Three Chocolate Drinks

I thought today would be a great day for a cup of hot chocolate.  Being lazy, I decided I would drink one of my “canned” chocolate drinks instead of making it from scratch.  So, opening the cupboard, I found I had, not one, but three different hot chocolate drink mixes.  I may be lazy, but I can never pass up an opportunity to taste test comparable items.

In my cupboard are: Godiva’s Hot Cocoa (dark chocolate), TCHO’s Hot and Cold Drinking Chocolate, and Ghirardelli’s Drinking Chocolate.  Because I love THCO’s professional melting chocolate so much, I figured it would probably be my favorite.  As such, I decided to make it the last one, so I would enjoy it staying on my tongue after the tasting was completed.

For this tasting, I heated three ounces of non-fat milk in a glass mug and added four tablespoons of chocolate after the milk was heated.  I whisked the chocolate with my Aerolatte milk frother for thirty seconds.

First up: Ghirardelli.  This comes in very miniature kisses.  When I poured the chocolate into the cup, the kisses fell straight to the bottom of the mug.  In when the Aerolatte and moments later, the milk turned a dark chocolaty brown.  The drink has a nice rich chocolaty flavor which lingers nicely in the mouth after swallowing.  The expected sugary spike never appeared.  I find Ghirardelli chocolate, in general, to have a telltale sweet spike moments after biting into their chocolate bars.  All in all, it seems to be a decent drink.  The one noticeable downside was the whisking.  Even after thirty seconds of frothing with an Aerolatte, all the chocolate did not dissolve.  There was some stuck to the sides near the bottom of the mug.

Godiva was next on the tasting list.  This powdered drink mix incorporated easily and quickly.  Unlike Ghirardelli, there was nothing stuck to the glass.  As for taste, yet another deliciously dark chocolate drink.  Godiva’s flavor lingered even longer than the Ghirardelli.  The texture has a noticeable dusty texture to it: a feature I do not particularly like.

Finally, my favorite chocolate company: TCHO.  While it is the smallest can, my expectations were large.  The chocolate mix is a collection of coarse granules, and unlike the other two brands in this taste test, listed chocolate as its main ingredient.  The other brands listed sugar as their number one ingredient.  TCHO is the only one to suggest it would mix well as a cold drink.  When mixed, the chocolate dissolved completely.  The taste was on par with the other two, if not slightly better.  Unlike Godiva, there was no dusty mouth feel.  Unlike both Ghirardelli and Godiva, TCHO’s chocolate flavor did not linger anywhere near as long.  I found this disappointing.  I also noticed the intensity of the chocolate was less than I am used to.  Normally, I mix this chocolate with hot water instead of milk. With a water preparation, the chocolate flavor is markedly intense.

In conclusion, none of the three are bad.  Aside from the fact that no chocolate is bad chocolate, each of these provides a very pleasant experience.  I will probably stick to TCHO or Ghirardelli since I don’t care for the dusty mouth feel.  Should I run out of either of them, I will not turn down the Godiva.

What I use

I posted earlier about my choice in chocolate.  Yes, I love chocolate.  I have a passion for selecting ingredients that work well and taste best.  As a result, I have become rather picky in my choices.

I like unsalted butter.  I figure if a recipe needs salt, I can add it myself.  Land O Lakes is my usual go-to brand.  I never keep more than a pound in the freezer because I like fresh butter better.  The same goes for eggs.  Never more than a dozen grade AA large eggs in the refrigerator.  Fresh finishes first for me.  I usually buy cage-free organic eggs, but freshness is more important to me.

Even with milk, fresh means more to me than available.  On a typical week, I go through between a quart and a half gallon.  I would rather walk to the store (a couple blocks away) twice a week then use milk over a week old.

Baking powder:  For this, I look for aluminum-free.  Rumford if I can find it; Argo if I cannot.  Arm & Hammer is my baking soda of choice.

Flour, you ask?  Nothing but the best will do for me.  King Arthur brand, unbleached flours are my only choice.  They work well and are consistent from bag to bag.  Remember to measure flour by weight and never by volume.

Spices?  The smaller the container, the better for most spices.  Whole is better than ground, whenever available.  I can grind my own, and the flavor is stronger when freshly ground.  I used to use Morton's kosher salt, but have switched over to Diamond brand.  There is a difference.  Make something which requires more than a pinch of salt and you will see the level of saltiness yourself.  I switched only because converting recipes to Diamond brand is easier, not because it is better.  I still use Morton's for scouring my cast iron pans.  For scouring, Morton is clearly better.  It has to do with the shape of the crystals.

Sugar?  I haven't found a reason to prefer one brand over another yet.  I buy C&H brand because it is convenient.

Beef?  Yes, I love meat.  Grass-fed organic beef is my first choice.  If it has to have any grain-fed, then I will settle for grain-finished.  Given a choice between purely grain-fed and non-organic beef, I choose lamb.  Okay, lamb is my first choice before any beef, followed by ostrich.  Beef is third on my list, followed closely by pork and chicken/turkey.  When it comes to poultry, I hate the stuff that comes prepackaged in a solution.

I like my rice to have flavor.  Consequently, I love basmati rice.  Jasmine and Arborio are good too.  I avoid any "instant" or quick cooking rices as they tend to lack flavor.  Sorry Uncle Ben's and Mahatma: you don't make the cut for me.

As you can see, my trend is towards fresh and flavorful with as few added chemicals/ingredients as possible.  I want to add my own salt and chemicals.

Kitchen . . . check!

Last April, I began looking for a new oven.  Little did I realize, I would be replacing almost all of my appliances.  The cooktop was unable to simmer well, and it only had three working burners.  The refrigerator could not handle sheet pans.  The oven, as mentioned before, needed to go.  Its thermostat was extremely off and had very uneven heating.  Moreover, the cycle between on and off to maintain the temperature was more than tolerable.

First, the refrigerator was replaced with a beautiful double-door, freezer on the bottom, refrigerator.  This baby can hold sheet pans with ease.  My only complaint would be the undersized ice maker.  I use large bowls of ice for ice baths and this refrigerator cannot keep up with my needs.  I have resorted to buying large bags of ice and storing it in my chest freezer.  Perhaps a small ice maker is in my future . . .

Next to go was the under-powered microwave that didn't even have a rotating tray.  We really didn't need to replace it, but found a nice deal on one.  It has a stainless steel face which matched our new refrigerator.

We then replaced our cooktop with a five burner.  We now have a very low simmer and a very hot burner, plus choices in between.  You guessed it, stainless as well.

I know I was starting to have my heart set on the DCS oven.  It is a beautiful system.  I decided to "settle" on a Wolf instead.  I'm not upset at all.  Weezie tested it out on some souffles which came out perfectly.

Our kitchen appliance needs are now complete.  Perhaps a minor change in the center island: a built in trash compactor or a built in induction burner.  In any case, we are good to cook.

On a side note:  Weezie's "Tonight's Dinner" blog which used to be a Facebook page, is moving over to Blogger. I encourage everyone to check it out.  It has dinner ideas and recipes. You can also take a look at my recipes at KeepRecipes.com.

Equipment Choices

I am of the opinion when it comes to buying something: if you have no idea if you will enjoy it, borrow or rent it.  If you know you will use it, buy the best.  There are some exceptions, but they are unusual.  I follow Alton Brown and have read some of his books.  He advocates the avoidance of "uni-taskers".  I'm not as extreme as that, but I certainly want to know how often I will use it and what will I do with it when I'm not using it.

For example, I have a nice chocolate tempering machine.  It's very nice, but it only tempers chocolate.  I tend to only use it in the winter and when I am not using it, I keep it boxed up in the garage.  It's a uni-tasker I am glad to have.  I hate pulling out the marble and tempering it the old fashion way.

On the other hand, suggested we make our own Greek yogurt.  It's a great idea, I thought.  It's cheaper and I can have exactly what I want (no sugar or chemicals).  So, what does it take to make yogurt?  A yogurt maker!  In my usual due diligence, I began the process of reviewing all the different types and brands as well as other people's reviews.  I wanted to know how they work and what makes a great one.  Moreover, are there any features that the high-end ones offer?  So what model did I end up with, you ask?  What gadget junkie decision did I make?  I ended up using an extremely expensive one, and I'm not simply talking about a hundred dollars or three.  When I bought it, it was several hundred dollars.  To make great Greek yogurt, you need to subject your milk to a controlled temperature (read: water bath) for extended periods of time.  I own a sous vide machine from Polyscience.  It is more precise than any yogurt maker and can make any quantity of yogurt I want, be it large containers or several individual-sized containers.  After one episode of yogurt making, Weezie decided she would just as soon buy the stuff.  I'm so glad I didn't buy a uni-tasking yogurt maker.

I haven't always been this smart.  I can't tell you how many thermometers I went through before finding one that makes me happy.  Actually, I have three . . . sort of.  My main go to thermometer for meat in the oven is the Thermoworks oven thermometer (looks just like a Polder).  For quick reads of things like bread, I reach for my Thermoworks Thermapen.  It can read an accurate temperature in just a few seconds.  However, when I have meat on the grill/pan, I turn to a hyper-sensitive, super-fine, extremely-fast, needle-sharp Thermoworks meat probe.  Otherwise, I turn to my IR sensor for surface checks.  I've thrown away all my old dial and "instant read" (well, if you call instant some period of time between 20 and 50 seconds.)

I'm needing a new oven.  I like electric ovens (but gas stove tops) and want one with better heat control.  I've just begun my research and my tentative choice will be the DCS WOSU30 30" Single Electric Wall Oven.  I like what I little I have read about it.  There's more research to be done, so stay tuned here for more on this and other ovens.

Chocolate

I finally stopped by TCHO last Saturday.  I love chocolate and have had many blind taste tests of various chocolates.  My favorite, for a long time has been Valrhona.  I usually use the 55% Equatorial Noire Feves because it is very close to the Le Noir Gastronomie 61% I enjoy most and comes in easily melted pieces.  I have compared it with Guittard, Hershey, Ghirardelli, El Rey, Callebaut, and any other brand of dark chocolate I can get my hands on.  I like chocolate with a strong snap and crunch on the first bite developing into a long-lasting chocolaty finish.  All that fluffy citrus/floral/nutty tastes fall off in favor of a deep chocolate flavor.

TCHO has a chocolate flavored chocolate.  It's quite good.  I love TCHOPro Baking Drops 68% as it is a combination of their chocolaty and nutty.  Like the Valrhona, it snaps well and has a long-lasting flavor.  Unlike Valrhona, the chocolate takes on a creaminess like a dove chocolate as it melts.  It's very good and I recommend it highly.

So, you ask, what chocolates do I turn to?  You now know my choices for dark couverture chocolate.  My cocoa powder of choice is Callebaut.  It has the richest cocoa I have tried.  I tend to turn to Sharffen Berger for unsweetened and nothing for milk chocolate.  I think I've lost my interest in milk chocolate.  For simple eating pleasure?  I go for a piece of couverture.

Research in Food

Food, glorious food!  I've decided to blog about what I have learned about food and describe what I am about to discover.

In my earlier years, I attended a high school which required each student, as a portion of their tuition, to work for the school.  My first job was to clean pots and pans after the dinner meal.  The following semester, moved into doing some cooking. It went on from there, until I could get a position in the computer lab as a computer lab assistant.  I'll never forget my days in the kitchen there.  Later, when I worked for a friend in his restaurant or make lunches and soups  at a deli in college, I spent some time taking culinary classes at a local college.  Despite all this, I have found myself realizing I don't know enough about the basics.

So, I decided to start this blog.  My wife and I are spending the year experimenting with food.  She is trying to create a different home-made meal every night (with Fridays off for going out dates.)  She has been trying to make dinners based on the flavor pairings found in The Flavor Bible while I am exploring cooking methods.  My goal is to find the best way to cook various foods.

To start, I suppose I could start with a early recipe I looked forward to on Sunday mornings in school.  We called it "Bishop's Bread" and it was a coffee cake server in large square pieces.

Bishop’s Bread

NMH coffee cake

 Ingredient                                                 

2 cups             Brown Sugar

2.5 cups          Bread Flour

1 cup               Butter (room temp, unsalted)

1                     Egg, beaten

1 tsp               Baking Powder

1 tsp               Baking Soda

1 Tbl               Cinnamon

3/4 cup           Buttermilk

Mix the brown sugar, flour and butter together.  Set aside one cup’s worth to use as a topping.

Add the remaining ingredients to the mixture and mix to combine.  Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and sprinkle the cup of topping on the batter.  Bake for 30-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven (or until done.)