Past Newsletters - Nov 2008

We're Thankful for Chocolate Lovers!

Thanksgiving is so much more than overindulging in foods galore. It's a day to appreciate and celebrate the bounty that the year has brought us. We at C&H Monthly Clubs are thankful for you. Whether you've been a member for some time or you're new to the club, we want to say how grateful we are and reiterate our pledge to always serve you well. We are blessed via the opportunity to share our hand-selected, sought-after, personal-favorite products to you, your family and friends. Your satisfaction is our passion. We wish you and those who are dear to you a Happy Thanksgiving and, again, thank you.

As far as we're concerned—and as our long time members will certainly attest—there's no better example of a culinary cornucopia than our Chocolate of the Month Club. If you're a new member and have received this month's shipment as a gift, show your appreciation to the giver by sending them a membership in one or more of our six monthly clubs. From gourmet chocolates to boutique wines, to microbrewed domestic and international beers, to premium hand-rolled cigars or fresh-cut flowers, our clubs are a wonderful way to say you care. Thanksgiving is the beginning of the busy holiday season. CALL US, and our customer service representatives will help you design the perfect gift to suit any taste—and pocketbook.

Torn Ranch – Corralling Wild and Wonderful Edibles

This month we're proud to introduce members to Torn Ranch, a manufacturer and purveyor of gourmet specialty chocolates and other specialty foods. Fittingly, they're nestled In Novato, California, in Marin County, between San Francisco and the Napa Valley. Using dried fruits and nuts from California's lush, fertile valleys, they handcraft some of the finest chocolates and baked goods in all of California, a state that's been on the leading edge of fine edibles for decades now.

Torn Ranch's beginnings were humble. They started as a gourmet retail store renowned for jumbo cashews. As a way of welcoming customers, the owner (his name really was Torn) placed a warmed jumbo cashew in each customer's hand. Eventually, the demand for his gourmet specialty products expanded so much that the Torn Ranch retail store was closed, and sales expanded via the rapidly developing wholesale gourmet specialty market.

New Leadership, New Direction, New Technology, Same High Standards

Today, under the leadership of owners Dean and Sue Morrow, Torn Ranch's gourmet specialties are known far and wide, and Dean and Sue are equally well known as leaders and innovators in the gourmet industry. One of their innovations was developing the process to successfully infuse tea into chocolate, specifically green tea, but that was just the beginning of their "infusion madness." Mastering that technology garnered Torn Ranch the attention of the media: they were written up in the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report, among other publications.

Members of Chocolate of the Month Club get to experience the delicious result with November's unique assortment of chocolates. Beyond delicious, we like to think there are health benefits, too—consuming two "foods" (green tea and chocolate) known to be antioxidants. In case you need reminding, antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Damage from free radicals may lead to cancer. We're not seriously suggesting that, by replacing your apple a day with this month's dark chocolate and green tea bar, you'll keep the doctor away. We're simply offering the information to assuage any tinge of guilt some may have about ingesting sugar or calories. Finally, guilt-free chocolate!

To satisfy the national demand for their unique products, Torn Ranch now has over 100 employees, many of them among the best chocolatiers in a region known for artisan chocolates. They maintain an unparalleled commitment to the highest standards of product quality. Torn Ranch sells only to high-end retailers, so we feel fortunate to be able to offer our members a sampling of their chocolate products six chocolati biscotti wedges, a milk chocolate truffle bar, and their famous green tea and dark chocolate bar.

Chocolati Biscotti Wedges – a Veritable Wheel of Fortune

In this month's shipment you'll find a variety of pie-slice shaped chocolate wedges, each separately boxed and wrapped separately for freshness. The wedges consist of pure milk or dark chocolate infused with sprinkles of Torn Ranch's crispy biscotti and fruit and/or other flavorings. Enjoy:

• Champagne Apricot Chocolati Biscotti – This one, made with milk chocolate, has a subtle milk chocolate scent with a detectable whiff of champagne. Take a bite and discover a wonderful combination of crunchy biscotti texture and the flavor of apricots and chocolate. What a concept!
• Dark Chocolate Café Chocolati Biscotti – The smell of this one transports you to a fantasy boutique—your favorite high end coffee shop combined with your favorite chocolate store. The taste of rich dark chocolate predominates.
• Orange Chocolate Chocolati Biscotti – Sniff this milk chocolate piece, and visions of orange slices dance in your head. Taste it and enjoy the crunchy texture and the perfect balance of orange-chocolate flavors.
• Mint Chocolate Chocolati Biscotti – One whiff of this wedge and you'll think you've died and gone to Girl Scout Mint Cookie heaven. But the inside is even better than their mint cookies—pure dark chocolate infused with cool, green mint.
• Raspberry Chocolate Chocolati Biscotti –This wedge smells of raspberry and dark chocolate equally. They seem to compete for dominance. The taste is divine—the dark chocolate taste predominates, but the raspberry taste is a close second.
• Cappucino Chocolate Chocolati Biscotti – Unwrap this wedge, and the aroma of dark chocolate and dark coffee emanates. Taste it, and the taste of pure dark chocolate is dominant; the coffee taste more subtle.

Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar

The Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar is a wonderful example of Torn Ranch's innovative style. As club members may know, truffles are typically made in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. But Torn Ranch has molded the ganache center, characteristic of truffles, into a bar and wrapped it with a creamy, supple, milk chocolate coating. The result is delicious and, for your enjoyment pleasure, there's more of it than is typical of a much smaller, standard truffle! This bar would pair wonderfully with a Red Zinfandel such as Sonoma's Valley of the Moon, which our International Wine of the Month Club members are receiving this month. Given that Sonoma is in Torn Ranch's backyard, perhaps owners Dean and Sue Morrow created this bar with that in mind? Not a Wine of the Month Club member? Call us; we can fix that. Or you can enjoy the Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar with your favorite Red Zin or Merlot.

Green Tea Dark Chocolate Bar

Rich in antioxidants and acclaimed for its taste, this is the chocolate bar that made headlines because infusing tea with chocolate hadn't been done before. Smell it and you know the scent is unique—a little like those Mint Girl Scout Cookies again but without the scent of mint. Take another whiff and sure enough, you smell green tea. But when you taste it, there's no mistaking it. You're eating green tea—or at least the taste of green tea. It predominates along with the essence of jasmine and dark chocolate.
Pair the Green Tea Dark Chocolate Bar with an oaky Chardonnay, and your palate will be blown away!

All Good Things Must Come to an End – When Your Torn Ranch Treats Are Gone

Since most people don't have the expertise to infuse chocolate with biscotti, the next best thing we ordinary folk can do is to pair our chocolate with biscotti. So we offer a favorite classic recipe. We have yet to have anyone report these are not well worth the effort. And it's not all that difficult! In the spirit of the holidays, our recipe yields about five dozen biscotti in case you want to share them with family and friends. You can, of course, cut the recipe in half.

Almond Biscotti

3 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
4 large eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 cups flour
2-1/2 cups almonds, toasted & coarsely chopped
1-1/2 cups dried tart cherries (optional)

• Position a rack in center and a rack in top third of an oven preheated to 325 degrees.
• With a mixer, beat sugar and butter in very large bowl until well blended.
• Beat eggs in one at a time.
• Mix in baking soda and salt.
• Add three cups of the flour, the nuts and dried cherries, if using, and stir until well blended.
• Add the remaining three cups of flour, one cup at a time, stirring until very well incorporated. This takes some muscle, but the end result is worth the effort.
• Transfer dough to a large, floured work surface and divide into four equal parts.
• Knead each piece until dough holds together well, and form each into a log, 9 inches long and 3 inches wide.
• Line two ungreased cookie/baking sheets with either a Silpat baking liner or parchment paper. It's important to use heavy cookie sheets.
• Place two logs on one cookie sheet about three inches apart. (The logs will spread when baking). Do the same with the other two.
• Bake until logs are golden and feel firm when tops are gently pressed, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking, about 55 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheets for 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.
• Using long wide spatula, transfer logs to cutting board and, with a serrated knife, cut the warm logs crosswise into ½-inch thick slices. Arrange slices cut side down on two or more baking sheets that have been lined with parchment or Silpat.
• Bake the biscotti 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake 10 minutes longer or until light golden. Do not overbake. Transfer the finished biscotti to racks and cool completely.
• Finally—an idea we Chocolate of the Month Club members will love—melt some bittersweet chocolate over hot water and dip one side of each biscotti into it about ¼ inch. Put on a rack and refrigerate until the chocolate is firm. Dust with cocoa powder.