Baking Cookies with John Mayer

Chocolate and spice. To me, they go hand in hand. In fact, I prefer my chocolate to have an edge. No milk bars for me, bring on the 70% dark with cocoa nibs and chile pepper. I have been thinking about making some spiced chocolate icebox cookies for a week, but I needed to 1) find a good starting recipe and 2) make it happen.

Tonight, I finally baked some up with my new friend John Mayer. You see, he and I have developed a very close relationship over the last few days, and, what with his On Demand VH1 specials expiring at midnight and my access to his Storytellers episode coming to a close, I felt I should celebrate our time together.




So while Mr. Mayer sang the best of his back catalog and played some bitchin' guitar, I got out the butter, flour and sugar, and mixed up some lovin' from the oven. I started with this recipe for plain chocolate icebox cookies and then spiced it up a little. You know when I said I don't mess with recipes for baked goods? Yeah, I lied. It started with a little cinnamon and a little Mexican chocolate, but then I didn't have enough cocoa so I had to improvise a little. It kind blew up from there.



I didn't take these cookies quite as far into spicy as I had originally intended, but they do have a nice warmth. I think in this case there is something to be said for subtlety. Even though they aren't exactly what I had in mind when I started out, they're still pretty darn good dunked into tea. I've posted the final recipe as I made it below, but if I did it again I would up the spice factor (1/2 or 3/4 tsp cinnamon maybe, a full 1/4 tsp black pepper? I will have to play with this), use all cocoa, leave in the extra 2 Tbsp of sugar, and not bake them quite as long (take out at 8-9 min?).



*Soundtrack optional, but something tells me the man appreciates quality baked goods.

Spiced Chocolate Icebox Cookies

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I ran out and used 1/4 cup cocoa and 1/4 cup hot chocolate mix)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (table salt)
1/4 tsp Mexican Cinnamon, ground (canela)
1/8 tsp black pepper, ground
3/4 cup butter, unsalted and softened (3/4 cup = 1.5 sticks)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar (original recipe calls for light, I was out)
1/2 cup minus 2 Tbs sugar (I removed 2 Tbs to compensate for the sugar in the drink mix, if using all cocoa leave in)
2 squares (2 oz) - ish chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 2 squares Mexican Chocolate plus 1/2 square Belgian Dark to smooth it out)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 large egg

Mix Dry Ingredients
1) In a medium-large sized bowl, thoroughly mix together flour, cocoa (or cocoa/hot chocolate mix), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pepper with a whisk or a fork.

Mix Wet Ingredients
2) In a second, larger, bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium until light and fluffy (if you don't have a mixer this will still work, just use a whisk and some arm strength). Beat in chocolate, vanilla, and almond extract until well combined. Beat in egg.

Mix Wet and Dry Ingredients
3) Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture in three batches. Combine well after each addition.

4) Divide dough in half, roll into 12" logs, and wrap in parchment paper. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight. You can also wrap parchment covered log in plastic wrap and freeze.

Bake
5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove one log of dough from the fridge (leave second log in the fridge to remain firm or keep for later use) and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices on two parchment lined cookie sheets one inch apart.

6) Bake 10-11 minutes, switching the sheets between racks halfway through baking. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute, transfer to wire cooling racks (or a plate) to cool completely. Repeat for remaining dough.

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The Sophmore Slump

Nearly a week without cooking anything of consequence. How is a girl supposed to keep her blogging up if there isn't anything to blog about? Well, to be fair my parents were in town and we went out to eat quite a bit. I was hoping to regale you all with visually stunning photos of what I ate, but 1) I forgot to take pictures of most of it, and 2) I think the best thing I had all weekend was a martini at Scoma's in Sausalito. Gin. Extra dry. With an olive. Mmmm... nothing like raw oysters and a big fat Martini to make everything right with the world.

So instead of showing you, I will tell you about the one thing I did make (which I also conveniently failed to take a picture of), Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk. It was so good. Go make it. Go. Right now. No, seriously. You need to have made this for yourself yesterday because it really is that good. It is also incredibly simple.

I pretty much never follow a recipe explicitly unless I am unfamiliar with the end product or cooking technique, or if I am baking. This recipe is so simple, straightforward, and practically perfect that the only thing that could be adjusted is one of the cooking instructions. The recipe calls for the lid of your cooking vessel to be off the entire bake time, but another blogger made the accidental discovery that its even better if you leave the lid on for the first hour and then take it off to finish for the last 20-30 minutes. Leaving the lid on for the majority of the cooking time prevents the delicious sauce from evaporating and turning into charcoal at the bottom of the pot, and makes the chicken that much more moist and juicy.

So that is all I have to show for the last week. I'll come up with something better next time, I promise.

P.S. Jamie Oliver just won the 2010 TED Prize to pursue his desire to help revolutionize the way we teach children about food and eating. His work goes hand in hand with Michelle Obama's new Let's Move campaign to fight childhood obesity. There are so many things I could say but I think that these inspiring people and their projects can speak for themselves. Please click on the links to these sites to learn more about these projects, and, if you would like to become more involved, find out ways that you can offer your support.

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Lazy Sunday Pulled Pork

This is a batch of pulled pork I made. Actually, its more than pulled pork. Just calling it pulled pork doesn't hint at the sweet, spicy, smoky deliciousness that is this dish; perfect for a lazy Sunday in the middle of winter. It is great in a sandwich, or, as I had it tonight, as a sauce for pasta and greens. It originally blossomed from my desire to make a pot roast. But when I went to the store and beef was full price but pork shoulder was on sale, suddenly I was craving rich, smoky mole, and visions of chile peppers danced in my head.

I remembered the core element of a red pozole I made for New Year's. Toasted chiles softened with boiling water and pureed with softened garlic and onion made a thick paste for the soup base. I built on that chile base using the flavor profiles from a previous batch of tamales, anise scented black bean filling, and some of the more common ingredients in a red mole, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, chocolate, and toast, and came up with something completely new (at least I've never had anything like it).


When you break it down, this is just a braise. Braises are great because after you get them set up, they are pretty much hands off. First, you brown the meat, then, you add a base of flavors, and finally, you put it all together with some liquid and bake, covered, in the oven until done. I have independent verification from a discerning palate that these are some tasty vittles, and the recipe is nearly foolproof. I almost ruined it (twice) by trying to turn it into charcoal but pulled it back from the edge. That's okay, I'm not afraid of failure or a little carbon. It came together in the end and that is what matters.

If you can't find one of the ingredients, just improvise. I had never tried mulatto chiles before Sunday, and I picked them out by scent alone. They smelled smoky and fruity, which was just what I wanted so I went with it. I was originally going to include onion but 1) I only had red onions and I really needed a white or a yellow for this dish, and 2) when I did try to use the red onion I pretty much turned it into tar on the bottom of my pot (so much for my tasty brown bits). Ultimately I left the onion out, but you could certainly add it right back. Different kinds of sugar (molasses, brown sugar, or raw sugar) could easily be substituted, different chiles, and different proportions can all be played with. Have fun!


Lazy Sunday Pulled Pork

3.7 lbs Pork Shoulder (I used a bone-in picnic roast, but you can use whatever roasting cuts are available)
2 Tbs vegetable oil or Bacon Drippings
4-6 cups broth or stock (I used what was in the freezer, I think it was turkey stock)
3 or more Mulatto Chiles
2 or more Pasilla Chiles
2-3 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo
4-6 cloves Garlic
Pinch of Cumin
3 Star Anise
1 stick Mexican Cinnamon (Canela)
1 oz Mexican Chocolate (approximate)
2 tsp quality Sugar (raw, natural, turbinado, brown - not plain granulted)
2 slices of leftover Bread, toasted
1/3 cup Orange Juice

Brown Meat
1) Prep your meat by removing any excess skin, fat, and bone. Cut into large chunks.
2) Heat aprox. 2 tablespoons fat of your choice (I used bacon drippings) over medium high heat in a large heavy-bottomed, oven safe dish, like a large fry pan or dutch oven (as I used). Covered is best, but its okay if there is no lid.
3) Brown the meat in small batches, remove from pan, and set aside.

Prep Sauce
4) De-seed and de-stem the chiles (not chipotle), and toast lightly in a dry pan or in the oven if you wish (I forgot).
5) Heat the stock or broth to a low simmer.
6) Bring Cinnamon, anise, and 2 cups of water to a boil. Turn off, cover, and steep for 5-8 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid.
7) Put the chiles in a bowl, cover with the heated broth, and steep for 5-8 minutes.

Make the Sauce
8) Combine in a blender:
-the chiles and their soaking liquid
-the chipotles
-the garlic
-the cumin
-the cinnamon and anise flavored water
-the chocolate
-the sugar
-the toast
Pulse after every addition. Be careful, hot liquids expand in the blender and have been known to cause a blender spillover/burns. Taste. Adjust quantities of any ingredients and add salt to preference.

Put it Together
9) De-glaze the brown bits from your HOT pan with the orange juice and a bit of broth.
10) Add meat and chile sauce back to the pot, and add broth to just cover.
11) Put a tight lid on it and bake for 1-1.5 hours* at 350F degrees.

*Note, the exact amount of time it takes depends on the amount of liquid and the size of your chunks of meat. I used medium sized chunks (1.5-2 inch cubes) and an amount of liquid level with the top of the meat. 1.5 hours was a little too long, but larger pieces or meat or more liquid would have made it perfect. The dish you use will effect the cooking time.

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