Cooking adventures

[3rdragon]

My mother can be fairly compulsive at times. One of the things that she is compulsive about is the kitchen cupboards. They don't need to be neat, the organization doesn't always entirely make sense -- but if there is food that's been in there for a long time that we're not using, it bothers her. So every so often we acquire a list on the fridge, next to the shopping lists, of Food To Use Up. Right now cocoa powder is on that list. She got unsweetened cocoa powder for some cooking project ages ago, and it's been there for over a year now, not going anywhere fast. So when she declared that we should start thinking of ways to use it, I said, "Weren't you talking about some tomato sauce they made it Guatemala with chocolate in it?"

And so I present my recipe for molé poblano:

Molé Sauce
We had it over chicken and rice/plantains with veggies on the side, but over rice and veggies or rice and beans would also be good.

1/4 c. sesame seeds
1 c. sliced almonds (less probably okay)
olive oil
1 chili pepper, thin sliced lengthwise, no seeds (Use more if you want it spicy; this wasn't at all.)
1 to 2 cups stock
1/4 c. raisins
chicken
2 T. cinnamon
1 T. oregano
1 T. thyme
1 T. chili powder
1/4 to 1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint home-canned tomatoes
rice or plantains (pick yellow-brown ones, slice along skin lengthwise, and bake at 350 for 40+ minutes)
Toast sesame seeds. Toast almonds, too, if you’re feeling enthusiastic.
Meanwhile, saute chili pepper. When done, add stock and raisins and let soak.
Meanwhile, start chicken cooking on low heat in the world’s tiniest amount of oil.
In food processor, grind: almonds, sesame seeds, spices, cocoa. Dump into a bowl or something.
Saute onions and garlic, maybe with chicken. Add tomatoes, cook some more.
Dump excess stock in with almonds and blend pepper, raisins, and onions.
Mix bits of sauce together and heat. Serve over chicken and rice/plantains.



Millet Muffins
The food co-op sells these really delicious millet muffins. Last week I went looking for a recipe and found the recipe from the bakery that makes them. I thought the sugar and butter was a little excessive, so I made a half recipe with a quarter of the sugar and butter called for, and they were still very good.

I used whole wheat flour, too, and the toothpick never came out clean, but I decided they were done when I lifted the muffins out of the muffin tray by sticking a fork in the top. (Also, they didn't stick to the silicone muffin cups hardly at all, which was very nice.)

Comments

[animangel.livejournal.com]

Also, 1 teaspoon cocoa + 2 tsp powdered sugar makes for excellent hot cocoa. Mix with either 1 mug milk or you can use water and powdered milk. I do this on a fairly regular basis.

It is also good with a dash of peppermint extract, cinnamon, or cardamom.