Xoco
September 16, 2009
XOCO
Rick Bayless does it again! The celebrity chef that brought you Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Frontera Fresca opened XOCO September 8, 2009. XOCO means “little sister” in Spanish slang which is fitting as XOCO is the little sister of the Bayless restaurants. Bayless has mastered fine-dining and quick service and is now on top of the global street food phenomenon.
Global street food has become more prevalent today because of many factors. For starters, it’s cheap and that is a number one benefit in this economy. Also, Twitter has made street vendors accessible more than ever before because it allows you to find what you’re looking for in a flash. Another benefit is the portion size and portability of the food. Restaurant Business did an article titled, “Welcome to the Street” back in June that discussed the popularity and reward of street food. Joan M. Lang wrote, “Street foods were on the rise even before the current economic slide, and now the convenience and affordability of street food seem tailor-made for the times. The fact that global street food and other ethnic snacks are also sophisticated and shareable really seals the deal – a perfect fit with the small-plates trend, and taking over where Spanish tapas and Chinese dim sum leave off.” Plus there’s the idea of actively seeking out your food that is always an adventure.
Bayless has taken this trend and put in a quick-service café. XOCO is equipped with an authentic wood-burning oven and only the freshest, local ingredients. The Mexican cacao beans for the hot chocolate are ground right in the front window. Nothing but the best at XOCO and it has, of course, been LEED Gold Certified for its environmentally conscious design.
Let’s say we were going to spend a day at XOCO… here are some of the offerings you could savor. For breakfast, you could go with the traditional egg torta or perhaps try the Mexican Vanilla-Sour Cream Coffeecake. Try the Barbacoa Torta: wood-roasted Kigus red chile goat, black beans, avocado, Oaxacan pasilla salsa – this one’s available Saturday only! Pair it with just-made chips and salsa or guacamole. Then finish it all off with a fresh cup of the hot chocolate and a churo or give the Mexican beer ice cream a shot, made with Negro Modelo. Decisions, decisions…
Here is a recipe from rickbayless.com taken from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time for Mexican Chocolate Chile Ice Cream, because summer is not over yet!
Mexican Chocolate Chile Ice Cream
Helado de Chocolate y Chile Pasilla
Makes 1 quart
Recipe from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time
Ingredients
1 large pasilla negro chile, stemmed, seeded and, if you wish, deveined 1-1/3 cups half-and-half 2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped into small pieces 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, preferably 70% Venezuelan, chopped into ¼-inch pieces 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 1-1/3 cups heavy cream 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla, preferably Mexican vanilla 2 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
Directions
Rick Bayless does it again! The celebrity chef that brought you Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Frontera Fresca opened XOCO September 8, 2009. XOCO means “little sister” in Spanish slang which is fitting as XOCO is the little sister of the Bayless restaurants. Bayless has mastered fine-dining and quick service and is now on top of the global street food phenomenon.
Global street food has become more prevalent today because of many factors. For starters, it’s cheap and that is a number one benefit in this economy. Also, Twitter has made street vendors accessible more than ever before because it allows you to find what you’re looking for in a flash. Another benefit is the portion size and portability of the food. Restaurant Business did an article titled, “Welcome to the Street” back in June that discussed the popularity and reward of street food. Joan M. Lang wrote, “Street foods were on the rise even before the current economic slide, and now the convenience and affordability of street food seem tailor-made for the times. The fact that global street food and other ethnic snacks are also sophisticated and shareable really seals the deal – a perfect fit with the small-plates trend, and taking over where Spanish tapas and Chinese dim sum leave off.” Plus there’s the idea of actively seeking out your food that is always an adventure.
Bayless has taken this trend and put in a quick-service café. XOCO is equipped with an authentic wood-burning oven and only the freshest, local ingredients. The Mexican cacao beans for the hot chocolate are ground right in the front window. Nothing but the best at XOCO and it has, of course, been LEED Gold Certified for its environmentally conscious design.
Let’s say we were going to spend a day at XOCO… here are some of the offerings you could savor. For breakfast, you could go with the traditional egg torta or perhaps try the Mexican Vanilla-Sour Cream Coffeecake. Try the Barbacoa Torta: wood-roasted Kigus red chile goat, black beans, avocado, Oaxacan pasilla salsa – this one’s available Saturday only! Pair it with just-made chips and salsa or guacamole. Then finish it all off with a fresh cup of the hot chocolate and a churo or give the Mexican beer ice cream a shot, made with Negro Modelo. Decisions, decisions…
Here is a recipe from rickbayless.com taken from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time for Mexican Chocolate Chile Ice Cream, because summer is not over yet!
Mexican Chocolate Chile Ice Cream
Helado de Chocolate y Chile Pasilla
Makes 1 quart
Recipe from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time
Ingredients
1 large pasilla negro chile, stemmed, seeded and, if you wish, deveined 1-1/3 cups half-and-half 2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped into small pieces 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, preferably 70% Venezuelan, chopped into ¼-inch pieces 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 1-1/3 cups heavy cream 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla, preferably Mexican vanilla 2 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
Directions
- Make the chile infusion. In a small skillet heated over medium, toast the chile, pressing it flat against the skillet with a metal spatula until it is very aromatic—about 10 seconds per side. Place in a small saucepan, add the half-and half, Mexican chocolate and the semi-sweet chocolate, and heat over medium until steaming (but not boiling). Cover and let steep for 10 minutes, then pour into a blender jar and process until the chile is pureed. 2
- Set up a double boiler by setting up a 4-quart saucepan, filled halfway with water, into which you can nestle a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Bring the pot of water to a boil over high heat while you’re preparing the custard base.
- Cook the base. In the 3-quart stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thoroughly combined, then whisk in the chile-infused chocolate mixture. Reduce the temperature under the pot of boiling water to maintain a gentle simmer. Set the bowl of custard base over the simmering water and whisk frequently, scraping down the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens noticeably, about 5 minutes. The custard is sufficiently cooked when it reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. You also can test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the custard, then running your finger through the custard; if the line holds clearly, the custard has thickened sufficiently.
- Cool the base. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice. Nestle a smaller bowl into the ice and pour the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl in the ice bath. Whisk the mixture until it is completely cool. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
- Finishing the base, freezing the ice cream. Stir the heavy cream, vanilla and Kahlúa into the base. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s directions. Scrape into a freezer container and freeze for several hours to firm.
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