Dessert Makes Everything Sweeter...

I have to admit, dessert is my favorite part of the meal... the finishing touch. I always sacrifice the main course to save a little room for dessert, and when my wife makes it, it's that much sweeter. I wanted to share this recipe with y'all... It comes from Anne Burrell, and it's called Profiteroles. These homemade puff pastry bites are filled with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate on top. You'll be drooling in no time! My wife made these last night for our family get-together, and I'm pretty sure I at least 132 of these. They're very easy, very elegant, and take no time at all!

I hope you like it!

The Recipe:

1/2 cup water
1/2 stick butter
Pinch salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
Pinch ground cinnamon
Ice cream
Chocolate Sauce, recipe follows
Special Equipment: Pastry bag fitted with large straight tip
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a small saucepan combine the water, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the flour all at once and stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon. Cook until the mixture has formed a ball and has a slightly sweaty sheen to it and it has pulled away from the pan. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and let cool for 3 to 4 minutes. The mixture does not have to be cold, just cool enough not to cook the eggs when added. Using an electric mixer or lots of good old-fashioned elbow grease, beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Do not add the second egg until the first is fully incorporated. Add in the cinnamon and beat for another second to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag equipped with a large straight tip and pipe 1-inch balls onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. When done dip your finger in water and smooth the top of each ball where the pastry bag released the dough. Be sure to leave at least 1-inch between each of the balls. They grow! Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the cooking time to insure even cooking. When done, the puffs should be light, airy and dry inside. Cool on a rack.

When ready to serve, cut in half horizontally and fill with ice cream of your choosing. (I prefer a really high-quality vanilla.) Top with warm chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce
4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 good pinch ground cinnamon
Bring a saucepan with 1-inch of water to a boil. Put the chocolate in a metal or heatproof glass mixing bowl and place on top of the saucepan with boiling water. Pay careful attention that the mixing bowl does not touch the surface of the boiling water. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until the chocolate has melted and everything is combined. This is a pretty quick process, once the chocolate has melted remove it from the double boiler set up. Spoon over the filled profiteroles. This is best when served warm!

"Southern" Homemade Biscuits

Who doesn't love biscuits? When I think of biscuits, it reminds me of fond memories of waking up at my grandmother's house, with the smell of biscuits in the oven permeating the air. Even at my parent's house, the thought of biscuits always triggers warm memories. Over the years, I've taken what I've learned from my grandmother, my mom, and my Nany (my adopted grandmother), and formed my own recipe. It's pretty basic...



The Recipe:

2 cups Self Rising Flour
1 1/2 stick Butter
1 tablespoon Sugar
3/4 cup milk (approx)
1/3 cup Crisco Shortening

In a cast iron skillet (preferably), melt 1/3 cup Crisco Shortening, and 1/2 a stick of butter in a 400* oven. In a mixing bowl, with a fork, blend flour and butter (at room temperature) until the flour becomes moist like a cornmeal mixture. Then, begin adding milk. It takes about 3/4 cup of milk to make the mixture thick and completely moist. Then roll out on a floured surface, and knead until thick and firm. With your biscuit cutter, cut your biscuits, and place them in your skillet with the melted shortening and butter, and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

I hope you like it!

Wedding Weekend: Cookies and Cream Layered Cake

My wife, Ashlynn, and I are in Mississippi this week visiting family and getting ready for my Uncle's wedding. I'm not a big fan of weddings, but I am a big fan of the reception... because I get to eat! You can bet, where there's a wedding, there's great food!

For the rehearsal dinner, I decided to make a Cookies and Cream Layer Cake. I'm not sure if you know this, but I love sugar, bread, and butter. I love cooking all three. I got my inspiration from Ina Garten who made a similar cake on the Food Network, but as always, I winged it just to see what happens. I'm guilty of that. I'll see something that looks good, and never look up the recipe. I just make it the way I think it should be. Oh well.



I'm not very good with elegant. What can I say? I'm a dude... and on top of that, I'm southern. But, I thought this would be a fairly simple way for anyone to take whipped cream and oreo's into an elegant dessert. My buddy, the KitchenAid (we should give him a name) whipped some heavy cream into stiff whipped cream, and got busy.



Start by lining the bottom of your cake pan with oreo's. You know, when you start your recipe with lining your pan with oreo's, it's going to be good!



Then, add a layer of whipped cream on top, and repeat... It's that simple. Keep layering until you reach the top of the cake pan, with a final layer of whipped cream. I would've added more crumbled oreo's on top, but honestly... I ran out. So, I recommend two bags of oreo's for future reference. Cover in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.



And here's the finished product! I hope you like it!

Recipe

3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Bags Oreo's

In a bowl (or your KitchenAid Mixer), combine the heavy cream and sugar, and beat on high until whipped cream forms into stiff peaks. Next layer the bottom of your cheesecake pan with Oreo's, and then add a layer of whipped cream. Repeat until you cover the top of the cake. Refrigerate overnight, and you're done! Release the sides of the cheesecake, and let your mouth water. Embrace it.

Oh wait...



My wife and I also made a Seven Layer Salad as well. I'm not sure if it really has seven layers, but it turned out nice!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

For my first blog... I wanted to do something manly... something rugged...something crazy, because after all, dudes cook too...

...and I came up with this: Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. Trust me, it tastes so good, it doesn't discriminate over gender.



I start with the best ingredient on the face of the earth... BUTTER. Never...EVER...ask me if God exists, because we have proof, and the truth lies in butter!



Mix some butter, flour and milk, and roll it into dough.



Roll the dough out. Then, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon generously on top, then cut into squares, and stack side by side in a bread pan and bake... and then you get this:



I have to admit, I got this idea from JoytheBaker.com, but I made my own recipe from it, because honestly, last night when I made this, I had to study, and pack for a trip to see our family.

...I brought this to my office at 8:00am, and it was gone by 9:00am, so I'm thinking it was a hit.

Enjoy. I hope you like it!

Recipe:

2 cups self rising flour
1 stick of butter
3/4 (ish) cup of milk
Sugar
Cinnamon

Allow butter to come to room temperature.
In a mixing bowl, sift butter and flour together until flour becomes a moist cornmeal-like texture, then begin adding milk.

Add milk until it becomes moist and thick, then roll out onto a floured surface and knead the dough until it becomes firm.

Next, roll the dough out until it's about 1/4 inch thick, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon generously on top. Then cut into even 3 x 3 squares. You may have to cut off the outer edges to make it an even square.

Then, stack the squares and lay them side by side in a bread pan.

Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes.