You Love Chocolate

TREND #4. Chocolate Ingredient

Would you like to see the chocolate menu? Who would say no to this offer? This flavorful, sometimes exotic ingredient will be added to more than ice cream sundaes and moles. What used to be considered a dessert or sweet treat will be added to more savory dishes as an ingredient. The transparency here—I really do not care for chocolate, so my personal preference didn't influence this 2012 trend pick. 

Click to see more of George's Cooking & Lifestyle Trends for 2012.

For the traditionalists who want chocolate as a sweet, here are a few chocolate dessert favorites to make this Valentine's Day!

• The New Chocolate Chip
• For Chocolate Lovers
• In Hot Chocolate Carmel
• Best Chocolate Sauce Recipe
• Chocolate Torta Recipe

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Fact: Louisianians possess joie de vivre. They can find a reason to celebrate life any time of the year. Each visit to the state split by the Mississippi; either for pleasure or filming, has always brought me home with fine memories and new friendships - good times. The New Orleans Saints Super Bowl victory is proof that their non-quitting-spirit, armed with loyal Saint's fans, earned the city and entire state every bit of glory found in the symbols of their colors. Which BTW are; purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

With Fat Tuesday celebrated next week and today’s added Mardi Gras - New Orleans Saints parade, It only seems fitting to brush up on their rich food culture in Louisiana, and the traditions around Mardi Gras. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Translation; let the good times roll!

Mardi Gras Review

Mardi Gras began on Feb 4^th, but it’s really this weekend that the Krewes really start to build up their parading steam right up to Fat Tuesday on February 21st. Get out your beads and join the celebration.

To check parade schedules.

Mardi Gras: Did You Know That?

Fat Tuesday is the English translation of the French words Mardi Gras. As the rite of Spring, Fat Tuesday festivities commence before the change of seasons. The original purpose of the big celebration was to pray to the Gods for good weather and good crops. In Louisiana, the first Mardi Gras was celebrated in 1589, when the French explorers Bienville and Iberville landed at the mouth of the Mississippi river in New Orleans. The next day was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. The tradition back home in France/ Europe in those days, was to have a major feast prior to the 40 days of fasting in Lent. The day called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, was the opportunity to eat and drink all day long prior to repenting for a long, long, forty days. 

Mardi Gras Colors & Throws

Rex (latin for king) selected the official Mardi Gras colors in 1872. The 1892 Rex Parade theme Symbolism of Colors gave meaning to the colors: purple represents justice; green-faith, and gold-power. The throwing of trinkets to the crowds was started in the early 1870s by the Twelfth Night Revelers, and is a time-honored expectation for young and old alike. 

In 1884 Rex started using medallions instead of trinkets. These medallions are represented today by doubloons. These doubloons are aluminum and anodized in many different colors. They depict the parade theme on one side and the Krewe's emblem on the other. 

So friends, let's top off the fete, with my Jambalaya recipe.

Deep Dish Dinner

Change things up on the menu. It might be time to make a warm and comforting Chicken Pot Pie. This recipe is perfect for leftovers as well. The great thing about this recipe is you can assemble all the ingredients the day before, refrigerate and bake it in less than an hour before dinner. Make individual pies for fun or for serving up practical portions.

For a fancier serving suggestion assemble the potpies in individual ovenproof size dishes, like from my Good Stuff picks.

Chicken Pot Pie 
Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 6 servings

*1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, peeled & chopped
1/2 cup fennel, chopped
1 cup Yukon potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each thyme, hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon each sea salt, fresh ground black pepper
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 cup frozen green peas
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts, or 1 Puff Pastry Sheet 
1 egg, with teaspoon milk, beaten for egg wash

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, fennel, celery and bay leaf. Add just enough of broth to cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cool and set aside. Remove bay leaf and discard.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, thyme and hot sauce. Slowly stir in remaining chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat, cool, add peas and potatoes and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom of a lightly pre-baked (see note) pie crust. Pour cool chicken mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Brush top lightly with egg wash. Do not puddle egg wash on top of dough or top will burn. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, lower temperature to 325 degrees or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edges with foil if it becomes too dark. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: A wet sauce added to a bottom crust pie shell requires the pie dough to be slightly pre-baked to avoid it becoming soggy and raw. Place your bottom pie crust in the bottom of the pie pan or serving dish. Cover lightly with aluminum foil outlining the crust so it will bake blind (no color). Bake for 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove and proceed with recipe as directed.

Optional serving suggestions: 

*You may use boneless dark meat or 2 cups leftover pre-cooked chicken.

- Serve in individual crocks. Pour chicken mixture into crocks and place dough over each one.

Galani

Carnevale di Venezia begins this Saturday—February 11-February 21. No worries if you can’t make it there by sundown, Venice is the most magical city in the world - any time of the year. I am amazed at Venice's centuries old inner workings and how the most simplest of tasks even happen. Have you ever stopped and watched a truck making deliveries? Now, just imagine it all done via boat, no autos. What's not to love; the people, the art, the food, the vaporettos. Ahh, the Venice way of life.  

Venice Carnival Mask, image George Hirsch

The Carnival of Venice is the most internationally known festival outside of Fat Tuesday’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans. However the celebration in Venice, Italy is one of the oldest. This congregation of masked people, began in the 15th century, but the tradition can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th Century.

Venice Grand Canal, image George Hirsch

Historically, the streets of Venice during Carnival are full of people in masks, with no differentiation made between nobility and the common people. Generally, the costume worn was a cloak with a long-nosed mask. Also popular were masked couples, where a man and a woman would dress as allegorical characters. In the squares, street-artists and singers entertain with songs and music.

The gastronomy of Carnival was originally rich in fats with foods such as gnocchi, tortellini, lasagna and pastries; such as Galani. The purpose; use up all those forbidden foods like eggs, fat and sugar before the Lenten season began. Party, consume and repeat. 

galani

Galani, is also known as fried ribbons, bow ties or angel wings in the U.S. The ribbons of sweet pasta dough are fried and covered with sugar or honey. It takes on different names throughout central Europe including; chrusciki, krusczyk, frappe, frappole, sfrappole, flappe, cenci, crustci, donzelli, crostoli, galani in Veneto, lattughe, nastri delle suore, bugie, and gigi. No matter what you call them - they are addictive. 

Here's my recipe for Galani, aka; chrusciki, krusczyk, frappe, frappole, sfrappole, flappe, cenci, crustci, donzelli, crostoli, galani in Veneto, lattughe, nastri delle suore, bugie, and gigi.