Dinner and dessert

Wednesday night supper was easy and delicious. Nick picked up some fish from the store, so we had orange roughy with cornemal chipotle crust (Moosweood New Classics) with Southwestern mashed potatoes. I had some cilantro paste (Gourmet Garden Herb Blend, lots of varieties in produce section at Kroger-- very handy in dead of winter) and black olive tapenade in the fridge, so I added a little of each and some grated cheddar to my regular mashed potatoes and voila!
Dessert was homemade hot chocolate. I rarely eat (or drink) chocolate because I was allergic to it as a kid, but for some reason I've been craving a really good cup of hot chocolate. Nick was kind enough to pick up some half-and-half as well, and was rewarded for his effort.

Notes and recipes:
Fish with cornmeal chipotle crust serves 4 prep time: 10 mins baking time: 25 mins
4 firm fish fillets (5-6 oz each)
1 T canned chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
1 1/2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 T fresh lemon or lime juice
1 large garlic clove, pressed or minced
1/4 ts dried thyme
1/4 ts salt
1/2 c cornmeal or 2/3-3/4 c cornbread crumbs
lime wedges
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil a large baking dish for the fish. Rinse the fillets, pat dry, and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the chipotles, oil, citrus juice, garlic, thyme, and salt and stir well. For a very smooth result, whirl all of the sauce ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or mini-processor.
Pour the sauce into a shallow bowl and place the cornmeal in another shallow bowl. Dip each fish fillet in the sauce: the thicker the coat, the spicier the fish will be. Then dredge the fillets on all sides in the cornmeal and arrange them in the prepared baking pan in a single layer.
Bake uncovered for about 25 mins, until the fillets are golden and flake with a fork. Serve with generous wedges of lime.
Don't be tempted to add more peppers without tasting first! Chipotles are quite spicy, and seem to get hotter when cooked.-- I added a sprinkle of Tony Chachere's to my cornmeal. Also, my crust seemed a little dry, so when the fish was almost done, I drizzled it with a little olive oil; back in the oven while the potatoes finished. -- My mom always adds a little onion and garlic powders to mashed potatoes (well, really to just about everything), so I do, too.

Hot chocolate (from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/hot-chocolate-recipe/index.html
I used 1 bar of Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate instead of a mixture of bittersweet and milk chocolates. I also substituted cocoa powder for the espresso powder, which was good, but I'm thinking the coffee would have made it spectacular. And maybe some orange...