Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Before it got super ridiculously hot, I was doing crazy things, like baking. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, since cleaning up after baking can be soooooooo time consuming. But when I found this recipe for Mexican spiced chocolate cookies, I was intrigued. Plus, it was another opportunity to use my shiny red mixer.

When I read through the recipe, I was dismayed that it didn’t actually call for Mexican chocolate. Come on, brown people aren’t the only ones that use cayenne and chili powder! No, what this really needed was authentic Mexican chocolate, the kind my mom used to make us hot chocolate with when I was little. Chocolate Ibarra, to be exact. The octagonally-shaped cylindrical package was a staple in our house like Nestle Quik probably was for my school mates (though we indulged in Nestle Quik too). There’s a comfort in my memories of that steaming cup of chocolate.

But because this is not unsweetend chocolate, I had to cut back on the sugar too (by half—though I probably could have done without it completely). I also had to double the spices because a quarter teaspoon of cayenne is child’s play. Even with that modification, they spice factor still wasn’t up to my expectations. More spices!! You can't call something "spicy" if it isn't, indeed, spicy!

This also didn’t need the additional chocolate chips, but walnuts would’ve been nice. Or spiced cacahuetes (peanuts). It was a bit of chocolate overload. Not that that is a bad thing...

The recipe calls for an entire stick of butter, so the cookies are exceptionally chewy. If you’re calorie-conscious, this isn’t the recipe for you. I suppose you could cut back, but not being a baker I’m not sure exactly how that would impact the final product. Other than giving you a slightly more brittle cookie. Diet cookies? Ick.

Finally, the cookies should be finished with a bit of sea salt. The G+F taste testers agreed the salted cookies were superior to the non-salted version. Plus, they just look prettier!

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Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

by August-20-2012

Adapted from Cooking Channel's Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies, with real Mexican chocolate. 

Ingredients

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 4 ounces Chocolate Ibarra or other Mexican chocolate (available in the ethnic aisle or a Latino supermarket)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• medium coarse grain sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, whisking until glossy and smooth. Alternatively, the butter and chocolate can be melted in the microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl) in 25-second increments, whisking between each interval. Cool the chocolate mixture to room temperature.3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and eggs on low speed until well combined. Pour in the cooled chocolate and continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.4. In another bowl sift together the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper). Add this to the chocolate batter and mix on low speed until just combined and no visible flour remains.5. Working in two batches, scoop 12 balls of dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoon size) onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie (they will spread greatly). Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, for approximately 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. The cookies should be puffy and still fairly soft when removed from the oven.6. Immediately slide the the parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool just a bit before serving, 5 to 10 minutes, then finish with a sprinkling of sea salt. Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to three days.

Details

Prep time: 20 minutesCook time: 15 minutesTotal time: 35 minutesYield: 2 dozen (24 cookies)

Attempt at French Food: Fish Mousseline with Sauce Nantua

The French know everything about cooking, right? They invented it.

Because of this, I've always felt that it's pretty intimidating to attempt French food. As if somewhere, a panel of unrelenting judges will strike you from the kitchen should you not recreate a dish perfectly. You'll be banished to a life of raw and fast food eats for the remainder of your days.

That's not at all true, though French food can seem complicated. The recipes seem to have innumerable ingredients with highly complex steps. But when I happened to catch an episode of French Food at Home on the Cooking Channel, Laura Calder made it actually seem doable. Not "easy" but definitely less difficult than I had previously believed. So I attempted her Fish Mousseline with Sauce Nantua. Translation: fish mousse with a creamy shrimp sauce.

I was heading to my parents' house the next day for a family dinner, and knew that my very picky little brother has just recently started eating fish. We had gathered at Chez Mommy & Daddy to watch the Giants take out the 'Niners in the NFC championship playoffs, so I decided to test this on them.

My parents are pretty adventurous, and they too like to experiment with new recipes, so they're the perfect test subjects. My brother could always order a pizza if he didn't like it.

The sauce was quite simple, surprisingly. Butter, onions, carrots, shrimp, herbs, set them on fire then add cream and puree. It was the first time I've flambéd a dish. That was fun. Fire! We like fire here at Girl + Fire.

Then came the fish mousse. I don't know what I did wrong, but it was overly watery, so it never set properly. I could blame the blender that created butter out of the cream, but that was my fault. So I had both a watery and buttery mousse. Split personality mousse. I should have drained the liquid. And probably used a food processor instead of a blender. Tip for next time.

The Giants ended up winning that game (and then the Super Bowl! AGAIN!). We ended up loving the creamy shrimp sauce. The fish mousse...eh. But if I learned nothing else, it's that French food ain't that scary after all.

You can find the original recipe here.

Five Spice Chicken

On occasion I lounge on the couch and make myself hungry by watching cooking shows. This is undoubtedly a form of masochism. I'm selective, though. I love Paula Deen, her cookware, and her adorable southern gentlemen sons, but I can't live on butter. I can, however, live on stir fried chicken.

Enter Chinese Food Made Easy, with Ching-He Huang. She's an adorable teeny thing with a British accent and just a hint of snark. I love Chinese food. So when the episode of her massaging chicken before making chow mein came on, and she made it look so easy, I had to try it.

The very first time I made it, I cheated. I didn't make the whole noodle part of the dish. I didn't have them in the house, but I did have all the fixins for the chicken. And I really wanted to massage the spices into it like Ching did.

It really is ridiculously easy to make this dish. I've since made it about three times (once with actual noodles—but it's the chicken that's the real star of the meal) Take some chicken strips, add the spices, heat up the oil, and you're eating in 5 minutes. Add some veggies because they're good for you, and you have a complete meal.

The original recipe lists the chile sauce as optional. Man up and throw some in, even if it's just a quarter-teaspoon. You'll appreciate the tiny kick of heat and additional depth of flavor.

Five Spice Chicken
adapted from Ching-He Huang's Chicken Chow Mein
yields 1 serving

1 skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 teaspoon chile sauce
1 tablepoon sesame oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely sliced

1. In a small bowl, combine the chicken with the soy sauce, five spice powder, and chile sauce. Using your hands, ensure the chicken is completely coated. (Give the poor chicken a good massage. It's stressed.)

2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large skillet. Once it begins to smoke, add the chicken strips and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes, until cooked through.

3. Add the bell peppers and cook for another minute. Serve immediately.

Ching's recipe also called for bean sprouts. I like adding in some enoki mushrooms. They taste better than bean sprouts (where better = not like dirt). You do whatever you need to get more veggies in your diet.