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Olive oil infuses melted chocolate with a fresh, slightly herby taste that intensifies the rich flavor of dark chocolate. You can dip fruit and other treats in this sauce, create melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bark with it, or simply drizzle it over your favorite ice cream or Belgian waffles.
Ingredients
8 ounces dark chocolate discs or pieces, preferably 72% cacao, such as Guittard’s Coucher du Soleil
2 tablespoons mild extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Melt 6 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl placed over simmering (not boiling) water, stirring with a silicone whisk or spatula until fully melted.
Step 2
Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and place on a towel on your counter. A few pieces at a time, add in the rest of the chocolate. This tempers it, or brings it down in temperature, so that the finished treat is silky. (If you have an instant-read thermometer, the chocolate on the stove should reach 118 degrees and go down to 90 after you add in the rest.) Stir in the olive oil until blended.
Yields about 1 cup of melted chocolate.
To dip: Prep an assortment of sweet fruits, like whole berries, pineapple triangles, and banana slices; cake squares; and/or pretzels and potato chips. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, and using a dinner fork, dip your chosen treats, one piece at a time, in the melted chocolate and then place on the waxed paper. Place the sheet in a cool spot for about two hours to allow the chocolate to harden, and then transfer your treats to a platter or tin. (Of course, you can also dip and eat right away, fondue style!)
To create a custom chocolate bark: Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Pour all the tempered chocolate on the wax paper and use an offset spatula to smooth it out to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with your choice of toppings in a random pattern—a great combination is 2 tablespoons each golden raisins, pistachios, and crispy chocolate pearls like Valrhona’s Les Perles Craquantes. Let the chocolate harden in a cool spot for two or more hours or, for a firmer bark, in the fridge for 30 minutes, and then break into random-sized pieces and store in a cookie tin.
Extra virgin olive oil gives classic lemon curd all the silkiness of butter without the saturated fat. It’s delicious spooned over Greek yogurt and topped with berries—serve it in a champagne glass for an indulgent yet good-for-you dessert. You can also use it to make a lemon tart—fill a baked and cooled 8″ tart shell with the chilled curd, and top with dollops of whipped cream.
Ingredients
3 large or 5 small lemons
2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
10 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla paste
Pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons mild extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Rinse the lemons, dry them thoroughly, and then zest them with a microplane grater. You should have a generous tablespoon of zest. Juice the lemons. You should have a generous cup of juice. Some pulp is fine to include, but remove any seeds.
Step 2
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, use a silicone whisk to blend the eggs thoroughly, and then whisk in one ingredient at a time in this order: sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest, vanilla, and salt—this will give you the silkiest results without needing to strain the mixture after cooking.
Step 3
Place the pan over medium heat and continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a very low boil. Cook for two minutes (this activates the cornstarch), lowering the heat if necessary to prevent a rapid boil. The curd should be thick enough to coat the whisk.
Step 4
Off the heat, slowly whisk in the olive oil until it’s completely blended in. Pour the curd into a glass pitcher or jar and allow it to come to room temperature before covering and placing it in the fridge to thicken further.
In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, shallot, black pepper, and tarragon to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until the vinegar is reduced by half. Pour into the top of a double boiler (or a metal or heatproof glass bowl that will fit over a saucepan), allow to come to room temperature, and then whisk in the yolks and the water.
Step 2
Melt the butter, and set aside. Fill the bottom of the double boiler or saucepan with 2 inches of water, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer. Place the top of the double boiler or the bowl over the simmering water and whisk the mixture until it doubles in volume.
Step 3
Slowly whisk in the butter, about 2 tablespoons at a time. Continue whisking vigorously until the sauce becomes thick but still pourable. Taste, and season with salt if desired. Remove the double boiler from the heat. The sauce can sit while you cook your steak. Whisk it gently before serving if needed.
If you have family or friends staying over, a leek and cheese frittata is the perfect breakfast food—and my recipe gives a delicious result without requiring you to slave away in the kitchen! You’ll see that it has only a pinch of salt, to cut back on sodium, a health goal for almost all of us.
Ingredients
6 eggs
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 large leek (the white and some of the tender green part), sliced
Pinch of coarse salt
Directions
Step 1
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, cheese, butter, and milk. Heat a frying pan, add the oil, and sauté the leek slices until softened, adding the salt as they cook. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan, and cook over medium heat until firm.
Step 2
Cover the pan with a lid, remove from heat, and let stand for 10 minutes. You can serve it hot or at room temperature. If you’d like to prepare it ahead by an hour or so, leave the lid on.
