Oh my, I do believe I have found my culinary equivalent of James McAvoy. My tastebuds are swooning, baby! I know I say this often. But I have fallen head over heels. Like Nigella says, these should definitely come with a warning. Don't make unless you have the willpower of a saint. Don't make if you're trying to portion control. Don't make if you're lonely and food seems to be your only solace these days.
I'll admit it, these days alone in Miri while awaiting my transfer, are pretty lonesome. Stirring, chopping, baking, braising seem to be my chores of choice, perfect activities to while away the hours. That, and blogging about it at all.
Back to the bars - the whole world is crazy for salt in desserts these days. And after tasting these, oh man, I can see why. There's just something about salt that makes chocolate that much more tasty, that heightens its very chocolatey intensity and makes it that much more winsome. Aargh, like I needed another addiction (I have been spending the last weekend ploughing through The Last King of Scotland, Wanted, Starter for 10, The Last Station, The Conspirator, Becoming Jane, and X-Men: First Class (twice, Atonement is too gut-wrenching to warrant repeats. Damn his good acting!)
This new one is serious, folks. I've started talking to myself about it. Like today, for instance - after eating two 2-inch bars (and they are super rich), I think I want another one. No you can't have another one, you'd be cancelling out yesterday's workout. And the ,day after's tomorrow's too. But my lunch was practically no-fat! But you're not even hungry. OK, just a little piece that you "accidentally" broke off. Oh man that was good. Oh well, that piece just looks ugly and doesn't fit in with the rest. I better put it out of its misery. You see what I mean? ??
To add further insult to injury, these are spectacularly easy to make. Trust Nigella to make sure of that, ya?
I made my own salted peanuts for this recipe - roasted them like usual, then tossed them in a hot pan of melted butter and sprinkled a pinch of sea salt flakes over. Also, since I had a pack of salted cashews and macadamias so I thwacked it a bit with a pestle and dumped the contents into the mix. I also used my amaretti that I bought from back from Venice, which turned out to be too sweet to eat by themselves anyways, in place of Nigella's advocated Nestle Crunch (aka golden honeycomb) bars. Oh, and I used all dark chocolate (70% cocoa ) instead of a combination of milk and dark.
Here's Nigella's recipe,from her book and my trusted companion these days, Kitchen.
Sweet and Salty Nut Crunch Bars
Ingredients
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or 1 heaping cup chips)
4 ounces milk chocolate (or 1/2 cup chips) (or 11 ounces milk chocolate instead) - I used all dark1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons golden syrup (recommended: Lyle's) - I omitted this, they came out OK2 1/4 cups salted peanuts - I used my own homemade roasted salted peanuts, plus a bit of salted nut mix that I had - I think they added a lot of nice additional contrast - buttery macadamia, super crunchy almonds
6 ounces honeycomb candy - I used amaretti. I think these are much nicer than honeycomb - less sweet and more crunch, less sticky on the teeth too
Special equipment: 1 (10-inch) springform pan or 1 rectangular aluminum foil pan approx. 13 by 9 by 2 inches - I used a silicone pan
Line your springform pan with aluminum foil or use a foil pan.
Break up or chop the chocolate into pieces, and drop into a heavy-based saucepan. Add the butter and syrup, put on a low heat, and melt gently together.
Tip the peanuts into a bowl, and crush the honeycomb candy with your hands, letting the golden-glinting rubble fall into the nuts.
Take the melted chocolate mixture off the heat and stir in the peanuts and crushed honeycomb candy, then tip straight into the springform pan or foil pan. Smooth the top of the mixture as much as you can, pressing down with a silicon spatula or vinyl-disposable-gloved hand. Put into the refrigerator for about 4 hours, and once set, cut into slices as desired.
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