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Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
For a tastier, organic alternative to Ibarra / Abuelita, try Taza Chocolate. We make small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate in Somerville, MA. We're the only producer in the US of 100% stone ground, organic chocolate. We roast, winnow, grind, temper, and mold our chocolate in house and by hand on vintage machines. And we use exclusively organic, sustainable, and Direct Trade ingredients (a la Intelligentsia Coffee) to craft our chocolate. Plus, we make a version with in-house roasted organic salted almonds, so no need for that extra dollop of peanut butter (unless you want it). /me obviously works for Taza, and loves the chocolate.
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
This is obviously a helluva tough one... I was tempted to say Spaghetti Carbonara or Bucatini all'amtriciana, both with disgusting amounts of guanciale - jowl fat.
Then I thought, well, roast stewed pork belly Japanese style - think Kaku-Ni from the likes of Chiyono or Sakagura - which is basically just hunks of pork belly troubled by modest amounts of meat. In this category also falls the fresh-roasted smoked uncured pork belly sold in the better Greenpoint meatmarkets.
But, I would say number one fat dish for me is not a dish at all: it's sort of an ingredient: pie crust made with fresh lard. Last january we butchered a couple of pigs at a friend's farm... these pigs were fed on whey and lived outside in winter, which left them with a 3 inch think layer of fat all along their backs, as well as tons of leaf-lard inside their bodies. We took some of it back to NYC, rendered and filtered and cleaned it all up, and used it to make unbelievable pie crusts.
Apple pie with pork-lard pie crust is probably at the top of my list.
Served: A Little Extra Something
Cute story, Hannah. Hope you're well. Still confused about the monkeys bit... I guess that's the point.
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
@veggieout Hah! Funny you should mention it... Next one is on May 2nd and I'm just getting ready to email the troops about it.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
For a tastier, organic alternative to Ibarra / Abuelita, try Taza Chocolate. We make small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate in Somerville, MA. We're the only producer in the US of 100% stone ground, organic chocolate. We roast, winnow, grind, temper, and mold our chocolate in house and by hand on vintage machines. And we use exclusively organic, sustainable, and Direct Trade ingredients (a la Intelligentsia Coffee) to craft our chocolate. Plus, we make a version with in-house roasted organic salted almonds, so no need for that extra dollop of peanut butter (unless you want it). /me obviously works for Taza, and loves the chocolate.
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
This is obviously a helluva tough one... I was tempted to say Spaghetti Carbonara or Bucatini all'amtriciana, both with disgusting amounts of guanciale - jowl fat.
Then I thought, well, roast stewed pork belly Japanese style - think Kaku-Ni from the likes of Chiyono or Sakagura - which is basically just hunks of pork belly troubled by modest amounts of meat. In this category also falls the fresh-roasted smoked uncured pork belly sold in the better Greenpoint meatmarkets.
But, I would say number one fat dish for me is not a dish at all: it's sort of an ingredient: pie crust made with fresh lard. Last january we butchered a couple of pigs at a friend's farm... these pigs were fed on whey and lived outside in winter, which left them with a 3 inch think layer of fat all along their backs, as well as tons of leaf-lard inside their bodies. We took some of it back to NYC, rendered and filtered and cleaned it all up, and used it to make unbelievable pie crusts.
Apple pie with pork-lard pie crust is probably at the top of my list.
Served: A Little Extra Something
Cute story, Hannah. Hope you're well. Still confused about the monkeys bit... I guess that's the point.
Question of the Day: Memorable fortune cookies ...
"A carrot a day, may keep cancer away"
I'm not sure what's more troubling... the dubious medical advice or the oddly placed comma.
What's your favorite kitchen sound?
I'd say the "ssshhhhh... WHOOSH" of the coffee in a glass vacuum pot being sucked from the top compartment back into the bottom.
Sizzling bacon, obviously.
My favorite visual in the kitchen happens when you salt almost-boiling water for pasta at just the right temperature. If everything is right, the salt dissolves instantly in a sort of reverse mushroom cloud effect, and the water jumps right up to boiling. Amazing. It's about 3 seconds of beauty.
Question of the Day: Where did you have your most romantic dinner?
Marlowe & Sons in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I celebrated my valentine's return from a long trip with a late-night meal at this gem. Started with oysters and champagne, finished with the best roast chicken in the city (cooked "under a brick" - not novel, but this version's delicious).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Which wich?
I second the Rueben, although I prefer mustard to Russian dressing on my Ruebens. David Rosengarten did a great segment on the Rueben on his show Taste... gosh, that must have been 10 years ago or more.
I'll have to ask him about it.
One pot meals?
Hungarian food is always a great place to turn for one pot meals. They've got whole cookbooks devoted to "kettle cooking", a large cast iron pot, hung on a sort of tripod, heated over an open fire.
Goulash, Porkolt, Paprikas, etc. are all great one-pot dishes. Just don't skimp on the paprika! Pride of Szeged is probably the best widely available variety, but you can probably do better at local hungarian ethnic groceries - if your town has one, that is.
What's the secret in your chili recipe?
Hand-chopped chuck beef. Roma beans (not pinto or kidney). Five types of chile: dried ancho, chipotle, pequin, habanero, and fresh jalapenos. Blue Point Toasted Lager. A TINY bit of unsweetened Scharffenberger chocolate. Lots of fresh scallions, cilantro, and lime juice.
still want to know the best bbq in NC
Hmmm... 'Matt Lang' does have that sort of familiar ring to it. Matt has previously cooked at Pearl Oyster Bar, and perhaps 1 or 2 other spots around the city. He's not especially well-established though, so I doubt you've heard of him. He does wear the part of Williamsburg BBQ cook exceedingly well, though. Maybe that will help your mind's eye to picture him.
'How Moist Was My Turkey'
Adam, great post. But two questions have continued to plague me, in spite of this brilliant treatment. What I need to know, and what inquiring minds desperately seek to understand, is: a) Really, how funky is your chicken? and, b) Just how loose is your goose?
'Cause if your turkey is that moist, I can't even fathom the funky-osity of which your chicken must partake, and the sheer looseness of your goose. I mean, if a goose is THAT loose, how does it even keep it together? Huh? Riddle me this...
still want to know the best bbq in NC
Keep an eye out for Fette Sau in Williamsburg. Run by the owners of Spuyten Duyvil, this place has an entire wall devoted to the various cuts of meat. Tap handles made from cleavers and butcher knives, a bar built of 4 x 4's, wooden picnic tables, and a chef (Matt Lang) with a tattoo almost as rad as mine, make this place a promising contender. I'll let you know when they open to the public.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Oh, tsokolate. This is the ultimate comfort drink. What's great is that you can make it as thick or as thin as you like. It's a staple in our new year's eve dinner, great with cheesy, buttery ensaymada!
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
onedaylingers, I'm no coffee connoisseur by any means (this from the girl who drinks instant semi-regularly.) I guess barako tastes a little like really strong, deep, earthy chicory coffee. An aunt gifted me with a bag of it (ground already, unfortch) and I brewed a pot. It was all kinds of good: deep and strong, but without that overly roasted, bitter taste I hate.
Girl, if we lived close to each other, we'd each be 600 lbs, and we'd be on the 6 o'clock news as those chicks whose walls had to be taken down so they could winch us out of the kitchen and brought to the hospital on a flatbed truck. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
lorelai76: I've never heard of barako before—could you tell me how it's different in flavor/body from the arabica beans we're used to here? Also, why is it "best sweetened with honey or brown sugar?"
I wished I lived next door to you—just think of the adventures we could get up to in the kitchen! =)
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
onedaylingers -- I have been eyeballing Craigslist for the past few days looking for an inexpensive ice cream maker so I can make tsokolate 'n barako ice cream. I agree that cold tsokolate might even be (gasp) better than hot.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
lorelai76: Cashew nuts, oh my! I think I may round up cashew nut butter, almond butter, and the valencia peanut butter I used for a taste test =p
I had a tsokolate-interruptus situation the other day, and wound up putting half a mug's worth in the fridge. Chilled tsokolate is heavenly rich and even sludgier (in a good way) in consistency =p
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Lorelai76: thanks, that makes sense. I was wondering how raw rice grains would cook in a cup of tsokolate quickly enough. Pounding the rice into flakes beforehand certainly helps.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
onedaylingers, I grew up in San Miguel, Bulacan- a couple of hours north of Manila. I was talking to my mom about the tableas we got from our neighbor and she said that when she was growing up, they used CASHEW NUTS to enrichen the tableas. Can you imagine? I'm gonna hit the grocery store this weekend to see if I can find a jar of cashew butter, or barring that, plain cashews I can whirr in my food processor.
Maki Squarepatch, what we use is pinipig (immature, green rice pounded into flakes. click here to see.) You plop it into your hot cup of tsokolate, and the raw, thin rice flakes cooks in the chocolate. So you get a chocolatey rice pudding after you've drunk your tsokolate. om nom nom. Unfortunately, I've only seen poor quality toasted pinipig here in the US.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Do you have to cook the glutinous rice before adding it to the tsokolate? Or does it just cook in there?
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
mcebacal: I'm in love with how earthy, nuanced, and full-bodied tsokolate is =)
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
the nuttiness always reminded me a bit of a gritty soil while I was growing up...tasting a bit like the Philippines itself
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
this sounds amazing..sign me up for this coffee break!
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Yey! One of my favorites ever! Which reminds me, I have quite a stash of tableas just sitting lonely at home! Better get to it fast :) I like the idea of adding condensed milk -- gotta try that :)
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
lorelai76: Out of curiosity, which town are you from? I like the idea of tsokolate with oatmeal and condensed milk ;)
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
This sounds like a chocolate/peanut butter lovers dream come true. i am going to try this a.s.a.p!!!
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Wooohoooo! I'm glad you have joined the cult of hot chocolate w/peanut butter. It is magical stuff.
Peanut butter + tsokolate is legit, at least it my town it is. When the cacao is ground up, toasted peanuts are added to the mortar thingie to give the tableas heft and...well...to stretch it out.
If you've got left over tsokolate (ha! Like that would happen), use it to make champorado (sweet rice cooked in tsokolate, then drizzle with a bit of condensed milk for extra calories and extra deliciousness). A slightly healthier version? Use the left over tsokolate and cook your plain oatmeal with it. YUM.
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
For even LAZIER (or klutzier) cooks, they make Abuelita chocolate in a syrup form - I haven't seen it outside of Texas/California, but maybe it can be ordered online?
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
@Foster--I was just about to post about Taza. I live in Boston and have visited the factory--I just love it. I have a round of the Cinnamon Mexican Drinking Chocolate on my desk right now, maybe I'll make some hot chocolate tonight!
You guys (Taza) should do open houses more frequently, the one in December was great!
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
Well now, that is one I haven't heard of. I'm very curious about this, and I think I am going to try it with condensed milk, yum!
Grocery Ninja: Tsokolate—Smokey, Nutty, Pinoy Hot Chocolate
A reasonable substitute for the batidor is a wire whisk. I just stand it up in the mug of chocolate and rub it back and forth between my palms. Easier for us clutzy cooks to handle than pouring between cups at arms length. ;-)
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
Thank you for participating, and congratulations to our winners:
economyrice
natalie
raspberrypicker
mochihead
Mizbee
Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page.
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
PIE CRUST. LOTS AND LOTS OF PIE CRUST.
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
A big honkin' salad with a ton of avocado slices, or my special tortilla soup, topped with sour cream and guac.
Cook the Book: 'Fat'
I do not have a fat phobia. I love veggies flavored with bacon - especially green beans or squash, pork chops fried in bacon grease, pie crust made with lard, LOTS of gravy, full flavor and full fat mac 'n cheese or au gratin potatoes, all kinds of bread eaten with good old butter, potatoes and onions fried in bacon grease, and I could go on for days. Paula Deen's recipes do my tastebuds good and make my tummy happy!!!
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About FosterSJC
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Favorite foods: Broccoli Raab, Buffalo Wings, Salumi, Steamed (Juicy) Pork Buns
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@veggieout Hah! Funny you should mention it... Next one is on May 2nd and I'm just getting ready to email the troops about it.