Cochon Restaurant, pseudo-reviewed

I recently had an amazing dinner at Cochon Restaurant. Known for "Cajun Southern Cooking", my friend Bruce and I shared appetizers of grilled oysters drizzled with a spicy oil, and stuffed crab shell with thin garlic toast. For dinner I had a spectacular catfish filet court bouillion, while Bruce had the fish on a half shell - served in skin and scales, so the fish easily flakes off the "shell". But I did not take notes on the meal, or pictures, so I can't provide a full restaurant review. Instead, I will share with you my memory of the dessert, which well symbolizes the excellence and inspiration at this restaurant.

Simply labeled as chocolate and chickory custard with whipped cream and cayenne pepper, it would be easy to expect little from the dessert, especially when it arrived in an unassuming Mason jar - maybe the presentation could be altered, but it would come at the expense of the surprising intensity of what lays within the jar.

Chocolate with peppery heat is everywhere lately: spicy cinnamon or cayenne hot cocoa, high-end dark chocolate bars with chiles, etc. Cochon capitalizes on this trend by combining a simple dessert, chocolate custard, with flecks of cayenne pepper, in perfect balance. A dollop of whipped cream adds richness, while staying true to the roots of New Orleans cuisine, by the subtle influence of chickory - reminding you that this dessert won't be found anywhere else on the planet. And then, just when all seems perfect, the taste and crunch of a fleck of rock salt shocks the mouth to life. Salt chocolates and salt caramels have similarly become ubiquitous recently - it seems that everyone is experimenting with chocolate and seasonings. Cochon took these trends, and juxtaposed of all these flavors into one small jar: sweet whipped cream, rich chocolate, distinctly New Orleans chickory, spicy flecks of cayenne, and the unexpected, invisible impact of the salt. It made for one of the most simply inspired desserts I've experienced.

On top of this, Cochon suggests dessert beverage pairings, and I went with their recommendation of a ruby red Italian dessert wine, slightly frizzante (bubbly). Initially it had a taste of plum, reminiscent of tawny port. But the dark flavors of the wine disappeared once the taste of the chocolaty dessert was in my mouth, and rich, red fruit flavors of strawberry sweetness emerged from the wine.

This is the kind of dessert experience that makes a restaurant. And that's why on a Thursday night, in the slow season, every table was full.

What to do with fondue

I recently made chocolate fondue, and was struck by the lack of info on what to do with the leftover fondue. A google search revealed little, except for a rather disturbing mention by a caterer that chocolate fountains in which guests have dipped food can be reused at other events (while they did mention that this is somewhat unethical, they did not mention that it's completely disgusting).

A quick look at Joy of Cooking found that their chocolate covered banana recipe can be made using fondue - so I did.

But I still had plenty of fondue left, and no idea what to do with it. So I started looking around the kitchen while dipping bananas. I had some almonds - now they are dipped. Tonight I decided to make macaroons using the recipe from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper. Options to the recipe include adding bittersweet cocoa powder, or semi-sweet chocolate chips. I decided I could slightly cut back on the sugar in the recipe, and use my fondue in the recipe (the added liquid was also offset by the handful of slivered almonds I added). Here's the modified version of my recipe, and a picture of the final creation, topped with one of those chocolate-dipped almonds.



Chocolate Almond Macaroons
2 jumbo eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 t almond extract
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup slivered almonds
3 T chocolate fondue

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and almond extract. Mix in the coconut (a cup at a time). Mix in almonds and chocolate fondue. Dollop spoonfuls of macaroon mix onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 20 minutes.