Churros!

Hi again!

This week I had a job interview and I'm so excited because it can be the beginning of something!

And something means more traveling and more baking stuff. Both also means more things, but anyway, I'm excited!

Today I woke up so early thinking about those days when I spent lot of time with my grandma when I was a kid. I spend the whole summer with her. She lived in a countryside house, with a pool, a huge barbecue, and a door that opened to the country. And I spent lots of times in this country, looking for mushrooms in autumn, blackberries in summer, asparagus on spring...

But today, what I have been thinking about were the churros she made me for breakfast almost every time I went visiting her.  And I realized that I had never done churros and we really love them in my family. And since my grandma spends most of the year in a hotel at the beach (lucky grandma), we always have to buy churros, but as we all know, home made is always better.

So I asked my mum if she remembered how my grandma used to make churros, and finally, we have found a way to prepare. 

We are starting right now.

Churros

INGREDIENTS 

           

· 1 cup (125g) of all purpose flour

· 1 cup (240ml) of water

· 3 tbsp  (40g) of butter
· 1 tsp (5ml) of olive oil
· 1/4 tsp (2g) of salt

· Soft oil for frying

· Mix of sugar and icing sugar for sprinkling

Method

Ok, this is another easy recipe. You'll see.

In a saucepan combine the water, the salt, the butter and the olive oil. Warm it up until the butter is completely melted and the mix is boiling.
At that moment, you have to put all the flour, at once, in the saucepan, turn off the heat and move the mix with a wooden spoon it will clump into a soft ball of dough, and it won't be sticky. Just keep moving it until you reach that point.

This will be the dough you have to fry, isn't it easy?







Let's prepare the oil for frying. In another saucepan, pour the oil until you get 5cm (2 inches) of depth and turn the heat on. Oil has to reach 170ºC (340ºF).
While the oil is warming, mix the two kinds of sugar on a plate, and line another plate with kitchen paper to absorb all the excess oil.

Now it's time to start frying. Once the oil reaches the right temperature of course.

Place your dough in a piping bag fitted with a star tip. The star tip it's important as the churros will hold their shape better. And I also recommend using some kind of strong piping bag, because a plastic standard one can break while piping the dough. If you have a "churrera" (device that my grandma used to make the churros) use it, this will be the best way to do it.

Pipe long strips of churros in the hot oil. You can also do spirals, or loops.
Fry them until you feel they are not longer soft but has harden. I use a wooden stick to move them inside the oil and feel if they are done. Flip them then. It won't take longer than a minute both sides, if you fry too much, they get so crispy and a bit hard, I prefer the soft inside and crispy outside. Use the first batch as a guide to fry.

Then, take them out of the oil and place on the paper towel and once they're drained, toss them on the sugar plate.
You wil have to be doing all at the same time, as you will be doing littler batches to keep the oil warm enough. So, be patient.

Now churros are ready to be eaten. Have you prepared your hot chocolate?

Enjoy!