Sauce for Cake

"You can say this for ready-mixes - the next generation isn't going to have any trouble making pies exactly like mother used to make."  
- Earl Wilson

You won't find this in the ready-mix aisle of your grocery store.  This isn't a pie, but it is a dessert topping not too many people are familiar with.  It was passed down from my great-grandmother to my mom, and it has been a long-standing dessert favorite in our household.  When I talk about cake and sauce I generally receive a look of either disgust or you-must-be-joking.  I am not joking.  Again, like chocolate gravy, it is an old-timey country, mountain thing.  Think of it as sweet gravy, but for cake.  It is best served over warm, from-scratch, vanilla cake.  In a pinch, though, any variety of yellow or white cake mix will work.  Butter Golden or French Vanilla are our go-to's when we want the sauce without the time-consuming effort of making a scratch cake.  Don't knock it until you try it, either.  It is a sweet, warm, vanilla-ey sauce that you will want your cake swimming in.  We never ever ever ever make a single batch, we always double, but more often triple it.  It keeps in the fridge for a couple of days (but I doubt it will last that long), and you just pop it in the microwave on medium to reheat it.

Sauce for Cake

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs flour

1 cup milk

2 Tbs butter

2 tsp vanilla

1.  Place all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat.

2.  Cook until thickened and bubbly.  Pour over warm cake.

  

Black Bean Chicken Tortilla Soup

“Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup.”
- Bennett Cerf

I love chicken tortilla soup, but I could never find just the right combination of ingredients in someone else's recipe.  So when I was pregnant with my son I put my mind to work and decided what I would like to have in chicken tortilla soup:  beans, chicken, and vegetables.  Once that was settled, I got busy in the kitchen.  This does take some time to complete, as do all good soups.  You can make a soup fairly quickly, but the longer they cook the better they tend to taste.

Black Bean Chicken Tortilla Soup

Beans:

1 lb black beans (dried)

4 14oz cans Swanson Chicken Broth

10 c water

Chicken:

1 5lb fryer

canola oil

salt & pepper

Soup:

1 softball sized sweet onion, 1/4" dice or less

3 medium carrots, 1/4" dice or less

3 medium stalks celery, 1/4" dice or less

1 each red/yellow bell pepper, 1/4" dice or less

5 cloves garlic, minced

canola oil

3 Tb lime juice

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp chili powder

Toppings:

6-10 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4" strips

2 c canola oil

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp salt

8oz Colby-Jack cheese, grated

avocado slices

sour cream

jalapeño slices

salsa

1. Sort and rinse beans.  Soak beans overnight.  Rinse.  Place in large stockpot with chicken broth and water.  Simmer covered until ready to eat (approx 4-6 hours).

2. When beans have been cooking approximately 2 hours, remove giblets from chicken.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Place breast-side up in covered baker (Corning Ware, Pampered Chef, etc).  Rub oil on skin.  Sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Bake covered at 325º until internal temperature of breast reaches 165º (I use a thermometer you leave in the meat while it cooks).

3. After chicken is roasted, remove meat from bones.  Stir meat into beans.

4. Saute vegetables in oil over medium heat until onions begin to turn translucent.

5. Add all vegetables, and lime juice, cayenne, and chili powder to beans.  Stir and simmer while completing crispy tortilla strips for topping.

6. In small saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat (350º - 400º F on candy thermometer) until test corn strip is crispy after 4 minutes.

7.  Mix seasoning (paprika, chili powder, cayenne, salt) in small bowl. 

8. Fry approximately 10 strips per batch for 4 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.  Transfer to bowl.

9. Sprinkle seasoning over crisps and shake bowl to distribute

Serve with Colby-Jack cheese, avocado slices, sour cream, jalapeño slices, salsa, and Mexican cornbread.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

"I always think if you have to cook once, it should feed you twice..."

- Curtis Stone

This is a super easy adaptation to a frozen, breaded, rolled up version of Chicken Cordon Bleu my husband fell in love with when we were still dating.  We were still in the trying-to-impress-each-other stage of the relationship, so when I saw how much he loved this I strove to figure it out.  Come to find out is was pretty easy, which is always a plus, and it tasted better than the breaded version.  Just be sure to have a good supply of toothpicks (at least 2 per serving, but up to 4) to hold them together while you get the first side cooked.  By slicing each chicken breast half in half, you extend your feast.  You can either feed more people for less money, or you can save the leftovers for lunch (or dinner) the next day.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 chicken breast halves, approximately 2 lbs 

    (thaw if frozen)

6 thick slices deli ham 

    (honey ham is our favorite)

6 thick slices deli baby Swiss cheese

cooking spray

vegetable oil

toothpicks

rice & vegetable of choice 

    (whole grain/wild  & broccoli pair nicely)

1.  Be sure your chicken is completely thawed.  If it is frozen, place in a single layer, cover with wax paper and defrost in the microwave.  The microwave I use has an automatic defroster on it, so I just have to key in the weight of the food.  It will beep when it needs to be flipped.  If yours does not have this function, I would do about 4 minutes per side (for 2 lbs), flip, and 4 minutes on the other side.

This is only 5 of my 6 pieces, I had already begun halving the 6th one before I took this pic

2.  Once it is at least defrosted enough to slice, halve each breast half horizontally so you have 12 breast-sized pieces of chicken.  They may still be partially frozen.  Just pop them back in the microwave on defrost, but set it at half the weight (or time) as you did previously.  This time they should be pretty close to completely thawed.

3.  Once you have them completely defrosted, lay them on a wax-paper and paper towel covered cutting board or cookie sheet.  I did 3 layers of 4 pieces with paper towels in between each layer to help absorb the liquid.  Pat the top layer of chicken dry with paper towels.  This is a good time to get your rice started cooking.

4.  While your chicken rests and dries a bit, slice your ham and cheese in half so you have 12 pieces of each. Keep them handy!

5.  Moving counter clockwise from the bare piece of chicken on the far right, you will top first with a slice of ham.  Fold a slice of cheese in half and place on top of the ham, slightly to one side or the other.  Fold the chicken and ham across the cheese so you have a little bundle.

6.  This is where you start using the toothpicks.  If your chicken is thinly sliced enough to thread the toothpicks like you are sewing the chicken together, that is great.  The first piece I did was the only one that worked out that way.  The rest of them, I just skewered with the toothpicks to make sure the bundle stayed folded over and the cheese was as protected in the middle as I could get it.

7.  Once you have your chicken skewered, spray a large non-stick pan with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add about 1 Tb oil.  Place the chicken bundles in the pan and cook until the bottoms are no longer pink and have begun to brown.  Flip them over and brown the other side.  If the toothpicks are holding the chicken off the pan, just press the chicken down (please use either a fork or pair of tongs so you don't burn your fingers) so it touches the surface of the pan.

8.  After the second side has browned, stand the bundles on their folded sides around the edge of the pan to get the folded area browned and to be sure the chicken is cooked through.

9.  After the folded side has cooked, remove the bundles to a plate.  Most of the cheese should still be inside the bundles, but some of it will inevitably ooze out into the pan.  Just scoop it up and glop it on whichever bundle looks like it needs a little extra cheese.

10.  We served ours with Butter & Herb Rice and macaroni (for the kids).  Just remind everyone to pull out the toothpicks before they start eating.  Alternatively, if you're feeling particularly generous after cooking for everyone, pull the picks out before serving.

Buttermilk Ranch Fried Chicken Sandwich

"You don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don't want to make a steady diet of fried chicken."
- Paula Deen

If, however, you eat them together you should be just fine.  My mom made these chicken sandwiches when I was a kid, and I have only been able to get them perfect a couple of times.  Heating oil and then frying something in it (other than corn chips) takes a bit of practice.  I don't like to fry very often for several reasons:  it is not healthy, my gallbladder does not like grease, I don't like the way my house smells afterward, and unless I'm frying a batch of fresh fish and homemade hush puppies I feel it is a tad bit expensive to use oil once and then toss it.  That being said, I don't have a whole lot of practice under my belt on this particular dish.  When the crust fries to perfection, though, let me just tell you...Colonel Sanders better run and hide!  My mom never added the Ranch dip mix to hers, she just dredged them in flour after a buttermilk bath.  Either way you want to do them is A-Ok.  If you just do flour, season it with some S&P first.  I seem to be missing quite a few pictures of this process, but it really is very straightforward.

Buttermilk Ranch Fried Chicken Sandwich

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 packets Hidden Valley Ranch powdered dip mix

1 qt buttermilk

vegetable, corn, or canola oil for frying

5 or more boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1. Be sure your chicken is thawed and close to room temperature before you begin so it will cook evenly and quickly.  Halve each breast horizontally (aka butterfly it all the way through), so you have 10 pieces of thinner chicken breast halves.

2. Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed, high-sided skillet, cast iron, dutch oven, electric skillet or deep fryer, or saucepan.  I add oil to half the depth of the pan I am frying in.  Oil should be between 325º and 350º.  Use a candy thermometer (or electric skillet or fryer) to maintain oil temperature.  I used the skillet my mom always used.  If you look closely at the top center of the skillet, there is a dark spot.  That is where the skillet caught fire while she was frying up a batch of this type of chicken when I was a kid - probably 20 years ago.  There is a depression in the skillet, but no hole, so of course we still use it to fry chicken!

3. While oil is coming to temperature, pour buttermilk into a wide dish that is about 1" deep (pie plate or cake pan will work for this).  Place 4 pieces of chicken at a time in the buttermilk and soak for at least 5 minutes.  If the buttermilk doesn't cover the pieces, turn them to coat.

4. In a separate dish, mix together the flour and Ranch mix.  Stir until it is well-blended.  

5. After the breasts have soaked in buttermilk, let the excess drip off.  Lay the breasts in the flour mix.  Press them into the flour before turning them to coat.

6. Once oil is heated, carefully shake excess flour back into the dish and ease the chicken into the hot oil.  I don't do more than 4 pieces at a time.  Less is better because the oil temperature drops each time you add a piece of meat.

7. I didn't time this, so I'm not sure of an exact amount of time they need to fry.  I go more based on color.  Fry them until they are golden, then check with an instant read thermometer to be sure the internal temperature is 165º.

8. If you are frying a large batch, keep them warm in the oven.  You may want to put them on a wire rack on a pan, because the crust may stick to the pan and pull off when you are ready to serve it.  I heated the oven and pan to 250º while the chicken fried.

  
9. You can certainly serve this with any of your favorite sides, but we prefer to eat them on a white bun with lettuce, tomato, cheese, mustard, and mayonnaise.

Strawberry Daiquiri Pie

"I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?"
- William Cowper

This pie just kind of came to me.  My book club that watches movies just finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (author Berendt/director Eastwood) - the book is much more detailed, the movie messes with the order of events and outright fabricates others.  I wanted to create a dessert in the spirit of Savannah for our movie date, and the following quote from the book tickled my brain:

"We have a saying: If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, 'What's your business?' In Macon they ask, 'Where do you go to church?' In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is 'What would you like to drink?"

Along those lines I knew I wanted something of a dessert drink, and I could think of no better dessert drink than a daiquiri.  I have only ever had a virgin daiquiri, but they are delicious nonetheless.  This pie is decidedly drunk - not so much that you will be tipsy from having a slice (or two if no one is looking), but enough that you can taste the flavor of the rum.  Regardless of how little alcohol makes its way into each slice of pie, I do not recommend allowing young children to eat this pie.  It does take a while to prepare, so start this a day or two ahead of when you plan to serve it - I started mine on a Friday afternoon, finished it on Sunday morning, served it Sunday evening.

Strawberry Daiquiri Pie

2 graham cracker pie crusts

16oz fresh strawberries

2 8oz blocks cream cheese, softened

1 8oz Cool Whip

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c Captain Morgan's Silver Spiced Rum (or your personal favorite)

1. Core, trim, and slice strawberries into bowl.  Add sugar and rum; stir.  Cover and refrigerate 12-36 hours (I did closer to 36).

2. Beat cream cheese in medium mixing bowl (handheld mixer).

3. Drain strawberries, reserving liquid in bowl.

4. Puree strawberries (stick blender).  Reserve 1/4 cup puree in 2 cup bowl or measuring cup.  Add remaining puree to cream cheese in mixing bowl.

 

5. To reserved puree, add 3/4 cup of sugar/rum liquid you drained from strawberries.  Add remaining liquid to cream cheese.  Refrigerate reserved puree/liquid.

6. Mix puree and liquid into cream cheese on LOW speed until smooth and creamy.

7. Gently fold Cool Whip into cream cheese mixture.

8. Divide filling evenly between 2 crusts and refrigerate until chilled and firm (or overnight).

9. Place reserved puree/liquid in small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half.  It will resemble loose strawberry jam.  Cool to just above room temperature - any cooler and you may not be able to complete step 10!

10. Spoon puree reduction over chilled pie.  Slice, and serve.