Chocobel - Chocolaterie

I couldn't wait to try this place... I mean to try their chocolate with cheese! Yes you hear it with cheese! They have so many different and unexpected flavor for their chocolate (wintergreen tea, rose petals, fir, maple, etc) and for their truffes for 1.50$ each.

They also have hot chocolate the normal version and the thick one. My friend took the normal one and I can tell you that is really chocolaty and well balanced with the milk, just awesomeness in a glass. It comes with a speculoos cookie.

Cheese chocolate expected to highlight the visit (2$ each). We were kind of disappointed by the fact that they didn't have all the choices available (none of their goat cheese combination like with raspberry), so we tried : 

a) blue cheese and dates -- the flavor blend well better than the one with parmesan, the dates bring a good sweetness to the chocolate, but you have to taste it at the end because the blue cheese flavor is strong and stays like the real one.

b) parmesan and apple cider -- I didn't really taste the apple cider flavor. The parmesan was really present. Not my kind of cheese chocolate though.

We also tasted the chocolate :

a) Caramel with fleur de sel -- The caramel was to die for. Advice : one mouthful.

b) Cherry and Kirsch -- I expected a stronger taste of the alcohol and the cherry. Bofff.

Left : Blue cheese with dates
Right : Parmesan with apple cider

Notes :

They also sell chocolate without sugar (which is awesome for diabetes), Chai chocolate, Nougat, Marshmallow and Christmas cards...

They don't really have tables and chairs for customers to enjoy their chocolates on the spot, it is more for to go. They do have a high table with 4 high chairs, but it can't really fit a group of 6 people.

The lady working there was really sweet and helpful --> SERVICE 5/5.

Chocobel

374, rue de Castelnau Est

Montréal, Qc

H2R 1P9

514-276-9875

~V.Cat~

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!! Wish everyone all the best for 2013!

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
They are very easy and fast to make. They are not really sweet, so if you want sweeter either you add 1 cup of chocolate chip/raisin/cranberries/almond slices or put an addition of 1/2 cup of sugar. Personal preference : 1 cup almond slices to give more crunch.


Ingredients :
BOWL 1
1 egg
3/4 cup margarine softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp water

BOWL 2
3/4 cup white/whole wheat flour (1/2 cup whole wheat flour + 1/4 cup of ground flax seed)
3 cups oatmeal
3/4 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chip/raisin/almond slices (optional)

Directions :
1- Preheat oven at 350°F.
2- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3- Whisk BOWL 1 until foamy and light.
4- Add BOWL 2 to BOWL 1. Mix well until all dry ingredients become wet.
5- Spoon out the mixture on the baking sheets.
6- Oven for 12 minutes. Cool down. ENJOY!

How to keep your fresh parsley/cilantro fresh?

As usually recipes call for only a quarter or at best half the bunch of fresh parsley/cilantro you just bought at the store, so what to do and how to keep the rest for future recipes?

1- Wash only when using them. Dry the leaves.
2- Put them in a pot with water.
3- Cover with a plastic bag and put them in the fridge.
(I heard that parsley don't need to be put in the fridge, so left it on the counter)

Baked Falafel

Don't feel like eating meat? Try this recipe. 

Please finely chopped the herbs/onions, otherwise it won't hold together because they will be too big (several trials and errors caused by my laziness).

Baked Falafel 

Ingredients : 

2 cans 19oz fl chickpea, rinsed and drained

2 TBSP white/whole wheat flour

3 TBSP fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 TBSP fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin, coriander, hot pepper flakes

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp baking soda

salt to taste

Directions :

1- Use a fork/potato masher and press against the bowl to mash the chickpeas until no more whole chickpeas visible.

2- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3- Use your hands/spoon and form balls on a baking sheets then flatten them.
(more they are flat, more they will be crispy/dry)

4- Bake at 375°F (preheated oven) for 15 min each side. 

(Lazy advice : as I don't want to fatigue myself from flipping them, I switch bake mode to grill mode).

Enjoy plain or make pita sandwich with mint yogurt/tomatoes, according to your laziness level :)

~V.Cat~

Eating less meat

When I moved alone in appartement and had to start cooking by and for myself, I realized that touching meat repulse me. It was kind of weird at first because I have always eaten meat without problem. It is the texture and the coldness of touching it which give me chills. I also have to admit with my background of nursing, germs freak me out. Therefore the fear of bacteria propagation from raw meat doesn't help, because I have to say I am a lazy person, so always thinking about cleaning well after preparing meat makes me want to decrease my meat intake. Yes I am that kind of lazy person. Stupid reason maybe but that's me.

The turning that blog will take for the next year coming is to post more vegetarian recipes to share with you my followers and my friends having the same fear as me.

~V.Cat~

Bitter Gourd - Chinese style

I like and feel eating something bitter and this is the perfect vegetable. I find it easy to cook and healthy. How easy? 2 ingredients : bitter gourd and eggs. 

How it looks inside

Bitter Gourd Eggs
Directions :
1- Cut the gourd lengthwise, remove the white fiber and the seeds.
2- Slice it.
3- Beat 3 eggs with a pinch of salt. Add sliced gourd.
4- Cook.

~V.Cat~

Tiramisu

At my friend's farewell party, her mom made TIRAMISU! It was amazing. The day after, it was even better. As it was so good and she is a generous friend, she accepted to share her mother's famous well kept recipe with you guys :P

Tiramisu
Ingredients : 
4 eggs
120 g sugar
500 g mascarpone
400 g ladyfingers
Strong expresso

1-2 TBSP Amaretto/Baileys/Tia Maria/Rhum
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions :1- Beat egg white + 1 TBSP sugar until forms peak.
2- Whisk egg yolks + sugar until all lighter in color.
3- Add mascarpone to egg yolks mixture -- add Amaretto/Baileys/Tia Maria/Rhum -- vanilla extract.
4- Delicately add egg white in the egg yolks mixture.
5- Assemble a) ladyfingers dipped in coffee (FAST otherwise become soggy)                          
                     b) creamy mixture just prepared.... repeat and finish with the creamy mixture.
6- Sprinkle some cacao.
7- Reserve in the fridge 24h with a plastic wrap. 

~V.Cat~