Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Since I'm already a big Mojito fan ( coconut or otherwise), why not make Mojito chicken? This recipe has been sitting around since 2004 - 10 years! It was definitely worth the wait. Mojito Chicken Breasts (Adapted from BonAppetit ) 3/4 c fresh lime juice and zest from limes 1/2 c light rum 1/2 c mint 1/4 c parsley 4 T sugar 1 T olive oil 1.5 lb boneless chicken breast (pounded thin) salt/pepper Whisk fist 6 ingredients together in a shallow bowl.  Place thinned chicken breasts in bowl. Cover and marinate for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.  Turning once or twice. Remove chicken from marinade.  Discard Marinade.  Oil grill and grill chicken about 10 minutes around 350 or until done. These really came out beautiful. The Sous Chef is quite good with the grill (better than me but don't tell him I told you that). They don't taste too minty or too rumy - just right.

The NY Times Magazine section did a piece on cocktails about two weeks ago and one was calling me- Rhum Agricole Daiquiri . What attracted me here (well besides the cocktail aspect) was the Burnt Cinnamon Simple Syrup. It was easy enough to make, as are most simple syrups, but it was the potential uses.  I started thinking not only daiquiris but why not with Applejack? Apples, burnt cinnamon sounds like a winner to me. Or how about a nice hot cider, with a little rum, and the simple syrup (Guess I'll have to wait until the fall for the cider). On the non-alcohol side-why not use it to moisten a sponge cake - wouldn't that give it an interesting flavor? Or what about a burnt cinnamon ice cream? Now first for the burning of the cinnamon - it felt a little like I was doing a cleanse to ward off evil spirits. I think that is usually done with sage but if cinnamon works too - so be it. The recipe recommended using a small creme brulee torch to burn the cinnamon sticks - like you d...