A Muddy Slice of Cake

This month the Cake Slice Bakers had some wonderful choices for the recipe to bake: King Cake for Mardi Gras, Mini Red Velvet cakes or a dramatic chocolate torte for Valentine's Day, or a Mississippi Mud Cake just for fun. You can see what I chose in the photo.

Because February has been waaaay too full of both fun and serious things, including a funeral which included flying to Virginia during one of the many freezes they have had this winter, a tea party, a bladder infection, a birthday bash at a great restaurant, a birthday steak cooked by Sweetie on the actual day, eye surgery, a visit by an old Peace Corps buddy of Charlie's, an Artist's night for Straight Shooter's photo show, and scholarship selection for three P.E.O. State Chapter scholarships which included flying to LA (not in that order) I am late in both making and posting my choice.

I decided to go with the fun Mississippi Mud Cake because I think it will be something that Sweetie enjoys and he has been a rock of support and love during this busy month. Because I don't have any marshmallows and I do have cream cheese, I decided to substitute a cream cheese-brown sugar-bourbon mixture for the marshmallows. It didn't brown up, but I think it goes with the Southern vibe as well as being very good with chocolate and pecans. I also used some espresso powder instead of vanilla because I like a little coffee flavor to up the chocolate flavor in baked goods.

I also made half a recipe and baked it in a square pan. The full recipe is perfect for a crowd, but that isn't going to happen. I'll give the recipe the way I made it. If you visit some of the other Cake Slice Bakers or go online to the Southern Living website you should find the full recipe.

This is one oooey, gooey chocolate marvel of a dessert. It's messy but delicious. Hard to not just go back and have a little more...then a little more. You know, that kind of deliciousness.

Mississippi Mud Cake 

from The Southern Cake Book, by Southern Living Magazine

1/2 cup butter
2 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used Scharfenberger)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (I used closer to a cup)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bourbon whiskey
Warm Chocolate Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch baking pan. Set aside.

Microwave butter and chocolate in a large microwave safe glass bowl on HIGH for 1 minute, stirring half way through the minute. I cut the butter and chocolate into small pieces before microwaving.

Whisk the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture until well blended. In a small bowl stir together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and salt. Stir into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Add the vanilla if using.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

While the batter is baking, whip the cream cheese, brown sugar and whiskey together with a stand or hand held mixer until well blended and creamy.

When the batter has baked, leave the oven on. Remove the baking pan to a heat proof work area and dollop the cream cheese mixture over the brownie in the pan. Use the back of a spatula to draw the dollops together. Layer will be bumpy with uneven amounts in the layer. Return pan to oven and bake another 10 minutes. Mixture will not brown.

While cream cheese layer is baking, make the Warm Chocolate Frosting (see below). You should just about be done making it when the cake is ready to be removed from the oven.

After 10 minutes of baking, remove pan from oven and pour Warm Chocolate Frosting over it. Spread with a small spatula if necessary. Top with the toasted pecans. Let cool at least 10 minutes for the icing to harden up a bit. Enjoy!

Warm Chocolate Frosting

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa. Whisk in 3 tablespoons milk. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Then gradually whisk in 1 cup confectioner's sugar, whisking all the time. Mixture will thicken slightly. Use at once, as soon as the cake comes out of the oven.

An InLinkz Link-up

Chicken and Dumplings Today

I was looking through a book that has been languishing on my cookbook shelf for a while, James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking (from 1977). My impression is that Mr. Beard was a teacher and I must admit that his introduction to the Boiling chapter was as comprehensive a discussion of what happens in cooking when heat is applied to a liquid as you can imagine. Poaching, Steaming, making of Stock, Soups, Pasta and more are illustrated as you go through the chapter with wonderful recipes for each category included.

When I reached Dumplings and Gnocchi and saw Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings I realized that I already had a great recipe from my Mom for that. Sure enough, when I checked out the recipe it was for simmered chicken topped with dumplings that become cooked and light via steam...from boiling liquid. It is old fashioned comfort food, warm and savory. Just the thing for a chilly winter night. It is also apparently part of a renewed interest in Southern cooking. Nothin' wrong with that. It photographs as sort of plain, not an uncommon problem with some poached foods, but don't let that put you off. Give it a try!

My mother's version is only a bit different from Mr. Beard's. My updated version of my Mom's recipe includes using boneless, skinless chicken pieces, not because they are superior to whole chickens but because that's what I had on hand. Again, they don't look too pretty but this dish has FAR less fat than fried chicken, another newly popular Southern food (which does, indeed, look better).

I think a fuller chicken flavor would have been possible if the chicken had at least had bones. I also removed the chicken from the broth once it was just cooked. The bowl with the chicken stayed warm in the closed microwave, with a layer of foil over the dish since I wasn't actually going to microwave it. While the chicken stayed warm I reduced the broth by about 1/3 which helped strengthen the chicken flavor without toughening the chicken itself. Perhaps if I had started with a whole chicken I would have been comfortable keeping the chicken in the boiling stock. Might have to try that next time.

When it came time to cook the dumplings, I just put them right into the simmering stock, closed the pot lid tightly and let them steam 15 minutes. Once the dumplings were cooked I removed them to the bowl with the chicken, then thickened the stock with a flour/water paste. At last all the elements could be mingled with the dumplings being placed around the edge of the pan and the chicken in the middle. I spooned some of the sauce over the chicken and served it up. Green peas added some green to the dish.

Although the chicken itself, napped with sauce, was delicious, I must admit I enjoyed the dumplings. They were as I remembered them from childhood; the underside was moist and succulent from the broth, the top was dry but tender and the center was light and tender, too. The parsley added color and just a bit of herby flavor. It's amazing that I've not made this dish in ages. It does take a little time since you simmer the chicken, then have to steam the dumplings, but it isn't difficult and it's pretty healthy and low fat since I use non-fat milk for the dumplings and skinless chicken, too.

The vegetables can be varied and you could add some white wine, too, for additional flavor, but the one thing you must have is a pot with a tight fitting lid so that the steam stays trapped for cooking the dumplings. Otherwise you might have lumps more like bricks than clouds and that would be a shame.

Chicken and Dumplings
Serves 4-6

2 lbs cut up chicken (I used boneless, skinless...if using chicken with bones, plan on additional simmering time)
2 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 lb mushrooms
1 carrot cut in half and sliced
1 stalk celery, cut in three pieces
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
for Dumplings:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup milk

Clean the chicken with cold water and put into the refrigerator until ready to cook. Using a pot with a tight lid that will hold the chicken and about the same volume of other ingredients, cover the bottom with the herbs, mushrooms, carrot, celery and onion, distributing the ingredients throughout the pot.

Place the chicken pieces over the herbs and vegetables and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Barely cover the chicken with cold water. Cover tightly and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until tender, 1 - 2 hours. Check at 1 hour to see how close to being done the chicken is.

When chicken is tender, remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl or pan, cover with foil and keep warm. (I put the bowl into the microwave but didn't use the microwave at all while the chicken sat). Remove the parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, bay leaf and celery pieces and discard.

Increase the heat and, with pot uncovered, boil the broth to reduce by 1/3. While broth is still at boiling point, add dumplings (recipe below), cover tightly, reduce heat to simmer, and steam dumplings for 15 minutes.Keep the lid on the whole time...no peeking!

After dumplings are cooked, remove them to the bowl with the chicken, again using a slotted spoon. Thicken the broth with a flour/water paste (the amount will depend on the amount of broth...usually 1-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour mixed with slightly more water than that) and simmer until thickened.

Return the chicken and dumplings to the pot, basting the chicken with the thickened sauce. Cover and keep over low heat for 1 minute to return everything to a hot temperature. Serve at once with a green vegetable or salad, being sure to include at least one dumpling and some sauce with each serving.

My Southern Food - A Giveaway

Despite my best intentions to do a monthly post about the lovely books from Thomas Nelson Publishers, time has gotten away from me so it has been a while. This time I'm reviewing My Southern Food, A Celebration of the Flavors of the South.

You may not know it, but I grew up in Virginia, a true Southern state even if we lived in the northern part of it and were hence considered somewhat suspect by Virginians living further south. This wasn't snobbery exactly because northern Virginia had so many people from all over the world living the the Washington, D.C. area part of it that it was far more diverse than the rest of the state.

Later, after college, I traveled for business and pleasure in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia and West Virginia, plus a few states north of the Mason-Dixon line, so I had the opportunity to get to know some lovely Southerners. My favorite bread pudding recipe was given to me by Gail in Frederick, Maryland. Brings to mind Barbara Fritchie...if you don't recognize the name it might be fun to Google it.

My Dad grew up all over the South so my Mom learned how to cook Southern to please him. We had black -eye peas and cabbage with corn bread, hush puppies to go with our fried fish, cole slaw to top our Carolina style pulled pork sandwiches, and so much more. This book captures the flavors and sensibilities of good Southern food, from iced tea and that Southern staple grits to Red Velvet Cake and sweet Pralines. My grandmother taught us how to make Pralines and reading the recipe brought back fond memories.

The only downside is that there are few photos of the results of the recipes. I don't find that to be a hindrance since the cookbooks of my younger days rarely had photos, but I know that some bloggers are so used to photos being a big part of a post that I felt I should mention it. That said, the book is graphically beautiful. For instance on page 100 there is a darling photo of a young girl near a cranked ice cream maker, grinning in anticipation. The recipe on the next page for Vanilla Ice Cream may not show the actual ice cream, but the cute photo really adds to the quality of waiting for freshly churned ice cream...and really makes you want to create some home made ice cream right away!

The recipe I'm showcasing is one I've never made myself, although I've certainly consumed more than my share of 'em at potlucks. This is a super sweet cookie which is almost candy and goes by the name of Hello Dolly Bars.

I'm not sure where the name came from, but the cookbook author tells us that her mother made these every Christmas. They are amazingly easy, especially if you have a box of graham cracker crumbs on hand as I did (purchased for a cheesecake that never was made...but that's another story) and some pecans in the 'fridge and coconut and chocolate chips in the baking section of the pantry. I did have to purchase the sweetened condensed milk because I rarely use it but once I had that the bars went together quickly...they took longer to bake than to assemble.

Hello Dolly Bars

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups but Sweetie like graham crackers, so I added an extra 1/4 cup)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter and pour into a bowl. Blend in the graham cracker crumbs and pat into the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish to form a crust. Layer the chocolate chips evenly across the crust, followed by the coconut, then the pecans. Drizzle the condensed milk over everything, but do not mix or stir. Bake for 25 minutes on the center rack of your oven. When done the pecans will just be stating to brown a little. Remove from the oven and cool before cutting into bars. Makes 2 dozen bars.

Just like last time, Katherine at Thomas Nelson Publishers has offered to give away three copies of this great book.

You can also purchase it online or request it in your bookstore. The author is Devon O'Day, with a forward by Faith Ford , published in 2010. You're going to want a copy so that you discover the mysteries of PBR Bread and Cider House Ham among other great recipes. By the way, although I did recieve a courtesy copy of the cookbook to review it, I've not recieved, nor will I, any financial or other consideration for reviewing this book and I'm free to say whatever I like about it.

To be eligible for the random drawing, just leave a comment. The comment link can be found at the bottom of this post. I'll need an e-mail adress so that I can notify you if you are a winner and get your mailing address to give to the publisher. They mail the cookbook directly to you.

Better practice saying "y'all" for when you serve some of My Southern Food's delicious dishes.