Mexican Hot Chocolate and Cinnamon Baked Donuts

by Bette Lee Crosby | Apr 30, 2014 | Taste of the South

Yay! Cinco de Mayo is coming to The Pub and Grub Forum and Bette Lee Crosby's Mid-week Mixers! I love this time of year. I get to cook what I love best-Mexican food and treats. This will include several weeks of two-fers. Yeppers, two recipes in one post!

I found these recipes in one of the best cookbooks I grabbed last year. Mad Hungry Cravings by Lucinda Scala Quinn was pretty dang unusual, but had some rockin', easy to prepare recipes in there. I am now getting around to “taste test” and present these and these are the first from that cookbook.

As I normally do, I tweaked the Mexican Hot Chocolate and added a shot of Kahlua in one and tequila in another. Not a drinker, early morning drinker or serving it to kids, omit the alcohol. It was fine without it. I simply wanted to see what it did.

So, here we go!

Mexican Hot Chocolate (Serves 2)

Ingredients:
2 cups WHOLE milk
1 T. light brown sugar
4.5 oz BITTERSWEET chocolate chopped (Nestle does a nice one)
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. ground cinammon
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 shot Kahlua or BLANCO tequila (optional)
Whipping cream
Additional cinnamon

Directions:
1) Place milk and brown sugar in a medium sauce pan and SIMMER.
2) Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and cayenne.
3) Allow to steep for 3 minutes and reheat just to a simmer.
4) Ladle into mugs. Add liquors at this time, if desired. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon.
5) Serve alone or with Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts.

I pulled out my mini doughnut pan to make these lil gems. I was reminded of the old Hostess product called little gems minus the coconut that was part of theirs. These doughnuts were SO simple to make. The toughest thing of these was the pain in the butt sifting, but it is necessary. I like the fact that I didn't have to put the batter in a pastry bag like I have done with other doughnuts. It was a much cleaner and faster treat to make.

I tested the doughnuts dipped both sides, one side and not dipped. Hands down, the dipped both sides won out. Be sure to use UNSALTED butter for the dipping. My husband and I decided that they were better the next day when everything had a chance to settle down.

So, here we go!

Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts

You'll need a small or standard doughnut pans

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 XL egg, lightly beaten
1.25 cups WHOLE milk
2 t. UNSALTED butter, melted
2. t. vanilla extract

Ingredients for the topping:
1 stick UNSALTED butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I bumped mine up to 3/4 t., but I love cinnamon)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the heck out of your doughnut pans!
2) Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a large bowl.
3) In a smaller bowl, combine the whisked egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla.
4) Stir the wet into the dry ingredients until JUST COMBINED. DO NOT over stir unless you want tough doughnuts.
5) Spoon the batter into the baking pans. Fill just under 3/4 full. Bake for 17 minutes for large doughnuts and 13 minutes for small doughnuts. Testing with a toothpick, it should come out clean.
6) Dip baked doughnuts in melted butter and then in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set aside.

Find more food and drink recipes at Naomi's The Pub and Grub Forum

Naomi’s Special Palomas on Mid-Week Mixers

by Bette Lee Crosby | Apr 23, 2014 | Taste of the South

After a bit of break we get a new drink recipe, Naomi's Special Palomas, over at The Pub and Grub Forum and we're happy to have it! What's your favorite drink?

My favorite Mexican drink is the margarita. Not your typical Americanized, restaurant style, margarita mixer margarita, but an old fashioned, top shelf, agave margarita with fresh juices. My second favorite Mexican drink is the Paloma. I have to admit though that the combination of lime juice, grapefruit soda and tequila just got downright boring to me. As I always do, I looked for ways to “soup” them up and this is what I came up with.

One thing that I did with my Paloma is that I tried muddled pineapple, mango and strawberries in the base of the drink. While each had their own unique flavor, I enjoyed the strawberry the most.

I serve mine in a canning jar with or without the salt. If doing for a crowd, I would go without the salt. It is definitely a time saver.

What I love most about this drink, unlike the margarita, is that if you are doing them for a crowd, they can be prepared ahead of time sans the grapefruit soda. When ready to serve, throw some ice in the canning jar, top with the soda and give a slight stir. Voila…it is ready to go!

So, here we go!

Ingredients (per drink):
1.5 oz BLANCO tequila
1 oz triple sec or orange liqueur
1.5 oz FRESH SQUEEZED lime juice
1 oz FRESH SQUEEZED orange juice
Fresh fruit, as desired
Grapefruit soda, such as 50/50 or Fresca
garnishes of lime, strawberries, oranges, etc. if desired.

Directions:
1) In a canning jar, place tequila, triple sec, fresh squeezed lime juice and fresh squeezed orange juice. If you are serving immediately, salt rim of jar PRIOR to adding juices/tequila
2) If desired, add fresh fruit and muddle. Place lid on jar. If serving immediately, obviously the lid on the jar would be a skipped step.
3) When ready to serve, give lidded jar a slight shake and remove. Add a significant amount of ice and top with grapefruit soda. Garnish as desired!

For more great drink and food recipes visit Naomi over at The Pub and Grub Forum

Mexican Rice II on Mid-Week Mixers

by Bette Lee Crosby | Apr 16, 2014 | Taste of the South

We're getting into the fiesta mood around here on Mid-Week Mixers. Naomi from the Pub and Grub is going to share some of her favorite recipes. Please comment and let us know what your favorites are!

Naomi says: I LOVE MEXICAN RICE. No, I mean I REALLY LOVE MEXICAN RICE!

It used to frustrate me because, while I could learn how to make EVERY other Mexican dish, including tamales, I could never figure out how the restaurants made their rice. I would try and try and each recipe that I tried was that nasty wet rice that couldn't even remotely compare to the restaurants.

One day, I just got fed up and went on a long and exhaustive search and found a site called Center Cut Cook. She had a recipe that called for an extra step-the washing of the rice. Also, the rice was baked versus simmered, so I was intrigued. I ran out and immediately purchased every ingredient that was called for and prepared it. I followed each step to a “T”. At first, I was disappointed. It looked exactly the same as my rices before. I then put it in the oven. With each stir required by the recipe, I found myself becoming more and more excited. IT WAS TURNING OUT JUST LIKE THE RESTAURANT STYLE.

I was giddy as a school girl. As I have made this more and more, I have found just how magical this recipe is. It freezes well. The sauce freezes well, so it is actually enough sauce for 2 batches. This is now my standard Mexican rice recipe.

One very special note, it is imperative that the rice be washed. DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS STEP. You will pay in the end!

So, on that note, here we go!

Ingredients:
1 (24oz) can whole, peeled tomatoes drained.
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 jalapenos, chopped finely (seeds/ribs removed)
2 cups long grain white rice
1/3 cup canola oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 t. salt
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 t. cumin
lime wedges for garnish

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) In a blender combine tomatoes and onion until smooth. Pour 2 cups into a measuring cup and set aside. Freeze or discard remaining two cups.
3) In a fine strainer, rinse rice in warm water. Do not skimp on this step and do it for a good 3-4 minutes! DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP! Allow rice to drain and dry slightly.
4) In an ovenproof pan, heat the canola oil. When hot and shimmery, add the rice and fry for about 10 minutes or until the rice turns a golden brown. Don't allow it to burn!
5) Add in jalapenos and garlic and fry a couple of minutes longer.
6) Stir in broth, the 2 cups of set aside tomato/onion mixture, salt and cumin. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
7) Cover the pan and place in oven.
8) Every 10 minutes, remove from oven and stir. Do this for 35-40 minutes total.
9) When done, add in cilantro and stir. Garnish with lime and serve immediately!

Find this and more recipes at The Pub and Grub Forum with Naomi Blackburn