Let's Talk Pro-Chocolate: Real Kinds We Like, How We Eat/Use Them
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May be a little off-topic, but it's at least loosely related so thought I'd ask here. (I haven't read the thread in its entirety, so this may have already been discussed at some point. I like my chocolate simple, in the form of ice cream or candy bars, so the bulk of this thread is a little too…exotic for my simple tastes, lol.)
Anyway, as family chef I've been trying to introduce a new recipe to the family once a week, if it's approved it gets added to the regular meal rotation. (I'm pleased to say we've added twenty new meals over the last six months of doing this.)
One recipe I found but am hesitant to try (and wife and kids can't believe I'd even suggest) involves mixing unsweetened cocoa powder with spices to make a rub on pork chops which are then baked. We've had success with a brown sugar chicken in the past, but chocolate?
Figured I'd touch base with the resident "chocolate experts" for an opinion.
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A few of my favorites:
Blue Diamond Chocolate Almonds
Atkins Carmel Chocolate Nut Roll
Atkins Keto Carmel Clusters (has chocolate)
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (has chocolate!)
Hershey's Kisses
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why the heck not? Molé is a thing for a reason and it’s neither sweet nor tastes like chocolate, but it’s still delicious.
If it’s unsweetened, it’s pretty savory stuff.
It’s not like you're rubbing it down with hot chocolate mix.
I bet it would be good smoked and have half a mind to experiment myself with it now that you’ve suggested it@jodymaro1 if you have a (American) Lidl nearby, try the Alesto chocolate coconut chips. It’s usually either near nuts and trail mix, or across the aisle by jams and jellies. It’s in the same box as the caramel coconut, and usually sells faster than the caramel so you may have to scrabble through the box to find a bag.
I was obese mainly because of my love for chocolate anything, so I consider myself an expert.😇 That stuff is the bomb. Crunchy, chocolatey, coconut-y, sweet. It rings all the bells. I can’t beleive im saying this, but I’d rather have it than a chocolate bar.
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Not off topic, if you ask me . . . and I'm the OP here so I should know what's on topic, right? 😉 Chocolate recipes have come up previously, and that's perfectly reasonable.
BTW: Simple chocolate is also on topic, so if you want to post about your favorite chocolate (or chocolate chunk/chip/whatever) ice cream or regular grocery store type chocolate candy bars, don't hesitate. 😋
While I haven't eaten pork chops since 1974 (vegetarian), I do use cocoa or cacao powder fairly often in savory foods. It's a good add. In the foods where I use it, it's for the umami and complexity that it adds. I'd encourage you to experiment.
My standard question - for myself and others - about recipe experiments is: What's the worst that could happen? Usually, the answer is only one non-ideal meal, which to me is a small price to pay for the larger number of experiments that have proven delicious and enlightening. I know pork is non-cheap, so that's a consideration. If it's scary, would it make sense to try one chop?
I know you're a cooking kind of a guy, but I don't know whether you're familiar with the differences between cacao powder, natural cocoa powder, Dutch process, black (which I guess is Dutch process only more so). If the recipe you use doesn't specify, it could be a consideration. I admit I usually use cacao powder in everything because that's what I keep around, but there are some points in favor of Dutch process for savories. In baked goods, the cocoa choice can affect leavening, but that shouldn't matter for a rub.
If you try it, report back here?
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omg that sounds delicious! I love coconut! I used to cut up coconut and put it in a bowl with water in fridge and snack on it. I cannot wait to try what you suggested. Thank you!! I love mole btw too!
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Yum! My personal opinion—not fact. A little adds a depth of flavor. A lot can easily overtake the dish. Good if you love cocoa powder, not so good if you really wanted meat.
Disclaimer—I've only had it on beef, not pork.
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I've made pork tenderloin with a sauce using actual chocolate (not just cacao powder) and vinegar - a sort of sweet and sour sauce - which tasted nice. Imho pork works quite well with sweet and sweet/sour.
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I only have Hershey's cocoa powder at home, so that would be the version used, if any.
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I got a tin of Van Houten Dutch process cocoa last time I was in Belgium.
It was the most fragrant, flavorful cocoa I’ve ever had. And the color was so dark and rich and beautiful I’d paint my walls with it.
And now they’ve apparently gone out of business. I’ve searched everywhere for the stuff. Generations old and poof! Gone.
That’s sad.
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So lovely friends sent me a care hamper a few weeks ago, and it had chocolate in it - one with 2 small bars of Loco Love - Probiotic Chocolate Black Cherry & Raspberry with Schisandra. I thought "OK, that sounds a bit woowoo.
O
M
G
It was so so good. The cherries were so tart, and it was just divine. Im resisting googling and finding a stockist because I could eat it all day… or not, even, it was so rich a luscious that one small bar did it.
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Has anyone tried black cocoa powder? If so, any comments on that vs. regular Dutch process or other options?
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OOooo, that's interesting. The familar parts of the combination sound great, but I've never heard of schisandra. It's main rep appears to be medicinal/supplementary, but with a complex flavor profile? I'm intrigued.
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I had to google is too, I'd never heard of it! But it was one of the most luscious chocolates I've ever had.
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I got some of these today at Costco. Not life-changing, but tasty. Wonder if the quinoa is maybe popped or something like that, because it has sort of a rice-crispie type vibe, just in smaller bits. Apologies for the off-kilter photo of the ingredients/nutrition - the bag is full, so pillowy and uncooperative for photos. The spoon in the last photo is for scale, just a normal teaspoon from my tableware. Thirty calories per crunchy disk.
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I usually just get plain extra dark chocolate- wanted to try the rose petal, bee pollen and lavender- was great actually!
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dang. I thought it was “spring mulberry” and got really excited.
Love me some mulberries but forgot to pick any this year.
They look very much like bars I picked up off Lidl’s Excitement Aisle last year. They were delicious.1 -
@Alatariel75 That rose petal one is so beautiful! I think I mentioned previously here that I'm not a fan of flowery flavors personally, but the gorgeousness of that is undeniable.
It's interesting to me that apparently dates as an ingredient don't count as "added sugar" for labeling purposes. (Reading a little, that seems to be compliant with regulations). Neither, seemingly, do pureed whole dates. Reportedly "date sugar" counts as added sugar, even though it's just dried, ground dates. 😆🤣
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It was a pretty bar indeed! 🌹
I too found it interesting that dates in whole form aren’t “added sugar” - I did like that the total sugar was 6g- which is less sweet than some other bars I’ve had.
it was tasty though! 😋
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Fresh local chocolate is often the best. I lived near Baltimore for a long time, so Wockenfuss was a great chocolate.
Now i am prediabetic so I go for the sugar free chocolate. I love Lily's Sugar Free Dark Chocolate and almond bar. 1/3 of a bar is 130 calories (About ten pieces). It is delicious, creamy, with plenty of almonds and doesn't seem to spike blood sugar. It's readily available in the US, since Walmart stocks it.
Another chocolate I like is Russell Stover sugar free chocolate caramels. A pretty big back runs 7-10 dollars. I like the dark pecan turtles (About 75 calories a piece). The peanut nougat milk chocolate bars (about 60 calories a snack sized bar). THough I'd rather have dark chocolate they are not hard and easier on teeth than some of their caramels. And the mix bag of chocolate caramels which have 4 different kinds of caramels (plain milk caramels, dark caramels, milk turtles) which run from 50 to 75 a piece.
Another thing I like is Blue Diamond dark cocoa coated almonds. These are not appreciably different in calorie count from plain almonds. I think 24 are 160 calories. I tend to eat six for a snack.
These sugar free chocolates taste the same as sugar chocolate to me, with the advantage that they won't (supposedly) spike your blood sugar. I usually save a couple hundred calories or a hundred calories once a day for chocolate usually at the end of the day.
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I am in utter and complete awe of anyone who can limit themselves to six almonds.
If there was a kowtow emoticon, it would be bowing to you right now.
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Ha-Ha. I am not really a nut person. I started to eat them because MFP was recommending I add more healthy fats to my diet, and it recommended nuts. So I bought a big bag of the Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate almonds. I am on 1200 calories a day, so eating the recommended serving of 24 nuts would take up a lot of calories. Six is only 40 calories if I remember right. They are called dark chocolate but they are more cocoa dusted.
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I ordered some Republic of Tea Chocolate peppermint tea (zero calorie).
I am pleasantly surprised to report that it tastes like chocolate peppermint and is quite nice, and very satisfying.
Lovely to find unexpected treats along the way.
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My son is in the US Army, and he recently returned from a multi-national training exercise in Norway. While there he picked up a couple gifts for the family (his mother adores the reindeer pelt), one of which was a chocolate bar. All the writing is in Norwegian, so not even sure which is the brand name and what is the product name, but just based upon my white-man's poor attempt at pronunciation, it sounds like it's:
Freia Melkesjokolade (Milk Chocolate?) Daim
Not as sweet as an American bar, with hints of caramel taste (which a quick google search says is actually toffee). High calorie, but we split a bar between seven of us, each getting a little square to taste. My girls didn't care for it, the adults were more amenable. But at $12 per bar, ye gods!
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@nossmf good news for you (maybe!)
Ikea US sells severaL varieties of Daim- or did last time I visited, which has been a couple of years.😱
they also carry Maribou, which comes in rolls, with lozenges of toffee chocolate.0
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