Brother's Beer Bistro

Hello foodies!

The Ottawa restaurant scene has become more exciting over the last couple of years.  I have a list of restaurants I am making my way through.  New places I want to try always being added as others get crossed off. Today, I want to talk about Brother's Beer Bistro.

The atmosphere is relaxed.  Big windows, so the space is fairly bright (I was there for lunch both times), exposed brick walls for that factory/industrial vibe.  Servers are friendly.  It can be a little slow, particularly when waiting for the bill, but that is really my only (small) complaint.

As you may be able to guess from the name of the restaurant, Brother's is all about the beer.  They have an extensive beer list.  They make beer cocktails.  Each dish has a recommended beer pairing. Every dish has beer as an ingredient in some way (although they can make many of their dishes beer-free to accommodate dietary or religious restrictions).  Their website has a blog about beer.  So if you like beer......

If you don't like beer, I'd argue that you just haven't tried enough of it, because as this place so ably demonstrates, there is a beer out there for everyone.  The servers are extremely knowledgeable, and are more than happy to make a recommendation.  The server I had for both my visits gets extra points because he explained what I could expect flavour-wise from the recommended pairing:  banana.  To me, this is an abomination. But the fact that he explained the product so thoroughly allowed me to nix the standard pairing, and I was completely happy with the alternative he provided.

Now, the food.  It was interesting and creative.  On my first visit, I ordered short rib carpaccio.

This dish has a lot going on, and all of it good.  First, there is the meat.  Cold, flavourful, quality beef short rib sliced paper thin.  Beautiful texture (I find with raw preparations of both meat and fish, texture is almost more important than taste).  Excellent olive oil.  Little sprouts.  There were little cubes of cold root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, they provided a nice counterpoint.  Most interesting was the crunch aspect: crispy pie dough. As someone who often finds the crust the best part of a pie, this appealed.

On a different visit, I opted for charcuterie:

Visually beautiful, I appreciated this dish greatly.  It was an excellent combination of unctuous fat from the meat, aggressive acidity from the various pickles, and cooking neutrality from the cheese.

Another dish I tried was the smoked mackerel panzanelle:

 

Lots of interest here.  What is most interesting is what is missing:  the bread/crouton.  A panzanelle is, by definition, about the stale bread.  They handled the mistake well, offering to remake the salad.  I declined, as I had a later engagement.  And really, the salad was great even without the bread.

Returning to my first visit, there was the dessert:

 

The PB&J.  As I have mentioned before, I am not a dessert person. But, on m first visit I ordered only one dish, so I felt the need to order dessert for blogging purposes.  The dessert gets mixed reviews.  The chocolate and peanut butter pot au creme was amazing.  Lovely texture.  Nicely complimented by the salty caramel corn.  The cookie with strawberry jam was less successful.  It didn't match conceptually or texturally with the pot au creme.  It was a distraction from the main event.  The pot au creme was truly lovely:  smooth texture, intense flavour.  The cookie and jam just didn't add to the dessert as a whole.

All in all, Brother`s gets a positive review.  When I am looking for a place for an evening out, it is now one of the places I automatically check.  Therefore, I recommend that you check it out, too.

Follow me on twitter: @culinarykira

Atelier

Hello Foodies,

Molecular gastronomy.  Modern food.  Food where creative chefs play with techniques to create the unexpected.  Different textures and shapes.  Surprising combinations.  Food that looks like one thing but tastes like another.  Stunning presentations.

For the last few years, Atelier has been serving up this kind of food.  It is my favourite special occasion place in Ottawa.  When you arrive at the building, it is a little confusing.  There is little to nothing commercial around it.  There is also no helpful sign indicating that you've found the right place.  The restaurant is small - it only seats around 20 people.  There are reasons for this.  Each dish is highly technical, with many different components.  The small, intimate setting allows for careful, attentive (but not intrusive) service.  The combined effect of the unsigned building and the limited seating creates a sense of exclusivity, like you're a part of a secret club that is in the know.

Atelier serves a 12 course prix fixe menu.  There is no standard menu to order from.  The diners do not choose what they eat - they are in the chef's hands. Atelier will accommodate allergies, dietary restrictions and strong food preferences by adapting the necessary dishes if you provide notice when making the reservation (and reservations are essential).  The dishes have witty, whimsical names that always get a smile out of me.  The menu card does not have descriptions of what you will be eating.  Sometimes you can tell from the title of the dish what one of the components will be - for example, Feeling Crabby.  Sometimes you cannot, as with A Relative Nature of Existence.  The server explains each dish in detail when it is brought to you.  For the adventurous, this lack of foreknowledge of what is come, the lack of control over what you'll be eating is exhilarating.  For others, it can be stressful.  This is not an inexpensive meal, so an open mind going in is a must.

And now, the food.  There will be many pictures and few words.

The amuse:

On the right is a sphere of liquid with pop rocks on it.  To the left, a little cornmeal cake and some ham.

Feeling Crabby:

A Relative Nature of Existence:

The same dish in two sizes.  Scallops, radishes, creme fraiche and other goodies.

Denzel Squashington, a butternut squash soup, with sweetbreads and other delights in it.  The bowl with the additions is brought to you, and then the soup poured in at the table.

Squid Pro Quo.  Particularly interesting because of different squids used - one meaty chunk was Humboldt squid.

Dashi Through the Snow, another two-parter, where a dashi brother is poured over sablefish and accompaniments.  For the dashi/sablefish combo, my favourite is still Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver.

Next, Carroty Chop, a rustic carrot salad served on a tree section.  This was actually two servings, shared with my dining companion.

Porks and Quarks.  A fun dish to look at and eat.  Buried under that nesty looking thing (a spaetzle or sorts) was some very nice tenderloin.

Winner Winner, another multi-component meat dish.

Next, and interesting dish called Bisontennial.  Served under a cloche to maintain the smoke, the cloche is lifted giving you a rush of fragrance and the most perfectly cooked bison.  Something new for me in this dish was crispy, puffed tendon.

Moving into dessert, we have This is a Stick Up.  A nitro-frozen lollipop-style dessert, served sticking out of a peculiar pine cone.

Fifty Shades of Brown.  Peanut butter, chocolate, caramel, little dollops of fruity puree.

And finally, Clove Minded.  A deconstructed apple pie/crumble of sorts.

I must say, I didn't post this nearly as soon as I should have - it was in November that I went.  And now, reliving the evening through the pictures, I want to go again!  Now, the menu would be mostly, if not completely changed, as we start to move in to spring.  I have to set up another visit soon.

Follow me on Twitter. @culinarykira

Afternoon tea

Hello foodies,

Yesterday, I enjoyed an elegant, traditional tea at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier.  In addition to providing luxe accommodations and overall service, many of their locations also serve an afternoon tea.  Tea, scones, clotted cream, jam, pastries, and small savoury sandwiches. Yes, it is pretentious.  And girly.  But if you enjoy an upscale atmosphere with a light repast and a companion whose company you enjoy, it is a delightful afternoon.

I have enjoyed several Fairmont teas across the country.  Lake Louise (unparallelled scenery), the Royal York, Mont Tremblant...  It is always a pleasant time.

Sunday was no exception.  The lounge where the tea is served has high ceilings, large windows, comfortable seating. Pristine linen table cloths and napkins, fine china.  Soothing instrumental music is played. All the expected details are there.  There is nothing to interfere with witty conversation that inevitably rises to the occasion.

There are three choices as far as service goes:  the traditional, the Canadian tea, and, for children, the prince or princess tea.  Since no children were involved on this outing, I can only speak to the traditional and Canadian teas.  I opted for the Canadian, my friend A for the traditional.  The main difference between the two were the opener:  my strawberries marinated in ice wine and A's basic melon laden fruit cup.

The strawberries were perfect.  None of the greenness, hardness or tastelessness you expect of strawberries in January.  The ice wine was subtle, not lending the often harsh alcohol content often experienced when there is no cooking involved.  All in all, this was a perfect start.

Then arrived the tea.  There is a wide tea selection.  Blacks, herbals, greens, fruit teas.  During the week they actually wheel a cart around the dining room, but on weekends it is often to busy to accommodate this. I, as always, chose Lapsang Souchong, a somewhat unusual Chinese black tea with a distinctive, smokey flavour.  I am not a big tea drinker.  I generally find herbal teas to be either bland, slightly flavoured water at best, or unpleasant boiled grass at worst (I despise chamomile), or, where black tea is concerned, it is often overpowered with tannin.  For me, the Lapsang Souchong offers a pronounced, yet pleasant flavour.  I take my tea without accompaniments.  No milk, no sugar.

Then, the traditional tea tray.

Scones on the bottom, then savouries, then sweets.  I was too determined to get to the scones and actually forgot my picture taking obligations, so here you see only one scone.  In reality, there were two:  one blueberry, one plain.  A's tea came with a cranberry and plain.

Served with clotted cream and delightful strawberry preserves, in my opinion, this is the culinary highlight of the meal.  The cream is not sweet, and is heavier, more buttery than the whipped cream we're all familiar with, and works well with the strawberry jam, which has a lovely berry flavour, but is also not overwhelmingly sweet.  The scones themselves are a perfect tender texture.  All in all the trio is perfectly balanced for maximum enjoyment.

Generally, the next step would be the savouries.  But I am a student of the school of save the best for last, and for me, dessert is never the best part of a meal.  So after the scones, I moved on to the sweets.

Here we have a berry and custard tart (my favourite), a maple tartlet (far too sweet for my personal taste, though I can see it being a delight to many), and a tea cake (not bad at all - nice blend of textures through the layers, with coffee and maple flavourings).  My sweets differed from the traditional tea in the maple flavouring.  A's tray also had a berry tart, but other offerings.

I ended with the savouries.  A's tray contained the more traditional "salad" sandwiches, mine, for $7 more, had more luxurious ingredients.

The cucumber and cream cheese (lower right hand) is a nod to the traditional.  Going clockwise from there, there is a medium roast quality beef with a pickled onion and horseradish sauce, a curried chicken salad (curry chicken very nice - not overwhelming, but present and satisfying), and smoked salmon with caper.  Cucumber was my least favourite, the other three all had things to recommend, though a day later, the curried chicken sticks most firmly in my mind - good texture, excellent flavour.

Afternoon tea is a bit of a splurge.  $32 for the traditional, $39 for the Canadian.  But it is also An Experience, and one that, if you have a venue in the area offering it, is well worth checking out of you have an afternoon to spare.  For me, it is an annual indulgence.  I am lucky to have a couple of friends who enjoy the tradition as much as I!

For updates, follow me on twitter! @culinarykira

Let it go, man! Or, polenta success!

Hello foodies,

Last summer, in this blog, I identified mastering polenta as one of my cooking objectives for the coming winter.  And now, I am happy to report that as of January 13, 2014, I have achieved the desired result!

Soft, creamy polenta, the starting point, has never been the issue.  Soft polenta is incredibly easy to make.  A 4:1 ratio of water:cornmeal, then add whatever butter, cheese, seasonings you want.  Yes, there is labour involved; it needs to be lovingly stirred to get a nice texture.  But the requirement to stir does not equal difficulty.  Where I had, previously, consistently, failed is in making a crispy polenta.  While I like soft polenta, I LOVE crispy polenta.

Last weekend, wanting to take my brand new enamelled cast iron dutch oven, a Christmas gift from baby brother K, for a spin, I made braised beef short ribs.  To accompany them, I went with a soft polenta and wilted chard.

I was very pleased with this dish.  On top of being fairly pretty, the three components worked well together. Ribs, browned and braised with red wine, bacon, carrots garlic, leeks, onion, thyme, rosemary, and a bit of hot sauce, were tender and flavourful.  The wilted chard, slightly crisped on some edges, was both fresh and refreshing.  The polenta, enriched with an (un)healthy dose of butter, plus a good chevre (goat cheese), was tangy, corny and delightful  Really, the meal was an unqualified success.

(Aside: cast iron casserole/dutch oven is AWESOME.  Excellent, even cooking, easy to clean. Mine is Lagostina, and oval in shape.  While round might be more ideal, I still cannot rave enough about the virtues of an enamelled cast iron casserole.)

After this delectable meal, I was left with some polenta.  As anyone who has ever made polenta before knows, as it cools, it firms up.  So even a soft polenta, a 4:1 ratio, as I made, cools to a fairly solid mass.  A mass that can be cut into slabs and fried to golden, crispy perfection.

The key, I have found, after much trial and error, is patience.  On several previous occasions, I have cut slabs of leftover polenta, popped them into olive oiled pans, or under broilers, and hoped for a crispy result.  I had been consistently disappointed until Monday.  On Monday, after placing the slabs in a heated pan with some olive oil, I became distracted and left the pan longer than I had historically.  I returned, worried that I had ruined the polenta, only to discover that the pan-facing side was perfect.  The desired crispy golden crust was achieved, reinforcing the structural integrity needed to flip the slab without it dissolving into a shapeless, oily mess.  I left the other side to cook a comparable length of time, and the result was my polenta holy grail: crispy and textured on the outside, decadent and creamy on the inside.  The key to the perfect crispy polenta was to just let it go.  Don't fuss with it too much when it is in the pan.  Have the confidence to let it establish its crust, and then flip and let the other side go.  The result is a delightful side that is treat with many meals, and an alternative to the potato-pasta starch dichotomy.  Polenta is cheap and versatile; seasonings and cheeses can completely alter the flavour profile, making it a constant adventure.  If it is not part of your repertoire, I recommend going forth and experimenting.

Simple instructions:

4:1 ratio, water to cornmeal

Bring water to a boil.  Pour cornmeal in using a thin stream, whisking all the while.  Reduce heat to medium, and stir regularly to avoid lumps and achieve the desired consistency.  As it cooks, add salt and taste to achieve the desired seasoning.  Once the desired consistency is reached, stir in equal parts butter and cheese of your preference to taste.  With 1 c of cornmeal, I used 1/3 c each of butter and chevre.

Polenta is fairly forgiving.  Experiment with butter, cheese, herbs and spices to get your personal perfect polenta.  It can be made stiffer by using less water, and to this you can add chunks of sausage or other savoury ingredients.

To fry:

Let chill and then cut into slabs approximately 2 cm (a little less than an inch) thick.  Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan, then add the polenta cakes and let cook 7-10 minutes per side.  Season to taste and enjoy!

For updates, follow me on twitter!  @culinarykira

The Courtyard

Hello foodies,

Once again, I have been remiss.  But the busy holiday season is over, and I hope to post on a more regular schedule.  Rest assured, though I haven't been posting, I have been eating and taking pictures, and noting the thoughts that I want to share.

Today, I would like post a review of one of my favourite special occasion spots in Ottawa - The Courtyard.

I have been to The Courtyard intermittently over the years.  It has always been a place with nice atmosphere, good food, and good service.  Nice for a special occasion, but doesn't break the bank.  A few years ago, after a kitchen fire, they took the opportunity to refocus on creative, beautiful food, as I discovered on a trip there in January 2012.  That particular meal remains a highlight in my great meal memory bank.

On this most recent visit, I enjoyed the dinner.  It didn't reach the stunning heights of previous meals, but I still appreciated the quality ingredients, diverse cooking techniques, and attention to detail.

A word first on location and ambiance - to set the stage, so to speak.  The Courtyard is located in the Byward Market, in, you guessed it, a courtyard, where the open space is shared with Social, The Black Tomato, and Mama Grazzi's.  The Courtyard itself is located in an old stone building that features as part of Ottawa's haunted walk due to a history of people glimpsing a wandering Victorian woman in an upstairs window, supposedly the ghost of a woman who died in a fire many years ago.  The stone walls and high beamed ceilings give that exclusive, old world feel inside, and there are several different dining areas that run the gamut from cozy and intimate to open and spacious.

On this night, back in November, I went with frequent dining companion, L.  First up, my appetizer:

Beef cheeks in a bordelaise sauce, red wine braised onions and chives, confit potatoes, and salt cured foie gras.  The portion, as you can see, was small, but that was more than okay because of the layers and layers of richness involved.  At the bottom, you see the beef cheeks.  They had a soft, melting texture, and a great, beefy flavour.  The cheeks of almost any animal are one of my very favourite cuts, because, being a working muscle, they are so very flavourful.  Particularly suited to long, slow cooking techniques, in this case, they were cooked sous vide - that is, vacuum sealed in plastic and immersed in a water circulator at a low temperature for a long, long time: 12 hours.  Atop that, the confit potato, crispy, taking on the flavour from the duck fat in which it was confited, added texture to an otherwise all-soft dish.  The the red wine braised onions and chives, the sharpness of the onion cutting through the richness of the rest of the dish.  And finally, the jewel in the crown that was this dish, the foie gras.  Cool, creamy, unctuous.  I am a sucker for foie gras on a menu.

L's appetizer was scallops, with Jerusalem artichoke, watermelon and onion puree.  It looked beautiful, and L reported that the scallops were perfectly cooked and the dish was overall satisfying.

Normally, I try to balance my meal - if I go heavy and rich with the appeitzer, I try to go lighter and more acidic with the main.  Or I try to significantly change up the proteins to get a more varied experience.  This time, I was seduced into staying in the same vein by the words "sage polenta," which accompanied the elk (along with duck fat roasted carrots, Brussels sprouts, and onions, and a sour cherry sauce).  I've mentioned before my passion for polenta.

This was also a great dish, though, like the appetizer, rich and heavy.  Elk can be tricky - it dries out and toughens if it is cooked a moment too long, or not rested appropriately.  It is a very lean meat, and the leaner the meat, the more unforgiving it is to cook.  This was done very well, the elk moist and flavourful, the sour cherry sauce a nice counterpoint to the richness of the meat and duck fat roasted veg.  The polenta was soft, and the sage fit beautifully with the meat and sauce.  It wasn't the best polenta I have ever had, but it was a solid and satisfying version.  The polenta also had pecornio cheese, a hard sheep's milk cheese that is, increasingly, one of my favourites - blasphemy though this might be, I prefer it to parmigiano-reggiano.

L's main was somewhat of a disappointment to her.  The halibut was well cooked and delightful, but she found the risotto to have a cheez-whiz texture and flavour that was out of place and off-putting.  Visually, I would agree that it was the least appealing plate of the night, with that medium brown stripe of onion puree running across the plate.

The Courtyard is one of the few places where desserts routinely tempt me.  This is because of the interesting combination of flavours and textures on their plates, and the regular inclusion of herbal elements that, for me, are an essential counter to all the sugar.  Tonight, I went for the roasted plum and port semifreddo, with spiced balsamic reduction, candied pecan crumble, basil, and maple caramel biscotti.

You can see the attention to detail that goes into the plating.  L thought the semifreddo looked suspiciously like spam, but since I have never encountered spam in real life, this did not bother me.  The taste of the semifreddo was sharp and tart - aggressively so, but also refreshing after the richness of my earlier plates, and the basil nicely neutralized that sharpness between bites.  I found the portion far too large - one log of semifreddo was quite enough for me - and I was not fond of the jammy bits you see in the picture.

All in all, it was a very good meal.  Not the very best I have had there, but there were so many things that were done so well.  I recommend the tasting menu for people who are adventurous (that is what I had during my January 2012 visit).  In addition, they have a very affordable lunch menu for those not sure they want to commit $60 per person to dinner (without liquor).  I truly do feel that this place is under-recognized for the creativity and flair they exhibit, and I, personally, place The Courtyard among Ottawa's very best restaurants.

For updates and observations, follow me on twitter:  @culinarykira

Gezellig

Hello foodies,

I have been derelict recently.  Busy at work, battling carpal tunnel syndrome, and basically not wanting to be in front of a computer when I get home. I have, however, taken this time to visit a number of restaurants and prepare for some reviews.  The first: Gezellig.

Gezellig is the sister restaurant of Play (my favourite restaurant, as I outlined in my very first restaurant review), and has been open for a little over a year.  As such, I expect awesome.  And when I have been there, I have not been disappointed.  There is a different vibe to Gezellig.  The food has a different feel/character.  Less edgy and occasionally experimental, but no less well thought out, balanced, and satisfying.  Gezellig is suburban, located in Ottawa's trendy Westboro neighbourhood, and the menu reflects that:  chic comfort food for refined palates.  Many of the things on the menu you can find elsewhere - they're just done better here, often with a twist that makes it interesting.

The atmosphere: it is a bright, airy space. Two story windows let in a lot of light (when it is light outside), and make it feel larger than it actually is when it is dark.  The service is impeccable, as it is at both the affiliated Play and Beckta.

At lunch, the focus on small plates, and have a 2 for $20 special.  As I have said before, I love this.  I allows me to try more. At dinner, they split the menu between small and full sized plates, making for a more traditional dining experience.

On this particular bright fall day, I was first impressed with the bread.  I know it is ubiquitous.  I know it is not supposed to be the focus.  And really, it is the very same sourdough bread as at Play.  But instead of mundane butter, this was served with  sage oil and blueberry gastrique.  I cannot stress how delightful this was.  After my first taste, I pulled out my phone to start googling how to make sage oil.  It was that good.  Making sage oil may well form the basis of a later post.  Sadly for readers, they change up the bread accompaniment regularly - I have also had other spreads and oils there.  But this was fantastic and set me up to love the rest of the meal.

My first dish was the crab cake:

I rarely order crab cakes.  In my experience, there is a little crab and a lot of filler.  But this crab cake did not disappoint at all.  Nice crabbiness, nice flavour, well cooked.  The anchovy caper sauce was a welcome change from the bland tartar sauce that generally accompanies a crab or fish cake.  Many fish cakes use mayonnaise as a binding agent, so using a mayo-based sauce seems redundant.  The sauce here offered a lovely texture and flavour contrast, and the green salad, thought simple, was perfectly dressed and cut through the fatty richness of the crab cake with anchovy sauce.

My second dish was a pork belly papardelle:

House made pasta, crisp pork belly, kale, fresh peas, onion and Parmesan.  And that beautiful, beautiful egg yolk, glistening on top, waiting to be broken and mixed in with the rest.  I don't know what it is about breaking an egg yolk and mixing it in to make a sauce that is so very, very satisfying.  This dish was homey, comforting, rich.  Different textures.  Refreshing peas and kale.  Fatty pork belly and egg yolk.  The spiky, sweet acidity of the onions.  Silky, tender pasta.

On this particular day, I did not order dessert, but I have in the past.  The butter finger is an unqualified winner, combining beautifully textured chocolate and peanut butter. It is rich - almost too much so for me, but well worth the indulgence.  Sadly, I do not have a picture to share, however, it is reliably on the menu.

Gezellig is a little more out of my way.  I don't get there as often.  But for me, that merely makes it a little more of a special occasion place, something to be particularly savoured when the stars align and and inspire me to leave my usual central/east locale.  It is defintiely worth a visit.

For updates, follow me on twitter! @culinarykira

Hallowe'en fun - potions and chocolate mice

Happy Hallowe'en, foodies!

I don't usually do much for Hallowe'en.  Early in my time as a homeowner, I would hopefully buy candy to dole out to adorable little ghosties and goblins, but I don't live in a high traffic area for kids - one banner year my doorbell rang 5 whole times!  The last couple of years, nothing.

This year, however, my Hallowe'en has been more festive.  At work, we were encouraged to decorate our areas, and at lunch today, there was a costume contest.  My colleagues and I take such events as as a challenge.  It is not only a time to have a little fun, but a time to demonstrate our creativity and imagination to the other teams we work with.  So we went all out, turning our area into a tent city and offering spooky Hallowe'en services such as palm and aura reading for very reasonable prices - for example, an eyeball, or all your hopes and dreams.  After learning about the future, we offered candidates a restorative potion, to strengthen their resolve against whatever calamities that were about to befall them (and to help them grow back whatever body part they sacrificed for the reading in the first place).

This particular potion involved 3 parts cranberry juice, 1.5 parts each of grape juice and apple juice, and 2 parts cola, plus some frozen strawberries.  The frozen berries are a handy trick to help cool without dilution.  I recommend keeping most of the liquids fairly dark so that the "potion" has a foreboding look.  For a better visual, we also got dry ice.  Place the punch bowl in a larger bowl and place warm water in the outer bowl.  Then add dry ice for smoking and steaming, changing water as it gets cold from the ice.  In theory, dry ice could be added directly to the potion for a more dramatic visual, but the risk of harm from accidentally ingesting a dry ice cube wasn't something we wanted to risk.  At -79 c, frostbite occurs in seconds, and it can bite all the way down to the stomach.

And what goes well with a potion?  Why a spooky cookie, of course!

 

My manager, M, made the meringue ghostie and the shortbread severed ladyfinger.  The fingernail is an almond, with cake decorating gel for visual effect, both were very tasty and appreciated by our colleagues.  The chocolate mouse is courtesy of D, and she kindly shared the recipe:

4 oz of semisweet bakes chocolate (4 squares), melted
1/3 c sour cream
1 c chocolate cookie crumbs
almond slices for ears
cake decorating balls for eyes
shoestring licorice for the tail

The chocolate can be melted either in the microwave, in 20 second intervals, stirring between, or in a double boiler.  Microwave is faster, but you sacrifice some control - greater possibility of scorching and having to start again.  Once melted, mix in the sour cream, and then add the breadcrumbs, and place in the fridge to cool.  Once cool and fairly firm, roll into two different sizes of balls to shape the head and body and press together.  There is a sweet spot for working with the chocolate mix - too warm and it is very sticky; too cold and it crumbles.  You may have to adjust accordingly.  To ease rolling into balls, D used additional breadcrumbs, which helped combat the stickiness, and gave the added benefit of creating a nice outer texture that made the mice seem more realistic.  Add the decorations and voila!  Cute, and tasty little mice that will more than satisfy an ardent chocolate lover.

I found the use the sour cream to be very interesting, and a great idea.  It is basically a variation on a ganache (equal parts melted chocolate and heavy cream), giving an intense chocolate taste, a gorgeous texture, and a hint of tartness from the sour cream.

For updates, follow me on twitter!  @culinarykira