Monday 29 September 2008

i wanna be a chocolate god post 7: alien appendages


You know sometimes food is good just because it reminds you of something gross. Or fun. Or both. If it tastes really good, then you know you have a winning situation. This is one such situation. This is basically a rolled version of lasagna, and the three concentric layers kind of make it look like a severed limb. Now, because of the colours, it's clearly vulcan (red bone, green blood, brown skin). Orrrr...it might just be lasagna. Vulcans are vegan, but eating them isn't. Though I seem to be a little obsessed with it (see this post).

First, find a Vulcan. Lure them into a false sense of security. Then steal their arms. This is difficult, because the average vulcan will see right through your ruse. So alternately, try this:

I batch chocolate pasta

beet filling: cooked beets, red chard stems (or more beets), okara riccotta (okara, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, sweet miso, chickpea flour, vinegar)

chard layer: chopped chard leaves, rocket, blue Sheese, nutmeg, pepper

mushroom layer: onion, mushroom, white wine, oregano, thyme, marmite, pepper, truffle oil, flour to thicken.

Roll out the pasta dough into a ginormous rectangle on a peice of waxed paper. Lay three stripes of filling (in the order above) onto the rectangle. leaving room to seal the edges. Roll up like a giant sushi roll (making sure not to roll the paper into the thing) cursing if necessary. Cut into two. Use the paper to hoist the arms up and place them in a dutch oven. Inundate with white wine and water, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 375 for about an hour, covered. Check periodically to make sure that the arms aren't welding themselves to the pan. Serve slices sprinkled with toasted pine nuts, cocoa nibs and pumpkin seeds, a bit of truffle/olive oil, and some parsley. We also had salad with it. On the salad was reduced balsamic vinegar with a square of dark chocolate melted into the reduction. because sometimes things really do get that decadent. Oh yes.

You can also use any of these fillings alone as ravioli filling.

Coming soon: post 8: whiskey....

2 comments:

medici said...

Superb. Gorgeous. Fancy. Mouthwatering. These words all apply to this alien appendage meal. It smelled divine in the oven and it *was* divine in the mouth. It also was a bit unsettling in its resemblance to a Vulcan arm when I blurred my vision and looked at it peripherally being lifted from plate to mouth. So I didn't look at it that way very often. Nope, instead I tucked in and had respectable seconds and the three of us put a good bit of food away with alacrity. I am all about respectability and good food. There was a noticeable hush at the table at first. Yum.

And as for the balsamic vinegar chocolate reduction atop dark salad greens -- oh. This is one of my favorite creations ever. The first time I tasted this I nearly went mad with pleasure. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! I like to lick the pan. The vinegar makes my eyes water and wakes me right up, it bites, and the chocolate is - well, it's *chocolate*!!! Does life get better? That's a question to ponder in the shower. But I already know the answer ... I should probably shower anyways, though.

Anonymous said...

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