15 Shevat cooking with The Shul

15 Shevat, The Jewish holiday for the New Year of the Trees, is being celebrated on Monday, Jan. 21 this year. 

Itty Shemtov, co-director of The Shul - Chabad Lubavitch West Bloomfield, joined us on The Nine to tell us more about the holiday and to share a recipe with us. You can hear from her in the video player above and get her recipe below. 

SWEET CHOCOLATE FRUIT BARK 
Ingredients: 
 2 cups good quality dark chocolate (Use a chocolate you would eat, not baking chocolate. Best to use bars and not chocolate chips as bars will melt better) 
½ cup pomegranate seeds
½ cup dried apricots, chopped
½ cup salted cashews, chopped (for nut-free version, use coconut flakes)
Coarse sea salt 
 
Directions​: 
 1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave 
2. Add half of the apricots and nuts to chocolate 
3. Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper 
4. Add chocolate mixture to tray and spread evenly 
5. Sprinkle the remaining apricots and nuts, as well as the pomegranate seeds, on the chocolate 
6. Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt  
7. Freeze for 25 minutes or until chocolate hardens 
8. Break and serve straight out of the freezer