ingredients fully.

Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust tart shell and fill to the top (but not overflowing). Set the filled tart pan on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven to bake for 40 – 45 minutes. The tart will be done when it starts to brown lightly around the edges of the filling. Allow tart to cool completely and remove tart pan ring before serving.

Note: The tart will have a slightly glazed  look when you pull it out of the oven, but that will set further and diminish later once the tart has cooled. This is a great recipe to make the night before you intend to serve it.

Tamika Felder of Tamika and Friends, Inc. shares a guest post for FlavorDiva.com, which was inspired by her organization’s recent Chocolate & Crème fundraiser for their work on cervical cancer awareness. In addition to leading a nonprofit, working in public television, and being a great cook, Tamika recently started a blog with two other cervical cancer survivors to document their quest to train for a triathlon next year.

As I sat there in traffic during my 1.5 hour commute from work, my mind began to drift to all of the work I needed to do in preparation for my non-profit organization’s (Tamika & Friends, Inc.) Chocolate & Crème Affair, which was to be held in D.C. at Sonoma Restaurant and Bar. This fundraiser for cervical cancer awareness featured chocolates and desserts from renowned chocolatiers and bakers in addition to a silent auction. Unfortunately during my drive, my thoughts never got passed the word chocolate!

Instead of thinking about the phone calls I had to make and emails I had to send, I started daydreaming about the cupcakes we would serve and the fondue fountain that would overflow with luscious, decadent white and milk chocolate throughout the evening. As I began salivating, reality kicked in and reminded me that I’m part of a cervical cancer survivor slim down challenge and we are training for a triathlon next year, which meant I would have to pass up the chocolate for now!

After getting home, I still couldn’t shake the chocolate craving that kept creeping into my thoughts. I looked through my pantry and noticed the chocolate chips and walnuts. I saw the bananas sitting on the counter and thought hmmm, I should try the chocolate banana bread recipe I recently came across. Why bananas you might ask? Well in my mind, that helped to outweigh the chocolate and bread elements and make it healthy!

Even though I didn’t deny my chocolaty-baked-goods craving, I followed my indulgence with a walk around the block. Chocolate chip banana bread might not fully qualify as the most nutritious of foods, but it’s still a good treat in moderation, so enjoy. Just be sure to step it up in the gym or around the block afterwards!

Chocolate Banana Nut Bread
Here’s Tesia’s take on the recipe adapted from the AllRecipes.com version by Tracie P.

1-1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 over ripe bananas, well mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole plain yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, yogurt, vanilla, and eggs. Then mix in the mashed bananas. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture with a spatula until just combined. Next, fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Pour batter into floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of bread comes out clean. Allow bread to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the pan, then let bread cool completely before serving.

If you look around in teashops, coffee shops and even the tea and spice aisles of supermarkets, you’ll notice an increasing presence of the word chai – chai tea, chai tea latte, or chai spice. Although this post isn’t completely on the beverage itself, let me clear up the misnomer of chai tea right away.

In Hindi and various other languages, the word chai itself means tea. So to say chai tea is basically saying tea tea. When Americans say chai or chai tea, what we’re really talking about is masala chai – masala meaning a spice blend, hence spiced tea. To keep it simple, I’ll refer to this drink as chai, but be warned. If you go into an Indian restaurant and order chai, know that you might get spiced tea or it might just be plain black tea with milk (that has happened to me before).

Masala chai is an Indian way of preparing tea that also is common in other parts of the world with an Indian presence. It has only recently become increasingly popular in the U.S., and rightly so. The beverage made with black tea, milk, sugar and various spices such as cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cardamom, black pepper or ginger (spices used varies) is absolutely delicious! I think this is due to the party of flavors that dance across your tongue with each warm sip.

The flavor from chai is also increasingly being used to add a new dimension of flavor to various foods such as chocolate, biscotti, cupcakes and cookies. Teaism is a small local chain in D.C. that serves the best chai I’ve had in a tea/coffee shop. They also sell these delicious shortbread cookies that go wonderfully with an afternoon cup of tea. One of their cookies in particular is decorated with little sprinkles of black tea leaves, which I think add an interesting touch.

This recipe below is my take on chai spice shortbread cookies that incorporate the exciting flavor combination of cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves, along with a sprinkling of black tea leaves. These cookies are easy to make and involve no rolling out of dough. Since they require refrigeration before slicing and baking, they’re great for making ahead of time when you have to entertain. Enjoy!

Chai Spice Cookies

1-1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground chai spices (see recipe below)
1 pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons black tea
1 tablespoon loose black tea leaves

Chai Spice Blend

1 whole star anise
3/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1/2 + 1/8 (5/8) teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 cloves

Ground star anise, cardamom and cloves in a spice grinder, then add ground cinnamon and stir to blend. You can sometimes find a chai spice blend in teashops or specialty food stores.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, spice blend and salt. In another large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer. Stir the vanilla extract into the creamed butter, then add the flour mixture slowly, stirring it in as you add it to form cookie dough. When just combined, add the black tea to further bring the dough together.

Turn the dough out onto a square piece of plastic wrap and shape into the form of a rectangular log about 6 – 8 inches long. Wrap the dough log in the plastic wrap and twist the ends closed (tie with a twisty to keep wrap closed). Refrigerate overnight or freeze for about 30 minutes or until firm.

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator/freezer and unwrap. Cut the dough with a flat blade knife into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place slices on a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake.

After 10 – 15 minutes, pull out cookies on rack (don’t remove from oven, just pull the rack out partially) and sprinkle cookies with the black tea leaves pressing very gently on the leaves so they stick. Put the cookies back in the oven and bake for another five minutes.

Cookies should be lightly brown around the edges when done.  Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Crunchy, lightly sweet granola can be found prominently displayed in supermarket cereal aisles for about $3.99 to $5.99 a bag. The cheaper variety contains high fructose corn syrup and the more expensive variety is … well, more expensive! However, I’ve discovered that granola is very easy to make yourself at home.

Associated with hippies and health food stores, granola is a great food for anyone and goes well with yogurt and berries to make a parfait, with milk (cow’s milk, soy, almond, etc.) for a breakfast cereal or even on ice cream. Granola is also great to carry for a mid-morning or afternoon snack. 

The base ingredients for granola are rolled-oats and honey or maple syrup, usually nuts and some type or a combination of dried fruit. When it comes to nuts and dried fruits, the options are endless for what you can add to granola.

Nuts used often include pecans, almonds, cashews or peanuts. You will also find seeds used such as pumpkin or sunflower. Dried fruit options include raisins, cranberries, pineapple, grated coconut, apricots, dates, mango and apples. 

The recipe below is for a very simple granola with a toasty flavor. I’ve discovered that the key to making good granola is to be sure to stir it every 10 minutes or so as it’s baking. This allows for even cooking. Also, depending on how accurate your oven is, the granola might bake quicker than what the recipe states. If you start to smell a burnt smell, take it out – it’s done.

Toasty Homemade Granola
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup chopped nuts (such as pecans or almonds or a mixture)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup banana chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the oats, nuts and salt in a large bowl and stir well. Add honey and stir well again (1 – 2 minutes) to combine and evenly incorporate all ingredients. On a non-stick baking sheet, spread the mixture evenly. If you’re not working with a good non-stick sheet, lightly spray the sheet with cooking spray before adding mixture or line with parchment paper.

Bake for 25 minutes stirring the mixture every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Then transfer the toasty granola to a bowl and stir in the raisins and banana chips. Allow to cool completely.

Serve granola with yogurt and fruit to make a breakfast parfait or eat with milk as a breakfast cereal. Granola also goes well with ice cream or eaten alone as a snack.

So long February ’09. During my month-long celebration of chocolate, I’ve written on my birthday celebration at CoCo Sala chocolate lounge, chocolate mousse, and reasons to buy fair trade chocolate. While I definitely treated myself to more sweet indulgences this month than normal, I in no way intend to write off my chocolate habit in the months to come. In fact, as long as I keep it dark (which I love anyway) and in moderation, there’s no need to.

I don’t know if you’ve heard the good news, but chocolate can actually be good for your health! According to various studies, dark chocolate (at least 65% cacao) can help prevent cancer and possibly help lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Why? Because the cacao bean used to make chocolate is rich in antioxidant flavonoids. These wonderfully protective phytochemicals help defend our bodies from cell-damaging free radicals.

Another great thing about chocolate, which is also responsible for why most people love it so much, is the fact that chocolate (again, the cacao) releases feel-good endorphins in the brain. Endorphins are responsible for the same “high” you can get from a good work out or orgasm. No wonder sex and chocolate are often associated together.

So does all of this good news give you free range to indulge in as much chocolate as you want whenever you want? Uh, no. Again, the benefits come from dark chocolate and in small quantities – about 1 ounce per serving. Consider milk chocolate to be a watered-down version of the health-promoting dark chocolate. A small square of dark chocolate can be quite satisfying because you get more of that feel-good rush faster than you would from chocolate that contains less cacao. As a result, you can gain the benefits of chocolate with fewer calories.

If you don’t think you like dark chocolate, it’s probably because your taste buds are used to the ultra sweet and milky taste of typical mass-market chocolate. However, these common flavors stand in the way of you really tasting true chocolate flavor (which comes from the cacao). I recommend The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloe Doutre-Roussel to learn more about choosing and enjoying quality chocolate.

So although we’re bidding farewell to this month known for chocolate giving and receiving, if you have a thing for this “food of the gods” as it was considered by the ancient Mayans, go ahead and treat yourself regularly to a little dark chocolate.

Okay, well maybe not straight from the Motherland. Why? Because although over 70 percent of cocoa beans come from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire alone, most chocolate is produced in countries such as the U.S., France, England and Belgium. In fact, most cocoa farmers have never even tasted chocolate.

The cocoa tree (theobroma cacao) is indigenous to South America, but as a result of colonial times, Africa became the top producer of cocoa beans and it remains so today. Along with large multi-national chocolate manufacturers, we rely on West African farmers for the majority of chocolate produced in the United States.

Despite our indulgence in 3.3 billion pounds of chocolate each year (spending $13 billion), especially around days like Valentine’s Day, most consumers aren’t aware that the majority of cocoa farmers get only five cents for every dollar spent on chocolate (according to Global Exchange). Nor have most chocolate lovers heard of the reports of the worst forms of child labor occurring on West African cocoa farms (particularly in Cote d’Ivoire).

Issues such as these can be daunting to those of us living thousands of miles away who are used to, and want to continue, enjoying certain consumer goods yet don’t want our privilege to exploit others – particularly our distant cousins in the motherland. However, there is something you can do to make sure cocoa farmers are paid a fair price for their work and that the chocolate you enjoy isn’t produced with slavery or the worst forms of child labor – buy Fair Trade certified chocolate.

Fair Trade certified chocolate is available using cocoa beans from regularly monitored and farmer-owned cooperatives in Ghana, Cameroon, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Belize. Farmers who are part of Fair Trade cooperatives are guaranteed a fair price for their cocoa beans, and this improves their abilities to feed their families and send their children to school.

One of my favorite brands of Fair Trade chocolate is Divine Chocolate.  The suppliers of Divine Chocolate’s cocoa beans – Ghanaian farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo co-op – not only own the co-op, but they also own 1/3 of the chocolate company itself!

Take a look at the resources below for more information on Fair Trade chocolate (especially the recording of Democracy Now’s show on this very topic last Valentine’s Day), and go out and purchase chocolate that you can be sure was ethically produced. Show some love, not only to your valentine, but also to cocoa farmers and their families.

This post is a part of my weekly, month-long celebration of chocolate.

More Information
Democracy Now Radio – “Chocolate’s Bittersweet Economy” - 2/14/08
Global Exchange
Transfair USA

Fair Trade Chocolate Brands
Divine Chocolate USA (1/3 owned by Kuapa Kokoo Co-op – Ghana)
Equal Exchange
Theo Chocolate

Where to Buy
Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store
The Culture Shop (Online and in Washington, D.C.)
Whole Foods Market, Earth Fare, Other Natural Foods stores
World Market

The silky, creamy texture of chocolate mousse goes perfectly with the thought of a sensuous Valentine’s Day dessert. Whether you make it for your significant other, a group of friends or yourself, this chocolate mousse will likely lift your spirits and add a special touch to any loving celebration.

I truly enjoyed making this dessert. It was fun working with and smelling the aroma of the chocolate, as well as working with egg yolks and egg whites over indirect heat. Beating egg whites to fluffy perfection, whether soft or stiff peaks, is a key technique used in many recipes - particularly in baking. So making this recipe was good practice. The reward was a smooth and velvety treat.

This recipe is broken up into four main steps, but before you begin, the first thing you should do is separate your egg yolks and whites. Egg whites expand in volume better as you beat them if they have been brought to room temperature for about 30 minutes.

After prepping your eggs and other ingredients, the first main step is to melt your chocolate. When I bake with chocolate, I prefer to use bars over chips. I like the feel of breaking up the chocolate by hand or with a chef’s knife. Also, many recipes with chocolate call for specific ounces and I find that three or four ounce bars make for easy measuring. Therefore, my chocolate mousse recipe calls for bars, however, you can use chocolate chips.

One cup of chocolate chips yields about six ounces (not eight as in liquid measurements). My recipe calls for four ounces of bitter-sweet and semi-sweet chocolate, respectively. So if I were using chips, I would measure about 3/4 cup of chips to get four ounces of chocolate. Also, be sure to use a high quality brand of chocolate such as Ghirardelli or Scharffen Berger, or better yet, try a fair trade brand of chocolate (found in most “health food” stores). The quality of the chocolate will impact the overall flavor of the mousse.

Other key steps in the recipe include heating your egg yolk mixture as well as the egg whites mixture to appropriate temperatures (see recipe). While there are some recipes out there that don’t use eggs in mousse, traditional mousse is made with egg yolks and whites beaten to stiff peaks, and folded into the chocolate.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day, and enjoy! XOXO

Chocolate Mousse
About 6 – 8 servings

4-oz bar bitter-sweet chocolate, broken into large pieces
4-oz bar semi-sweet chocolate, broken into large pieces
4 tbs butter, unsalted
2 tbs dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks
(separate yolks and whites of 4 eggs before beginning)
2 tbs sugar
4 tbs water

4 large egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tarter

1 cup heavy cream
2 tbs powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mint leaves and extra whipped cream for garnish

Place a large sauce pan with 2-3 inches deep water in it over medium-low heat. Once small bubbles form at the bottom of the sauce pan (but water not boiling or simmering), place a glass or stainless steel bowl over the sauce pan (bottom of bowl should be fairly close to the water). Add chocolate, butter, rum and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk together as ingredients melt. Once melted (takes about 5 minutes or so), remove bowl from sauce pan and set aside.

Place the yolks in another glass or stainless steel bowl. Add 2 tbs sugar and 4 tbs water to the bowl with the yolks and place over the sauce pan of water over medium-low heat. Whisk (with a clean whisk) the yolk mixture constantly until it becomes frothy and the temperature of the mixture reads 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer (about 6 – 8 minutes). Fold the yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture.

In another glass or stainless steel bowl, add the egg whites, 1/3 cup sugar and cream of tarter over the sauce pan of water over medium-low to medium heat and whisk constantly until it reads 140 degrees F on an instant read thermometer (about 3 – 5 minutes). Remove bowl from sauce pan and beat the egg whites mixture on high speed with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form (about 5 – 8 minutes). Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until combined.

In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract on high speed until it becomes fluffy whipped cream (don’t over whip to the point where it becomes butter). Fold the whipped cream into the mousse until completely combined. Cover and refrigerate mousse for at least three hours or up to 24 hours. Serve in wine or martini glasses and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and/or a small sprig of mint leaves.

NOTE: You can freeze any leftover mousse and eat it frozen or let it thaw a little. It’s kind of like ice cream.

On Wednesday evening I threw a February Kick-Off Happy Hour with a few friends to celebrate the start of my favorite month of the year – February! In addition to celebrating a friend’s recent birthday and starting the celebration of my own (February 20th – I’m getting started early this year), I held the chocolate themed happy hour at Co Co Sala to also celebrate all the great things there are to love about February – Valentine’s Day, Black History Month, and President’s Day with America’s first African-American President in office.

Co Co Sala is a chic chocolate lounge in D.C. serving chocolate-inspired petite plates and cocktails like their lobster salad with chocolate vinaigrette and co cojito cocktail – a chocolate infused take on the Cuban mojito. Although the trendy spot is a little on the pricey side, the atmosphere, creative menu and delicious desserts (I had the spicy chocolate soufflé) are a true indulgence and a special treat. 

Now, FlavorDiva.com is all about home cooking, and I don’t intend to start doing restaurant reviews, but one thing I do when I go out to eat is look for inspiration for dishes I want to recreate at home. So believe me, I’m definitely going to nail down that wonderful chocolate soufflé.

I am a true chocolate lover – from the chocolate in a savory Mexican molé poblano sauce to a smooth piece of 70% cacao dark chocolate to quality hot cocoa. February is just the month to indulge in a little more chocolate than usual. In addition to my regular blog posts, I’m going to feature an extra post each week this month with tidbits about chocolate.

I love books and I love quality food, so it’s no surprise that I’m making my way through a reading list on chocolate by several authors, including chocolate buyers, nutritionists, historians and chocolatiers. Currently, I’m reading The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloé Doutre-Roussel who writes about developing a palate for fine chocolate in a way that one approaches wine tasting. Here are a few brief quotes from her book that might help increase your enjoyment of chocolate indulgences this Valentine’s Day and all month long.

“You may love chocolate … but how much do you know chocolate? To my mind, there is chocolate, and then there is chocolate. What you buy in the supermarket is a different proposition from the finest-quality bars you have to hunt for … Have you taken the time to sample good quality chocolate yet?”

“Most people enjoy eating chocolate. But only a few make a habit of ‘tasting’ it in the same way that wine is tasted for its subtle notes of woodiness, spice, fresh fruit and floral bouquets (yes, all these flavours can be found in good chocolate too!).”

“You might worry that as you grow more discerning about what you eat, you are becoming a food snob. But I prefer to put it this way: you are discovering not only what you really like, but also the great pleasure that fine food can bring.” 

The Chocolate Connoisseur
By Chloé Doutre-Roussel

For the past two weeks I’ve missed my post. Ugghh! I’m so disappointed to get off track with my schedule, but at least for the first week it was for a worthwhile event that gives me more food-related info to share (the second week was for catching up on rest … still worthwhile). I was in New York for my new job with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Oceans Program. We held a sushi tasting event for the media at the French Culinary Institute to publicize our newly released Sushi Selector pocket guides. 

The Sushi Selector offers consumers guidance on what sustainable fish to choose when dining out for sushi. By sustainable we mean fish that is not from a depleting fish stock and not contaminated with toxins such as PCBs or mercury. I’ll write on this issue further in the near future, but for now, let me get back to the issue at hand – apples and apple crisp!

The Saturday before I left to go to New York, one of my friends and I took a fall day trip to Culpeper, VA and Graves Mountain Orchards in Syria, VA (about 30 miles south of Culpeper). We first stopped in Culpeper to explore their Farmers’ Market, and then we headed to Graves Mountain to pick apples and check out their apple festival (yes, another one).

As you remember, I went to an apple festival in Pennsylvania just a few weekends earlier, which I must say, I enjoyed better. However, I definitely liked the experience of picking my own apples more than just purchasing a bag at a festival as I did in Pennsylvania. The orchard had a large variety of apples from Red Delicious and Golden Delicious to Fuji to Winesap to Granny Smith. I picked some of each and for way less money than I would pay if I had purchased the apples from the grocery store.

When it comes to cooking with apples, whether it be for fried apples, apple pie, apple tart, apple sauce or apple crisp, there are usually certain characteristics you want to look for in an apple. Apples have varying degrees of tartness or sweetness and varying degrees of firmness depending on the variety. You usually want to choose a firm apple when cooking, particularly for pies, crisps, and baked or fried apples. For apple sauce, you want to be sure to use sweet apples; otherwise you’ll have to add sugar. Tart apples are usually used for baking, but often times, using a mixture of tart and sweet apples is recommended.

For my crisp, I used Jonathan apples (sweet and firm) and it turned out great. When I gave away servings of this sweet dish as I always do with desserts (gotta watch the figure), the first question my friends asked me was, “What’s a crisp?” Cobblers and crisps are often grouped together in cookbooks because they both include some type of quick flour-sugar-butter topping (usually no rolling out required) over a fruit filling. Cobblers have a biscuit-like topping, while crisps have a crumbly, sugary topping.

Take a look at these resources for more on the uses of different types of apples - AllRecipes.com, RecipeZaar.com, and AllAboutApples.com. Apples are indicative of fall, so channel your grandma (or somebody’s grandma) and try out cooking with apples. The wonderful scent that will fill up your house is a good enough reason to do so.

*** Another recommended recipe – Sarah’s Apple Sauce. It’s easy and can be made with or without the sugar.

Apple Crisp
Adapted from Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone“

You can eat a crisp at room temperature or warm, but I prefer warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Filling
6 – 8 medium sized apples peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tbs - 1 tbs)
2 tbs of sugar

Topping
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 tsp of lemon zest
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
6 tbs of cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbs pieces
1/2 cup of rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core and slice the apples. In a bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar. Then evenly pour the filling into a 9″ x 9″ x 2″ baking dish.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the brown sugar. Then, using a pastry blender, two knives or a food processor (easiest), cut the cold butter with the flour-sugar mixture until you have a crumbly texture of tiny round pieces. If using a food processor, pulse flour-sugar mixture with the butter a few times to get the crumbly texture.

Lightly mix in the oats still leaving a crumbly texture. Evenly pour the topping mixture over the apples. Bake uncovered for about one hour or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges of the crisp.