Churros

A quick note to all those with an active overactive imagination, never watch a scary movie when you're home alone, especially when it's late at night. Case and point; Paranormal Activity 2.

I knew it would be oafish to watch that particular movie alone, at 11 pm, whilst house sitting. But besides a hyperactive imagination, I'm also delightfully impatient and perhaps masochistic. As I slid the harmless dvd into the non-threatening dvd player, I wondered why 'we do this to ourselves?' What compels us to watch movies that we know, well ahead of time, will to freak us out? Even though Paranormal Activity 2 didn't require the futile method of "watching through basket-woven fingers" technique, it did leave me jumpy for the rest of the night/morning.

Luckily these churros, along with an acerbic episode of House, smoothed things right out.

Churros are basically crunchy, fried pastries rolled in sugar. And they're as simple to make as they sound. For something that's so easy to put together, the taste is spectacular...but what isn't spectacular when there is frying involved? Because the batter for each churro is squeezed through a star-shaped pastry tip, they develop lovely ridges that become magnets for the oil, which in turn clings deliciously to the cinnamon sugar mixture. So you're left with a delicate, crunchy, straw-like pastry with a sweet cinnamon coating (which offers even more crunch!).

You don't truly need to dip these in chocolate to enjoy them, but I won't lie; when dipped in chocolate elixir, they're even more irresistible. What's also great about churros is, unlike most fried desserts, they're just as good cold as they are straight from the frying pan. Plus they're the perfect snack to help you calm down after a night of scary movie-induced jitters.

Churros (adapted from Allrecipes)

Coating ingredients
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Pastry ingredients
1 cup of water
3 Tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of canola oil (vegetable is fine)
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 quarts oil for frying
Pastry bag with fitted with a large star-shaped tip (you can use a plain tip as well)

Method
Place the sugar and cinnamon (coating ingredients) into a large, shallow bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
Have a few layers of paper towel ready for draining the churros once they're done frying.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, the 3 Tablespoons of sugar, salt and the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.
Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep skillet to 375F.
Transfer the thick batter into the pastry bag.
Using a clean, sharp pair of scissors, carefully cut out strips of piped dough (about 2-3-inches long) into the hot oil. [Note: I only fried 3 strips at a time because they cook fast.]
Fry until golden and transfer to paper towels to drain.
Roll the drained churros in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Depending on how long you make the churros, this will make about 20-25.