CHURROS…GOING SPANISH ON DOUGHNUTS & A BOOK REVIEW.
I met Gloria Chadwick through Val’s blog & it was a matter of time before we hit it off. We had San Antonio in common…she lives there, & we visited it on vacation some time back. We got talking food (what else) & I discovered she’s a food book writer, & has published a number of books. 
Inspirational enough for me, because I dream of publishing a book one day. Was delighted when she asked me if I would like to review her latest book Foods and Flavors of San Antonio. Yes of course, I’d love to! 
Mexican cuisine is very popular here, & the flavours are very close to the ones we use in Indian cuisine, spicy & delicious! The good thing is that most ingredients aren’t alien to our culture & are easily available here. Her book is on a foodie blog tour sponsored by Pelican Publishing, & I joined it to do a virtual interview, & try a recipe from the colourful pages! 
1. When did you first develop an interest in food?My interest in food began when I was 18, and I moved out and got my first apartment. I had to learn to cook or else I would starve. The first thing I made was curried chicken and it turned out delicious, so I tried experimenting with different recipes and discovered that I really love to cook.
2. What made you want to write cookbooks, & also, interestingly, a book on how to write & publish a cookbook?
I was looking through some cookbooks wondering what to make for dinner and I couldn’t find a recipe that appealed to me, so I thought it would be really fun to write a cookbook with my favorite recipes. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, but once I started, I was hooked on cookbook writing.
My first cookbook, Really Good Recipes, was a self-published compilation of recipes I’d made and enjoyed, and wanted to share. I also wrote it because my daughters had moved away from home and kept calling me for my recipes.
Then I thought it would be fun to learn how to cook professionally, so I enrolled in a culinary arts college. While I was there, I wrote and self-published three more cookbooks: Food Feasts, Best of the Barbecues, and The Cheapie Chicken Cookbook, and learned a lot—not just how to cook, but how to write, publish, market, and promote my cookbooks. This led me to write a how-to guide for other cookbook writers: Recipe for a Cookbook: How to Write, Publish, and Promote Your Cookbook.
I love to putz around in the kitchen and just make up recipes from scratch. It’s so fun to create something delicious from ideas in my mind.
4. What is your favourite cuisine?
I have two favorite cuisines: Italian and Mexican.
5. Which is your favourite cookbook in your collection?
I have over 500 cookbooks, and I love them all, so it’s really difficult to choose a favorite, but I’d have to say that my favorite cookbook is my newest cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio
6. Is there an indispensable gadget in your kitchen that you can’t live without?
I have a mini food processor that I totally love. It chops my onions for me. It grinds my spices for me. It makes bread crumbs for me. It grates carrots for me. It does everything but put itself in the dishwasher.
7. Any culinary disaster that you can now look back & laugh about?
A few months after I started cooking for myself, I decided I would make a Thanksgiving dinner – a lavish feast — for my family in my first apartment. Everything went fine except for the gravy. I love gravy and I didn’t know that you were supposed to pour off the fat. I thought I’d be pouring gravy down the drain, so I served the drippings as gravy. It was more like gravy grease, and I had to feed my family Alka-Seltzer for dessert instead of pumpkin pie. LOL.
8. What is your idea of a perfect, simple meal?
Something that can be cooked in one pan, that requires minimal prep, and tastes absolutely delicious, like you slaved over the stove for hours when you really only spent 15 minutes in the kitchen. Having said that, let me also say that my idea of a perfect, simple meal would be spaghetti and a salad, or tacos and guacamole, or—and this is my favorite: A hot, steaming bowl of chili topped with cheese.
9. And what might be your greatest culinary indulgence?
Learning how to make turkey gravy properly.
10. A new year resolution, if any?
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but I plan to write more cookbooks and promote my newest cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio.
Churros are usually made of a batter which is piped into extremely hot oil. They are certainly not a low-fat snack because of the frying process. Once the churro is fried it is traditionally rolled in hot cinnamon sugar. The ideal churro has a distinct crunch when one bites into it, but the interior should have a slight softness at the center. 
I’ll vouch for that…it is indeed! Though the recipe didn’t say it, I made a hot chocolate sauce to accompany these crispy bites…delicious beyond words!
CHURROS
Recipe from Gloria Chadwick’s latest book Food and Flavours of San Antonio
My review & notes are at the bottom.
Churros are often referred to as Spanish doughnuts.
1 cup water
3 tbsp. butter, diced
2 tbsp. brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying
Confectioners’ or superfine sugar, for dusting 
-Heat the water, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted.
-Add the flour all at once, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Remove the pan from the heat and beat rapidly until the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan.
-Let cool slightly, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide star tip.
-Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Pipe 5″ lengths of the dough into the oil. Deep fry for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
-Dust the churros with confectioners’ sugar and a light topping of cinnamon.
-Serves 12
My review of the recipe:
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First things first, the churros were excellent! They tasted great!!
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The recipe is fairly straightforward, but you need strong forearms to beat the batter rapidly as it becomes a thick glob after you put in the flour. Reminded me of choux pastry dough, which we used to make eclairs out of for the Pierre Herme’s Daring Bakers challenge; quite similar.
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It was a bit tedious to beat in the eggs too, but once done it was a breeze.
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A point worth adding might is to keep a knife handy to slice the dough free from the nozzle after piping it out into the oil.
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I made a mixture of ground cinnamon & powdered sugar, & sifted it over the churros rather than doing them separately.
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The churros weren’t very sweet, so this hot chocolate sauce paired beautifully with them. The recipe made about 18-20 5″ long churros, & served about 8.
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These are best eaten fresh. However, they’re quite delicious warmed in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes to crispen them again. Don’t microwave them because they lose their beautiful crsip texture!
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
32 Comments
Superchef
totally enjoyed the interview! and those churros look absolutely delicious!
A_and_N
I’ve eaten churros once! And I quite liked them. But 🙁 not good for everywhere else apart from tongue!
Love the pics, Deeba!
Poornima Nair
That was a great read Deeba…The churros look perfect…have seen it around but never had it yet…
The Blonde Duck
Those look phenomenal! Great interview! I’m dying to check out her cookbook.
Sara
These churros looks delicious, you did a great job!
aquadaze
These look awesome deeba!
Gloria Chadwick
Deeba, I totally love the churros, especially with the chocolate sauce you made. Your photos are just amazing! Thanks so much for doing the blog interview. Hope you can make it back to San Antonio sometime soon. 🙂 Hugs.
Christie @ fig & cherry
Great photos of the churros! They look wickedly good 🙂
Christie @ fig & cherry
Great photos of the churros! They look wickedly good 🙂
Snooky doodle
wow churros look great! wish to try them I love cinnamon . your photos are amazing.
Kitchen Flavours
Wow droolworthy…..Looks yum. Where is the recipe for chocolate sauce…..?
MeetaK
i need one to dip into the chocolate! these look really perfect! I am looking forward to the cookbook now!
Clumbsy Cookie
I love churros! Miss having them for breakfast in Spain! Yours came out perfect!
Mary
These churros dipped in the chocolate sauce are fantastic!
Jennifer
The chocolate sauce took those churros to a new level! YUM!!!!!!
Arundathi
Amazing! Can’t believe you made churros!
Gera @ SweetsFoods
Oh my goodness, they look awesome I like them with dulce de leche a tradition here in my country or with chocolate!!
Deeba a very nice interview too 🙂
All the best!
Gera
Navita
I am with you on it….dunking a churro in hot chocolate….heaven! 🙂
love the pics (as usual) and that was a great interview…will wait for ur book eagerly.
Nicisme
I’ve never made them before, they look like strips of heaven, especially when dipped in CHOCOLATE!
Bellini Valli
Lucky you to receive a copy of Gloria’s cookbook:D Her Tex Mex recipes sound amazing and churros are one of my favourite Mexican treats. They also sold them in Cuba, which makes sense with it’s Spanish influence:D
Mike of Mike's Table
I meant to try to make churros long ago and completely forgot. I love these and the photos of yours look amazing! I need to do these ASAP
Ingrid
First your photos are fabulous! I want to run out and make some myself.
Second thanks for the interview I enjoyed reading it and will give Gloria's cookbook a look. (I have a B&N gift card to spend).
Third how have I missed visiting your blog?
~ingrid
Cynthia
Judging by your photography, these churros probably taste way better than any churro I’ve had at Disneyland. I love that these are also manageable, and not like the super-long sticks you usually get. These are more like the ones you eat leisurely on a rainy day. Lovely photos.
Sweetiepie
Looks delicious!I enjoy curro with coffee.Smell so good!Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Reeni♥
What a great interview and review, you did a wonderful job. And the churros look so scrumptious, the chocolate sauce was a great idea!
noble pig
They turned out great, I love a good churro! It’s so wonderful, you made them….my kids go crazy for these every time!
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
I’ve never made churros, but have enjoyed them many times while traveling. Thanks for the great instructions.
Hanaâ
Great job on the churros, Deeba! Lovely pictures too. What a great idea to serve them with choc sauce. I’ve eaten churros in Morocco (just south of Spain) many times. They serve them plain and are usually enjoyed with a cup of cafe au lait or tea. I’ve also had mini-churros that are thinner and shaped into a small ring.
Soma
You know that churro looks much better than any churro I have eaten. How did the dark color come? brown sugar? all the ones that i have eaten, looks lighter.
meeso
Yummy, deep fried sweets are the best!
diva
churros!! ahhh.these really take me back. love em with loads of cinnamon sugar. x
Nachiketa
Seem very interesting…
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