Best Hot Fudge Sauce!

Recently a friend of mine had a baby and mentioned that as her pregnancy advanced, so did her sweet tooth.  Her husband once called her before heading home from work asking if there was anything she needed.  She replied "Uh yeah, just pick me up a couple Peanut Buster Parfait's from Dairy Queen". When I heard this story, I found it so funny and all too familiar remembering the insatiable appetite that pregnancy can cause.  Subsequently, I mentioned this story to my husband and now anytime either of us asks the question "Do you need anything while I'm out at the store?"  we automatically respond with "Uh yeah, just me pick up a couple Peanut Buster Parfaits".

All this talk about ice cream got me thinking about hot fudge sauce and how delicious it is, but how I'd never really tried making it from scratch before.  So, I decided I was going to figure out how to make a delicious hot fudge sauce at home.  I started looking up methods and recipes online and cross referencing different ideas.  I knew that hot fudge must contain some kind of liquid sugar element such as corn syrup to keep the sauce soft when it hits the ice cream. Without this component, the sauce would turn hard when it cools, more like the coating on a chocolate covered ice cream bar. While there's nothing wrong with that; I'm looking for a molten, oozing, thick chocolate sauce that maintains it's texture.  However, I'm not a big fan of corn syrup and don't tend to use it much if at all. While hot fudge isn't exactly health food, obviously high fructose corn syrup isn't the best thing for you, so I tend to avoid it.  As well, I find it doesn't add anything in the way of flavour, just intense sweetness.  Thus, I decided to try golden syrup instead as it has a deep caramel flavour and colour which amps up the fudgey quality of the sauce.  I like Lyle's Golden Syrup because it's flavour and texture is really great and I can buy it from my local grocery store.  However, if you can't find it you could certainly just use corn syrup instead.

The first time I tried making hot fudge, I decided I wanted to make the recipe as simple as possible and basically put all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until thick, smooth and luxurious. However, it didn't really turn out that way...  My initial concern was the sauce would be too hard (as mentioned above) or waxy upon being drizzled onto the ice cream, so to counteract that possibility I added some water to the sauce.  Now, I know what you're thinking...  Never add water to chocolate! That being said, if you add enough water to chocolate it doesn't actually seize or turn grainy.  True to form, adding water didn't cause the sauce to completely seize up into gritty ball and it looked smooth and lustrous.  However, when you tasted it, there was a granular quality which wasn't appealing at all.

After that, I decided to eliminate water from the sauce and make heavy cream the only liquid in the recipe. Therefore, I combined cream, golden syrup, brown sugar and cocoa powder together in a saucepan, brought the sauce to a gentle simmer and let cook until slightly thickened and very smooth. At this point, I added the chocolate, vanilla, salt and a little butter and gently mixed.  Bingo! This recipe and method worked perfectly!  The sauce turned out thick, smooth, and had in intense chocolate flavour, exactly what I had been craving and trying to create.

You may be tempted to remove the salt from this recipe, thinking it's not necessary.  I highly caution against this approach - I find sweet sauces and desserts really need a hit of salt.  Contrary to what you might assume; that salt would add a weird savoury taste which isn't appealing, in fact it actually intensifies the flavours of the recipe and balances out the sweetness.  I'm so accustomed to adding salt to my dessert recipes now, if I inadvertently forget about it, I instantly know something isn't right with the taste.  I recently made a batch of double chocolate cookies and when I tasted them knew, I'd forgotten the salt.  I ended up sprinkling some sea salt on top of each cookie because they just weren't very enjoyable without it.

Here's my recipe:

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/3 brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (sifted)
large pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate (I use chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter

Put the cream, golden syrup, brown sugar and cocoa powder (I sift it straight into the pan) in a medium to small saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking until the ingredients start to combine, then switch to a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the pan (I tend to switch back and forth between a whisk and spatula).  Let the sauce heat up to a bubble and continue to stir with the spatula while the sauce cooks and thickens (adjust the heat as necessary or if bubbling up too much).  Allow the sauce to simmer away while stirring continuously until it's the consistency of a nice runny honey or a thin custard (this should take about 5 to 10 minutes depending on your stove). Then remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in salt and vanilla.  Now add the chocolate chips and let sit for a few moment to allow the chocolate to gently melt a little in the hot sauce.  Then gently stir using the rubber spatula until nicely combined and smooth.  Add the cold butter and whisk until melted into the sauce and combined.  At this point, the sauce can be served immediately on any ice cream of your choice or can sit a little while to continue to thicken.  As well, the sauce stores nicely in the refrigerator and re-heats beautifully as if it had just been made (I just scoop out some cold sauce into a bowl and microwave for 15 seconds). Alternatively, pour the finished sauce into a jam jar and give it away as gifts.

Bon appetit!

Apple and Shallot Pork Tenderloin

Truly, there isn't much I don't like about pork and have to say it's one of my favourite meats to cook with.  While I often cook with cuts such as pork belly, a full pork roast, or even making a lovely ham; I definitely find myself most often cooking with the tenderloin. It's a really great go-to cut of meat that's versatile, much quicker to cook than a traditional pork roast, and doesn't dry out as easily as a pork chop.

For some reason though, pork can often get forgotten in the weekly meal cycle or overshadowed by bacon (not that I mind).  Many of us find it all too easy to get caught in a rotation of chicken and beef themed dinners week in and week out.  However, I find the possibilities are endless when cooking with pork; it's subtle taste works with many different flavour profiles and ingredients.  I often do a dry rub of jerk seasoning, stuff the tenderloin with mushroom duxelles (which is finely diced mushrooms sauteed with shallots and herbs), wrap it in prosciutto or bacon (pork on pork, how could that be bad), or just a simple marinade which could consist of any number of flavours. However, in this case I decided to put a new twist on the classic combination of pork and apple.

When I was growing up, my mom liked to make pork chops and serve them with applesauce. My updated version of this idea starts by browning the outside of the pork tenderloin in a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet (or any oven proof pan), then remove the pork, saute the apple shallot mixture in the same pan, and finally return the tenderloin to the pan to then be finished in the oven.  Right before it goes into the oven, I slather the tenderloin with some honey and garlic mustard to add another dimension of flavour and depth.

This results in the pork being deeply caramelised on the outside and juicy and tender within. As well, the apples retain their shape, develop a very rich and almost umami like savoury quality with just the right amount of sweetness to compliment the tenderloin.

Here is my recipe:

1 Pork Tenderloin with silver skin removed
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
1 Apple (Granny Smith or any firm apple which won't turn to mush when cooking) skin left on, chopped into chunks
2 Shallots roughly chopped
1 clove of Garlic roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh Oregano finely chopped
1/4 cup of garlic Dijon Mustard (or plain Dijon mustard with some garlic grated in or finely diced)
2 tablespoons of honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Clean the pork tenderloin by removing the silver skin with a sharp thin bladed knife and blot with paper towel to dry (this step ensures the meat browns nicely in the pan, excess moisture can cause the meat to braise rather than sear).  Sprinkle some salt and pepper over all sides of the tenderloin and set aside while you heat a cast iron skillet or pan.  Once the skillet is hot, add some olive oil to the pan and sear the tenderloin on all sides until nicely browned but not cooked all the way through.  Remove from the skillet and let sit on a plate while you saute the apples, shallots and garlic in the same pan, until softened.  Add half of the fresh herbs into the pan with the apple mixture and reserve the remainder. While the apple mixture is cooking, mix together the Dijon mustard honey and the reserved herbs (if you don't have or cannot find garlic Dijon mustard, just finely chop or grate a small clove of garlic into the mustard),   Then coat the resting tenderloin with the mustard mixture on all sides and then nestle the tenderloin onto the cooked apple mixture in the pan and place in the oven to finish cooking the pork.  Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the meat is firm to the touch, opaque with a slightly pink tint in the centre.  Remove the tenderloin from the pan to a plate to rest while you finish the sauce.  Place the skillet back onto the stove top on a medium heat mixing the apple mixture to reduce slightly and combine the bit of mustard mixture that has fallen into the apples.  Serve by cutting the pork into medallions and drizzle some of the apple on and alongside the pork.  As well, many different side dishes pair very nicely with this pork recipe - roast potatoes and a vegetable (as pictured) or a rice pilaf and a salad.  The options are abundant.