CHOCOLATE MOLE BROWNIES

That is a misleading title for this post actually cos, these are not very mole like. They are however, so so so delicious. Warming and spicey and gooey but not overly so. I used a recipe out Meatless Mexican Home Cooking. As you can see from the flecks of peeper in the pic, I ground my own pepper and I need a better grinder to get a finer result but I enjoyed the texture the flecks created. I used Mexican chocolate and Canele (mex cinnamon), I think next time I will use a high quality chocolate as some Mexican is overly grainy. For a first time try they were almost what I had been imagining. Look at the deep purpley crimson pepper! My hood is full of places pushin' peppers of all manner. Looking forward to experimenting with more spices in my baking.









Chocolate Chile Mole Brownies:
From Meatless Mexican Home Cooking by Nancy Zaslavsky
4 oz unsweetened choc
1/4 pound butter
2 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp canela ( Mexican cinnamon)
3 Tablespoons Ancho chile powder ( Or pulverize stemmed, seeded and toasted Ancho chiles)
I cup flour
Optional
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup chopped walnuts

*I used Mexican chocolate and I decreased the sugar, and I always try to use vanilla beans
*I ALWAYS under bake my brownies, just a little as they continue to bake when you take them from the oven and I like them really fudgey.

Preheat oven to 350.
Butter an 8x12 inch baking dish
Melt chocolate with butter over double bolier. Remove from heat and cool.
Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, canela and chile powder. Stir the chocolate into this mixture. then stir in the flour and the sesame seeds and walnuts. Dough will be sticky.
Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 22 to 23 minutes. Do not over bake the brownies or they will lose their texture and be crispy on the edges. Cool for 30 minutes.

I used Guajillo peppers instead of ancho. A great supplier of chile peppers/powder is Sweetfreedom farm

October and December DOTMCs

I made your stuff!

Well, actually, I made Nicole's pumpkin cheesecake for my family's Christmas dessert. I didn't have Christmas with them, so that was my "please don't be angry with me" offering. I guess it worked because everyone really liked it. They saved me a little and I had it the next day, and it was delicious. Here are a couple photos (I gave it to my mom when it came out of the oven so she could refrigerate it overnight, so it's still in the pan).



Agatha's Cranberry Pistachio Brownies were altered into Cranberry Walnut Brownies because I live in a town that doesn't seem to sell unsalted pistachios anywhere and also, I had some walnuts already. I did find fresh cranberries though, even though it seems like places assume that we don't want to cook with cranberries after the holidays and therefore these places were not offered any brownies.

I made these for a dinner party I had to go to and they went over amazingly well, really dense and rich. Everyone raved about them. Chocolate and cranberries are my new favorite thing.



I figured out that DOTMC is extremely useful when all of your friends are sort of needy and only invite you to their parties so you'll bring something to eat. Instead of being like "Ohhhh noooo, which of the thousand cookbooks and/or cooking magazines lying around should I look through to find an appropriate recipe"* you can just grab the postcard and it's done. Month appropriate and pre-tested.

Also, I just opened the jam, and it is so delicious that I have to save it for weekends to make it last longer.

*I also usually say "F you! I'm not your sugary buttery monkey! Go to a bakery and find some other patsy to make your sweets for you!" But by the end of that, I already have my apron on and they know I'm bluffing.

DECEMBER DOTMC PISTACHIO BROWNIES

Adorable DOTMC recipe from Agatha!