Food

(“Dark Chocolate Rituals” — a kind of chocolate cookie — is one of three recipes from the first episode of Kitchen Table Gaming, published earlier this week, here on Fetchland.)

I have spent the last few years on a quest to create the most chocolate-y cookie possible. My first efforts with cocoa powder in the batter were fine but they were just not going as far as I needed them to be. I found a way to make them using melted dark chocolate in the batter in addition to a dark chocolate cocoa powder and it was almost there. The missing element was finely ground espresso beans and suddenly the cookie sprang to life.

Dark Chocolate Rituals

Ingredients

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I prefer Hershey’s Special Dark)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 teaspoon Kosher salt
5 oz dark chocolate for melting
5 oz dark chocolate chunks for… chunks
1 stick unsalted butter (grass-fed butter really makes a difference)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons finely ground espresso beans
1/2 cup whole espresso beans
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Time to make the cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt 5 oz. of chocolate with one stick of butter in a double boiler or small metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add espresso powder to as the mixture melts and becomes smooth. Meanwhile add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

Add the chocolate mixture to a stand-up mixer with paddle attachment and add sugar, eggs, and vanilla and mix to combine. With speed turned down to low add the flour mixture in stages until it is all incorporated. Fold in the remaining chunks of chocolate.

Scoop the batter onto parchment or Silpat lined baking sheets with an ice cream scoop. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie. Press 3 or 4 whole coffee beans into the top of each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes and transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies depending on how much raw batter you eat.

Welcome to the first episode of Kitchen Table Gaming, the web series where I play games with my friends and cook them food. In this first episode I was joined by one of my oldest friends Paul Yellovich, with whom I have probably played more games for more hours than I can possibly account for; Nate Holt of Walking the Planes fame, and Anthony Conta, who I collaborated with on Emergents: Genesis The Deckbuilding Game.

Nate brought some fancy chips with him which I fancied up a little more with some sushi grade tuna; Paul brought some raw cookie dough which was used in a dark chocolate ritual; while Anthony brought his game Funemployed to show us how it plays. Anthony’s game also prompted some reminiscence about marathon gaming sessions that were unhindered by anything as pedestrian as having a job.

You may have seen the Food Network show THE BEST THING I EVER ATE but Paul and I recalled the worst thing we ever ate after more than 24 hours of gaming and some pretty meager pooled resources with which to buy fixings for a meal. I manage to recreate that horrific food item as best I could but also create a much more tasteful and tasty update for this episode.

Special thanks to Dustin Drury and David T. Wright for making this first episode happen.

Hopefully there will be many more!

Me and my guests on Twitter:

• Me, Brian David-Marshall (bdm) – @top8games
• Nate Holt – @walktheplanes
• Paul Yellovich – @MrYellovich
• Anthony Conta – @acmaverick
• Anthony’s party game, Funemployed