Hot Chocolate

Hunger Games Week:

Every day this week, I'm going to post a recipe that was inspired by food mentioned in The Hunger Games  trilogy.  In anticipation of the the movie, Cleveland's Plain Dealer hosted a Hunger Games recipe contest.  The recipes had to be original, and we were allowed 50 words of description and one photo. 

Today is the last day of my Hunger Games recipes.  If you missed any of them, let's recap: Creamy Mushroom Soup, Goat Cheese Wrapped in Basil, District 12 Ration Grain Biscuits, the contest winning Roast Groosling with Sweet Roots (check out the other winning recipes here) and Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies.  The recipe below is what I submitted for Hot Chocolate (contest category: Capitol Fare). 

      When you think of the hot chocolate served in the Capitol, what do you think of?  Chocolatey, rich, smooth, and thick enough for dipping rolls or cookies into it.  That's exactly what this recipe delivers.
Hot Chocolate Original Recipe Yield:  2 mugs, or 4 tea cups
2 cups milk 3 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped (can substitute mini chocolate chips) 1 Tbsp cocoa powder 1 Tbsp sugar 1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla
In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the milk.   Heat for 5 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients except the vanilla.  Whisk until the chocolate melts completely, the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes).  Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Ladle into tea cups and serve with rolls for dipping.