use real butter

It can get pretty cool where we live… sometimes down to -20F. I don’t mind the cold. I actually enjoy stepping out into the winter air and feeling the inside of my nose crackle when I breath in. The only real hardship of winter that we encounter is the wind (because snow isn’t hardship, it is recreation). And we encounter it up to 100 mph at times. So while I might not feel cold in 10F, I will feel chilled to the bone at 32F with a wind whipping away every unit of heat my body produces (and I produce a lot of heat - some may call it hot air). It’s blowing today and I can hear the loose sections of roofing flapping in the gusts. I sincerely hope the roofers call before the pieces go flying off into… Kansas.

Soups and stews are so utterly perfect for cold weather days. When I was a graduate student in central New York, I would rally a chili cookoff among the graduate students during this time of year. We always had an impressive array of chilis that included: curry, chocolate, beer, vegetarian, chicken, or the hottest hot you could imagine. It was always a geochemist who went for entering the hottest chili. That’s when my friend Ben thought he made chili from the butt of a pig. He kept chuckling, “Mine is made from Pork Butt.” We finally told him he was an idiot and that the pork butt is part of the shoulder. I should also note that the majority of our cookoff participants were men!

My most recent incarnation of chili involves two of those inspired variations from the cookoffs: chocolate and stout. Chocolate stout, to be precise. I have one of those prize-winning recipes that requires throwing in chorizo, a cow, and a pig, and a million other ingredients, but I like this simple recipe because it’s something you can whip up fairly quickly and because the guys at the local liquor barn get a kick out of my food-related booze purchases.

fresh produce

Don’t be fooled here. When I am a bum, I will use canned organic tomatoes (although I never never ever use canned jalapeños, that is scary). I am a big fan of mise en place, which means getting your junk in order before you start cooking. Makes the cooking experience go smoother and faster. There is some chopping to be done with this recipe: chopped onions, garlic, tomatoes (if fresh), and the jalapeños. The deal with the jalapeños is not to handle them with bare hands and then touch your eyes or nose with those hands. It’s just an unpleasant experience for all involved. I used to have a collection of those plastic food service gloves that my mom mailed me. She likes to mail me things like kleenex, sponges, dishwashing detergent, and disposable plastic gloves - it’s a mom thing… I ran out a while back, so I just use a plastic sandwich bag over the handling hand. I slice the tops off, then cut down the middle and core the pepper. We discovered that leaving the seeds in makes for a chili that only one of us (me) can digest. Then I dice up the flesh.

chopped and ready

not a spice girl, just a cook

Obviously you can play with the spices and ingredients of the chili to your preference. I’m thinking of incorporating some unsweetened chocolate next time. Brown some ground beef, breaking up the clumps. I prefer organic. Remove to a bowl. Sauté the onions, peppers, and garlic in a little vegetable oil. I read a recipe that starts with three tablespoons of bacon fat and swooned at the thought, but each time I have bacon fat available, I chicken out and chuck it in the trash. One day… one day… Once the onions are translucent, add the browned ground beef, beef bouillon, and the tomatoes and simmer the tomatoes down.

the start of something wonderful

The first time I tried a chocolate stout recipe, I used a local Ft. Collins chocolate stout. That left me with 5 bottles. More recently I have been able to procure Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and the only reason I buy it is because I can get it in a single bottle. Me - I know zippo about beer/ale/stout.

the cashier at the liquor barn must think me odd

Add the stout and let the whole thing simmer for an hour. Mix in the spices and simmer for another 30 minutes. If you’re impatient like me, you can add the spices and beans at the same time and simmer for 30 (if you’re patient, add the beans 30 min after the spices and simmer another 30). Does it make much difference? I honestly couldn’t say. Crock potting the entire thing is also an option (4-6 hours on high?), but brown the beef on the stove top.

showering the beans in spices

Some folks don’t let the chili simmer for long because it’s ground beef, but the longer simmer lends to a more tender bite. That’s just my preference. Serve it hot with fixings of your choice.

some avocado and cheddar to round out a good bowl of chili

Chocolate Stout Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, diced
3-4 jalapeno peppers, deseeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
28 oz tomatoes, half diced and half puréed (or fresh, diced)
2 cubes beef bouillon or paste
1 bottle or can of chocolate stout
3 tbsp cumin, ground
1 tbsp chili pepper
1 tbsp cayenne, ground
salt to taste
2 cans kidney beans, drained

Brown the beef over high heat, breaking up the clumps. Set aside. Heat vegetable oil in the pan intended for the chili, and sauté the garlic, onion, and peppers until onions are translucent. Add the beef, beef bouillon, and tomatoes. Stir and let simmer until tomatoes begin to break down. Pour in the chocolate stout and simmer the chili covered for an hour. At this stage you can add the spices and simmer for 30 minutes and then add the beans and simmer for another 30, or add the spices and beans at once and simmer for 30. Serve hot!

Jeremy’s birthday was over a week ago, but he was away at two meetings and I was visiting my nephew for his eighth birthday. Since Jeremy and my birthdays are nine days apart, we decided we would celebrate later, when we weren’t so short on time and money. We both tend to be fairly unsentimental about these things, so that worked out fine.

But… I did promise I would at least make him a special dessert. I asked what he would like and as usual, Jeremy couldn’t make up his mind. He’s so easy going that it is downright frustrating at times. I found a recipe in an old issue of Chocolatier which I modified somewhat, but it contains several of Jeremy’s favorite components such as chocolate cake, booze, espresso, and chocolate.

i started with chocolate cake

and espresso buttercream

and used kahlua soaking syrup

I made the cake a triple layer instead of a double layer. Unless the cake is incredibly moist (which this one is not), I don’t tend to like thick layers. I also used my swiss meringue buttercream frosting recipe in place of theirs because mine uses more egg whites and I happen to have a lot of those after making all of that ice cream. I also increased the volume of the soaking syrup since the cake was fairly dry and you always end up using far far less than you really ought to.

topping the third layer

glazing

Overall, I thought this cake was too sweet. Even Jeremy looked like he was about to pass out before he finished his slice (granted, I gave him a large slice of cake), but he said he liked it and he’s not one to lie. The glaze makes it look better, but either the glaze has to go or something less sweet than a buttercream should be used because it’s the kind of sweet that makes my jaws hurt when I take a bite. I don’t tend to go nuts over eating sweets though, so perhaps other people would think it fine. This cake could easily serve 16 people.

I tried a little design on the glaze, except I had popped the glazed cake into the refrigerator (per the recipe instructions) before I realized that I wanted the glaze to still be warm. I ended up rutting the glaze. I did try to heat a baking sheet in the oven and then hold it very close over the cake to try and reheat the glaze, but it wasn’t enough to have the ruts close up. Oh well… Good to learn.

serve with a cup of something

Triple Fudge Kahlua Torte
modified from Chocolatier March 1995

chocolate torte
2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp baking soda

swiss meringue espresso buttercream
8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
16 oz butter
6 tsp espresso powder
4 tsp boiling water

kahlua syrup
6 oz sugar
6 oz water
4 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur

chocolate glaze
8 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Make the chocolate torte: Position rack in center of 350F oven. Lightly butter a 10-inch round cake or springform pan. Line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment. Dust side of pan with cocoa powder and tap out excess. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Sift mixture onto a piece of wax paper. In a stand mixer bowl, beat the butter with the paddle attachment at medium-high speed for 1 minute until creamy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat or 2 minutes until well combined. Scrape down bowl as necessary. On low speed, add flour mixture one-third at a time until just combined. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and baking soda. Add sour cream to batter and mix on low until just combined. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until edge pulls away slightly from pan and cake springs back when gently pressed. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes then invert cake to peel off parchment and invert again. Cool cake completely.

Make espresso swiss meringue buttercream: Combine egg whites and sugar in stand mixer bowl. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer with whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand). Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. In a separate small bowl, mix the boiling water with the espresso powder. Once desired consistency has been reached on the buttercream, add espresso and mix well.

Make kahlua simple syrup: Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil then remove from heat. When cool, stir in Kahlua.

Make chocolate glaze: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Combine cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to gentle boil over medium heat. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Gently stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Assembly: Using a long serrated knife, slice the torte into three layers of equal thickness. Place one layer on a 9-inch cake round. Brush the layer with 1/2 cup of Kahlua syrup (you should have 1 1/2 cups in total). Spread a layer of buttercream (approximately a third). Top with another cake layer and repeat until you top with the third cake layer. Soak the cake layer with the rest of the syrup and then apply a crumb coat of buttercream to the entire cake. Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes to set the buttercream (I didn’t do this, it tends to set my glaze way too fast when the cake is cold).

Glaze the cake: Place cake on wire rack set over a baking sheet. Pour glaze over the cake, covering it completely. Spread glaze evenly over top and sides. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until glaze sets (* but if you want to decorate, then do so before putting the cake in the fridge). Slice cake with hot, dry knife, wiping it clean after each cut.

Mr. Jeremy just finished system administration on my computer. I now have a terabyte of disk space! Well, it’s actually half a terabyte since I have a mirror for redundancy, but when that gets crowded it will be time for an external RAID or some such lovely. Big thanks to Jeremy - a man of many hidden talents. Such a gem, he is.

I stopped by the Cake Lady (her unofficial name). It’s this tiny run down looking shop in a very depressed strip mall. The store is crammed to the hilt full of cake and candy-making supplies. It smells like 1974. The owner is pushy and since customers usually come in one at a time, she hovers and won’t stop talking to let you think for a second. You can’t even browse without her demanding what you are looking for. On top of that, she told me that CSR doesn’t do chocolate molding right, that she never has to scrape the chocolate over her molds. Well - she also makes maybe a dozen or so at a time? CSR is teaching their students to make chocolates in production-mode… meaning hundreds at a time. I really want to support her business, but she makes me batty and also doesn’t have much in the way of pastry supplies. I did purchase some luster dust… beautiful raspberry and midnight blue colors. I wonder who would want to sample some pretty truffles?

I have two projects for this weekend: a chocolate 6-inch cake for Grandma Darling, and a lemon 9-inch for my aunt, Elena, and her family. It gets a little tricky because of transportation issues and the fact that New Mexico is hotter than hell right now. The chocolate cake will be chocolate chiffon cake layers with Grand Marnier soaking syrup and chocolate buttercream. The lemon cake will be vanilla chiffon layers with lemon soaking syrup, lemon curd, and lemon buttercream. I will also experiment with a new mold I bought. Let’s hope it doesn’t tank. I’m a slut for lemony anything. Nice excuse to get this:

limoncello: i buy more booze for pastries and cooking than anything else

A beef brisket is in the slow cooker now. Hoping it will be melt-in-your-mouth tender by morning. It smells pretty good right now!