Restaurant Week Feature: Decadent Brunch @ Co Co. Sala

Hello Nomsters,

As most of you know, this past week was DC's Restaurant Week, which means tantalizingly tasty 3- course meals for lunch ($20.11) and dinner ($35.11) at many of DC's finest restaurants. Of course living on a typical college budget, you don't normally want to spend more than needed on a meal, but a little self indulgence never hurt anyone and my roommates and I decide to partake by making a reservation at Co Co. Sala, a chocolate bar and restaurant on F. street and 10th (near the Verizon Center). Co Co. Sala was one of the few restaurants that was offering a brunch restaurant week special, and after perusing the menu and seeing items like "French Toast S'mores" and "Crispy Creole Crabcake" as options, it was hard to not run to the cutesy chocolate lounge.

Arriving at Co Co. Sala for our 11:30 reservation, we were seated in the chocolate and pink accented colored lounge to be handed our menus for the Restaurant Week Special. Needless to say, we couldn't go wrong with our options. Each of us started with the Amuse Bouche of the Day, which was a small artichoke tart with tomato confit. The tart was perfectly warm and the crust had an excellent taste, just a little sweetness to offset the taste of the artichoke. Following our tarts, Sarah favored a more savory entree, so she ordered the Aztec Cheese Enchilada with an avocado, guava, and fennel salad with chocolate ganache and guava-lime vinaigrette. Both Gina and I opted for the ultimate indulgence and ordered the "French Toast S'mores" as our brunch entree. After having the well-presented plate placed in front of me and taking my first bite, all I could think was "yum." The french toast was cinnamon brioche stuffed with melted marshmallows and warm dark chocolate, a graham shortbread layered with mousse and warm bananas in caramel sauce accompanied the entree. The french toast literally melted in your mouth as the flavors of each component melded together. I would order this item again in a heartbeat, and as an a la carte option you can experience the deliciousness for about $12. By the last couple of bites, both Gina and I were struggling, but there was no way we would leave a piece on our plate. Completely satisfied by each of our meals, our sever cleared our plates as we took a breath and prepared ourselves for dessert....yes, I know what you're thinking, "who could even contemplate dessert after all of that?!"

Both Sarah and I ordered the Onyx, a vanilla creme brulee encased in dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel on top, basically chocolate overload. The mousse was perfectly smooth and the creme brulee did an excellent job of preventing us from going into a chocolate overdose. Gina ordered the Stolen Heart, which was a white chocolate strawberry mousse with chocolate crispy pearls; naturally, all of these desserts found their way into our already fulls selves. We barely ate the rest of the day.

Co Co. Sala is a great place for brunch or dessert, they also offer dinner too (don't worry, not everything has chocolate in it!). Although some of the items are a little pricey, the brunch was definitely worth the commute and price. The presentation on each dish was flawless, and the overall tastes definitely give Co Co. Sala an edge over other restaurant's desserts. While I would definitely order the French Toast S'mores again, the Breakfast Flatbread looked like a pretty great savory option also. I may pass on the mousse though and opt for the PB Cheesecake instead, but that may have just been because I was coming out of a food coma from the french toast. This restaurant is great for dessert and drinks out with the girls (they offer a variety of cocktails and hot cocoas) or for a date. Either way you'll swoon for the flavors Co Co. Sala offers. They also have a "Chocolate Boutique" in case you was a box of chocolates to take home!

Co Co. Sala

MENU
929 F STREET NW,
WASHINGTON, DC 20004
P 202.347.4265

Transport:
1. g'town ->union station circulator, get off at about K st. and 11th, walk to F and 10th
2. Any train to Metro Center, walk to F and 10th

It's all about the Dough! Pre-baking cookie process

Hey Nomsters!

As promised, I'm back with my method (along with many other people's) of the cookie making process that leads up to the actual baking. When I was a kid, I always got excited for certain holidays because I knew Pillsbury would be selling their seasonal sugar cookies in supermarkets! If you don't know which cookies I'm referencing, they're the ones that come with little shapes artificially dyed on them, like Easter Bunny's, Heats, and Snowmen. Besides the cute little pictures on the cookies and the fact that I loved sneaking pieces of the raw cookie dough, the softness and chewiness of these little morsels were soooo good after they'd been baked. So, if you're partial to a softer, chubbier, cookies, this method of "prepping the dough" should be just what you're looking for when you bake your next batch of cookies.

I've always liked my cookies chewy and sort of plump, which never seemed to happen when I first started baking.  The first couple of Snickerdoodle cookie batches always seemed to spread out too much on the cookie sheet, yielding a yummy, but somewhat flat treat. So, I started experimenting, I changed the amount of flour, added a bit more baking powder/soda, or tried to not mix them too much, and while these changes resulted in more favorable cookies, it wasn't until I started freezing or putting my dough in the fridge overnight that I really got the results I wanted! Moist, chewy, little cookies. If you're looking for cookies like I've describe, follow the instructions below and see if you like the results. I think the main pro from chilling he dough before baking the cookies is that the butter in the mixture hardens, which makes the cookies spread slowly on the sheet rather than melt down within 5 minutes.

Basics for a Chewy, "Chubby," Cookie
Disclaimer, if you don't want to "roll" your cookies before you place them in the freezer, you can always just freeze them and roll prior to baking.

-Make your dough (I've found that unless you're working with a finicky recipe, most cookie doughs respond well to chilling)

Post Fridge Roll, Pre Freezer

-Transfer you dough from the mixing bowl to a Tupperware container or another bowl that has been lined with saran wrap so that the edges hang over

-Use the saran wrap to cover the top of the dough and store in the fridge for a couple of hours

-Once dough is firm enough that it doesn't mush all over your hands, start rolling desired size balls of dough and place them in another container (you can layer your dough by rolling enough balls to fit into a container then layer wax paper on top and repeat,

-Place rolled dough in freezer for an hour to harden,

rolled and frozen layered atop each other

-Take rolled dough out, space out on cookie sheet and bake until golden on the edges!

While, I know this seems like a long process, it's worth it for the consistency of cookie. However, if you want a shorter method, just chilling the dough in the freezer or fridge for a few hours/overnight will give you a similar consistency!

after rolling and freezing

end result!

Good luck and Enjoy!
-Georgetown Foodie

Mission Accomplished: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies and Snickerdoodles

Hello Nomsters,

Wrapped Up and Ready to Go!

Happy New Year! Hopefully everyone's enjoyed the holiday season and has been ringing in 2011. Regardless of my unpunctual post, I did in fact manage to successfully carry out the Cookie Challenge. I opted to make two different kinds of cookies, the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (which some of you had the chance to order) and straight up Snickerdoodles. After a morning of present opening and Christmas cooking, I spent my afternoon and evening rolling and baking the cookie dough that I had made the previous night. Spending an afternoon running back and forth from the oven with cookie sheets, I was happy to finally see over six dozen cookies all lined up on my counter. The final touch was packaging. I went and bought little clear bags from Target (in the gift wrap isle) and used typical present wrapping ribbon to add a personal touch to the cookies. The recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Cookies is included and pictures are floating around throughout this post.

Enjoy and look out for more posts and updates on 2011 here soon!

All the best!

The Georgetown Foodie
 
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (anywhere from 2 dozen (lrg) to 4 dozen (small/med) cookies)
Ingredients:
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-12 ounces semi sweet chocolate (that's one bag of Toll House Chocolate Chip)
-1/4-1/2 package of Herseys' candy cane kisses (optional, basically any mint chocolate can be used, but the candy cane kisses are a nice touch because the cookies end up having specs of red)
-4 large eggs
-1 Tbsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp peppermint extract
-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (or salted) at room temperature
-1 or 2 Tbsp butter (to be used when double boiling)
-1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, because that's what I usually had in my pantry)
-1/2 cup granulated sugar

For the pink chocolate ribbon:
-1/3 to 1/2 (about 10-20 kisses)
-Microwave


Process:
Cookies:
*Preheat oven to 350f. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment.
-Combine  the flour, cocoa, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
-Cream the butter for about 1 minute, add the white and brown sugars and mix well on medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each to incorporate. Mix in the vanilla extract and peppermint extract
-Double boil to melt the chocolates and then let cool down for about 5 minutes.
-Add the chocolate in a stream and mix well.
-Mix in the dry mixture (flour, salt, etc) and mix until the flour just disappears.
-Allow the batter to sit for about 20 minutes if you plan to bake straight away; however, I like my cookies to be chewy and "chubby," therefore I often transfer the dough to Tupperware that has been lined with saran wrap, and place it in the fridge overnight. If you want to follow my method exactly, see the "Cookie Note" I post in the next day about freezing/rolling cookies.
-If you choose to make the cookies directly after waiting 20mins, then scoop out the batter with a spoon or a small cookie scoop leaving about an inch between each cookie. If you plan to roll cookies, then let sit in fridge until firm and use a a spoon to get chucks that can be rolled into balls for baking.
-Bake for about 10 minutes (or until cookies are slightly cracked on top), let cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from the tray and finish cooling on a rack.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Pink Chocolate Ribbon:
-melt down kisses using a small bowl and microwaving in about 20 secon intervals, stirring after each. As the kisses get hotter and melt, they'll help other kisses melt also.
-use a spoon to dab lines back and forth across cookie. Starting at the top of a cookie, dab a bit of chocolate and then stretch to other side of cookie and dab once more. Continue this process until cookie is covered in desired design. 

All Rolled Up (Chocolate Peppermint Cookies)

Snickerdooles

Getting ready for the freezer

 







The Double Boil Method:
Basically, this is the best way to melt chocolate. If there's one thing you need to know about melting chocolate, it's that WATER IS YOUR ENEMY.... hands down, most important rule. Well, that and make sure you don't over cook the chocolate. When in doubt, just melt until almost all is melted, because at that point the heat from the melted chocolate will take care of the rest.
1. Use either two pots or a bowl and a pot and place the smaller on top of the other, fill the bottom pot with enough water to maintain a steady boil, but not too much that it could risk boiling over.
2. Turn on the flame to low/medium, add part of your chocolate and the butter. (I feel as though the butter helps keep the chocolate moist while it melts; however, in most cases of melting chocolate butter is necessary, so you can decide whether to add it or not.).
3. Keep stirring chocolate to help distribute heat evenly, and continue adding chocolate as melt process continues.
4. Continue stirring mixture on and off until chocolate melts, then let cool until ready to combine with other mixture/batter.

Snickerdoodles

The Line Up