Meatball Cookies

My noted culinary genius pal Michael G has been baking up hordes of holiday cookies lately and out of all the goodies these "meatball" cookies most captured my attention, so after I secured the recipe I immediately set out to bake a batch. They were just as delicious as they looked, and I'm thrilled to have them in my cookie repertoire now. The scintillating spices mixed with notes of coffee, cocoa and orange conjure up a particularity warm and enveloping Christmas spirit, especially when they're paired with a mug of holiday blend coffee on a chilled December Sunday evening. May you enjoy them just as much as I do!

Meatball Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

Recipe adapted from my friend Michael G

*2 cups flour

*3/4 cup sugar

*1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder

*1 tablespoon instant espresso

*1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

*1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

*1/4 teaspoon cloves

*1/4 teaspoon allspice

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*6 tablespoons unsalted butter

*1/2 cup milk

*1 egg

*Scant 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

*1/4 teaspoon orange extract

*1/2 teaspoon orange zest

*1/2 cup broken walnuts

Heat the oven to 375. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, espresso, spices, salt and baking powder in a large bowl and blend well. Grate in the butter and work with your fingers until a crumbly mixture is achieved.

Make a well in the center and add the milk, egg, extracts, zest and walnuts.  Stir with a large wooden spoon to combine until the dough is sticky and damp. Cover the dough and refrigerate for a few hours.

Scoop by the teaspoonful and shape into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-11 minutes or until they are done. Let cool completely before glazing with a mix of hot milk, confectioners sugar and flavoring (I have flavored it with spiced rum or cocoa).

Mixed Nut & Dried Cherry Chocolate Bark

Chocolate bark is infinitely versatile, infinitely delicious. This is probably my favorite rendition of chocolate bark, because there's just so much of everything on it! If you can temper the chocolate correctly it makes for a great gift too, especially as it can be stored longer than your usual homemade baked goods. Even if you don't get the chocolate to temper perfectly, it still delights: I've given it out to many people who are happy to store it in the fridge. At some point I should probably get a candy thermometer to take the guesswork out of melting the chocolate to just the right point. In the meantime, I'll eat my fridge-cold chocolate bark and love it all the same!

Mixed Nut and Dried Cherry Chocolate Bark
Makes 4ish servings?

*1 bag (10 oz) high quality dark chocolate semi-sweet morsels

*1 small pinch ground allspice
*1/4 teaspoon sea salt

*1/2 cup hulled pistachios, lightly toasted and chopped
*1/4 cup almonds, lightly toasted and chopped
*1 tablespoon pepitas, lightly toasted and chopped
*1 tablespoon coffee beans, roughly chopped

*1/2 cup dried cherries, some chopped & some left whole

Melt the morsels in a heatproof bowl for 30 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring after each round. When the chocolate is almost entirely melted, stir to melt the rest of the morsels and add the spice and salt. Combine the cherries, nuts, pepitas and coffee beans, remove about a third of the mix and chop it a little finer, then throw that into the chocolate, stirring to combine. Spread the mixture with a spatula onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until it's evenly about a quarter-inch thick. Rain down the remaining nuts, seeds, coffee beans and cherries until there's a nice layer over the chocolate. I usually take another small pinch of sea salt and scatter some crystals over the chocolate at this point too. Pop the baking sheet in the fridge to chill the bark for a couple hours. Break into shards when hardened. Do store in the fridge if tempering chocolate ain't really your finest skill.

Master Chili Recipe

The combination of enduring a spate of drab grey days and watching my pepper plants edge their way into fruition has made me yearn for a bowlful of chili with an exquisite spicy smolder as of late. Serendipitously, our habanero plant suddenly exploded with ripe red bounty over the weekend. I jumped at the chance to mince one up for the chili cause. This post contains what I refer to as my master chili recipe - a personal, perfected concoction that is excellent as is, and provides the general foundation for any variations I have made or will make in the future. Good eats for the late summer evenings swollen with storm, to tide us over while we all wait patiently for fall.  

Master Chili Recipe
Makes 2-4 servings

*1 lb lean ground hamburger
*1 yellow onion, finely chopped
*4 cloves garlic, minced
*1 habanero, minced
*1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
*3 teaspoons dried oregano
*1 teaspoon maple syrup
*3 tablespoons chili powder
*1 teaspoon smoked paprika
*S&P to taste
*1 minced chipotle in adobo
*1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (I use Cento)
*1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
*1 cup brewed chicory coffee (regular coffee will sub in a pinch)
*3/4-1 cup stout beer (Try to avoid using an overly sweet stout. Something with a subtle bite of bitterness to it like Dogfish Chicory Stout or North Coast Old Rasputin works exceptionally well)
 
Brown the meat in a large dutch oven, drain fat, and set the beef aside. Give the pot a nice oiling, add the diced onions and sweat them out until they are limp, about 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and habanero, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so. Be wary of the initial fumes coming off that pepper, as they can be strong! Add the spices and stir for another minute before adding the can of tomatoes, the beans, coffee, beer, maple syrup, and chipotle pepper. Bring to a boil, add the beef then reduce to low and simmer partially covered for at least 45 minutes, or indefinitely. I usually transfer it to a slow cooker set to low and keep it going all afternoon before serving.

Garnish with some good meltin’ cheese (I use a wonderful habanero cheddar), sour cream, toasted pepitas, green onions, or whatever your preferred chili topping may be!

Viet-style Cafe Au Lait Ice Cream

This is simple to make, and perfectly captures the flavor of a Vietnamese-style iced coffee. It's tasty as is, with a shot of espresso poured over it affogato-style, or scooped into a glass of Vietnamese iced coffee in place of the ice. Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz, who else.

Cafe au lait float in the making

Viet-style Cafe au Lait Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart

*11/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
*11/2 cups very strong brewed coffee (Cafe du Monde chicory coffee is preferred; it can be found in some Whole Foods and at Vietnamese grocers).
*1/2 cup half-and-half

Whisk all of the above together in a bowl until well-combined. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker for 20-odd minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions. Scoop it into your container and pop it in the freezer for a couple hours longer to ripen.