Hot chocolate my/your/any style

We had a thawing period the last couple of days. The snow was melting away rapidly and you had the feeling that spring was just around the corner. As if.
This came to a screeching halt yesterday evening when it cooled down and this morning there was thick frost on the ground. For cold days like this there is one consolation; a mug of delicious hot chocolate!


I am no longer a big fan of the powder version either. I like to make it just to my taste.
Start with a measuring of milk (make sure you leave enough space in your cup of choice) and a generous piece of dark chocolate* (the more the better).

These are the basics. I like adding different spices to deepen the flavors and add different twists. Here I went for a pinch of cinnamon and two cloves.

But the options are endless; a little bit of star anise (not much, it's a very pervasive aroma), a little nutmeg, honey, vanilla extract, a pinch of chili powder, etc., etc. Basically anything you'd like to try.

Instructions;
Heat the milk with the spices until almost boiling. This way you will get more of the flavors to infuse into the milk. When hot take off the heat and drop in the pieces of chocolate. Leave for a minute or so and then stir the melted chocolate solids well with a whisk to combine.
You can carefully heat the chocolate later. Don't bring it to a boil.
Pour it back into your mug or cup and enjoy.



*Even if you don't like dark chocolate otherwise give it a try here. This will give you more flavor and less sugar.

Blog greenhorn mistake #1

Forgetting to take pictures....

I tried out a new recipe yesterday evening with (excuse my bragging) fantastic results. But in the heat of the moment/my hunger/the delicious smells I forgot to pull out my camera and take a couple of mandatory shots before everyone dug in.

So you only have my description to go by, but it was a winner.
The recipe was based on one from Bill Grangers Every Day and really only takes a couple of minutes to assemble.

For two people you take a can of white cannellini beans
a good handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
half a garlic clove, sliced
half a small red onion, finely sliced
a good pinch of chili flakes
a good pinch of dried oregano
salt
pepper
and a couple of Tbsps of olive oil
Toss these ingredients together and roast in a 200°C oven for 25 minutes covered loosely with foil and another additional 5-10 minutes without the foil.
I served with a sliced sirloin steak (seasoned and medium well done) and some salad....

Warming soup for winter days

What do you do when life hands you leftovers? Lemonade is obviously out of the question.
I recently had just a dollop of mashed potatoes and two oven roasted tomato halves, from dinner the night before, at my disposal to create lunch... Invariably I will always go for some kind of soup in this situation.

I quartered the tomato halves and fried them for a couple of minutes in a little garlic chili oil. Then I added about a pint of chicken stock and let it come to a boil. The fiddly part is having to fish out the tomatoes and blend them with a couple of spoons of stock. (But that's easily managed. I'm just impatient.) Then everything goes back into the pan including the mashed potatoes. Heat up, season and stir well.
That's it.
This is what my lunch looked like.

New beginnings; the point in time or space in which something starts....

Isn't January perfect for this? I am at a point where my life should be aglow with endless possibilities. But I feel more than anything like a drifting boat in the currents with no control over where it's headed and much less a sense of where it would like to go....
Not whining about it, but for the sake of my sanity it will have to be figured out somehow.

The blog name refers to my two favorite activities in the world and which in my mind make up (or at least should do so) a substantial part of what makes the third worth it all...
I guess I could have included watching TV at least as a partial favorite thing to do. But that does not a pretty blog name make.