If you’ve been on my blog, first let me say thank you so much for visiting and, second, you’ll notice that I don’t do a lot of sweets.  Sweets are not my thing.  And, you should always do your thing, not what’s cool, trendy, or popular just to appease others.

If I had to choose between a gooey, chocolate-y chip cookie straight out of the oven and a big hunk of smelly cheese, nine times out of ten, the smelly cheese would win. You like what you like.  That being said, ’tis the holiday season.  And I do love chocolate, the darker the chocolate the better.

I came across this idea for chocolate salami a little ways back.  No, I can’t take credit.  I did not dream up this ingenious idea.  Rather, am just borrowing it.  Its origin is Italian.  Or is it Portuguese? (somewhere in Europe??).  Was surfing the internet for something else, but no longer have the foggiest clue what that was, when I stumbled upon this clever idea.  Ever since, I’ve wanted to make it, just waiting for the right time.  It’s whimsical and festive.  Fitting for the holiday season.

This chocolate salami has a whole lot of nuts (used hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios), biscuit-y cookies called Maria cookies (although, any type of dry biscuit/cookie, even biscotti would work), dark chocolate, and a dash of alcohol (Amaretto, coffee liqueur, rum, port, etc.)

Just be glad you can’t see the behind the scenes.  Today was a messy day in the kitchen.  Chocolate everywhere.  The whisk that I had so carefully positioned on the bowl (below), all in the name of that ‘perfect‘ shot, tumbled to the ground, whipping chocolate all over the floor, the refrigerator, the walls, the cabinets…

Happy Holidays.  Hope yours is filled with good food and wine, good friends, and holiday cheer.
Although you can break up the biscuits by hand, it’s way more fun this way (with a rolling pin)…

Used 70% Scharfenberger chocolate, a splash of Port wine that I brought back from a recent trip to Portugal, and a combination of toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios…

Chocolate Salami

9 ounces good quality dark chocolate (used 70%), roughly chopped
3.5 ounces butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons *sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
2 eggs (freshest eggs you can find), lightly beaten
2 tablespoons amaretto (or coffee liqueur or other liqueur)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I like Valrhona)
3 cup pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
7 ounces dry biscuits, such as these and/or biscotti, such as these, broken into small pieces
powdered sugar for dusting

Toast the almonds and hazelnuts (350F for 8-10 minutes until golden brown).  Wrap the hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel and rub the skins off.  Roughly chop the nuts.

With a double boiler (using a heat proof bowl set over a pot of just simmering water), melt the chocolate.  Remove the chocolate from the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, cocoa powder, and Port or liqueur, and beat on low speed until combined.  Add to the chocolate and stir to combine.

Stir in the nuts and biscuits/biscotti to the chocolate mixture.  Stir until well combined, making sure everything is covered in chocolate.  Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to make it easier to form the salami.

Place half of the mixture on a piece of parchment paper.  With your hands, form into a log (it gets a bit messy here).  Roll up the parchment and twist the ends of the parchment.  Roll back and forth until it forms a smooth log about 8″ long.  Repeat with the other half.  Place in the refrigerator to harden for a couple of hours.

Unroll the parchment and dust the chocolate salami in powdered sugar.  Slice and serve.

Store in the refrigerator up to a week.  For a fun presentation you can tie up with kitchen twine (as you would salami).

*This was sweet enough for me (but I don’t like things overly sweet); add more sugar as you see fit.