Bark! (woof)

I've been thinking about chocolate bark for most of the week. Not sure what prompted it, other than we were out of the really good dark chocolate that we often have a wee piece of for dessert. While not much beats an unadulterated piece of really good dark chocolate, sometimes I like stuff in or on my chocolate to mix things up a little.

While I was coming up with ideas for my mix-ins, I pulled out The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg. This is a great cooking resource - a bit hard to describe, so I'll let Amazon.com do it:

"An alphabetical index of flavors and ingredients, the book allows readers to search complimentary combinations for a particular ingredient (over 70 flavors go well with chickpeas; over 100 are listed for oranges), emphasizing the classics (chives with eggs, nutmeg with cream, sardines and olive oil, etc.)...The listings, combinations and short essays from various chefs on different matches are meant to inspire rather than dictate-there are, in fact, no recipes included. Instead, the volume is meant as a jumping-off point for those comfortable in the kitchen and eager to explore..." 

We use this book a lot, since our favorite way of creating meals involves foraging at our local shops, farmer's markets, bakeries and fish markets for what is fresh. The book helps us tie things together, usually with some staples and basics that are already in our pantry. I appreciate some of the more off the beaten track combinations that this book offers.

But back to the Bark. I wound my way through The Flavor Bible, not necessarily using the chocolate section, but using an ingredient that I knew I wanted to put in my chocolate, for instance orange zest, and then seeing what some of the suggestions were. I made a long list of some Barks that I wanted to make, then Tom & I each picked one. 

I ended up making a dark chocolate bark with orange, candied ginger and white chocolate drizzle - this was my pick. Tom picked dark chocolate with cocoa nibs, coffee beans, espresso powder and topped with alder-smoked sea salt. I call this one "Bark with a Bite."

The basic recipe couldn't be easier, and it is oh-so adaptable.

 Orange Ginger Chocolate Bark

Ingredients

6 oz good quality dark chocolate (at least 65% dark, 70-72% is preferred)

2 oz white chocolate

2 tbs orange zest

2 or 3 tbs chopped candied ginger

  

 What to do

Zest the orange and set aside. Chop the ginger into small pieces. I used pieces that were maybe the size of a lentil (how's that for an obscure size reference?). You want the ginger to be big enough to see and taste, but not so big that it overpowers your bite of chocolate. Candied ginger is really sticky. I separated the chopped bits and put them on a cookie sheet and stuck it in the freezer so I could more easily sprinkle them over the chocolate when I was ready. 

Chop the chocolate - I found that using a big sturdy knife, putting the point straight up and down right on the chocolate then using one of my heavy pans as a hammer cracked nice size shards off the chocolate and was a lot easier than trying to chop this brick of chocolate that I bought. 

Melt the dark chocolate. I'm a fan of melting chocolate in the microwave, and setting it for a minute on about 60% power melted it slow enough and allowed me to check progress frequently. I think it took 2-3 minutes ultimately. Stir the orange zest into the chocolate, make sure to taste (yay!) to see if the orangey-ness is to your liking. Melt the white chocolate the same way.

Spread the dark chocolate on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or a silicone baking sheet. I spread it out to just smaller than a sheet of paper. Use a spoon to drizzle the white chocolate (a la Jackson Pollack) over the dark chocolate. Sprinkle the ginger over the top of the chocolate. Put in fridge for 15-30 minutes to firm up, then snap random pieces off. I've seen recipes that suggest storing wrapped up in the fridge and others that don't suggest that. Mine is just in a tupperware in the pantry, though not for long I suspect.

Bark with a Bite - Coffee, Cocoa Nib Bark with Smoked Sea Salt

(It just occurred to me that if I put bits of bacon on top of this, it would count as breakfast)

Ingredients

6 oz dark chocolate (just like above) 

2 - 3 tbs of cocoa nibs

3 tbs coffee beans, pulsed in 1 second increments, 2 or 3 times in a coffee grinder.

2 tsp instant espresso powder.

Smoked sea salt (any sea salt would do just fine, or no salt if you prefer. I like the way that salt intensifies the taste of chocolate, so I'm votin' for salt).

What to do

Melt the chocolate according to the instructions above. When the chocolate is melted, mix in the espresso powder until it dissolves. Mix in the nibs and coffee, reserving a little to add after you spread the chocolate out (if you want to, that is).

Spread the chocolate out on baking sheet prepared as above, again to just slightly smaller than a sheet of paper. I let the chocolate cool slightly before I put the salt on, thinking that the salt might either sink in and disappear, or it would melt in the warm chocolate. Chill in fridge 15-30 min., then snap and store. Oh yeah, and sample as you go!