Chocolate

I've been away from the blogosphere for a while and I'm not sorry. Really. I've been having a great summer, but clean-room trials and family cooking are not what you're here to read about.

That being said, I'm not going to spend my time talking about the adventures I'm about to have in England. I'll save that for when I'm having the adventures--and leave the dry sundries of packing, travel guides and cell phones to your imagination. I'm going to talk about this summer's cooking experiment, chocolate.

Over the last few days, I've tried to convert a small knowledge of working with chocolate (homemade peanut butter cups) into a more rounded knowledge--and develop the recipe for those boyfriend-pleasing peanut butter delights into something somewhat more elegantly presented. When I've made them in the past, they look like candy store rejects. True, they are yummy and time-consuming to make, but their appearance certainly won't give it away.

Here's today's experiment, just out of the freezer. Super easy, really good. All the quantities are approximations--I've only made it once, but I anticipate it being forgiving.

Chocolate mint crunch
Rice Crispie Treats all grown up

~3 Oz. good-quality semisweet baking chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 teaspoon (to taste) peppermint extract
1 tablespoon dried mint leaves
Rice Crispies or other puffed rice (enough so that they are coated lightly, about 2 cups)

Melt chocolate. (Using two nested bowls with chocolate in the inner bowl and near boiling water between the two works well. Microwaving is also supposed to work OK) Stir until smooth. Mix in peppermint extract. Add mint leaves and mix until mixture looks uniform. Add in Rice Crispies until the rice is lightly coated. Spoon out onto parchment paper and put in the freezer for 5 minutes (or until firm).