Cinco de Mayo snacks … Cotija Churros with Guava Sauce

I am extremely prone to jet lag. Back in February, after a particularly long overseas flight, I had the worst bout yet. At one point, a day or two after arriving home, I was wide-awake for a good 36 hours with surprising amounts of energy. It was strange. So I did something I’ve been meaning to do for months – I reorganized all my cookbooks. I have hundreds of cookbooks and over the years, they’d gotten a bit messy. I prefer to organize my cookbooks by subject but they were willy-nilly all over the apartment. The pile next to my coffeetable was taller than the table. It drove me crazy but I hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it. Now I had the energy so I decided to attack the piles.

I grouped and I sorted, creating big piles on my dining room table and on the floor. On a chair I put the books I planned to donate to charity and on another chair I put the books I was uncertain of. Within a few hours I had organized my whole collection in a neat, logical manner. I was happy. But it took a few weeks to get to that stack I was unsure about. Some were a little too single subject specialized, some I wondered what the hell I was thinking when I bought them, some were duplicates and a few I had never warmed up to. Demolition Desserts was one of the later.

I really admire Chef Elizabeth Falkner but I’d never warmed up to her book, Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake. I’d loved her San Francisco bakery Citizen Cake when it was open so I decided to give the book another chance and flopped on the couch to peruse every page. A few recipes called to me but overall, I determined it could find a better home elsewhere. I had to let it go but before I did, I wrote down one recipe that intrigued me: Manchego Churros. Who doesn’t love a churro? How about a churro dappled throughout with manchego cheese? They sounded amazing.

As I was thinking about something appropriate to post for Cinco de Mayo this week, I thought about those churros, maybe with a Mexican spin. What about swapping out the manchego for cotija, a dry almost parmesan like Mexican cheese? And some sort of sweet-sour dipping sauce? Manchego and quince are a classic combination so I naturally thought of guava to go with the cotija. This was shaping up nicely.

The sauce is a combination of guava paste, cider vinegar, water and a bit of salt and cayenne. It is delicious – sweet, tart and a little spicy. The cotija churros are fantastic – crunchy on the outside, tender within, everything that is great about a churro. The cheese is subtle, I might even say a bit too subtle, but makes for a very tender center. Sprinkled with a bit more cotija and served with that tasty sauce, they are an excellent. Addictive even.

When to serve them is an interesting proposition. They’re not quite sweet enough to qualify as a dessert but aren’t overly savory either. They could be very nice as an after dinner bite if you’re not much for dessert but I think they are best served hot with a glass of crisp, bright white wine. That’s how I like them.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: CRUNCH AWAY. There is something crazy addictive about a freshly fried churro. You can easily take down quite a few of these before you realize it. Crunchy, creamy, sweet, spicy … it has it all. These are fantastic for a cocktail party if you don’t mind frying things up while you’re guests stand around. While they are best when hot, no question, they stay crunchy for quite a while and are still very good at room temperature. Just make sure you fry them fully, until a dark golden brown and cooked through on the inside. If under fried, they tend to collapse a little.

other Cinco de Mayo recipes: Spicy Mango Lemonade, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Rhubarb Margaritas, Watermelon Aqua Fresca, Cotija Cumin Shortbread, Empanadas -Two Ways, Blender Gazpacho, Classic Gazpacho, Scallop Ceviche, Michelada Style Clams, Mexican Corn Salad, Machaca – Mexican Shredded Beef, Machaca Enchiladas, Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas, Coconut Tres Leches Ice Cream, Avocado Lime Tequila Popsicles, Mexican Chocolate Pudding Pops, Strawberry Hibiscus Popsicles, Spicy Pineapple Paletas, Mexican Chocolate Cookies, Mexican Chocolate Poundcake
nine years ago: Roasted Tomato & Asparagus Quiche
eight years ago: Kentucky Derby Tarts, Homemade Saltines
seven years ago: Homemade Crème Eggs
six years ago: Cultured Butter, Buttermilk Biscuits
five years ago: Queso Fundito
four years ago: Guinness Crème Anglaise
three years ago: Flourless Chocolate Cookies
two years ago: Horchata Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream
last year: Homemade Crème Fraiche

COTIJA CHURROS WITH GUAVA SAUCE – adapted from an Elizabeth Falkner recipe in Demolition Desserts
Makes about 18 4” churros

for the guava sauce: (makes about ½ cup)
4 ounces guava paste, cut into small pieces
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne

for the churros:
½ cup water
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup + 3 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons grated cotija (3 ½ oz) + more for garnish
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
vegetable oil for frying

1. For the sauce: add all the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the guava paste melts and creates a smooth sauce. Taste and adjust the salt and cayenne if desired.
3. For the churro dough: in medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil.
4. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat to medium and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.
5. Continue cooking and stirring until the dough forms a crust along the sides and bottom of the pan.
6. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (if you have a paddle/spatula attachment, use that).
7. Beat on medium to release some of the steam.
8. Once the steam has subsided and the batter has cooled a bit, add the first egg and beat until blended. The dough will separate, then hold together again.
9. Add the second egg and continue to mix until the batter comes together. Scrape the bowl if needed. It will look a little messy and broken at first. Persevere. It will come together and look smooth.
10. Add the cotija cheese and the pepper and mix to combine.
11. Fit a pastry bag with a ¼” – ½” open star tip and fill the bag no more than halfway (you can always refill but an overfilled pastry bag is hard to manipulate.)
12. Fry: In a heavy saucepan, bring 2” of vegetable oil to 350°F over medium high. During frying, keep an eye on thermometer and lower or increase the heat as needed to maintain 350°
13. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan for draining. (I really dislike draining on grease soaked paper towels.)
14. Test the oil by dropping in a small amount of the choux dough. It should bubble up right away. If not, the oil is not ready and you’ll end up with a soggy, greasy churro.
15. When the oil is ready, dip kitchen scissors quickly in the oil to ease cutting then pipe 3-4” lengths of dough into the oil, cutting the dough cleanly and easing the churro gently into the oil. BE CAREFUL! Depending on the pan size, you should be able to fit 4 or 5 churros without crowding.
16. Give the churros a stir to make sure they’re not sticking, then fry until crispy, about 2-3 minutes, then turn/flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Take one out and check inside; if the dough is too wet give it a little more time.
17. Remove the churros with tongs or a slotted spoon to the wire rack to drain.
18. Continue with the remaining batter.
19. Place on a serving platter, sprinkle cotija cheese and serve while warm with the guava sauce.

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