Snacks

“Chicaoji Viva Brownies” by Stephanie

Brownies in a skillet
| Randall Waugh

Cream together:

  • 1 cup melted coconut butter (or regular butter if you prefer), and 4 squares melted bitter chocolate
  • 2 cups dark brown sugar (Side note about replacement: Each square is ¼ oz so that’s 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate. 1 square unsweetened chocolate = 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 Tablespoon shortening)

Add:

  • 4 lightly whisked eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. chicaoji sauce

 

Stir in:

  • 1 1/3 cups almond flour (or wheat)
  • mixed chopped nuts of your choosing (as many as you’d like)

Put in a 9″x 13″ greased pan, bake at 325° until sides pull away from the pan (about 25 minutes). Do not overbake, and test with a toothpick at about 18-20 minutes as all ovens are different, and it varies with using a glass or metal baking pan.

For extra chocolaty goodness (aka gooeyness 🙂 I like to sprinkle chocolate chips and nut chips on top once out of the oven as well,… OR if you’re a real chicaoji fan, melt those chocolate chips in a pan and add about another 1/2 tsp of that most wonderful sauce! YÜÜÜMEEE

Jack’s Fiesta Markley (mostly) vegetarian Chicaoji Stew

| Randall Waugh

A Fiesta in Your Mouth!

Jack H. and Isaac shared the Fiesta Markley (mostly) Vegetarian Chicaoji Stew recipe via email.

“I’ve been working on a project of making weekly stews throughout autumn and this week I made a spicy stew with peppers and, of course, Chicaoji. Here’s the recipe:”

The Ingredients

  • 2 red carrots
  • 4 red potatoes
  • 1 and 1/2 yellow onions
  • 2 Anaheim peppers
  • 2 jalapeños
  • 1 poblano
  • 1 habanero
  • 3 Roma tomatoes
  • 3rd head of cauliflower
  • 3rd head of red cabbage
  • 3 radishes
  • 1 Can ranch beans
  • 1 Can White kidney beans
  • 1 red, yellow, and orange peppers
  • Cajun seasoning to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tomato paste can (small)
  • Lime juice to taste
  • Half cup Chicaoji
  • 1 bag sweet corn
  • 1 can of hatch chiles
  • Half cup of cilantro
  • 10 chopped cloves of garlic
  • 1 box vegetable broth
  • 1 box bone broth (Substitute veg broth for vegetarians/vegan stew)
  • Cotija cheese (for individual bowls)

The Process

You can watch Jack & Isaac make it happen on this video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClCyeM-pZfp/

1. Sautée potatoes, cauliflower, onions and carrots in stock pot for 20 mins, adding cajun seasoning and salt
2. In a separate pan, sautée all peppers (chopped)
3. Combine and add broth and all ingredients (wait 10 minutes before adding cilantro)
4. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for an hour
5. Top with Cotija and additional lime juice and cilantro (if you want to add a dash of extra Chicaoji to your bowl, go ahead!)

The Map It Up Stew Crew
The Map It Up Stew Crew, ? on L and Jack on R.
Chicaoji, a key ingredient in Fiesta Markley Stew.
Chicaoji, a key ingredient in Fiesta Markley Stew.
Stir the stew.
Stir the stew.
Measure out Chicaoji for recipe.
Measure out Chicaoji for recipe.
Add Chicaoji to Fiesta Markley Stew
Add Chicaoji to Fiesta Markley Stew
Yum!
Yum!

Jon’s Chicaoji Hummus

| Randall Waugh
  • 1x 16oz. can garbanzos  aka chickpeas (See below for dry/cooked beans ratio.)
  • 1 large clove garlic, crushed and chopped
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 – 3 Tbs. Chicaoji (to taste)
  • Juice of 1 lemon or lime
  • 2 – 4 Tbs. toasted sesame oil (according to taste)
  • 2 – 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Rinse garbanzos well in a strainer. Put the rinsed garbanzos, garlic, salt, Chicaoji, lemon or lime juice and sesame oil in a food processor. Process until a smooth puree forms – about a minute or two. Add a little water to make the texture smoother if necessary. With the processor still running, add the olive oil. Process until smooth and incorporated.
Great with crunchy vegetables such as celery, jicama sticks, carrots, cucumber sticks, etc. Or on pita or naan.

Notes:

Jon added, “You can use tahini instead of the toasted sesame oil. I don’t like the texture that the tahini often imposes, so I use the oil. But others find the tahini just as good.”

Jon’s recipe referred to a can of beans so I looked up what that means in term of dry/cook beans. Here’s what I found:
One 15.5 ounce can of beans = 1 ½ cups cooked = ¾-to-1 cup dried

JP’s Magic Chicaoji Sauce

| Randall Waugh

John P. from Burlingame, California came up with a REALLY unusual recipe that I want to share with y’all. This is what he said when I asked him if he had a Chicaoji recipe. RW

“I do have a recipe for you. It’s a super simple one, once you obtain the 3 ingredients, that is, but amazing if I might say so myself.

I put it on everything and make lots to give away.

Here ya go:

  • 1/3     Chicaoji Sauce
  • 1/3     Kewpee Mayonaise
  • 1/3 (or less, depending on how runny you want it) Yuzu Juice

I riff’ed it up while messing around in the kitchen one evening. It just clicked.

Now, I can’t live without it on things like:

  • Fried Okra, or fried anything
  • Grilled Asparagus
  • Tacos
  • Roast veggies of any type
  • Fish of any type and cooking style
  • Anything where you might use mayo or a sauce”
    ~~~~~~~~~
    The ingredients for John’s recipe can be found online. I had to look up both ingredients that were not Chicaoji!

Kewpie Mayo is apparently the go-to mayo for master chefs. (Not surprisingly, I’d never heard of it!)

Yuzu Juice is a really interesting food that is common on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a variety of citrus that is considered to have some health benefits. Here’s a LINK to some info I found about the benefits.  John even has a Yuzu growing at his Bay Area home.

Now not everyone is going to have Kewpie Mayo and Yuzu Juice on hand but you can get the idea from John’s recipe. Please do let me know if you come up with substitutes and or any “recipe riff” of your own.

Thank you, Randall