Mexican Chocolate Fondue (Dairy-free and Sugar-free)

I wanted to try making a raw fondue for our Solstice Party, but I couldn't get my hands on any raw cacao in time (you can also put nibs in a grinder and get a good result). I resorted to using Ghiradelli unsweetened 100% cacao bar, melted it with 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil and sweetened it with enough agave until it tasted sweet enough to me (a couple tablespoons?). Flavor the fondue with a dash of ginger, cinammon and cayenne pepper.

Sooo good.

More Party Pics

Ladies! Send me your pics and I'll get them up here!

:)

Here is a view of the table. There's Michelle's shrimp cocktail, my goat cheese tart and the fairy roses I picked for the occasion.

Here's 1/2 of Carey, Carolyn, Jerusha and someone's leg. I think it's Kim's.

My Goat Cheese Tart

So, the use of goat cheese in the tart was a huge success at the Solstice Party, in my opinion. Heather, Michelle and my sister and her family cam eover yesterday and finished off the rest of it. I've already posted a link to a recipe that helped inspire my own, so here's what I did:

Goat Cheese Tart

1. First go here and follow the directions for the crust.
2. The directions for the filling are similar to the one above: Saute 1/2 - 3/4 c. chopped shallots and one clove minced garlic in a couple tbs. of extra-virgin olive oil. Add something green, chopped, about 2 cups. I used yellow-ribbed swiss chard (which is my favorite vegetable for this filling).
3. In a large bowl, whisk 3 extra-large eggs, 1/2 c. heavy cream, 1/2 c. cottage cheese and 11 oz. goat cheese (use garlic herb blend, if you want). Add a large handful of chopped basil.
4. Pour the sauteed greens into the egg mixture. Pour into prepared pie/tart crust.
5. Bake at 375 for about 1/2 hr. or until the top begins to turn golden but is still a little jggly in the middle. Sort of like jello -- set but not hard. It will cook a little more when it comes out. Let cool a bit before serving -- can be served warm or room temperature.

Party Recovery

Wow. The Solstice Party rocked once again. It was awesome to see everyone having a great time. The idea of having a tea was a great idea. I loved the little sandwiches and the scones were really good (I must get Michelle and Jerusha to send their recipes hither).

As planned, I brought a goat cheese tart (here's Ina Garten's version, mine was a little different -- will post soon), May Wine and some Mexican chocolate fondue. I made a stupid mistake with the dulce de leche, so that stayed home (I sort of forgot to cover it with foil, so it developed a crust). The white chocolate fondue was also good, but that's not really a "recipe" -- simply melt some white chocolate with heavy cream or condensed milk until you get the consistency you want.

Oh yeah, and then there was champagne . . . :D

As promised, here's my recipe for May Wine:

May Wine

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of dry white or red wine. If you choose red, avoid Cabernets or anything full-bodied. Go light.
• one bunch of fresh sweet woodruff, about 1-2 cups.
• up to 1/2 c. sugar to taste. Feel free to substitute agave, reduce the amount of sugar. Play with it.
• 1 pint of strawberries, washed, hulled
• juice of one-half lime

Directions:

• Mull the wine with the woodruff and sugar for AT LEAST one-half hour, up to 2. Do not allow the wine to boil; keep the heat very low. I use a slow-cooker.
• Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries and place in a bowl that can hold all the wine. Add the lime juice.
• When wine is finished mulling, let it cool -- using the fridge is okay.
• When cool, pour the wine into the berries and let sit in the fridge for AT LEAST another few hours. I let it sit overnight.
• Strain the wine (don't be too worried about crushing the strawberries to get all the juice out. You'll run the risk of getting pulp into the wine, which makes your guests say, "Hey, what is this stuff?" The longer you let it sit, the more the strawberry juice will leach into the wine.). Funnel back into the wine bottle and serve.

Preparing for a PARTY!

Today is the day of the 20th Annual Ladies Summer Solstice Party! I don't have much time becasue I need to do several things, but I just wanted to give a heads up on the plan. So, unlike past years, we are getting together in the afternoon for a tea, which will extend into the evening (and maybe wee hours). Since some of us have to travel a couple hours to get to the destination, and because some of those people also have small children, we chose to start the party in the afternoon to give us all enough time to really socialize. Those who can stay late and whoop it up will do so! (That will be me!)

Jerusha, the original hostess, has decided to honor the occasion with a classic English tea party, complete with a variety of teas, sandwiches, cookies and other nibbles. What a perfect way to be girly and fancy together! In addition, party-goers will be bringing other edibles and drinkables from our gardens, farm shares and kitchens. Like always, I expect that we will have way too much food!

To mark the specialness of the occasion, I want to bring my laptop and have it available for instant updates during the party! I also plan to bring a journal to have my friends write in, so that we have a keepsake that can be maintained from year to year and so that I can write a follow-up entry here at Fiddlehead. I'll need to come up with a list of questions in the journal to help jump-start the creative process. Prompts such as these might be appropriate:

• When did you first start coming to the Solstice party? What were your expectations? What were your first impressions?
• Tell one (or more) of your favorite Solstice stories.
• What do you usually bring to the party? What do you think that says about you and what people think of you? (hmm. this could be confrontational . . .)
• What was your favorite meal, cocktail or dessert?
• Why do you think the Solstice party has been so consistently observed for so long?

Finally (I thought I said this would be brief because I have things to do!), here is what I'm bringing (Recipes to be posted later when I have a minute . . . ha!):

1. May Wine. Red wine mulled with sweet woodruff and blended with crushed strawberries. I bring it every year.
2. A Rose Cava Brut from Spain -- Conde de Subirats.
3. Goat Cheese Tart. Similar to the tart I usually make but hybridized with Ina Garten's recipe.
4. Some steamed golden beets. Simply prepared, served with a little butter and s&p.
5. Dulce de leche, white chocolate fondue and Mexican dark chocolate fondue, which will be made dairy-free, sugar-free (I'll be using my fave, agave), cinammon, nutmeg and cayenne.

Well, I'm behind on schedule, so I'd better sign off! :*