spicy chocolate love

If you are ever in El Castillo, Costa Rica, near Arenal, follow the hand painted road signs to Pizza John’s.  Down a gravel road and through a a garden hedge you will stumble upon some of the best pizza anywhere, ever.  (Including New York, Chicago, and Italy.)

We wandered in from the road like strangers through a saloon door in an old western movie, but once the delightfully eccentric host  passed out pies and shots and really delicious Missouri style BBQ to the communal table, the Colonel, the multiple Robertos, the Earp brothers, the lawman, and Taco the Dog, “todos éramos hermanos”.

Like the volcano itself, that night took my breath away.  An amazing moment of conviviality, sharing a love of, and love through, good food.  The only thing lacking was a singalong.  But sadly, no one knew how to play the guitar.

These chocolate covered jellies are an experiment in bringing together an assortment of seemingly unrelated flavors and turning it into a party in your mouth.  Plus, with the dark chocolate outside and the bright sriracha inside, they sort of look like a volcano.

Volcanos (Bourbon Sriracha Honey Jellies)

Because the jellies need time to gel, I like to make them a day ahead of time. Makes 2-3 dozen depending on size.

Ingredients:

• vegetable oil
• 5 (1/4 oz.) packets unflavored gelatin
• 3/4 cup bourbon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha
• 1 cup honey
• 6 oz dark chocolate
• 2 Tbs vegetable shortening

Rub a silicon chocolate mold (or ice cube tray) with a light coating of oil.  Set aside.  Place gelatin in a small bowl with 1 cup cold water.  Set aside.  In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine bourbon, sriracha, and honey over low heat. Whisk until mixture is smooth.  Add gelatin mixture.  Bring to a low boil, remove from heat and pour into prepared mold.  Refrigerate overnight or until firm, about 2 hours.

Remove jellies from mold.  In a double boiler, melt chocolate and mix in shortening.  Let chocolate cool for about 15 minutes to avoid melting jellies.  Coat jellies and place on a sheet of parchment or silicon mat until chocolate hardens.  Enjoy!