Foodies Read: The Chocolate Apothecary by Josephine Moon - Chocolate Balsamic Glaze

I read this book whilst on holiday. It is set in both Tasmania and France and follows the story of Christmas Livingstone as she breaks her rules and falls in love.

One of the meals that Christmas makes to take to her sister's house is BLT sandwiches with a chocolate balsamic glaze, as I had all the ingredients in the cupboard I knew I had to try this out. I found a recipe in The Telegraph newspaper that usually goes with ribs and I made enough so that I can try it with ribs in the near future. It was sticky and sweet and lovely with the bacon.

Chocolate Balsamic Glaze (from The Telegraph)
(Serves 6)

40ml balsamic vinegar
70g honey
35g brown sugar
20ml light soy sauce
1 sprig rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
50g dark chocolate

Blend or whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, sugar and soy sauce until the sugar has dissolved. Put the liquid into a bowl with the rosemary and garlic. Cover and leave at room temperature for one hour or in the fridge overnight.

Pour the mixture into a pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook on a low heat for about 10 mins until it has a honey-like consistency. Add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool.

When it is cool test the thickness – it should have the consistency of single cream; if it is too thick, add a little warm water.

Foodie Reads 2016: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal - Peanut Butter Bars

I'm not so good at reviewing books. I read a lot but I don't like to analyse and tear things apart. I read mostly for escapism, especially on the tube. I can pretend I'm in the sunshine in Italy or in small town America.

I am a complete Americanophile, anything about the States and food, I will read. However, this book wasn't what I expected. It tells the story of the life of Eva Thorvald, but it's not a linear story, it is told from lots of different people's viewpoints and sometimes she only briefly appears in a chapter, but she has an impact on all their lives. It wasn't what I was expecting but I did enjoy the book, the descriptions of food sound amazing and I want to go to her supper club!

I decided to make one of the recipes from the book, there are a few scattered through the book and this one really stood out and now I know why. These bars are completely in contrast to most of the foodie scenes and language in the book. They are home cooking using supermarket ingredients and this appealed to me. They are also spectacular and when describing them to my friends I kept calling them crack in peanut butter and chocolate form, they are seriously addictive.

Graham crackers don't exist in the UK, you could try digestive biscuits crushed, but I have no idea what the effect would be! If anyone tries it, let me know!

Peanut Butter Bars (from Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal)

2 1/2 cups/210g crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 cup/250g melted butter
1 cup/250g peanut butter
2 1/2 cups/312g icing sugar
1 cup/175g milk chocolate chips with 1 tsp butter

Mix together the graham crackers, melted butter, peanut butter and sugar. Pat into a greased or lined 23cm x 28cm pan.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter and spread them on top of the bars. Set in the fridge until firm. Cut into bars.

Foodies Read 2016

So I don't think it'll be a surprise to anyone that I love to read. I'm a librarian! Although I do know plenty of people who work in libraries who don't read.

Anyway, combine my love of reading with my love of food and I am in heaven! So I have decided to sign up for Foodies Read 2016 and I will be challenging myself to be a Chef de Cuisine and read 14-18 food related books this year, I've just finished my first and if you look at tabs at the top of this blog there is a list of food related books, so plenty of ideas!

Basically you can read any food related book you like fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, etc, food just has to be a big part of the plot.

I'm not so good at reviews, so maybe I'll just do a mini review and cook a recipe either from the book, or of something mentioned in the book.

If you want to join in the fun, the Foodies Read Challenge is led by Heather of SpiritLife and you can read all about Foodies Read and join in by going to the sign up page.