Recipe and Cook's Corner

[ImEnnisShesJack]

The Rabbit in Chocolate sounds amazing...

Seems the Aztecs and the Mayans combined the hot fire of chilis/spicy cinnamon with the richness of chocolate in their templar drink...similar to our modern day hot chocolate:

Basic:
Boil a litre of milk (or water, like in the ancient Mexican style)
When the milk is warm (not hot) add a chocolate tablet; broken into pieces
Stir with a blender (but be careful! the blender's electric cord should NOT touch the pot or any other hot thing around it)
When the chocolate has dissolved add ½ - ¾ cups of sugar (depending how sweet you like your chocolate) and blend in fast; make sure the sugar is completely dissolved in the chocolate otherwise it will be bitter no matter how much sugar you may add afterwards
Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or natural vanilla flavour (artificial vanilla flavour with chocolate results in an awful medicine like flavour) if you like, and blend again
Let the mixture boil, when it starts to get bubbly quickly remove the pan from the stove top, and rest the bottom against a soaked cloth
Put again on stove top, it should get bubbly almost immediately, remove once again and repeat one last time. This aerates the chocolate which enhances the flavour.
In a mug, put about 1/2-3/4 of the chocolate mixture, and add cold milk, until the temperature and/or the concentration of the flavour is right for your tastes
Accompany with French/Danish pastries and enjoy!


Mayan "xocoatl" :
Add the crude powder or the chocolate tablets (broken down in a pestle and mortar) and add to cold water
Bring to a boil over a medium heat while stirring
The Mayans were said to have added local herbs also; but what they might have been as far as I know as been lost in antiquity and no doubt no longer exist!?


Aztec "Cacahuatl" :
Add the cocoa powder to a non-reactive pan and add to cold water (the Aztecs are said to have refined the Mayan "xocoatl", by grinding the powder finer than the Mayans)
Add some chilli water (chop chillies and soak in boiling water to make a 'tea'), vanilla beans/pods and honey
Let the mixture boil while stirring constantly, when it starts to get bubbly quickly remove the pan from the stove top and allow to cool slightly
Place back on the flame and continue to stir to the boil again
Repeat the cooling and re-boiling
Repeat again: this aerates the chocolate which enhances the flavour

Chef notes
You should now have a drink similar to the Aztec drink, which should be: finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish, bitter and spicy No amounts are given, as it is very much a case of producing them to suit your individual taste...Bon appetite and enjoy!

[gnash]

oohh great chocolate recipes, just in time for autumn (somehow it seems right!). i could go for a hot cocoa now. sometimes, and in winter, the mexican restaurants here serve a chocolate drink that's thickened with i think CORN or something. it's very filling and i would imagine it's a good breakfast drink on cold winter days. i forgot what it's called tho, but "tacos llamas" in the valley has it on their menu sometimes.

thanks for the rabbit recipe chapeaugris, but could you post the walnut noodles? i tried to find it online to no avail! lots of pasta dishes featuring walnuts in the sauce but nothing in the noodles. i do like the nutty flavor of buckwheat noodles (japanese buckwheat soba) and i think walnut noodles would be divine. with a nice porcini mushroom cream sauce.. mmm...

[chapeaugris]

Sorry gnash, the walnut noodles are store-bought. They are flat pasta called "taillerins" and are a speciality of the Savoy region. They also come in wild mushroom flavor (porcini in fact). You might be able to duplicate the flavor slightly by drizzling walnut oil on fettucini.

[ImEnnisShesJack]

Or making the noodles at home with ground walnuts replacing part of the flour....

[gnash]

hmmm, well i'll look for the dried walnut noodles in imported food stores,,, they sound so good and so do the porcini noodles! lately we've been drizzling "truffle oil" on my simple pasta dishes.. it adds a nice nutty flavor!

i may also try the replacing the flour with ground walnuts trick.. however, my pasta machine's been ruined because my bf and i use it to squish out sheets of polymer clay... i should show you some of the food i've "cooked" for our dollhouses....

1/12" scale fimo carrots, tomatoes, chili peppers, hot cross buns, some cheese, and a burger (with lettuce).

here's pics of bread, some decorated cakes & pies (top floral cake i didn't make),
a bowl of actual peel-able oranges, and of course, couple of inch scale pizzas!

it's kinda funny i make the cakes and breads -- baking and pastries is one thing i NEVER attempt at home in full scale.

[chapeaugris]

What's this about dollhouses? Please explain!

[gnash]

What's this about dollhouses? Please explain!

well, when responding about the walnut noodles, i realized our pasta press/cutter machine was now unsuitable for food because we use it for polymer clay, and thought i could get away with posting pictures of food that i've made in miniature -- dollhouse scale. so not only do i enjoy cooking food, i enjoy making food in miniature


i found this link a while back and don't think i've posted it yet -- it's got some interesting "camp" recipes that maybe jack and ennis could have cooked on brokeback mountain:

                     http://www.chuckwagondiner.com/categories.php?id=11

the titles are interesting: billy's beer butt chicken, angels on horseback, brown bears and banana boats, chops and drops, walking tacos,  s'mores with a TWIST and empty bird's nests, and of course, camp beans...

[chapeaugris]

Not to mention Rodeo Burgers.

[Castro]

Bobbie, that pumpkin soup recipe suggests a new way to deal with the acorn squash sitting on the counter.  Except that before putting the full complement on the stove to simmer I'll use the microwave to steam the carrots and cook the squash,and probably puree them with some broth.  Thanks!

Actually, most of the formulas on this thread are so healthy, very healthy, exotic and/or stylish I feel impelled to contribute this anti-recipe from today's NYT magazine.  I haven't made it, but I plan to fall from grace in a major way and do so:

Dick Taeuber's Cordial Pie

1 1/2 cups crumbs (graham crackers, chocolate wafers or gingersnaps)
1/4 cup melted butter (1/3 cup with graham cracker crumbs)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup of liqueurs or liquor, as directed on chart
1 cup heavy cream
Food coloring (optional).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crumbs with butter. Form in a 9-inch pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

2. Pour 1/ 2 cup cold water in a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over it. Add 1/3 cup sugar, salt and egg yolks. Stir to blend. Place over low heat and stir until the gelatin dissolves and mixture thickens. Do not boil! Remove from heat.

3. Stir the liqueurs or liquor into the mixture. Then chill until the mixture starts to mound slightly when nudged with a spoon.

4. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add remaining 1/ 3 cup sugar and beat until peaks are firm. Fold the meringue into the thickened mixture.

5. Whip the cream, then fold into the mixture. Add food coloring if desired. Turn the mixture into the crust. Add garnish, if desired. Chill several hours or overnight. Serves 6.

And before you start thinking of variations, the original author supplied 20:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/magazine/29food.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1162148650-OIfTPu583kU2yEeuuGiY/Q&pagewanted=all


(Gnash, neat minis. Do you have a web site.  Anyone curious about the hobby of tiny things, just google "dollhouse miniatures" and you may become infected.)

[chapeaugris]

Oh wow oh wow!!! I can finally use up the walnut liqueur I bought in Italy. With chocolate cookie crust. I MUST try this recipe!

[Nax]

We've tried making Toad in the Hole at home and it has always been a disappointment. We just can't seem to get the Yorkshire pudding to come out right no matter who's recipe we follow.

It is very important to use plain flour, not sefl-raising or anything that has a raising agent in it.  The batter should rest for 10 minutes in the fridge before use, the pan in which you cook this should be pre-heated in the oven with some oil in it.  While this is cooking on no account open the oven door as the pudding will fall so follow the time on the recipie.

This is normally the same batter mixture used for waffles or just about.  I love my yorkshire puddings, Sundays wouldn't be the same without them, even though I'm a vegetarian I still have to have my Yorkies 

[chapeaugris]

We've tried making Toad in the Hole at home and it has always been a disappointment. We just can't seem to get the Yorkshire pudding to come out right no matter who's recipe we follow.

It is very important to use plain flour, not sefl-raising or anything that has a raising agent in it.  The batter should rest for 10 minutes in the fridge before use, the pan in which you cook this should be pre-heated in the oven with some oil in it.  While this is cooking on no account open the oven door as the pudding will fall so follow the time on the recipie.

Thanks, Nax. That's the one thing we haven't tried, so we'll give it another shot.

[Nax]

We've tried making Toad in the Hole at home and it has always been a disappointment. We just can't seem to get the Yorkshire pudding to come out right no matter who's recipe we follow.

It is very important to use plain flour, not sefl-raising or anything that has a raising agent in it.  The batter should rest for 10 minutes in the fridge before use, the pan in which you cook this should be pre-heated in the oven with some oil in it.  While this is cooking on no account open the oven door as the pudding will fall so follow the time on the recipie.

Thanks, Nax. That's the one thing we haven't tried, so we'll give it another shot.

Make sure the pan is right up to temperature with the hot oil in it when you add the batter - this is where it usually goes wrong.

[ImEnnisShesJack]

my pasta machine's been ruined because my bf and i use it to squish out sheets of polymer clay... i should show you some of the food i've "cooked" for our dollhouses....

Jimmy!  Do not even use that pasta machine for cooking REAL food after squishing out the polymer clay!

Carol Duvall will come after you and beat you with a stick!

Go buy another one....

[gnash]

^^^ yes i know, it's ruined for FOOD but works great for clay, i'll have to find another way, i do not want that duvall woman chasing me around...! maybe i can just roll it out and slice the noodles...