cocoa

Carne de Venado Incrustada de Cacao y Cafe con Crèma de Comino Tostado

/ Ren

Cocoa & Coffee Crusted Venison w/Toasted Cumin Crèma

Make a dry rub of annatto seeds, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, coffee, cocoa, corriander and cinnamon. For best flavor, use whole spices toasted in a dry skillet before grinding.  Coat the venison with the spice rub and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Gather the rest of the ingredients: pumpkins seeds, fresh thyme, sesame seeds, cloves, reserved dry rub, tomato puree, achiote paste, deied peppers, jalapeno, dark chocolate, onion and tomatoes.

Split the dried peppers and steep in hot water for a few minutes to soften.

Sautee the onion, jalapeno and rehydrated peppers in a little oil until softened.

Add chopped tomatoes, crushed toasted pumpkin seeds, achiote paste and a spoonful of the dry rub mix. Cook until tomatoes release all their liquid, about 10 minutes.

Add tomato puree, orange juice, fresh thyme and chocolate and simmer for 10 minutes.

Sweeten with enough agave or honey to provide a nice balance with the heat of the peppers.

Sear the venison in olive oil as you would a pan-fried steak.  Deer that was properly field dressed, chilled and processed is generally as tender and flavorful as pastured beef.

Thicken the sauce with toasted bread cubes.  Place thick-sliced venison over sauce and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and Mexican crema flavored with toasted cumin and S&P.  Polenta fried in butter with cilantro makes a nice side.

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5-Minute Chocolate Cake

/ Ren

I’m straying from more than one of my nutritional boundaries here, but I do so strictly in the interest of science. And, because its chocolate cake.  In 5 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe found at Dizzy Dee

  • 3 Tablespoons organic graham flour*
  • 4 Tablespoons non-refined cane sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 Egg
  • 3 Tablespoons milk
  • 3 Tablespoons walnut or coconut oil
  • 1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
  • A little vanilla
  • Pinch salt

Oil the inside of a large mug.  Thoroughly combine all ingredients in the mug and microwave on high for 3 minutes.  Let cool for a couple of minutes and serve warm with sweetened cream.

* (from about.com) Graham flour is a form of whole wheat flour, named for Sylvester Graham (1795-1851), a forerunner of the health food movement and the inventor (1829) of Graham Crackers. Graham developed this form of flour in the 1830s in hopes of diverting people away from the less healthy refined white flour. His Graham hotels promoted vegetarian meals and unseasoned foods.

To make graham flour, the endosperm of winter wheat is finely ground. The bran and germ layers are returned and mixed in, resulting in a coarse, brown flour with a nutty and slightly sweet flavor. Today, some commercial granaries remove much of the wheat germ to prolong the shelf life of the flour. The germ contains oil that accelerates rancidity. Graham flour is unrefined and unbleached.

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