If you’re dieting, you may want to throw me off a cliff right now.  There is absolutely no redeeming nutritional value to this recipe.  I think of dessert as a choice.  So if I’m choosing, I’m going all out.  I’ll never learn to drink diet coke, I’ll just drink water more of the time.  Sweets are simply not my main priority – now you take away my salt or my wine?  We are going to have issues.  That said, it may be such a phenomenally rich dessert that you can just have a small piece and call it a day.  My sister Allison has phenomenal will power with chocolate.  She really can just have a nibble and save the rest.  I can do that with chocolate, but you put a pound of cooked bacon in front of me?  Don’t count on any bacon left for your children’s breakfast.  All that said, everyone should try a little of this fudge.  It might be life changing.

The only special equipment required for this recipe are a candy thermometer (I think these are almost always glass not digital due to the extreme high temps required) and plastic wrap.  I like the Saran original myself but it’s a total pain to find so I used Saran Premium in this recipe, I imagine Glad Clingwrap would work, I find it just doesn’t stick as well as the others.  Whatever you do, don’t try that press and seal business, I’m still not entirely sure what coats the surface of that stuff and it just seems like one big giant mess.  Candy making can seem intimidating, so I’m going to try and interlace the recipe with step by step photos.

Dark Chocolate Toffee Crunch Fudge Recipe

1 stick plus 6 tbsp butter

1 c. sugar

2 tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla

3 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

3 tbsp butter

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Grease a cookie sheet with butter.  Cover the sides and bottom of an 8 x 8 glass casserole with plastic wrap as snugly as you can.  Make sure the sides hang over the edges a bit.  In a saucepan over high heat, combine the butter, sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, then start stirring with a wooden spatula.

Continue stirring, beginning to check temperature when you see a distinct color change towards brown. You’re looking for a completed temp of about 310.

Remove from heat quickly add vanilla, stir, then pour onto prepared cookie sheet.  Let cool completely, then gently tap the handle end of a dinner knife at a 90 degree angle to crack toffee.  You only need about half of the toffee for the amount of fudge we’re making, the rest you can eat, feed to your kids, store, save, give to your teacher, whatever.

Take the half of cracked toffee to a large cutting board and use a mallet or the bottom a heavy glass to smash into crumbles.

In the top of a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter, and sweetened condensed milk.  Let rest over barely simmering water, but resist the urge to be productive while you’re waiting.  Chocolate is easy to burn, and frankly, we all need to sit and do nothing every now and again.  Glance at your chocolate mixture every now and again and give it a gentle stir every two minutes or so.  Once chocolate starts melting the process things speed up precipitously and this window is your most likely chance to mess things up.  Once thoroughly melted and stirred, add 1/2 cup of your toffee crumbles and stir again.  Pour mixture into glass casserole you earlier fitted with Saran wrap.  Use a spatula to smooth surface, then top with more toffee crumbles.  Refrigerate at least two hours, then gently use a knife between saran and glass to wedge out the entire block of fudge.

Cut and eat in bliss.

Life is a little crazy right now in our casa between the impending move and growing my chef business and catering services.  So if recipe postings are slim in the next few days, please know it’s because I’m either moving boxes, chasing children away from unpacking boxes, or I’ve discovered something crazy, like say, Cory packed my hard drive in an unmarked box and I have no. idea. where it is.  On the upside, I’ve safely packed away a stack of 20 old Gourmet magazines, which I plan to work through and feature this summer.

Potatoes Au Gratin Recipe serves 6

3 c. milk (I use 1%)

1/2 yellow or white onion

8-10 red new potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch discs

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 turns fresh ground pepper

3 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 c. fresh grated parmesan reggiano

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm milk and the half an onion to a simmer.  Remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 325.  Grease casserole dish and arrange potato slices in rows in a single layer on the bottom.  In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour and stir with a wooden spatula for two minutes to form a paste.  Remove onion from milk and discard.  Pour milk into paste and stir continuously, when integrated, increase heat to medium high and cook for around five minutes until sauce has thickened substantially, stirring to prevent scorching.  Add 1 and a 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar and stir to integrate.  Pour cheese sauce over the potatoes, then top with the remaining cheddar and parmesan.  Bake in oven for 30 minutes, then increase heat to 400 and cook for an additional 10 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

A bonus for this crust is that this is a no yeast recipe, so need to have yeast on hand, or wait for rising, etc.  This recipe was very good – I’d serve it to guests with absolutely no qualms.  But it’s just not exactly what I was aiming for.  For one thing – I want a super duper thin crust.  This was thin, but it wasn’t as thin as I was hoping.  So for next time, more rolling – to the point of insanity.  In addition, the bottom was crispy – but it could be crispier and be even better.  I’m musing over this and my current thoughts are, perhaps a hot pizza stone would help.  Perhaps an even hotter oven.  Perhaps the aluminum foil I placed below the pizza somehow reflected the heat resulting in a less crisp crust and I should just let my oven get messy.  That one is a question for Robert Shimmin.  I’ll update when I have a chance to ask him and he sends me an answer.

For simplicity, the sauce I used on this pizza was Nona Caputo’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.  Who is Nona Caputo?  I have no idea.  It may actually be homemade.  I suspect it came from Jimmy’s Italian Market as it was a part of the gift basket SMIL bought for me at the Dallas Food and Wine Festival’s Silent Auction.  I’d imagine you could use any high quality spaghetti sauce with similar results or just your regular grocery’s jarred pizza sauce.

Extra Thin Crust Pizza Recipe

Key Lime Pie Recipe

1 and 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers

5 tbsp butter, melted

3 tbsp sugar

7 egg yolks

2 tsp key lime zest

2 cans sweetened condensed milk (14 0z each)

1 c. key lime juice (takes 25-30 key limes if using fresh)

In a Cuisinart or other food processor with large blade, process graham crackers to tiny crumbs.  In a large bowl stir 1 and 1/4 c. of the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until well combined.  Press mixture into a 9 inch pie pan and smooth to create an even layer on bottom and sides.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and zest.  Add sweetened condensed milk and stir to incorporate.  Add lime juice and continue whisking until all combined.  Pour into prepared crust then bake about 25 minutes longer.  Check for a firm center, then remove and cool.  Refrigerate at least four hours, then serve topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

I bookmarked the site and made a mental note to make a run to Central Market for the Instant Espresso Powder.  I assume they carry that, though I generally run screaming from anything with the word “Instant” in the title.  Anyhow, I keep forgetting the powder, so yesterday, I just decided to figure something from my regular grocery and make it work.  I no longer have an espresso machine, it broke years ago and has yet to be replaced.  The grocery only had instant coffee not instant espresso, but it did have an impressive selection of ground espressos.  From my high school days working in the coffee shop, I know the two things central to espresso – the grind of the bean and the pressure.  The grind of the bean is central, you want it extremely finely ground.  The pressure can only be duplicated by an espresso machine.  I ran mine through my regular coffee maker, since that’s what I have.  If you have the means,  I’d suggest making a regular cup of espresso, then adding 2 tbsp instead of the 4 tbsps of coffee strength espresso I added to the buttercream.

Today is a lucky day for my DFW area readers.  If you would like one of these cakes, leave a comment in the comment section.  I’ll use a random number generator – unless there’s only one or none of you of course, and I’ll deliver one of these cakes to you just for helping me.  I’d like to experiment with the ganache.  I have another Chocolate Ganache Cake recipe which calls for a Ganache simply of cream and chocolate, no butter.  In my memory it pours much much more smoothly, and I’d like to try it on this cake.  However, I’ve already laid out so many sweets recipes for our family, we’ll all roll into a sugar coma if I run all the experiments several ways.  So, the only catch is, I’ll deliver your cake, minus 1 piece (for photographing and tasting) so I can check to see which ganache I prefer.

Chocolate Cake with Espresso Buttercream and Dark Chocolate Ganache

(adapted from Oprah.com)

1 and 1/2 c. sugar

1 and 1/3 c. flour

2/3 c. Valrhona unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 large eggs

3/4 c. milk

6 tbsp canola oil

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 c. very hot water

4 large egg yolks

3/4 c. sugar

2 sticks butter, softened

2 tbsps ground espresso

10 oz water

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 tbsp butter, softened

1 c. heavy cream

1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease bottom and sides of a Nonstick Half Sheet Pan (18″ x 13″ x 1″) – the original recipe called for a jelly roll pan (15 1/2″ x 10 3/4″ x 1) but I don’t have one of those, so I’d imagine you can use either with good results.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Turn on lowest setting and mix until combined.

In a medium sized bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Whisk until combined.  Turn stand mixer to medium, then add wet ingredients gradually and mix until well blended, about 5 minutes.  Change speed to low again and pour in hot water in a stream.  Mix until combined.  Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  Let cake cool.

In bowl of stand mixer, use whisk attachment to whisk egg yolks until a full 2-3 shades lighter and ribbony when you lift the whisk, about 5 minutes.  I couldn’t find a good picture on the Internet of the ribbon stage, so I’ll update with photos of what mine look like when I make the giveaway cake.  In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/4 c. of water.  Cook over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until mixture starts to bubble.  Raise heat to high and boil until mixture reaches 238 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer.  With stand mixer on medium, pour sugar syrup in a slow stream into egg yolks.  Leave mixer on medium, and beat until outside of the metal bowl feels room temperature and the frosting is fluffy, about 10 minutes.  In a coffee pot, brew 2tbsp of espresso with the 10 oz of water.  Pour into a cup and microwave for an additional minute, to concentrate.  Add butter small amounts at a time until all added.  Add 4 tbsp of brewed espresso to buttercream, and beat until blended.

In a large bowl, combine chocolate and remaining 4 tbsp of butter.  In a small saucepan, bring cream and sugar to a boil.  Stir, then pour cream over chocolate mixture.  Let rest a minute, then stir occasionally until ganache is smooth.

Invert cake onto a large wooden cutting board.   Use a ruler to divide evenly into thirds, and slice accordingly.  On your cake plate, cover edges with strips of waxed paper, then place bottom cake layer on waxed paper so no plate is showing.  Frost first layer with half of buttercream, add next layer**, then frost with remaining buttercream.  Add third layer, then gently and slowly pour ganache over the top of the cake, as evenly as you can around the sides and top of cake.  Refrigerate about 20 minutes, or until ganache is firm, then gently slide the waxed paper pieces out to reveal a clean cake plate.

Note  ** I had a little trouble on my first cake with the layers slipping and sliding around.  If you have the time and the patience, I’d advise frosting the first layer, placing the second layer, then refrigerating cake for 10-20 minutes before frosting that layer, then again refrigerate 10-20 minutes before pouring ganache.  If you do it this way, just be sure not to start your ganache until you’ve refrigerated the second layer so you it will still be liquid enough for pouring.

Enjoy!

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If you find yourself sitting around coveting a fabulous stand mixer, biscuits and cakes and frostings dancing through your head, DoughMessTic has a contest running through midnight this Tuesday where you can win one!  Hope over there, make a comment in the comment section noting you were sent there by dinnerandconversation.  If the random number generator picks your comment number, you can with a Stand Mixer in a color of your very own choosing!  While you’re at it, you can become a fan of DoughMessTic on Facebook and my site!  Just search for doughmesstic or dinnerandconversation.com in your facebook, then click Become a Fan of!

The very very very best way to make Southern Style Biscuits requires White Lily Flour.  Really.  All other flours yield a biscuit though delicious, lacking a delicacy and levity unparalleled.  If you’re in Dallas, you can pick up your White Lily Flour at Central Market.  And if you’re lucky enough  to be in Austin, you can pick it up at almost any HEB.  Otherwise I hope you live in the southeast or you’ll be paying exorbitantly to ship 5 lb. bags of flour from either the site above or another you google.  Quality ingredients are worth the shipping.  Just ask me about my shipments of Heinz Genuine Dill Pickles.  At the end of the day, my pickles cost over $10 a jar.  That’s almost enough to make me hide them from my children.  But who am I kidding, I can’t blame them for their highly refined palates ; )  And at least I’m no longer buying them from the Piggly Wiggly, who gracefully managed to pack them so that at least 1/3 of my shipment broke every time.  Sigh.

Southern Style Biscuits Stand Mixer Recipe (makes about 14 biscuits)

Hamburger Soup Recipe

2.5 lbs ground chuck

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cans stewed tomatoes (14.5oz)

4 cans Campbell’s Beef Consomme (10oz)

1 can water

12 turns fresh ground pepper

In a large stock pot, brown ground beef on medium high heat.  When you can see no more pink, use a spatula to push beef to one half of the pot, then add the diced onion to the other.  Spread out your onion and stir each half every thirty seconds.  Continue until onion is soft and beef is very brown.  Use spatula to push beef and onions to one side, then tip pot to drain fat to the other side.  Remove fat with a spoon and discard.  Add tomatoes, consomme, water, and pepper to pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer 25 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

Chili, like tortilla soup, seems to be a dish that means different things to different people.  I started to enter a contest earlier this year where part of the instructions required a smooth consistency of meat to gravy, containing no identifiable vegetables at all.  And some people think of chili only being a dish served so spicy it demands several beers in rapid succession to keep your taste buds from being destroyed.  This turkey chili with black beans recipe is not very spicy – you can adjust the amounts of cayenne and chili powder to increase the intensity to your desire.  You also could add half of a minced jalapeno in with the garlic, similar to the method I use in my tortilla soup.  I prefer to spice mine at serving with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Enjoy experimenting!

Turkey Chili with Black Beans

2 tbsp olive oil

2.5 lbs ground turkey

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

5 tomatoes on the vine, chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 c. chicken stock

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Toppings: shredded cheddar jack cheese, diced onion, and crushed red pepper

Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot on medium heat.   Add olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper 8 minutes.  Add ground turkey, increase heat to high and brown thoroughly.  Add garlic, cook another minute.  Add tomatoes, spices and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.  Add black beans, simmer another 30 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Little things stick in my mind, and I *try* to find them and bring them forth for people. (P.S.  Angela should have said she hates mushrooms.  or was that Katie Layton, or both? maybe I’m not as good at the little things as I thought!)

In my raspberry buttermilk cake recipe, I wrote about my sweet friends’ love of buttermilk pie.  John and Kari are amongst the dearest people in our lives, and I really strive to make things for them on occasion.  Kari is a tricky one, probably cause I haven’t known her as long, and somehow, it’s intimidating cooking for women.  Men seem to like it all, cause well, as a whole they’re more simple-minded ; )  Back to the story, so John and Kari introduced me to their love of buttermilk pie.

Just after Christmas, a dear friend of Cory’s passed away.  I consider her his godmother, because I can’t figure a more appropriate synopsis of the relationship.  Irene raised Cory, in a way, and he wouldn’t be who he is without her influence.  It’s one of the most profound examples of love I’ve ever seen.  After the funeral, Chester entrusted me with Irene’s recipe box.  I’ve been through it and pulled all sorts of things to try, but when I saw buttermilk pie, I pulled it for Kari.   Chester and Irene lovingly watched my husband every Saturday morning during his formative years.  And apparently watched Johnny Carson with him some Friday nights, which I’ve definitely never seen.  When I heard Kari had a chest cold today, I had to make this for her.  I hope I can channel Chester and Irene and be as loving and supportive of John and Kari’s baby-to-be as they were for Cory.  Yeah for babies.  I’d like 50.  Just kidding.

Buttermilk Pie (adapted from Irene’s friend Zelma Long’s recipe -makes 2 pies)

1 and 1/3 c. 1% milk

6 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 and 2/3 c. sugar

4 tbsp flour

1 stick plus 3 tbsp melted butter

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In a glass measuring cup, combine milk and lemon juice to make buttermilk mixture.  Let stand 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300.  In a mixer combine sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk mixture.  Divide between two uncooked frozen pie shells.  Bake 1 and one half hours at 300, then an additional 10 minutes at 325, or until center is firm.

This recipe is written as I made the soup, which is certainly a time intensive method – but there are several shortcuts you could employ.  If your freezer is home to one of my staple whole roasted chickens minus the breast meat which was eaten at an earlier date, skip the first paragraph and throw your freezer portion in the pan with 2 raw split breasts.  If your freezer is bare AND you’re short on time, use 3 raw split breasts and cook for at least an hour before adding your vegetables if you can – but even 30 minutes will get you started.  When you are lacking a whole or part of a roasted chicken your broth isn’t going to be as flavorful, and there will be more room in your pan.  So cover the split breasts, then when you add the veggies, add 4 cups of chicken stock.  If you have cooked white rice on hand, that would totally work as well, I just like this method since the rice absorbs some of your stock’s flavor without stealing all of the stock thus leaving you with a thick, dry soup.

Now get out there and make some for yourself, and a friend, or just throw it in your freezer in individual sizes to bring you through the winter!

Lemony Chicken with Rice Soup Recipe

1 whole chicken approx 5 lbs, rinsed giblets and neck removed

1/2 a lemon, cut into 4 pieces

4 large cloves garlic

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

olive oil

5 stalks celery, sliced

4 carrots, peeled, then sliced lengthwise, then again, then chopped into 1 inch slivers on an angle

1 yellow onion, peeled, sliced, then rounds sliced into quarters

2 bay leaves

2 c.  long grain white rice

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  In a roasting pan fitted with a rack, stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon pieces, garlic, salt and pepper.  Drizzle skin very lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast chicken in oven for just over an hour – if you’re going to eat the breast meat at this point, you’ll need to keep cooking it to a safe internal temp of 165.

Since I’m going to continue boiling mine, I took it to 145, then put it in the stock pot and covered with water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, for 2 hours.  Add celery, carrots, onion, and bay leaves, simmer another hour.  Carefully remove the chicken with turkey forks or a fish spatula, being sure to remove all bone pieces from stock.  Shred chicken meat with two forks, then return to broth.  Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 15 turns fresh ground pepper.

Cook rice in  four cups of boiling water.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cook covered about 15 minutes – until mostly cooked, then remove with a slotted spoon, drain, then add al dente rice to soup.  Cook 10 more minutes in covered soup pan.  Add lemon juice and crushed red pepper.  Simmer another 5 minutes, then adjust seasonings to taste.  Serve and enjoy!