February 2011

This Valentine's Day, create a romantic, nourishing dinner for two with our chocolate-inspired recipes, including Maya Chicken mole (pictured here with roasted plantain chips and winter squash, a side salad, and local wine.)

SOUTHWEST FLAVOR
Sweet on You

This Valentine's Day, treat your special someone to this chocolate-inspired menu

Story by Rocky Durham, Photography by Douglas Merriam

If there were such a thing as the Global Chocolate Initiative, I’d like to be its president. The GCI would oversee the world’s chocolate supply—and who wouldn’t want to lead that effort? As president, I’d ensure the quality and production of one of our most treasured and tasty commodities, and work feverishly on advertising campaigns to promote the Food of Kings: “Chocolate—it’s not just for breakfast anymore.” “Chocolate. Just do it.” “Got Chocolate?” Who could forget such gems?                  

Considering our global love affair with chocolate, it surprises me that there isn’t such an organization. (Although there are loosely organized organizations like the World Cocoa Foundation, which promotes sustainable cocoa farming.) Humankind’s fascination with this alluring consumable dates back to ancient times, right here in the Americas. Europeans may be the best-known chocolatiers, but Mesoamerican cultures have treasured cacao (the seed from which chocolate is made) for thousands of years. Mayan and Aztec peoples used cacao as currency—cacao was even required to pay taxes, along with jaguar skins and colorful parrot feathers.

Archaeologists have unearthed the vestiges of a 2,500-year-old civilization in southern Mexico that cultivated cacao trees in orchards—money trees, indeed! Cacao nibs (as the seeds are often called) were traded up and down the continent of North America. There is even evidence that they were traded as far north as the Ancestral Puebloan cities of today’s Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, in northwestern New Mexico.

From 2000 b.c. to a.d. 250, Mayan royals would, throughout the day, drink exotic concoctions based on chocolate. Because pure chocolate is bitter, these elixirs may have been sweetened with a drop of honey or agave nectar. The cheap milk chocolate common in our culture today bears little resemblance to chocolate’s earliest and purest forms. We have transformed it into an unhealthy, guilty pleasure.
But chocolate in its pure form is quite healthy. Even small amounts contain large amounts of flavonoids, which, thanks to their antioxidant activity, help prevent heart disease, stroke, and possibly even cancer.

Contrary to popular belief, there is little or no caffeine in pure chocolate, but it does contain theobromine, which for humans has stimulative effects similar to those of caffeine (and makes chocolate potentially toxic to animals). Pure cocoa also contains phenylethylamine, an antidepressant similar to the body’s own dopamine. Eating chocolate increases the level in the brain of serotonin, a phenolic amine neurotransmitter found at low levels in people experiencing depression. That’s right—chocolate can make you happier.

Is chocolate fattening? Who cares? Chocolate is nourishment!

I’m reminded of chocolate’s magical power every Valentine’s Day. Four years ago, I gave Jody, the woman I love, a small piece of chocolate in the shape of the Sacred Heart and gilded in 24-karat gold. I nested this treasure in red tissue paper in a small box. (Jody still has the box, but the chocolate somehow disappeared immediately after I gave it to her.) We’re still together today. Chocolate, I owe you big time.

Jody and I enjoy cooking together, but we view the food itself as only one aspect of nourishment. The time we spend together preparing meals is equally nourishing to our relationship. There’s something very affectionate about cooking for each other. When we engage in this daily ritual, we give each other something that’s required for our survival, but we do so in a way that becomes an artistic expression of our love.

This Valentine’s Day, I have designed a meal through which couples can partake in this ritual of nourishment. Here are a few tips to make the meal a special event:
- Make a formal invitation. Someone will need to take the lead, inviting the other to join him or her in the kitchen to celebrate your bond. Why not make a paper invitation, complete with a single stem of the other’s favorite flower, or a chocolate-dipped strawberry? Even if you live under the same roof, the invitation lets the other person know that this is a special occasion for just the two of you.

- Set the scene. Flowers, candles, music, wine . . . you get the picture.

- Take your time. Don’t be in a rush, and don’t make plans for right afterward.

- Enjoy the process! This is as much about the careful preparation of the food as it is about eating the tasty results.

Our modern world may bear little resemblance to the world the Mayans inhabited when they first began eating chocolate, but the people on this big, crazy planet haven’t changed so much. We value many of the same things: our health and that of our families, a good meal, a lover’s embrace. Today, I raise a small, earthenware cup of Mojo Cocoa to you and offer this toast: May we all be so blessed as to find food on our plates, chocolate in our cups, and love in our hearts. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Native Santa Fean Rocky Durham is culinary director of the Santa Fe School of Cooking. See more of Douglas Merriam's photos at www.douglasmerriam.com

RECIPES

Mojo Cocoa
Make this spicy hot chocolate
your Love Potion No. 9.

2 tablets Mexican chocolate (Ibarra)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon anise
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon hot New Mexican
red-chile powder
2 tablespoons blue-corn meal
2½ cups milk or half-and-half
1 clove
2–3 rose petals
4 tablespoons agave nectar
1 pinch salt

Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate chocolate tablets.

Set aside.

Place all ground spices in sauté pan over medium heat. Stirring frequently, toast spices until slightly darker and aromatic. Add chile powder and toast 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Remove spices from pan and set aside.

In small saucepan, toast blue-corn meal over medium heat until aromatic (3–4 minutes), stirring frequently. Add milk and whisk to combine thoroughly.

Combine chocolate, spices, blue-corn milk, and all remaining ingredients. Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve in warm mugs.

Makes about 3 cups.

Maya Chicken Mole
This traditional Mexican meal incorporates chocolate into a savory main course. There are as many versions of mole (meaning “mass,” and which has come to mean a thick chocolate sauce) as other sauces. Chef Rocky Durham developed this recipe using traditional ingredients with a contemporary flair.

1 chicken, quartered
salt and pepper as needed
2–3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup roasted winter squash (canned pumpkin may be substituted)
4 New Mexican red-chile pods, stemmed, seeded
1 teaspoon chipotle en adobo
½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
1 teaspoon coriander seed, toasted, ground
1 tablespoon Mexican chocolate (Ibarra), ground/grated
2 cups New Mexican white wine (off-dry to sweet)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 plantain or green banana
oil, salt, and pepper as needed

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In large, oven-safe pan (e.g., cast iron), preheat vegetable oil over medium flame. Sear chicken skin side down until golden brown. Remove from pan.

Add onions and garlic to pan. Sauté 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add squash, red peppers, chile pods, chipotle, pepitas, and coriander seed. Stir until evenly combined. Add chocolate and wine. Reduce to simmer and cook 10–12 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Pour contents of pan into blender and carefully purée. (Caution: It can be dangerous to purée hot liquids—the blender top can pop off and the hot contents can splash and burn you.) Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Return chicken to the lightly oiled pan, skin side up. Pour blended sauce over chicken.

Place pan oven and bake 40–50 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and fork-tender.

While chicken is cooking, slice plantain in thin rounds. Place plantain slices and sesame seeds on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toast in oven until slightly browned. When chicken has cooked, garnish with plantain chips and toasted sesame seeds. Serve with roasted winter squash and a side salad.

Serves 2.

White Chocolate Pistachio Fondue
This Southwestern take on a classic European dessert incorporates local pistachio nuts and green chile. Be sure to have on hand bamboo skewers or fondue forks for dipping.

4 ounces high-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
¼ cup plus 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons New Mexico pistachio nuts, ground
1 tablespoon cognac or brandy
1 teaspoon New Mexican green-chile powder
1 pinch salt
items of your choice for dipping

To create double-boiler, place stainless-steel bowl over saucepan in which water is boiling at simmer.

Place white chocolate, cream, and butter in bowl. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth and shiny.

Add remaining ingredients and cook another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour into fondue warmer or heavy, warmed ceramic bowl.

Serve with raspberries, strawberries, orange wedges, marshmallows, pieces of bizcochito cookies or brownies, or other dipping items of your choosing.

Serves 2.