Chocolate Covered Chestnuts and Chestnuts in Ganache

Here are two variations, both delicious, made with chocolate and chestnuts ... the two must-have food for the holiday seasons. The first - chocolate covered chestnuts - are made simply with metled Valhorna chocolate, the second with ... melted Valhorna cholocate and cream for a softer melt-in-your-mouth-truffle-ike ganache. Basically the more cream you add the softer the mixture, equal parts of chocolate and cream give you ganache, more cream than chocolate will give you ... mousse :)

Dark Chocolate Covered Chesnuts

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 oz Valhrona dark chocolate - 75% cacao

- 1 box steamed chestnut (Trader Joe's steamed chestnut)

- toothpicks

- 1 apple (as holder - see picture)

PREPARATION:

1.  Break up the chocolate and melt it in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl you melt the chocolate in is completely dry (if there’s even a drop of water, the chocolate will “seize”—become stiff and granular—and it will be unusable) and the hot water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
2. Stick a toothpick in the flat side of the chestnut, dip the chestnut into the melted chocolate and cover tt with cholocate.
3. Remove and stick the other end of the chopstick into an apple to hold it while it cools off. Continue until all the 'whole' chestnuts from the box are used up. (Use the broken chestnuts in the next recipe - ganache)
4. Refrigerate the apple and chocolate covered chestnuts until the chocolate is hardened. Remove the toothpicks, set the chocolate-covered chestnuts on a plate and keep refrigerated until ready to serve

Luscious Chocolate Ganache with Chestnuts

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 oz Valhrona dark chocolate - 75% cacao

- 6 oz Heavy cream or whipping cream

- 1/2 box steamed chestnuts - chopped up into small bits (Trader Joe's steamed chestnut)

PREPARATION:

1. Break/chop the chocolate into small pieces
2. Place cream in a saucepan over high heat and bring just to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
3. Add chopped chocolate to the cream.
4. Beat chocolate and cream until thoroughly mixed. The mixture will solidify as it cools.
5. Mix in the chestnuts
6. Spoon into small cupcake holder (1/3 of the way)
7. Refrigerate until ready to serve (peel off the cupcake holder or serve the ganache in them if you wish)