BUT, and I don’t really want to point fingers here… buuuuttttttttt… some one else hasn’t posted in like 6,034,050 days… so if any flogging is going to happen it will be HIS heinie that get’s it NOT mine. I have a plethora of excuses. But only one way to make it up to you…

Another installment in the wonderful that is SCOOPAPALOOZA!

Yea another ice cream… I wish I had like oh I don’t know some juicy JERK PORK CHOPS or some GRILLED ONION CITRUS CHICKEN THIGHS to post but I am in a microscopic apartment at the moment, and making rice causes the inside temps to hit 90 in 3.4 seconds and I am afraid the heat will cause the lake to riptide. I wonder if anyone ELSE has some recipes for the aforementioned dishes to post… donno :donno:.

At least this ice cream… where not grill-able comes with some heat…

That, my friends is my newest warped creation, Mojo Mexican Ice Cream. And yea it is muy caliente y muy fría!

This ice cream is a brown sugar Ceylon cinnamon based cream, with swirls of dulce de leche and Mexican chocolate fudge which is flecked with bits of salted chipotle.

Yes. It is involved. But so very worth it. (Besides if you are like me – you already have cans of dulce in the fridge awaiting its calling so yea half done really…)

Lets start with the base:

2 cups of half and half
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 heaping tablespoon of Ceylon cinnamon (reserved)

(This cream and half & half base is my go to…)

Combine the half and half, the cream and the brown sugar in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium low heat. Stirring occasionally, bring this mixture to 170°. Remember – do not allow to boil… then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour into non reactive, air tight container and let cool in fridge overnight. (Must get to 40°)

Next the Dulce:

If I can teach Elle from Elle’s Kitchen to make Dulce de leche this way anyone can do it. Tho I think she stood just outside the kitchen door with blast shields up…

Take a can of sweetened condensed milk and peel the label off it.

Place the can in a deep pot and cover completely with water. Bring water to a boil and allow to boil, making sure that the can is completely covered at all times with water, for about 90 minutes. If you do it longer you will have a thicker dulce. About three hours produces a dulce that you can slice with a knife and eat like a chunk of cheese… (Gonna faint at the thought.) Regardless it is heaven and it is the easiest thing in the world to make. Albeit a little scary for the inexperienced.

Remove the can from the water and let cool. I HAVE opened the can after about 30 minutes when it was still a little hot to the touch (you do NOT need to in this instance…) I did it slowly. Nothing exploded or sprayed out like hot lava. Bottom line is this. I am not a kitchen safety expert, and definitely not following the OSHA guidelines for dulce surety. AND I KNOW damn well that a bunch of you are going to get all up in my ice cream because THIS IS SO NOT SAFE!!! Yea. Well. Neither is eating all of Jeff’s sour patch kids yet I do it…

So the dulce needs to be cool to add to the ice cream or it will melt. BUT you only want it room temperature. So. Leave the can closed on the counter top till you make the actual ice cream and move on to the fudge…

El Mexican Fudge

8 oz Mexican Chocolate (like Ibarra or Abuelita Marqueta, probably called Mexican hot chocolate so yes, this is NOT bitter chocolate)
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powder sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 large dried chipotle pepper
Hot water to cover
1/2 t vanilla salt (just salt is fine too)

In a large saucepan, combine the chocolate and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Slowly add in the sugar and milk. Increase heat to a low boil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

Take the chipotle and place in a small bowl or cup and just cover with hot water. Add salt and stir to dissolve. When soft, seed and chop into small dice. Return to water. Let sit till needed.

When the chocolate is cooled, divide. Store half in fridge for future topping use. Rinse and drain the chipotle and then add to the reserved half of the chocolate fudge.

Quick note. The dulce and fudge need to be no hotter or colder then room temperature. So if you make them the day before and store in fridge you will need to them to room temperature before layering in the ice cream.

Are you exhausted yet because I am just typing all this…

Ok so – time to get that ice cream maker out of the freezer and the base out of the fridge. And following your manufacturers guidelines, process the cream base. NOW is when you add the Ceylon cinnamon to the cream. While it is slowly becoming ice cream, get out a 32 oz container in which you will store the ice cream for its final freeze. When the cream is finished becoming ice cream, pour a third of it into the storage container. Then pour in a thin (ish) layer of dulce. Add another third of the ice cream and then add the chocolate chipotle fudge in its own naughty layer. Finally top with the rest of the ice cream. Cover and put immediately in the freezer for a MINIMUM of 4 hours, or as I like to refer to it as… torture.

When serving be sure to scoop all the way down to get to the all the layers.

I accept all forms of flattery & thanks. Go ahead throw money I won’t be offended.

Yea. You.

Referring to my previous, yet highly whimsical blog as a *BARF* baking BLOG? You obviously glanced over the pepper vodka, beef jerky, Italian sausage, beer and brats and the world famous bacon brie swammich posts. It was a regular party over there! Oh and a few items of note: 1) I don’t recall you objecting while your mouth was full of said baked goods and B) remember it was YOU who helped BAKE this…

Just saying…

But like any relationship, there has to be give and take. And Jeff is going to give me hella grief if I don’t post more then baked goods. Even tho this IS THE HOLIDAY season, and no one wants to bring brisket to a cookie exchange…

So I decided to meat him half way. Ha haa! Meat him. I slay me.

I about perfected my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe this past weekend. I would post those but none are left because oh that’s right – someone helped EAT them… so instead I am going to combine that recipe, with a special something from my recipe bag o’ tricks. Sure to quell even the crankiest of meat eating beasts.

Chocolate Chip Maple Bacon Cookies

That sound you just heard was Jeff’s head exploding.

I did something in this recipe that might freak a few people out. I never did it when I made these before but I thought why the hell not. Let’s throw down that smoked meat gauntlet! You may want to sit down…

Ok – let’s start.

The Goods

8 slices of thick cut, high quality, bought from the butcher, bacon, diced. (PLEASE not pre-packaged slimy stuff… blech.)
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c REAL maple syrup (You there. Put down Mrs. Butterworth.)
2 eggs
1 T Vanilla
2 1/2 c AP flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t cream of tartar (optional – see note.)
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

The Deal

Cook up bacon slowly in a pan till crisp. Remove bacon to paper towel to drain and strain the rendered bacon fat from the pan. Measure out 1/4 cup of that bacon fat and place in the fridge to cool. (Be sure to save the rest of that fat for future use.) Scared yet?

After the bacon fat has cooled, add to the butter and whip till combined. I told you to sit didn’t I? You could easily just use 3/4 cup of butter or even a whole cup, which is what I usually use for my regular ole’ chocolate chip cookies. But that bacon fat was just STARING AT ME. Taunting me. So I thought why not.

When thoroughly combined with the butter, add the eggs, vanilla, sugars and maple syrup. Whip into submission.

Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar and add to the butter and sugar mixture till just combined.

You will notice the lack of salt here. I felt that the bacon fat and the bacon itself added quite enough where no extra would be needed.

Fold in chocolate chips. Then the bacon. Mmmm bacon.

Note: The cream of tartar gives the cookie surface more definition. Without it you get a very smooth cookie. If that is the look you like, you can omit this as it is strictly for cosmetic purposes.

Chill the dough. Un-chilled dough will spread out so thin when baked you can see thru the cookies…

Once chilled, place balls of dough on a pan and throw it in a pre-heated 350° oven for 10-12 minutes (till golden my friends) and then remove to rack to cool.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

I bet you take back that BARF baking crack now…