An Amano Date Night

We decided to stay in this weekend so that we can save some money. I took advantage of it being a weekend night and went all out on our dinner. I wanted to make a special meal that would incorporate all three bars of Amano chocolate (Ocumare, Madagascar, and Cuyagua).

The night started off with some wine. We went to our favorite wine store and picked up a bottle of Merlot. To spin the traditional chocolate and wine pairing, I melted some chocolate and dipped the tip of the wine glasses in the chocolate. This was a great idea because at first you tasted the woodsy flavors of the wine and then you were left with the sweet flavor of the chocolate. For this I chose the Ocumare chocolate since it was the sweetest of the three and I figured Alex would like this chocolate the best.

For the appetizer I made an apple and brie quesadilla that I saw in Jayne's blog (The Barefoot Kitchen Witch). I made a simple chocolate dip using the Ocumare chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, and heavy cream. This pairing was a little interesting. The apple, tortilla, and chocolate were a great combination and the apple, tortilla, and brie were a great combination, but together the chocolate and brie canceled each other out. Both the chocolate and brie have strong tastes and neither of them really showed through when combined. As we sat and ate this we thought of a combination that would go great and it only made me miss Miami more; we thought sweet plantains a la Abuela, queso blanco, and tortilla would go great with the chocolate dip. (For the apple and brie quesadilla recipe click here).

For the main dish I made us some steak and potatoes. I made potatoes similar to the ones Pioneer Woman posted about recently (here) and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and chili powder. The steak was a baked chili-rubbed skirt steak. For the steak I made a chocolate-chipotle sauce similar to this one using the Cuyagua chocolate (I felt this chocolate had the strongest taste and could stand on its own with the steak). The chocolate-chipotle sauce was perfect for the steak because it really highlighted the spices in the steak. The sauce had a stronger flavor of chipotle than chocolate and I think that's why it paired well with the steak.

I had made a chocolate ice cream earlier in the day and had high hopes for a nice presentation dessert of chocolate ice cream, Dark Chocolate Madeleines, chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream. However, because of the blistering heat not only in Boston but also in my kitchen that didn't happen. As soon as I took the ice cream out of the freezer it melted. I had a plate full of melted, soupy goodness. It was such a bummer. Everything else had tasted and looked great and dessert is always my favorite part, so I was disappointed that because of the heat in our kitchen I couldn't make the dessert I planned.

93 Degrees Dessert Dessert

Thank you Blake from Blake Makes for the giveaway and thank you Amano for the chocolate!