Food Thread: The Perfect Christmas Gift: Kill Your Liver And Get Fat! [CBD]

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One of the pleasures of the Christmas season is the debauchery of suspended diets, relaxed drinking rules, and the undeniable pleasures of foods that are just too much for regular consumption, but put a lovely exclamation point on a Christmas gathering.

For example, here's a drink, A candy-cane blitz-tini (courtesy of phoenixgirl) that nobody other than a psychotic elf would order in April, but at that late-December office party with your boss paying?

Absolutely.

Be warned however; if you don't actually like the flavor of candy canes, this will be an unpleasant experience. I can speak knowledgeably, because this guy made me a similar one last week. It was....interesting.

For a more grown-up but still festive drink, try this rye whiskey and chocolate concoction, made by Mr. McIntosh, one of the best (and least pompous) bartenders in the NY area. Shockingly he is not a "mixologist," does not have a handlebar mustache, does not wear a bow-tie and have garters on his sleeves. He just makes great, inventive drinks and is a masterful conversationalist.

He doesn't have a name for it, but to quote Mr. McIntosh,

"I've been playing with names like "Chocolate By Chile" or "Hot Chocolate" or "Shut Up And Drink This Asshole: It's Delicious"

3 oz. rye whiskey (Bulleit)
1 oz. Dorda Double Chocolate Liqueur*
1/2 oz. brown sugar simple syrup**
Healthy dose Sriracha bitters***

Shake vigorously with ice. And shake well, because the chocolate liqueur is quite thick. Pour into a chilled martini glass.

*This is the least sweet of the chocolate liqueurs...almost like unsweetened chocolate. Substituting will get you a sweeter drink.

**Brown sugar simple syrup - equal parts light brown sugar and water. Warm in a saucepan until just dissolved. Do not reduce.

***Tabasco or another hot sauce, even regular Sriracha can be substituted for the bitters but you will obviously lose some of the other flavors.

And, because chocolate is like beer -- proof that God exists and wants us to be happy -- here is a decadent dessert that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated before baking. It's a modified version of a basic flourless chocolate cake recipe; one that I have tweaked over the years.

4 ounces soft, unsalted butter, more for greasing dishes
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I use Caillebaut, which is sold in bulk)
4 extra-large eggs
Salt
7 ounces of granulated sugar or 6 ounces superfine sugar*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup flour.

Preheat oven to 375°

Butter (and do a very good job! The more the merrier) seven or eight 4-ounce heatproof glass or ceramic baking dishes (white ramekins are the nicest**).

In a small saucepan over low heat or in a microwave oven, heat chocolate until just melted; set aside to cool slightly. Be gentle!

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together with a pinch of salt until very frothy; set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar.

Gradually add egg mixture, then vanilla.

Add flour and mix until combined

Add chocolate and blend until smooth, but don't go overboard. And...the batter sets fairly quickly, so don’t leave it sitting around while you putter around doing other stuff for dinner. It will be even more difficult to transfer into the baking dishes.

Divide batter into the baking dishes and arrange them on a baking sheet. I fill the ramekins to the inner lip (see the photo below), which is exactly four fluid ounces. That gives me seven cakes.

Bake until just firm and barely dry on surface, 13-15 minutes. The timing is very, very approximate. But be careful; the point of this dessert is spoonful of molten chocolate in the middle and a barely set, gooey cake. If you overcook them they will be nice little chocolate cakes, but nothing to write home about.

Remove dishes from the oven, run a thin knife or spatula around the cake and immediately invert cakes onto small plates or shallow bowls. I give the inverted dish a good rap with a knife to release the cake. Dust with powdered sugar and serve hot with a small scoop of good ice cream on the side.

You can also serve straight from the ramekin, but they will be hot and continue to cook the cake a bit, so adjust your baking time. Plus your guests will undoubtedly be inebriated and will burn themselves. But...it's probably the best way to serve them, so just have buckets of ice water available into which they can plunge their hands and soothe the burns.

Batter may be placed in baking dishes, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for a few days. If you have time, bring to room temperature before baking. Or not. It sounds good, but I am not sure that straight from the refrigerator makes much difference.

*I don’t bother with the superfine: plain granulated works very well. Just make sure you cream the butter and sugar well.

**Don't buy the expensive French ones. The cheap ones work great. And white because it just looks better. Yeah, I'm an aesthete. Sue me.

[Per Serving: 532 Calories; 43g Fat (64.5% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 157mg Cholesterol; 181mg Sodium.]

posted by Open Blogger at 03:30 PM

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