Author: Brian Nelson

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The Best Foods for Heart Health, and What to Avoid

The Best Foods for Heart Health, and What to Avoid

When it comes to your risk of heart disease, some factors are out of your control — like, say, your blood type. But other factors are more changeable, including your diet. Everyone from the American Heart Association to the US Department of Health and Human Services recommends making specific food choices to support a healthy heart. Because foods for heart health can reduce other potential cardiovascular issues — like high blood pressure and high cholesterol — it’s worth keeping in mind as you plan your weekly meals. 

Keep reading to find out which foods to look for and what a heart-healthy diet looks like overall.


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What is a heart-healthy diet?

Studies have revealed two things: foods that are riskier for your heart and foods that strengthen it. Fortunately, you’re not about to get hit with a bunch of curveballs. The best foods for heart health are ones you probably already think of as healthy. Similarly, the not-so-heart-healthy foods are probably already on your radar for not doing your body any favors.

Before we dive in here, let’s say: everything in moderation. Unless you already know you have a heart health issue, you don’t need to cut out any foods or make drastic changes. We’re not saying you can never have another piece of bacon or crack open another soda. Instead, being mindful of what a heart-healthy diet looks like can help you incorporate more of those foods into your meals.

Now, let’s talk details. According to the AHA and Department of Health, a heart-healthy diet is rich in:

  • Produce
  • Lean proteins
  • Fiber-rich complex carbs
  • Healthy fats

A diet full of colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins and fats will give your body the fiber, vitamins and minerals it needs to support a healthy heart. 

A bright rainbow spectrum of produce on a platter.

David Malan/Getty Images

Conversely, if you’re trying to boost cardiovascular health, you want to limit your intake of:

  • Trans fats
  • Saturated fats
  • Processed meats (for example, lunch meat, salami and hot dogs)
  • Excess salt
  • Excess sugar
  • Refined carbohydrates (for example, white breads and snacks)
  • Red meat
  • Excess alcohol

If a lot of your favorites are on the less heart-healthy list, don’t panic. You can still include them in your diet (unless your doctor says otherwise). Just make sure that these foods aren’t taking over every meal, and try to add as many heart-healthy foods into your day as you can.

Heart-healthy foods

Person in a long brown dress browses a grocery store aisle.

d3sign/Getty Images

If you want to feel good about what your next grocery trip will do for your heart health, you can grab items in these specific categories.

1. Fruits and vegetables

Remember the food pyramid from back in the day? It was on to something. Your body benefits from eating quite a bit of produce.

That’s because veggies and fruit load in a lot of nutritional density per bite. Bananas and sweet potatoes deliver potassium, a key mineral for heart health. Cruciferous veggies may help to prevent clogged arteries. Leafy greens deliver fiber, which can help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. 

Long story short, the more produce you’re packing in, the better. And if fresh produce doesn’t work for your budget or your lifestyle, don’t worry. You can get plenty of nutritional benefits from frozen, dried and canned options. Just make sure they’re marked low-sodium. 

2. Whole grains

Not all carbs are bad. Refined carbs like the ones in white bread fly through your body, usually doing you more harm than good. But complex carbohydrates, like the ones you’ll find in whole grain products, deliver fiber, which we’ve already mentioned as a heart health booster. 

Plus, they often come packed with vitamins and minerals like iron, selenium, thiamin (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), niacin (Vitamin B3), folate (Vitamin B9) and magnesium. If you’re looking for a heart-healthy diet, choose products that have whole grains in their ingredient list. Plus, complex carbs can also be found in beans, potatoes, peas and corn.

Fish tacos on a plate, with corn tortillas and fresh cilantro.

GSPictures/Getty Images

3. Lean and plant protein

While certain proteins — like red and processed meat — can be hard on your heart, others top the list of foods for heart health. The key here is to look for plant-based protein, lean animal proteins and fish. Experts recommend mixing up your protein sources. So you have plenty of options, stock up on:

  • Lentils
  • Beans
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Tofu
  • Fish, especially ones high in omega-3 fatty acids
  • Eggs
  • Low-fat dairy products
  • Poultry
  • Seeds

Swap some of your red meat and cured pork for the options above and you’ll be doing your heart a favor. 

4. Healthy fats

You might think that fat spells heart trouble, but it’s all about the type of fat. While trans and saturated fats have been linked to cardiovascular issues in numerous studies, your body, including your heart, needs healthy fats. You can get these from fish, nuts and seeds, along with avocados and moderate amounts of plant oils like:

  • Olive oil
  • Sesame oil
  • Sunflower 
  • Soybean oil
  • Canola oil
  • Corn oil
  • Safflower oil

As a general rule of thumb, if the fat would be solid at room temp, it’s probably saturated. If it would be a liquid, it most likely falls under the unsaturated variety. Think butter (controversial for health) versus olive oil (definitely part of a heart-healthy diet). 

Sesame oil pouring into a small dish.

SUNGMIN/Getty Images

5. Heart-check foods

The American Heart Association has certified certain foods for heart health and given them the Heart-Check seal, which you can find on some food packaging. Once you learn that seal, it can make it easier to stock your cart with foods for heart health. 

For the best results, pair your heart-healthy diet with other heart health boosters like regular exercise, sleep and stress management techniques. It can also be helpful to learn your blood type and what it means for your risk of specific cardiovascular conditions. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Fergus Henderson’s recipes for braised rabbit and beetroot salad | Food

Fergus Henderson’s recipes for braised rabbit and beetroot salad | Food

Today’s recipes are in a pleasing seasonal purgatory, but speak chiefly of summer months, even although they are made with substances that will not lead to guilt when acquired in the colder months. This would make them suitable to have in your arsenal for when the climate is turning. They are a celebration of deconstruction – not in the nouvelle cuisine sense, where by perfectly wise things are taken apart in a sequence of blobs, whooshes and towers (these kinds of plates communicate of meals that has been breathed on a tiny also a lot). The intervention of the knife and fork is inescapable, so we really should welcome the messing-up course of action there is a positivity to a approach in which deconstruction is the final act of construction – swirling with each other piles of capers, beetroot, creme fraiche and leaves, or choosing the flesh off rabbit bones for the joy of leftovers. These dishes enjoy the input of St John’s executive chef, Jonathan Woolway, and each have the type of understated magnificence you can anticipate at our new venture, St John Marylebone, which opens later on this thirty day period.

Braised rabbit, mustard and bacon

Any leftovers can be picked off the bone and served the upcoming day with tagliatelle and a gesture of chopped tarragon.

Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr 20 min
Serves 6, or 4 enthusiastic rabbit lovers

1 tbsp duck extra fat or lard
Sea salt and black pepper
2 wild rabbits (about 600g each and every), the two jointed into 2 shoulders, 2 legs and 2 saddle sections (farmed rabbits make a excellent substitute if you lack a shotgun or a trustworthy provider)
1kg piece smoked streaky bacon, chopped into hearty chunks
18 shallots, peeled
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 bunch sage, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
500ml dry cider
Rooster inventory – you will will need enough to fill your ovenproof dish
2 balanced tbsp dijon mustard
4 balanced tbsp creme fraiche

Heat the oven to 180C (160C admirer)/350F/gas 4. Set the unwanted fat in a frying pan on a medium heat, season the rabbit, then brown it all over, in batches if have to have be. Transfer the seared rabbit to an ovenproof dish deep ample and extensive sufficient to accommodate almost everything later.

In the identical pan, brown the bacon, then increase the complete peeled shallots and garlic, go away them to soften devoid of colouring, then introduce the bay leaves and sage to the pan. Nestle every thing in all-around the rabbit in the ovenproof dish.

Place the ovenproof dish on the hob, bringing every little thing to a sizzle, then add the cider and lessen by fifty percent. Insert ample stock just to deal with the rabbit, becoming careful not to flood the nest.

Whisk the mustard and creme fraiche in a compact bowl. Making use of a splash of the braising liquid, loosen the mustard combination, then stir it all into the braise. Include with foil and roast for about two hrs, or until tender and offering.

Beetroot, red onion, purple cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil

Fergus Henderson’s salad of beetroot, red onion, red cabbage, creme fraiche and chervil.

As well frequently you are provided a fait accompli (the inevitable) on a plate, a weave of components in which your only involvement will be to make a mess of it with your knife and fork. Very well, listed here is a salad that welcomes the messing-up procedure.

Prep 5 min
Assemble 5 min
Serves 6

For the salad
2 raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated
¼ raw cabbage, main reduce out and discarded, the rest extremely finely sliced
1 small pink onion, peeled, slash in fifty percent from prime to base and finely sliced
6 healthier dollops of creme fraiche
2 excellent bunches of chervil, or 1 bunch of dill, leaves picked

For the dressing
Wholesome splashes of additional-virgin olive oil
A gesture of balsamic vinegar
1 small handful further-wonderful capers
Sea salt and black pepper

Make the dressing by mixing all the things in a bowl. Toss the three purple elements as a result of the dressing, then location a bushel of this purple combination on every single of six plates.

Nestle a blob of creme fraiche upcoming to it, as if the two components are fantastic mates, not on prime of just about every other as if they have been enthusiasts. Finally, rest a clump of the chervil (or dill) in a helpful style following to the other components and provide.

  • Fergus Henderson is chef/co-owner of St John and St John Bread & Wine in London. A 3rd site, St John Marylebone, opens later on this thirty day period.

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Vegan home-cooking recipes that inspire

Vegan home-cooking recipes that inspire

I was visiting my partner in Oakland last weekend, and we decided to drive up to Sebastopol and Healdsburg for the day. As we drove into Healdsburg at lunchtime, our stomachs were grumbling, and we didn’t have a plan for where to eat (as anyone who gets hangry knows, this is dangerous territory for a couple). The first sign I spotted was for a vegan restaurant called Little Saint. Neither of us is vegan, but my partner’s pretty close, so we decided to give it a shot.

In a town filled with high-end Italian restaurants and steakhouses, Little Saint was a breath of fresh air. The menu was filled with crisp salads and comforting stews that put a laser focus on fresh vegetables and grains and fermented tonics and pickles. We left that meal feeling full but refreshed — a rare combination — and it got me thinking about the types of vegan home cooking I love, where it’s simply about great vegetables that are cooked so well that you never miss, or think about, the meat.

Keith Corbin’s Vegan Gombo fits right into that category. Corbin roasts root vegetables to make a flavorful stock, then adds it to a mix of Fresno chiles, okra and red miso paste for a heady stew that hews more to the original West African dish than its Louisiana analogue. His recipe makes a lot of gombo, but it’s just the sort of thing you can keep in the freezer to pull out when you need an emergency dose of comfort after a long day.

Another project-style recipe that I love is Genevieve Ko’s Vegan Picadillo Empanadas. Instead of a ground meat filling, Ko uses nutty, rich ground pecans, which I love for their earthy flavor — it pairs better with the traditional roast tomatoes, raisins and olives than beef. Another freezer staple, these empanadas are for days when I’m too busy to make lunch. I can warm one in the oven for 30 minutes and have lunch on the go.

My Spicy Watermelon and Tahini Salad With Pistachios and Mint is a refreshing salad that’s unintentionally vegan. Crisp, cool watermelon is drizzled with a jalapeño-spiced tahini dressing, then showered with toasted pistachios and fresh mint. Watermelon season is coming to an end soon, but this dish works equally well with cantaloupe or other melons in the market, or even figs.

And I always love having a couple of ace baking recipes up my sleeve to bring out for visiting friends who are vegan. First is GGET’s Vegan Strawberry Muffins, which use macadamia (or almond) milk and coconut oil in place of eggs and dairy to add a richness that still allows the floral strawberry flavor to shine through. It’s a great all-purpose muffin batter that works well with other berries, apples and pears, or other ripe fruit (make it with the same jam flavor as the fruit you use, and you’re good to go.)

And for a low-key but impressive dessert, try my Vegan Carrot-Banana Cake. This comforting cake is all about ripe bananas and carrots with just enough spices, dried fruit and nuts to support their floral aromas. A simple lime-scented coconut-oil frosting gilds the lily but this cake is also great with a simple dusting of powdered sugar on top.

Keith Corbin’s Vegan Gombo

In this recipe, a chile-enhanced gombo sauce of cooked okra and shallots is amped with red miso paste, in place of a traditional roux, and lime juice. For serving, Corbin starts with a layer of cooked California brown rice, then adds the gombo stew and tops it all with sautéed, charred or grilled vegetables that change with the seasons and add texture to the dish.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 3 hours, 15 minutes, mostly unattended.

Chef Keith Corbin's vegetarian gumbo, in two bowls sitting on a wooden surface.

(Katrina Frederick / For The Times)

Vegan Picadillo Empanadas

Finely chopped pecans take the place of beef in these picadillo empanadas seasoned with spices, raisins and olives.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 1 hour.

Two whole and one half vegan picadillo empanadas on a stoneware tray

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Spicy Watermelon and Tahini Salad With Pistachios and Mint

This salad adds a spicy richness to lean, sweet watermelon. Fresh jalapeño chile adds necessary heat to cut through the fatty tahini, but if you want the salad less spicy, omit the chile’s seeds.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 30 minutes.

Spicy Watermelon Salad with Tahini, topped with sliced jalapenos and pistachios

(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)

Vegan Strawberry Muffins

Strawberry runs through these super-soft muffins with swirls of jam in the batter and fresh-cut fruit on top. Coconut oil and macadamia milk bring richness to the two-bowl batter, which comes together quickly.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 1 hour.

Strawberry Muffins on a rack, seen from above.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Vegan Carrot-Banana Cake

This cake is friendly to substitutes. Bananas stand in for eggs, both binding the batter and giving it body — use bananas whose peels have gone mostly black for the best flavor.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

A round, frosted Vegan Carrot-Banana Cake with a large slice cut out

(Ben Mims / Los Angeles Times)

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Best Mississippi Mud Pie Recipe

Best Mississippi Mud Pie Recipe
the pioneer woman's mississippi mud pie recipe

Caitlin Bensel

Chocolate lovers’ dreams are made of Mississippi mud pie! This is a case where too much of a good thing is just right: A chocolate cookie crust is layered with dense brownie and silky chocolate pudding, then sprinkled with even more chocolate. You can build and chill the layers of this dessert over the course of a couple of days, adding the whipped cream topper just before serving. Translation: this pie will hold a permanent spot in the list of your favorite chocolate desserts. You can also buck tradition by including it on your Thanksgiving dessert table with the usual apple, pumpkin, and pecan. 

Why is it called Mississippi mud pie?

The recipe originated in Mississippi, but no actual mud was involved! The name comes from the rich chocolate color of the pie filling, which was said to look like the mud on the banks of the Mississippi river.

What does the percentage on a chocolate bar mean?

This percentage is the amount of the bar by weight that’s made up of just what comes from the cocoa bean. A 70{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} chocolate bar will be made of 70{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} cocoa and cocoa butter and 30{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} added sugar, milk, and other flavors. The higher the percentage, the darker the chocolate. 

Are heavy cream and whipping cream the same?

Whipping has a little less milk fat than heavy cream, but you can use either in this recipe. Half and half (half cream and half milk) doesn’t have enough fat to whip well—save this for your coffee.

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Yields:

8
– 12


servings

Prep Time:

0

hours

30

mins

Total Time:

7

hours

5

mins

For the Crust:

1


14.3-oz. package of Oreo cookies, about 32 cookies

6
tbsp.

salted butter, melted

For the Brownie Layer:

1


3.5 oz. 70{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} chocolate bar, chopped

3


large eggs, at room temperature

1/2
c.

chopped toaste pecans

1
tbsp.

instant espresso granules

1/4
c.

unsweetened cocoa powder

For the Pudding Layer:

1


3.5-oz. 70{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} chocolate bar, chopped

Chopped toasted pecans, for garnish

Chocolate shavings, for garnish

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  1. For the crust: Process cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Add the melted butter, and pulse until combined. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Freeze the crust while preparing the filling.
  2. For the brownie layer: Preheat the oven to 350º. Melt the butter and chocolate in a small microwavable bowl on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until lightened in color and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the pecans, espresso granules, vanilla, flour, and cocoa powder until combined. Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour the filling into cold crust. Bake for 25 minutes or until puffed and set (center may still jiggle slightly). Cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
  3. For the pudding layer: Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan, whisking well. Pour in the milk and egg yolks, and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking, over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil and becomes thick, about 3 to 4 minutes. When it starts to bubble and thicken, remove it from the heat. Add the chocolate, vanilla, and butter, and stir until everything is combined. Pour the pudding on top of the cooled brownie layer in the pie dish and let cool 20 minutes. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, to chill for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
  4. To make the topping, beat the heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar with a mixer at medium high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Spoon on top of the pie. Garnish with chopped pecans and chocolate shavings.

The crust and brownie layer can be made and held, covered, at room temperature up to 1 day before topping with the pudding layer. Once you add the pudding layer, the pie can be held, refrigerated and loosely covered, up to 2 days before topping with cream.

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How To Preserve Produce To Enjoy for Months

How To Preserve Produce To Enjoy for Months




How To Preserve Produce To Enjoy for Months – Woman’s World






























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Five Fabulous Fall Cocktail Recipes Crafted By Resort Mixologists

Five Fabulous Fall Cocktail Recipes Crafted By Resort Mixologists

As summer time winds down beverage lovers will quickly be turning from these favored heat temperature beverages as Salted Strawberry Daiquiris and Pink Sangria to innovtive drop cocktails that include things like Apple Cider Bourbon and Pumpkin Spice White Russians.

Talented vacation resort mixologists are combining this kind of substances as red berry tea infusions, honey and apricot with rum, scotch or vodka to generate these slide-themed cocktails that make you wish for autumn all year extensive.

Fall Refresh Cocktail

Grand Residences Riviera Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Positioned in a secluded enclave about 50 {d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} an hour exterior of Cancun, Grand Residences Riviera Cancun is a beachfront vacation resort filled with of outstanding delicacies, lavish facilities and spectacular sights of the coastal waters. The resort’s signature Drop Refresh cocktail lets individuals to be transported to the year-round tropical climate as a result of clean flavors as they appreciate cozy times alongside one another at house as the year improvements.

Ingredients

3 oz Scotch

1/2 of a ripe pear (chopped)

5 raspberries

5 Mint leaves

1 oz of straightforward syrup

Approach

Incorporate pear, raspberries and mint to a cocktail shaker, muddle or mash with a prolonged spoon.

Add scotch, best with ice and shake until eventually chilled.

Strain into a rock glass with a ton of ice, and garnish with a raspberry and mint leaves.

Delight in a refreshing mixture of drop flavors and beachfront bliss.

Rum Sunset Cocktail

Saba Rock, North Sound, British Virgin Islands

Perched on the higher amount of the a single-acre cay you’ll find the island’s Sunset Bar & Lounge with panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea’s North Audio, showcasing fashionable, ergonomic household furniture together with bar swings for a cozy and trendy way for travelers to love their time on island. With a tropical backdrop, friends can imbibe craft cocktails amid a buzzing bar scene with action all day and into the night. Saba Rock’s Rum Sunset is completely ready to heat up the tumble season.

Components

1.5 oz white rum

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz uncomplicated syrup

Major with Merlot

Process

Insert the first a few components to shaker. Shake and pour into glass. Prime with Merlot and garnish with rosemary.

Hawks Cay Vacation resort

Savor your favourite beverages at this tropical escape.

A cocktail positioned on a table underneath tropical trees.

Arrive to Papa Cocktail

Hawks Cay Resort, Duck Key, The Florida Keys

Hawks Cay Vacation resort is a 60-acre genuine tropical vacation resort desired destination situated on the secluded and intimate isle of Duck Essential in the Florida Keys. Dwelling to spacious villas and suites, 6 places to eat, a saltwater lagoon, five swimming swimming pools, on-web-site water sporting activities, fishing charters and Dolphin Relationship facility, Hawks Cay is the perfect family vacation place for company in search of the quintessential tropical escape centered on pleasurable in the sun.

Elements

1.5 oz Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum

2 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz mango puree

1/4 oz lime juice

Strategy

Merge all elements in a shaker and pour in excess of ice.

Autumn Blessing Cocktail

Royal Uno All Inclusive Vacation resort & Spa, Cancun, Mexico

Just lately opened, Cancun’s Royal Uno All Inclusive Resort & Spa is an elevated 540-place all-inclusive vacation resort that includes an spectacular array of culinary features. With nine food stuff and beverage stores, 5 one of a kind eating places and 4 all-new bars, Royal Uno’s Kukul Cantina is house to are living music performances and delightful bar choices, like its Autumn Blessing cocktail. To knowledge the warmth of Cancun at dwelling, adhere to this recipe to recreate the sweet, citrus-centered drink prepared to warm up your slide menu.

Substances

1 ½ oz Absolut Citrus

½ oz Cointreau

2 teaspoons of honey

4 oz infusion of apricot and purple berry tea

Process

Put all the elements in a cocktail shaker and shake to start with to combine effectively. Then add ice and shake really hard to aerate the drink and variety froth. Then strain the cocktail twice, serve on the rocks and adorn with a twist of orange peel studded with a clove.

No Relaxation for the Wicked Cocktail

Hyatt Centric Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia

At Hyatt Centric Buckhead get pleasure from spectacular sights of the Atlanta skyline from Spaceman’s 15th flooring indoor-out of doors rooftop lounge and bar. Spaceman attributes a seasonal menu of simple, delectable and shareable dishes together with craft cocktails to savor. This fall indulge in one of Spaceman’s specialty cocktails as you bask in the vibrant landscape and tumble colours of the “city in the forest.” The drink’s caramel tones are layered with robust espresso and abundant chocolate, when the nitrogen offers a velvety texture with just the faintest complete of crisp mint.

Ingredients

¾ oz Tito’s Vodka

½ oz Rum

¼ oz Espresso Liqueur

4 oz Nitro Cold Brew

¼ oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Cacao

¼ oz Mint (property designed essence)

Method

Merge all ingredients in a shaker tin around ice. Shake vigorously and pressure into martini glass. Float 3 chocolate lined espresso beans as garnish.