Chocolate pots with Orange and Polenta Biscuits - Judy Shertzer, The Good Gourmet Cooking School Manager

Here is the dessert course from our "Cooking for the Cure" dinner party to benefit the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  The secret, according to Judy Shertzer is to use high quality Venezuelan semi sweet chocolate like our El Rey Mijao.  She did and it certainly was a memorable dessert.

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
12 oz. semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate. 
4 large egg yolks
23 tbsp dark rum
3 tbsp unsalted butter.

In a large bowl toss the spinach with the dressing, olives, pecans and orange sections and serve immediately.  Serves 8.

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream until bubbles appear around the edge.  Remove the pan from the burner, add the chocolate, let it stand for about 1 minute and then stir until smooth.

Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl and then whisk in 1/2 cup of the melted chocolate cream to temper the yolks.   Whisk constantly.  Scrape this mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly until smooth.  Stir in the rum and butter.  Pour custard into eight 1/2 cup ramekins or demi tasse cups and refrigerate until chilled - at least four hours.  Garnish each with an Orange and Polenta Biscuit (recipe below).  Serves 8.

Orange and Polenta Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups polenta or cornmeal (do not use instant variety)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt

In a food processor, combine the polenta with the butter, sugar, flour, orange zest and salt.  Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the eggs and pulse just until the dough comes together.  Transfer the dough to a bowl and refrigerate about one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.  Drop slightly rounded teaspoons of the dough on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown around the edges and on the bottoms.  Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool  Makes about 6 dozen.

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