Recipe for a romantic evening...

Vianne's Spiced Hot Chocolate
     (serves 2)

• 1 2/3 cups milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 hot red chile, halved and seeded
• 3 1/2 ounces bittersweet (70 percent) chocolate
• brown sugar to taste (optional)
• whipped cream, chocolate curls, cognac or Amaretto to serve

• Place the milk in a saucepan, add the vanilla bean, cinnamon stick and chile and gently bring it to a shivering simmer for 1 minute.
• Grate the chocolate and whisk it in until it melts.
• If you must, then add brown sugar, but do try without it.
• Take off the heat and allow it to infuse for 10 minutes,then remove the vanilla, cinnamon and chile.
• Return to the heat and bring gently back to a simmer.
• Serve in mugs topped with whipped cream, chocolate curls or a dash of cognac or Amaretto.

recipe page 237, My French Country Kitchen

click link below to view book:

My French Kitchen - A book of 120 Treasured Recipes 

by Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat) (us) - see other country links below)  Harris encourages cooks to engage all their senses when cooking -look at what you're cooking, smell the ingredients, mix them with your fingers, and enjoy their sounds and textures.  Cooking she reminds us, is about as close to magic as modern society allows:  to take a handful of simple, fresh ingredients and turn them into something wonderful, otherworldly.

The 120 recipes include French classics such as Onion Soup and Onion Tart, Coq au Vin, and Créme Brûlée, as well as family favorites like Anouchka's Chile Garlic Bread, Great-Aunt Simone's Marinated Tuna and Great-Aunt Marinette's Slow Fudge Sauce.  And, of course, there's an entire chapter devoted to chocolate -cakes, meringues, and spiced hot chocolate. -excerpt from the book's description, Amazon.

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"Chocolat" movie still, Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche

music from this scene:  "Caravan"

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Enjoy!

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image 1, movie still by lb

image 2, movie still via IMDb

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