Chocolate covered strawberries

Chocolate covered strawberries are surprisingly easy to make. Grab a friend in the kitchen and it's twice as fast! I personally like to use dark chocolate, although these are milk chocolate, which works quite well ; ). 

It's a tad bit silly to post a "recipe" for these, but the tricky part is if you decide to temper the chocolate. Check out this article, written by the great David Lebovitz, for information about why to temper chocolate, and what "bloom" is. What's just as important, if not more, is that you need to dry the strawberries 100% thoroughly. The chocolate will stick to the strawberries better, and water will make the chocolate seize, keeping it from setting properly. 

Ingredients: 
2 pounds of strawberries, rinsed and dried
2 bags of chocolate (about 10-12 ounces per bag), melted
1 sheet of parchment paper (the strawberries release very well from parchment when set)
Optional: chopped toasted nuts of choice

Directions:

Melt chocolate:

In microwave: put chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. 

In double boiler: place chocolate in a heatproof glass over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and melted. You can either take it off the heat and re-warm it if needed, or keep it on very low, stirring to keep the chocolate at the bottom from burning. 

Dip strawberries one a time, gently shaking to release any extra chocolate. Place on a parchment lined tray and sprinkle toppings on top, or gently roll in a bowl of toppings. Let set at room temperature, and then put in the refrigerator to chill. Take out a few minutes before serving and enjoy!