Dark Chocolate Bark with Walnuts and Dried Cherries

Food & Wine, 2005
Makes 48 pieces

    1 1/2 cups halved walnuts (ab. 6 oz.)                          
    9 ounces bittersweet chocolate fine chop                       
    1 cup dried sour red or black cherries (4 oz.) coarse chop     
    2 tablespoons fine chop crystallized ginger   
                
ACTIVE: 20 MIN/TOTAL: 30 MIN

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Let cool, then coarsely chop.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. In a glass bowl, heat two-thirds of the chocolate in a microwave oven at high power in 30-second bursts until just melted. Stir until smooth. Add the remaining chocolate and stir until melted. Stir in the walnuts, cherries and crystallized ginger until evenly coated. Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it into a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, or until firm enough to cut.

Cut the bark into 48 pieces (6 rows by 8 rows) and transfer to a plate. Serve cold or at room temperature.
ONE PIECE 57 cal, 4 gm fat, 1 gm saturated fat, 6 gm carb, 0.7 gm fiber.

MAKE AHEAD The bark can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

MY NOTE: Somehow these measurements don't work out.  Need much more chocolate than called for--twice as much even.

MXF