Aviso: Mi español es malo
Sure, football is a game, but it’s not just a game. Football is an experience. The kind of experience that goes better with a little food. If you’re a Buffalo Bills fan looking for something special to go with your game-day activities, Buffalo Rumblings has you covered!
This week, I show poorly my high school taught Spanish with…
Churritos del Espantapájaros con Salsa de Chocolate
Are churros a big thing in Kansas City? I have no idea and frankly I’m sick of researching the city/region. So screw it, I’m just going with a fun suggestion from Buffalo Rumblings editor in chief Matt Byham instead. Surprisingly easy, makes a ton, and delicious. I pair it with a chocolate sauce for dipping and everything has red pepper in it if you dare.
Full disclosure, once in a while there are techniques and more that I’m not super comfortable experimenting with. My typical process is to look at several recipes to see how they differ and create something unique. With the boiling liquid step for churros and how sensitive batters and doughs can be to change, I only made a couple small tweaks to this recipe from Makinze Gore, posted on Delish.
I’ve made enough changes where I could argue this is my own, but I’m not afraid to say this (fantastic) recipe’s foundation belongs to Makinze, so please show her some love and open that recipe up in another tab if you don’t mind so she gets her clicks too (she has some great photographs showing the process too).
Also of note, I’m quite comfortable with simple chocolate sauces, so that’s an espantapájaros original.
This recipe is fantastic for game day, but you’ll want to be sure and make these well ahead of your tailgate or homegate party.
Churritos del Espantapájaros con Salsa de Chocolate
Serves: 4 – 6
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: About an hour
Ingredients
Churros
3⁄4 cup water
1⁄4 cup coconut milk
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground red pepper
2 large eggs
Cinnamon/sugar/pepper dust
3⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup cinnamon
1⁄4 cup ground red pepper
Chocolate
1⁄2 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp orange juice
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground red pepper
You’ll need: Medium saucepan(s), large mixing bowl, egg beater or stand mixer, icing bags and star tip, candy thermometer, tongs, large plates
- Bring water, coconut milk, butter, and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan.
- Stir in vanilla, and remove from heat.
- Combine flour, salt, and red pepper in large mixing bowl.
- Stir in hot liquid until thickened and evenly mixed.
- Blend eggs in thoroughly, one at a time (using egg beater, handheld mixer, or stand mixer.) I started with medium speed to avoid splashing and ended on high speed to whip in air.
- Cool mixture for 10 min. During this time, combine sugar, cinnamon, and red pepper on a large plate and set aside.
- Add about one inch of oil to large pot; preheat oil to 375ºF (put that candy thermometer to work).
- Transfer churro mixture to icing bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Carefully pipe churros into hot oil, using scissors or a knife to cut dough from the tip.
- Fry churros until golden brown, about 3-4 min, flipping once about midway through (use the tongs, I implore you).
- Remove churros from oil, shake off excess oil and transfer to plate with cinnamon/sugar/pepper mixture. Roll or toss to coat and transfer to larger plate, serving tray, etc; repeat until done.
- Make chocolate sauce: add coconut milk, orange juice, and sugar to medium saucepan and heat on LOW.
- Add chocolate chips and stir in until melted and smooth.
- Stir in red pepper and remove from heat.
Wingin’ It Tips and Prep Gallery
There are a few differences between what I did and what Makinze Gore laid out, so between her recipe and mine, feel free to make an informed choice based on what you have in your kitchen, etc. Time for the gallery and tips!
Our first picture is just the dough directly after adding the liquid and before adding the eggs. It’s not too far off of play-doh for looks. When you’re adding the eggs, the mixer may look like it’s creating “ropes” and combining at first but give it a second and everything will be fine.
The next picture shows two huge differences between Makinze’s recipe and mine. I used an icing bag and tip where Makinze’s pictures show what looks more like a pastry tip. Which yes, are often used to quickly ice cupcakes. My point is I used a smaller tip because that’s what I have on hand. That means thinner churros (churritos) and subsequently shorter cooking times but more batches. That picture also shows a shallower oil than Makinze’s although we used similar sized pots for cooking. That means less oil to throw out, faster heating times, but it’s far more challenging to create a challenging line as you can’t get both hands, plus an icing bag, plus scissors inside as easy.
While we’re talking about the oil, I know some of you might be inclined to try this without a candy thermometer or equivalent. Oil can be very temperamental and dangerous. Please, please be cautious. My stove is basically on a scale of 1-10 and mine hit the required temperature on 6. When in doubt, go lower temp.
Next up is simply showing the tongs flipping and the difference in color after flipping.
Dirty jokes aside, the GIF is there to reassure you that these are 100% durable enough to withstand being grabbed by tongs. I’m gripping pretty good as you can see by the fact that there’s no movement while shaking the oil off.
There are pictures to show that the dusting process doesn’t need to look pretty to be effective; the amount this recipe made (minus a few test ones I ate along the way); and that it’s okay to have crazy shapes.
I added a little extra red pepper to the top of my chocolate and wanted everyone to know that fact.
And last but not least a close-up shot of the final. Like many people, I start my oil on a higher temp than necessary to heat it quickly and to demonstrate how temperamental oil can be I decided not to hide my mistake. I’m betting you can guess which two of these five were made when the oil was slightly too hot.