Pileos a la Melanie

Every once in a while, a bright and enthusiastic young person crosses my path and I’m reminded of how food inspired and enriched my own young adult life. Melanie Chislett is exactly that kind of person.

Melanie was our June intern at the test kitchen. As part of her intern duties I asked her to research a French company that makes an ingenious little coffee time snack called pileos, cone shaped confections that are filled with chocolate. The idea is that you set a pileo over your coffee and the steam from the drink warms up a chocolaty centre so that you have a super yummy snack to go with your latte or espresso.

We found the website for the ingenious pileo makers and Melanie contacted them and learned all about their product. I was thrilled. She’d done her job very well. I popped their info into my trend tracking file and felt satisfied that I had all the info I needed to write about how this cookie is an emerging food product idea in an upcoming issue of Topline Trends.

The next day, Melanie surprised us by bringing in her own version of pileos (which she calls mileos) for us to have with our morning coffee. I was thrilled by her enthusiasm and wanted to share her story and her biscotti based recipe for pileos (um, I mean mileos) with you today.

Melanie Chislett’s Mileos

1 cup oil
3 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup refined sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 box semi-sweet bakers chocolate (for the center)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325oF. Beat eggs and sugar to blend together, add oil. Add 3 cups of all-purpose flower and mix until well blended. Place in fridge for 30 minutes. Fill well-greased tart pans 3/4 full with dough and place 1/3 of a semi sweet bakers chocolate bar in the middle of the tart before placing in oven. This creates a pileo. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Place back in the oven and let bake for another 5 minutes to give the pileo a hard biscotti crust. Remove, let cool, then gently remove the pileos from the tart pan. If desired, sprinkle icing sugar on top of the inverted pileos.

Enjoy the smooth chocolate center after letting the pileo sit on top of your hot espresso cup for about 30 seconds.

Super foods on the menu

For quite some time now, smoothie joints have been highlighting the wonderful nutrient benefits in super foods such as blue, acai, goji and now even yum berries. This model is so successful that now other food service outlets are following course.

I recently stayed at a Westin Hotel where super foods were called out at the top of menu as a means of giving travelers permission to order the great tasting foods they crave. Likewise, how many times in the last half year have you been urged to order the chocolate cake because chocolate is a health food? How can any movement that positions a craving (that many people consider a weakness) as a health food fail?

What worries me is that we’ll justify ourselves into serious health problems. Does knowing that a moderate intake of red wine can have cardio vascular health benefits allow you to justify a glass of cabernet you wouldn’t otherwise drink on Tuesday night? Have you succumbed to the allure of super foods to justify ordering a chocolate smoothie that could just as easily be called a shake? Please don’t tell me I’m alone in falling into these traps.

Three candies I don’t want to try

I’m a bonafide sweet tooth. It’s seldom that I hear about a new kind of candy without getting a serious craving; however, these three new offerings in the candy section will stay in the store a long time if it’s left up to me to buy them:

• Absinthe Lollipops
• Caffeinated Snickers Bars
• Crackheads Candy

Chocolate and wine pairing tips

Today is Valentine’s Day and even if you didn’t take the time to choose a thoughtful gift (see Tuesday’s post) or to make a gourmet treat (see yesterday’s post) you can still impress your Valentine by serving a scrumptious, decadent chocolate dessert paired with a wonderful wine.

If the idea of pairing chocolate wine leaves you flummoxed, never fear. Wine expert Natalie Maclean can help solve your every cocoa coated dilemma.

“The creamy flavours of chocolate go best with sweet, full-bodied, high-alcohol wines,” MacLean notes. More specifically, here are Natalie’s top 10 wine and chocolate matches, excerpted from her online food and wine matching tool:

1. Dark Chocolate and Banyuls (France)
2. Chocolate-Covered Biscotti and Recioto Della Valpolicella (Italy)
3. Chocolate-Orange Cake and Liqueur Muscat (Australia)
4. Chocolate with Nuts and Tawny Port (Portugal)
5. Milk Chocolate and Tokaji ( Hungary)
6. Bittersweet Chocolate and Amarone (Italy)
7. Chocolate-Dipped Fruit and Icewine (Canada)
8. Chocolate Ganache Truffles and Sauternes (France)
9. Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake and Framboise (California)
10. Chocolate Hearts with Cream Filling and Cream Sherry (Spain)

Do you have a great chocolate and wine pairing to recommend

Valentine’s Day food gifts

In just two days it will be Valentine’s Day and apparently cash registers are ringing. A group called the National Research Federation reports that their study of American Consumer Intentions reveals that the average person will spend $122.98 US on their loved ones this Valentine’s Day.

While a box of chocolates will never miss the mark with most valentines, this gift won’t likely be remembered for years to come. So why not make your spending count by choosing a gift for your food-loving valentine that carries a memorable message? Here’s a roster of gift ideas appropriate for food-loving valentines of all sorts. Choose the best option to express your feelings for the object of your affection:

• For the adorable wino you want to toast: Champagne always sends a romantic message. Opt for pink-tinged bubbles of Lanson or Mumm’s and your valentine will celebrate you.

• For the many sweet pals you want to remember: Low fat, fun and easy to personalize, friendship exchange packs send a sweet message.

• For the sophisticated chocolate lover you want to impress: A Michel Cluizel plantation specific chocolate sampler may seem like just another box of over priced candy but for students of chocolate it’s a decadent educational experience. Or, check out Candy Addict’s list of top candy gifts for more ideas, or the 10 best chocolate recipes at Homemakers.com.

• For the spicy dish you want to take a bite of right now: Your valentine will realize you want to go from ‘hello’ to ‘hubba hubba’ if you offer them a copy of Erotic Café, a risqué collection of tales that combine food and sex.

• For the hot potato you want to keep warm with all year: Show your Valentine how much you love spending time together by wrapping a copy of former ABC Bachelorette Meredith Phillip’s The Date Night Cookbook up in glossy red paper.