Thursday, February 14, 2019

Chocolate Fest at Central Market

So, Valentine's day is upon us.  In case you needed some last minute inspirations.  My friends and I went to a Chocolate tasting event at Central Market.  Maybe that'll help you.
This is more or less to promote the chocolate sauce and their jam, but let me tell you.  It was one of the better items we've tasted that night.  It is Brie, jam, and chocolate sauce.  A little lighter than Nutella, but very delicious, nice and warm.
Apple chocolate galette:
It's an open faced apple pie style with chocolate sauce drizzle.  Good, but I'm okay with apple pie on its own.
This sounded delicious.  Flank steak with chocolate almond pesto.
While the I got a mouth-full of pesto, it just really taste like pesto.  Barely have a hint of almond or chocolate.  I think it's because pesto itself is pretty powerful in terms of taste.  It covered up the rest.  The steak was marinated with cocoa chili, and that does boost the flavor of the meat.
Our portion with red wine pairing.
This is an adult version of chocolate milkshake.  They needed to tell folks that, because there were kids around and would hate for them to get tipsy.  They have a nice blend of ice cream, chocolate, and some liquor to boot.
Did you know that they have in-house chocolate mill?  They make chocolate bars, chips and what nots.  They use their in house roasted nuts and their own chocolate bar and made these mendicants.  It's dark chocolate, my favorite.  Can't go wrong with that.
Then they have Xocolla display of chocolate varieties, of course, milk, raspberry, green tea, orange, white, mocha, mint to choose from.   I had had the green tea, which tasted alot like a white with a hint of green tea, not super strong in taste.
Also tried the milk one, which was pretty nice and rich.
For savory, the most popular way to use chocolate is in mole.  This is actually pretty good, but the poblano pepper was strong, so it has a kick going down.  That's a surprise for sure.  Chicken was nice and tender though. 
Funny, I was just telling my girlfriend that I had just blogged about Sweet Cup.
And here they are, and the owner was there serving the gelato to the masses.  She was so kind and offer us to taste all 4 flavors she had with her.  I had the Bacio already, so tried the Texas bourbon and the Rose milk.  Both very good, not overempowered by the taste buds.  I love their stuff.
Last on the list was the Chicken Piccata dinner for their in-house catering.  No chocolate used while making the lovely dinner.  I will say, I like the capers in the piccata sauce.  Chicken was lovely, but only available via catering only.  It was still delicious.

I really had fun at these walk around and taste event.  Though they asked that we sign up ahead of time, there are really no formal anything for the event.  Folks are welcome to walk up.  The sign up is really for them to get an idea for head count and prepare enough food for everyone.  The brie, jam, and chocolate sauce was a big hit for our group.  The rest aren't bad, just lovely to discover new stuff.  There was couple of wine vendors and a beer vendor took advantage of the theme and showcased their craft beer that has chocolate, or which bubbly goes well with truffle and such.  It was very fun and easy going.  Very appropriate for kids to attend.


Central Market
3815 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77027
713-993-9860
https://centralmarket.com

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