Chocolate

Traditional Mole Sauce recipe

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Traditional Mole Sauce recipe

A nice version of the traditional Mexican sauce that is good on a variety of dishes.

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Directions:

  • Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat
  • Add onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and cinnamon.
  • Cover and cook until onion is almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
  • Mix in chili powder and flour, stir for 3 minutes.
  • Gradually whisk in chicken broth.
  • Increase heat to medium high.
  • Boil until reduced, about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Whisk in chocolate; season with salt and pepper, if desired.

    • Options:

    Double the amount of chili powder
    Use a good quality dark chocolate. Sweeter chocolates like Hershey will throw the taste of the recipe off
    Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth for a vegetarian version

    Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

    Posted by Rick on in Recipe 0 Comment

    Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

    This is my absolutely favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I try not to make these very often because I’ll eat the entire batch in one go.

    Yield: Makes 32 cookies

    Ingredients
    • 1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
    • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)
    • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

    Preparation
    1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well blended. Beat in 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
    2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir or beat into butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans, if using.
    3. Drop dough in 1-tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart, onto buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.
    4. Bake in a 300° oven until edges of cookies are browned, but an area about 1-inch wide in the center is still pale, about 14 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking.
    5. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool. If hot cookies start to break, slide a thin spatula under them to release; let stand on pan to firm up, 2 to 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

    Options
    None. These are perfect the way they are!

    Two-Tone Chocolate Fudge recipe

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    Two-Tone Chocolate Fudge recipe

    Ingredients
    (Makes about 2 1/2 pounds)
    2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
    1 (11 1/2-ounce) package milk chocolate chips
    1 (14-ounce) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
    2 tablespoons coffee cream or milk
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1 cup chopped walnuts

    Directions
    In saucepan, over low heat, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Spread into aluminum foil-lined 9-inch square pan. In another saucepan, over low heat, melt milk chocolate chips with remaining sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/2 cup walnuts. Spread over fudge in pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board; peel off foil and cut into squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

    Options
    The chocolate can be melted in the microwave for quicker fudge

    Ganache Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

    Posted by Rick on in Recipe 0 Comment

    Ganache Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies, originally from Whats Gaby Cooking?

    Ingredients:
    1 cup unsalted butter (at room temp)
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 cup white sugar
    2 eggs
    2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    2 1/2 cup AP flour
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp baking soda
    1 tsp baking powder
    2 cups Chocolate Chips
    1 cup heavy cream
    8 oz bittersweet chocolate

    Directions:
    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

    Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix on low until everything is incorporated.

    Chill the dough in the refrigerate for 2 hours. Scoop out a 1/4 cup size of dough and roll it into a ball. Roll it around in some Chocolate Chips and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place 6 cookies on a sheet since they will spread due to their size. Bake for 12-14 minutes until just slightly golden around the edges. Remove from oven and let rest on the baking sheet. *Note* The might look a little under baked in the middle – but don’t fear!! They will continue to bake a bit once removed from the oven.

    While the cookies are cooling, go ahead and make the ganache.

    In a small pot, bring the cream to a low simmer. Remove from heat and stir in the bittersweet chocolate with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Dip half of each cookie into the ganache and set on parchment paper to dry

    Comments

    Absolutely love these cookies, even with the Ganache dip. I do tend to add about another quarter to half cup of chocolate chips with no ill results so far.

    I’ll also replace the bittersweet chocolate with a nice dark chocolate. But be careful as dark chocolate tends to have a bit higher melting point.