Twofer.

Today's post is both my Project 52 post for this week as well as my latest obsession. Chai. It almost sounds like "sigh" which is precisely what I do when the spices hit the heat of the tea. My body actually sighs. This week's theme for Project 52 is Seasons and chai has become my ritual for the winter season.

Besides, any recipe that starts with popping open a can of condensed milk has my interest peaked from the get go. Technically this recipe is for a chai mix that keeps in the fridge for up to 6 months (not that yours will last as long if you actually like chai). But what's chai? Spiced, milky, sweet indian tea. Usually the spices are simmered for a while in a combination of milk/water then strained and the tea briefly brewed in the spiced liquid. Black peppercorns, cardomom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon all are common chai spices. If you like holiday spice you're likely to love chai.

Now a while back I was catching up with reading Amy Karol's blog and saw her post a chai mix. At the time I was not a tea drinker but I bookmarked the recipe. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've 'fessed up on here somewhere that my preference for tea has always involved the powdered instant iced tea which horrifies the sweet tea soul of my southern bred husband. I just was never into hot beverages and if I wanted caffeine then I was either going to drink cola or the vile powdered iced tea. Period. End of Story. Or so I thought.

Fast forward to this year when I'm shaking things up including now drinking tea - real tea for some ADD coping benefits. I won't go into the long winded explanation but it's all about the l-theanine and dopamine if you want to google and how it helps my slightly off kilter brain. Hello, my name is Marielle and I'm a black tea drinker. First, I drank it cold and unsweetened like some bitterly brewed medicine that I had to endure several times a day. Quickly I realized that was no way to do things so I splashed a bit of lemonade into my sipping tea and Arnold Palmered my way through the day feeling quite devious if I say so myself. I also revisited Alton Brown's wisdom on tea because I figured there had to be a more common sense approach to tea. Right away I learned how to brew a smooth cup. After downing my first ever cup of smooth, hot tea and actually enjoying it, I remembered the chai concentrate recipe. I hit the pantry for the ingredients and mixed it up. I tried it, let he kids try it and then had to fend them off the dregs of my cup only with the promise that I would fix them their own. Definitely a success.

The original recipe calls for cardamom which I don't keep around the house so I increased the cinnamon. I also remembered my mom mentioning that in Dominican Republic allspice is referred to as the peppercorn of the Caribbean so in went the allspice. I'm sure you could try ginger or even *gasp* stick to the recipe and use cardamom.

Chai Concentrate
adapted from The Oregonian

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg - definitely try to use fresh
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

First the labor intensive part. Opening up the condensed milk can and not licking it all up. Please don't. That's no example for the kids and really you need the milk for the chai. Priorities people, priorities.




You'll notice my fancy condensed milk utensil. Yes a butter knife. Growing up my mother always grabbed one before the can opener since it's just much sturdier than a spatula and a bit easier to get into the can. This time it also works as a great stirring stick that is again much faster than a spatula. Dump in the sugar and spices then give it a good stir.




Tada! That's it. Well almost it. Let the mix rest 24 hours and allow the spices to bloom, flavoring the condensed milk as well. Trust me, you need to wait.




Just tuck it in the fridge and wait until the next day.




Through the magic of blog time here's the mix all ready to go. Now there's a slight layer of bubbles/scum looking stuff at the top. Do not fret, it's just the air bubbles from stirring that worked themselves to the surface. Just give the mix another stir.






Next you'll brew your tea. Oh that tag? Yes, Luzianne. I'm trying to finish what I have in the pantry before trying other brands but if handled well this one's pretty smooth. Oh the mason jar? Well since my buddy the keurig produces my hot water and I hate washing dishes I skip the tea pot and brew directly into a quart mason jar. I drink the first cup as hot chai and then the subsequent cups I drink iced. I just chuck a lid on the jar and stick it in the fridge. Fancy teapots are cute, but a relaxed me is even cuter.




While your tea is brewing, dump a regular heaping tablespoon (or two if you dare) of chai concentrate into your teacup.




Now this is where the rubber meets the road. In one corner, our piping hot tea. In the other corner the chai mix. Who will reign supreme?




Pour the hot tea over the chai mix . . .




. . . stir. Then watch the magic happen.




Sigh. Milky, sweet, spicey goodness and a hot cup to warm your hands.

Mmmmmm, hot cocoa

Seriously is there ever a time one can utter the words hot cocoa and not tack on mmmm, yum or groan? I know I can't. Growing up Dominican meant we had plenty of hot chocolate/buttered toast breakfasts. However visiting my grandparents in Dominican Republic proper meant you were on the euro meal schedule. Hearty breakfast, large midday meal, and a light supper. The evening supper could be anything from a fresh bowl of milk based oatmeal, a light meatless spaghetti or hot chocolate and a toasted cheese sandwich. For a picky eater, making it through the minefield that was a large midday meal was worth it to finally get a treat for supper.




Suffice it to say I make hot cocoa/buttered toast breakfasts often in my home. And if there's even a whisper of cold weather then we might break out the hot cocoa for an afternoon warm up too. I typically make it on the stovetop. Just the side of the Hershey's cocoa canister recipe, nothing fancy (except for the homemade vanilla). Made with whole milk it's very tasty and if you really want to gussy it up do what my mom says they did growing up - add a large spoonful of peanut butter while stirring up the hot chocolate and beat it frothy with a molinillo.

However somehow one of these little puppies made it to our home.




I'm not saying how or who's responsible but it's definitely been put to use. Although as much as I like coffee I can't drink that all day long nor make it a habit of drinking it everyday. I began to think it might be nice to have instant hot chocolate. Then I thought some more. Most of the recipes for homemade hot cocoa mix involved non-dairy creamer - filled with hydrogenated oils. Remember me? I'm not afraid of the fat but I don't consider hydrogenated oils real fat. I'll eat butter, olive oil and coconut oil until the cows come home but hydrogenated oils are just something we avoid as much as possible. Then I remembered that good 'ol Alton Brown (the loquito as my mom has dubbed him, translates to "the little crazy one") has a hot cocoa recipe and he too isn't fond of freaky deaky ingredients. Sure enough his recipe for hot cocoa involves real sugar, full fat powdered milk and natural cocoa plus a few other ingredients. Better yet, it could be made with hot water *eyeing Keurig in the corner*. Meaning the perfect storm of indulgence had now descended upon my kitchen. Hot cocoa in under a minute? Here's what I thought:




Give yourself bonus points if you remember the movie that featured this song. That's back in the day for you young whipper snappers.

Back to the hot cocoa. Within two days I had tracked down full fat powdered milk. Most of the stuff in the brick and mortar stores is non-fat which to me tastes like dishwater even when it's not powdered. However if you're lucky enough to live near a large Hispanic population or near some fancy food stores you'll find NIDO powdered milk or some European full fat powdered milks. I bought the NIDO (in a can that were it not for the hot cocoa mix would last me until next year). Be sure to buy regular NIDO milk and not the NIDO Kinder (which is a fortified drink/formula).






Now I'm used to adding vanilla to my hot chocolate and since I'm efficient (read: lazy) I mulled over how to add it to the mix. I thought about taking my little leftover pieces of vanilla bean and grinding them up with the powdered sugar first to have the full vanilla flavor but then worried my food processor might just gum them up. Plus that's too much work (yes I just said that). I finally remembered that my homemade vanilla is just alcohol and would not compromise the shelf-stability of my cocoa mix. So I drizzled in some vanilla to the powdered sugar step and made sure it was well blended. Also, don't skip the cayenne even if you think you won't like it. The cayenne makes the chocolate taste even more rich not spicy. However, here's a tip. If you do like a bit of heat/spiciness then add a few more shakes of cayenne into the powder in your own cup, stir then add the hot water and stir some more. You'll get tons of back of the throat heat with no burning on your tongue due to the dairy. Absolutely delicious.

Oh and if you're *ahem* running out of gift ideas this makes an awesome gift for pretty much anyone (barring dairy allergies). However, on that note this is the perfect thing for people with dairy allergies if you use safe brands. Just make the base mix without the powdered milk and add about 50% of the recommended mix amount to your cup of warmed milk alternative (nut milks, soy milks, etc.) Pow! Safe hot cocoa mix for your dairy sensitive loved ones. Also, if you're wanting to incorporate xylitol or erythritol as the sweetener instead of all or part of the sugar it's quite simple to make a powdered version. Just whiz up 1 cup sweetener with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a food processor until it's powdered. Xylitol pretty much substitutes in equal quantities (although watch the um, side effects) and erythritol is one I haven't used but is only 70% as sweet as sugar thus you'd need roughly 2 1/2 cups for this recipe. Again I haven't tested it with the alternative sweeteners, so proceed with caution.


Hot Cocoa Mix
adapted from Alton Brown

2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons of vanilla (no water/glycerin based stuff, only alcohol based as I haven't tested the stability of anything else and mold is not yummy in hot cocoa)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa (dutch process is listed in the recipe but I've used the natural as well with no ill effects)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon table salt (any fine salt will work)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper (about 1/8 of a teaspoon, maybe less)


I read somewhere that when you make homemade mixes like this, the most important step is to mix it well either by sifting or some other thorough method so as to incorporate the powdered milk very well and avoid the telltale look of not quiet mixed in cocoa powder. I immediately thought of the food processor but if you have a big blender (this is a pretty big batch) then use that.

First add the powdered sugar to the food processor.




Then drizzle in the vanilla. I eyeballed it to about 2-3 teaspoons.




Then mix well. I found I had to scrape the side and bottom a bit to make sure the wet vanilla blended well back into the powdered sugar. It looked a bit like biscuit dough right before adding the wet ingredients.




After blending in the vanilla well, add all the other ingredients to the food processor.




Blend well again scraping down the bottom and sides to be sure that everything is thoroughly mixed. You may want to take a whiff right about now.




That's it. No really. All that's left is to package it up. Around here that usually means a mason jar but I'm eying that humongo powdered milk can for the next double or triple batch of cocoa mix.




Label it for family members who will inevitably want to make cup after cup of cocoa. For our tastes I've found 3-4 heaping tablespoons (or soup spoons) for 6 oz of cocoa ideal but tweak it for your tastes and then label the jar accordingly. See, I just gave you permission to make a test run all for yourself. You know, for tasting purposes of course.




So how easy is this? Well let's take a look. Just plop the powder in the mug or cup.




Add hot water and stir.




If you've got some whipped cream hanging around then by all means please guild the lily.




But then don't tell the kids because this is all that will be left.

No chia pet around here.

Just a quick little post and run. A view inside my fridge. *best Howard Cosell voice* In one corner water+chia gel. In the other corner, chia pudding with milk, xylitol, vanilla and of course chia seed. Will report back with the results.

The Chia.

No, not tai chi. Chia. As in . . . no I can't say it. If you must go there, at least go here. Yes, I've had the song running through my head the whole time and the one time it came out of my lips my kids kept asking me what I was singing. But yeah, it's that chia.

The back story: One of my kids is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. Since his diagnosis we've not kept nuts in the house except for an isolated garage stash of boiled peanuts for Mr. Maricucu. It's a southern thing and I like his boiled peanuts about as much as he likes plantains (which is not at all). So, no nuts in the home. We keep sunflower seeds and sunbutter plus flax seed and milled flax seed to boost protein. I was trying to find another source of easy protein both for snacking, meal boosting and most importantly, something crunchy to put in salads. I love nuts in salads and was really missing the hefty fat/protein boost. So in my search I came across the mention of chia seed.

Before I go much further let me bare my food soul. My food philosophy so to speak and hang on 'cause it's a wild ride down the rabbit hole with this one. First, I'm not a vegetarian, vegan or raw foodist. Nothing wrong with any of those food preferences, I'm just not wanting people to stumble across this post with lofty expectations involving any one of those three and then be shocked out of their gourd when I mention that I'm considering soaking some chia in condensed milk. See? I told you.

So, here's the food rules according to me and my clan:

1. Sugar is bad but artificial sweeteners are worse. Better to eat real sugar, honey or maple syrup. (sugar police, please don't bother stopping here). Do I try to limit sugar? Sure but not severely. I do love to bake and my vice of choice is butter+flour+sugar so I don't have too much label reading to do. Am I convinced my all butter blueberry muffins are health food? Nah. Do I think they're better for me than the premade stuff using HFCS, plus a whole mess of unpronouncables? Shyeah. It's a continuum and this is where I am.

2. Fat is good. Fat fills in wrinkles and keeps you from going woo-woo-crazy as you age. Good fats help you regulate hormones as we *cough* all race down that slippery slope towards menopause. So olive oil, coconut oil, butter (yes real butter!) - good fats. Personally, I use them liberally. In fact, I don't weigh or measure myself but I'm a couple sizes smaller than I was when younger and afraid of fat. Just sayin'.

3. Yes your momma was right. Vegetables and fruit are good for you. Doesn't mean you have to eat them steamed with no salt and a side of blegh. Have you seen a Latin, Indian or Southern cook in action? Seasoning, caramelization, balanced salt and yes good fats can take a veggie from no way to yes please.

4. Grains aren't health food but I'm kind of attached to them so I try to temper my use of unbleached white flour with whole wheat flour. I also try to not build a meal around starches alone (see #3). I am Dominican, so there's no way I'm giving up my rice. Just not happening. Mr. Maricucu will sob if I mention giving up potatoes. Again, we're not going there. Aside from our very, very, very brief foray into Atkins as a young married couple (that ended with a big bang during a family Thanksgiving) we're not going to give up carbs. But we have lessened them and made better choices.

5. We drink green smoothies in the morning. Nothing fancy, an apple, a whole mess of spinach and a huge amount of frozen fruit with a dollop of honey. Great way to start the day for this ADDer that used to self medicate with caffeine. Alas it required eating something proteiny (yes that's a word) a couple of hours later. We just started doing this in the Spring then the baby arrived and it all went to pot. It's just now that I'm back to making the morning smoothie.

Ultimately though, flavor rules. I balance our choices so that we are getting nutritious meals but really if it doesn't taste good there's just no convincing my own palate (the pickiest one in our family). Balance. It's all about balance. I'm not an extremist when it comes to food and will severely break imaginary "food rules" all the time if there's something yummy involved. I've been known to eat a twinkie still (can't keep them in the house though or I'll inhale them). I eat deep fried things. Yes I do. I try to keep grass fed red meat for cooking but if I run out I'll use the regular stuff. I'll drink the occasional Coca Cola but lately have been preferring lemonade. I'll go into that another day. Food is a joy, it's a pleasure. I grew up in a family that appreciated and celebrated food. So while Mr. Maricucu and I have made changes over the course of many years we don't fall into any one food philosophy and that's my disclaimer.

Phew. So glad to have gotten that off my chest. Not a confession but a solid proclamation that I'm weird and proud of it. Chia seed. Right. No more tangents. I found out about chia seed from another mom who mentioned that her kids liked it. I learned they were filled with Omega 3 essential fatty acids, tons of minerals and chock full of protein as well as fiber. Sign me up. I kept perusing google but the search came to a halt when someone mentioned that you had to eat them soaked and that the seeds developed a gelatinous coating like a caviar. Screeching halt. Heck no I was not going to snarf down snotty chia seeds even if they made me another foot taller and grow long flowing blonde hair. I closed my browser and continued to search for an alternative. A couple of days later I decided to search more about the gelatinous seeds and found that you can indeed sprinkle them into salads and other food dry as long as you weren't dumping them in by the bucketful and drank water. Good enough for me. I ordered some with my next vitacost order.




Now facing a whole pound of chia seed I decided there would be no convincing the other people in this house to try something I didn't taste myself. That, and if I was going to incorporate it in some recipes, I needed to know how it played with other ingredients. I took a few of the tiny dinosaur egg shaped seeds and sprinkled them in my mouth. Bland. Not in a bad way but really they taste like nothing. Same texture as a poppy seed but a much more bland taste. That was great since it would only help to include it in various recipes.




Since the chia seed were so bland dry I got a bit adventurous and soaked some according to the jar instructions. I thought it might be a wonderful protein boost for our morning green smoothie and the texture wouldn't be offensive if blended to a pulp.






Several minutes later there we were. Just a small mason jar of suspended gelatinous seeds and me. I took a bit on a spoon and tasted.



Eureka! Bland again. Not only bland but unlike snot (sorry!), the gel like coating was not goopy. More like a loose melty jello consistency. Oh yeah, this was better than I had anticipated. Suddenly my brain was whirring with applications and another google search produced recipes galore. Chia pudding caught my attention immediately. Any kind of milk (I used whole fat cow's milk), sweetened and with a touch of vanilla. Then the seeds were soaked in this mixture.




Someone mentioned it was similar to drinking bubble tea. I've never tasted the stuff but am itching to try one now. The chia pudding was light, fun and pretty tasty. I sweetened my milk with xylitol (my lone exception to the no other sweeteners rule but it's great for your teeth). Next time I'll thicken the milk mixture by using either coconut milk or sweetening with condensed milk




All along the tasting process I gave a taste to each kid and they loved it. The pudding was a hit as well and while fun to eat with a spoon, given a straw instead, the kids declared it a hit.




I'm planning on doing some kind of take on this holiday chia pudding recipe soon possibly using canned pumpkin puree and condensed milk instead of the blended nut milk she makes. Meanwhile I've been adding about 1/2 cup of chia gel to a batch of smoothie in the morning (our batch makes about 7 cups) and you wouldn't believe the difference. I was able to knock out the banana that I was using to make the smoothie creamy and thick. The banana was okay but it was a pretty assertive flavor and some of the fruit combos were overpowered by the banana. With the chia gel I got that thick and creamy texture with no added flavor. But the best part was when Mr. Maricucu mentioned he was full until lunch. So was I and my mental clarity was amazing. Well, in comparison to my normal. Recently I added a scoop to our morning Dominican style oatmeal and the seed cooked down very well and aside from the specks, no noticeable difference in texture.





Ch, ch, ch, chia! Sorry but I had to scratch that itch.

Strawberry Shortcake

No, not that Strawberry Shortcake, although I am a child of the 80s and did love her as a kid. I'm talking about the awesome dessert that apparently was being withheld from my tastebuds for years. Yeah, I've had the sponge cake and strawberry version but believe me, it's nothing compared to a traditional shortcake with its sweetened cream biscuit, in season berries and a bit of good whipped cream. I just don't know what Martha's people were thinking when it came to portion size. These shortcakes ended up being quite large (not that my family was complaining). I could easily see making them half the size and ending up with 16 instead of 8.




So a good while back I had the large surplus of North Carolina berries hanging around and while we ate about 3/4 of the flat and additional quarts straight, I knew I wanted to try at least one strawberry shortcake recipe. Now if you've read my blog before you know I have a thing against recipes that leave me with orphan egg yolks or whites. Can't stand 'em and will usually avoid them with a few exceptions I might post later in the year. So that removed a few recipes from the running. I also didn't want to have to roll out dough for a simple shortcake. Those two factors and wanting a tried and true recipe for the shortcake left me with Martha Stewart's recipe and I'm glad to say she didn't disappoint even if her portion sizes are out of whack. Even better, I was able to whiz up the shortcake in the food processor avoiding the witching hour kiddie meltdown meeting up with my hands in dough. Win-win situation if I do say so myself.

Strawberry Shortcake
adapted from Martha Stewart

6 cups strawberries (1 3/4 lbs) - washed, hulled and quartered
3/4 cup + 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar - I'm saving you the mishap of dumping the sugar all in one spot. The first quantity is for the berries, the second for the shortcake and the last bit is for the whipped cream. For those of you who read the instructions after you've dumped in the ingredients already (like moi).
3 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces - Here I will commit baking heresy again and mention that I use salted butter for all my baking. I would incite the baking police to take me away but I'm already on the lam for the belly shot police from a while back.
1/2 cup + 1 1/2 cup heavy cream - Again, divided first for use in the shortcake and the last portion for the whipped cream to serve between the layers. If I come across as an overbearing motherly type I apologize. However I don't think I can do anything about it.
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


So this recipe requires just a teensy bit of planning. Remember you must macerate the berries with the sugar first in order for the sugar to draw out the berry juices and soften them slightly. If you'd like, splash in a bit of white wine with your berries and sugar. My aunt used to do this and the results are quite delicious all on their own.

Dump the washed and quartered berries in a bowl along with the sugar. I suggest you hold back on the sugar a bit and taste the berries. Mine were in season and quite sweet so I only used about 1/2 cup of sugar. You may need more or less depending on your berries.




Give them a stir and set them aside.




Now onto the shortcakes. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In the food processor add the flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to mix the dry ingredients.




Next, add the cubed butter and pulse again until the pieces of butter are about pea sized. You can certainly do this step by hand and use a pastry cutter instead of the food processor. Whatever works for you.






Once the butter is cut into the dry ingredients (this is just like making biscuits) mix the heavy cream and the two eggs in a measuring cup. Pour the heavy cream/egg mixture over the dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse until the mixture forms large clumps (Martha says 25-30 times but she's precise like that).






Mine went a little further since I was distracted but it was just fine.




This is where Martha and I will have to disagree. She wants you to scoop out 1/2 cup portions of the dough onto a parchment lined pan. I grabbed one of my favorite dishers and scooped out rounded scoops about 1" apart on the baking sheet. Next time though it's going to be a half scoop so about 1/4 cup of dough (and reduce the baking time accordingly).




Bake the shortcakes until they are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. It was devastatingly hard not to crack into one of these early. However the food mafia, aka my kids were keeping me honest.






By the time you come back to the berries you'll see the magic that has happened. Soft glistening berries, the sugar all dissolved and melded with the strawberry juice into a heady syrup.




Here is where the photography took a back seat. When the troops are awaiting dessert, their gazes longingly reaching over the breakfast counter, I don't have it in me to make them wait too long by snapping away at the food. Well, that and they begin to say, "momma can you please stop taking pictures of the food????"

The whipped cream. You can certainly whip the cream by hand (I recommend chilling the bowl in the freezer first) or pull out the stand mixer. I wanted to make this short and sweet so I threw the heavy cream and sugar in a glass bowl and hit it with the stick blender. Come on, I can't be the only one that remembers the infomercials where they take the skim milk and use a stick blender to whip it into "whipped topping" all in front of a fit-for-Ron Popeil audience. When the mixture starts to foam, add in the vanilla and finish whipping until soft peaks form.




Finally, assembly. After the shortcakes have cooled for 10-15 minutes, slice them open with a serrated knife so they don't crumble on you. Top each bottom half generously with both berries and their syrup. Then a little whipped cream, the top half of the shortcake, more berries + juice and finally a dollop of whipped cream. The juicy syrup was by far the hit for my family on the crumbly shortcake. Don't skimp on it.




But wait, there's more! Surprisingly we had a couple of quarts of berries that had to be used up ASAP and I remembered wanting to try a strawberry crumble but with local berries to see if it would be weird or yummy. Strawberries having such a floral flavor, I thought they might ruin a crumble. Boy was I wrong. I used the smitten kitchen recipe for the topping and the filling I just threw together with the berries, sugar, lemon juice and some cornstarch. I did add a handful of blueberries that were rattling around in the freezer. Verdict? Absolutely delicious. I was in love with the bright red color but the flavor was amazing. I didn't even need any ice cream and that's a biggie for around these parts.




So try some shortcake, or some crumble. Either way the berries will shine.