"Apple Ginger Cheer" -- NYE Drink Edition

Oh, 2011. We all have so much to say about it, huh? Some of us had a fantabulous year. Some of us had a dreadful year. From what I see, you were either on one side of the fence or the other. There was no "so-so year." There was no gray area. You were all in or you folded that hand a long time ago. Either way, I am sure we all can grab a glass and toast 2011 goodbye. Whether it's a "See ya, asshole," or it's a "Gosh, I hope 2012 is just as phenomenal." Either way, tip it up and smile. We are on to so many big things this year. Let's rock 2012. Cheers!

So, I had some leftover apple cider from Christmas. Shame for that goodness to go to waste. Plus, it's just too tasty! New Year's Eve. Let's add alcohol to it! I had some apples in the house...had some vodka in the house from Christmas White Russians (damn, the vodka always outlasts the Kahlua, doesn't it?). I thought, "How can I make a fun, festive drink for NYE? Instead of just adding vodka to a juice, or apple cider in this case, let's do something a little more exciting! Listen up!

You have to peel ginger. And, by all means, when you go to the grocery store to buy ginger, please go ahead and break off what you need! It's okay. ;) I take a spoon and peel mine. Just scrape the spoon along the outer skin of the ginger and it peels off. For this recipe, don't worry if you can't get it all. Sometimes those knobs are hard to scrape. Just do the best you can.

Next, chop the ginger up a bit so it can steep in your simple syrup.

Put 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water and your ginger into a small sauce pan on the stove. Heat to a hard boil, remove from heat and let the ginger steep, or sit, in the sugar water for at least 30 minutes. By the way, if you have extra ginger, don't worry! Peel that up too and put into a plastic baggie and store in your freezer!

Okay, strain or remove your chunks of ginger from your simple syrup. Add the syrup to a pitcher with 3 cups of cider (apple juice works fine), 1.5 cups club soda, and 1.5 cups vodka. Stir and chill. Can be shaken and served straight up or poured over ice. Garnish with apple slices. Either way, you will have fun with this festive, flavorful, fun drink. Not too girly, either. ;) The men will thank you!!!

Happy New Year, my friends. I wish you well. Now, go get cookin'! Or drinkin'! CHEERS!

Recipe Card:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
2-3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
3 cups apple cider (or good apple juice)
1.5 cups club soda
1.5 cups vodka
apple slices for garnish
ice, for shaking or for pouring over

Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake

Double Chocolate Butter Gooey Cake

Ok, like you all are so aware by now, I don't bake. If I want sweets, I buy cakes or buy the already prepared cookie dough. If I do bake, I try to do the fake-outs or the easiest route I can find. The end of the year, people are expected to put their best foot forward in the kitchen. If you are known for your cooking, desserts are included in this "expectation." Plus, my daughter and husband adore sweets. So, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I try to make the exception to my store-bought chagrin and give them something more homemade.

This year, I saw The Food Network post a Facebook status about Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. I also saw the recipe had 2,022 ratings and it was at a 5 star rating! That is A LOT of people who rated this recipe. I don't see many recipes around the web with that many ratings. It was still at 5 stars, too! This was my light at the end of my sleepless-apprehensive-intimidated-"What am I going to bake this year?"-stress tunnel! I can do this. I will do this. I clicked on the link and it was music to my eyes. I thought, "I CAN soooo rock this out and this is going to be the superstar dessert this year! Forget plain, ol' pumpkin pie! Anything with cream cheese is frickin' AHH-MAZING!" So, yeah, I was the Lady GaGa of desserts this Thanksgiving. Whipped up my own cinnamon whipped cream and Paula Deen saved me again. The recipe has butter in the title. Paula Deen. Butter. Heaven.

There are several variations to this recipe to stay with you all year. Peanut Butter Chocolate Gooey Cake...Double Chocolate Gooey Cake...Pineapple Gooey Cake...Banana Gooey Cake...

So, go. Go right now. Get the car keys, scratch off the cake or pie recipe you already have on your menu to-do-list for Christmas and get these ingredients. Do it. I promise. You must. GOOOO already!!!

My college-aged step son came home last weekend and I, of course, make him a good homecooked meal or two. His favorite candy is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so what did I make him? Yep. The Chocolate Peanut Butter version. Really tasty! Here's the peanut butter version:

The bottom layer taste like a brownie or a blondie, depending on which variation you are making. The top layers are nice and moist, flavorful, definitely gooey, and smooth & creamy!

Let me know what you think when you make this. Don't ever make a pumpkin pie again. Give this recipe plenty of time to cool down. It takes awhile to cool off. I make these around 2 p.m. to serve for dinner. Or make day before and warm pieces in the microwave for 30 seconds before serving. Here is the double chocolate variety in my oven. About halfway done. It does rise up a lot. Make sure you use the pan suggested. My baking dish is a 13x9, but it has rounded edges which takes out some area compared to a square 13x9. I didn't take pictures of the Pumpkin version I made. I wish I did, though, so you could see the differences.

Recipe can be found HERE. Look for links to variations at the bottom of the recipe.

My Christmas "Baking"

I do not bake. I do not bake. I shall not bake. But, Christmas tends to lend its hand towards baking! Ugh. So, to make sure I follow the trend (somewhat) I did do a few treats to give out as gifts. You still have time to do these. They take no time, as well as they don't require much measuring! Get stocked on containers, bags, festive ziplocs and such at the Dollar Store and you are ready to go. 

Ok, you can find the recipe for Bridge Mix Bark HERE. Peanuts, pretzels and raisins in a milk chocolate layer. After that hardens for about an hour, then you top it off with a bittersweet chocolate layer. Cut into squares, bag up, and you are done!

Here is the milk chocolate layer, ready to go into the fridge to harden up a bit.

After it is done, put squares in Christmas cupcake liners and then add to a small Christmas box. Seal up and give a box of homemade chocolate bark!

Next, I did two different white chocolate barks. I did a white chocolate/peppermint/mini-marshmallow bark, which you can check out HERE.

Here is the bark, after assembled, but before cracked. It hardens up quite nicely at room temperature! The marshmallows are a little sticky and they tend to want to pull apart when you try to break up the recipe. So, just make sure you break around the marshmallows.

And here it is at the beginning of the "breaking" process. Have fun with it. No piece is the same size, same cut, etc. This is totally not supposed to be uniform.

Ok, for the second white chocolate bark; I made a white chocolate, craisins, pistachio, candied orange peel bark. You can see that recipe HERE. It's prepared the same way as the peppermint bark, but with different toppings...obviously. ;)

And, again, break apart very leisurely! No right or wrong way to do it! Yay! My kind of recipe!

I know you see cakes up in the first picture. Yes, I did try my hand at some more challenging treats. Those cakes up there? Yeah. FRUITCAKES!!! My mother-in-law enjoys fruitcakes, so I made Alton Brown's recipe. That can be found HERE. This is not your run-of-the-mill neon green & red fruit (what is that crap anyway?) fruitcake. This is made with real, dried fruits that are macerated in gold rum overnight. Then, I have been spritzing them with brandy every two days. For this recipe you probably don't have enough time to do these right since you have to spritz or baste them every two days, but I will show you some pictures of my preparations. This has dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries, dried apricots, golden raisins, lemon zest, orange zest, and candied ginger. Supposedly fruitcakes last forever. 

It wasn't too bad. I am not a "fruity" person, but the ginger and the other spices that were added, gave the cake a great flavor. It's not an overly sweet cake and the brandy makes sure of that! Make it and slice it up to take to a party! I think people would enjoy this as a slice or two with coffee or a snifter of brandy! So, it really would be perfect to slice up and take to a Christmas Eve gathering! It definitely tastes better if warmed up a bit, too.

The fruit macerating:

Boiling the fruit with sugar, the macerated liquid, butter, apple cider, and spices:

All thickened up!:

I doubled the recipe and then split into three 8-inch pans...buttered and slightly floured:

Dry ingredients and eggs added...very thick mixture:

Toasted, chopped pecans ready to go in!:

Batter spooned into pans, ready to bake:

And, the final product! Real fruitcake...no neon fruit added!:

Spicy Ranch Dressing

So...tell me, what is the best thing about having a lot of leftover buttermilk from those cheddar thyme biscuits you made this week? You got it! Homemade ranch dressing. Extremely easy and a lot better than the bottled stuff! Grab some greens. Grab some carrots and celery and get a few ingredients together and whip this up quickly! Remember, though, this is best after being refrigerated for awhile after making. So, give yourself time, preferably overnight.

Ok, make your garlic paste. Crush two cloves of garlic pretty well. Give 'em a good smack, crush with a knife. Add a heavy pinch of kosher salt and chop the garlic with the salt. The salt acts as an abrasive and will draw the liquid out of the garlic, making it easier to break down into a paste. 

Start taking the blade of your knife and dragging it across the garlic/salt mixture as you press down on the blade with your other hand to crush it further. It takes some time, but keep doing it. You will eventually get to this point:

Perfect! Ok, chop some fresh dill until you have about a tablespoon and a half. Chop a green onion (white and green parts) until you have about a tablespoon of chopped green onion.

Ok, add 1/2 cup each of buttermilk, mayo and sour cream to a bowl.

Then, to the bowl, add your garlic paste, dill, green onion, salt & pepper, white vinegar and lemon juice.

Whisk away until smooth. I split my recipe into two parts; a little more than 3/4 cup in each part. Add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper to one part or 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoons for the whole recipe. I just like spicy ranch on some things and regular ranch on others, so I split it. Refrigerate overnight, if you can. At least an hour so the kosher salt has time to dissolve and the garlic paste can permeate. 

Easy! Fresh! Creamy! Good stuff...

Recipe Card:

1/2 cup buttermilk (don't use skim buttermilk, please)

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1.5 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (3/4 tablespoon if dried dill)

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

1 tablespoon white vinegar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon for whole recipe)

salt & pepper to taste + kosher salt for garlic paste

Rachael Ray TV Shoot -- Grilled Chic, Bacon, Mac & Cheese

Tuesday, November 29, 2011: I was doing things around the house and checked my phone, just like I do every two minutes. Ha. No, my husband would say every two minutes, but really it's like every hour. Well, that time I had missed a call. I checked the voice mail and I hear, "Hello, Shannon! This is Monica from The Rachael Ray Show in New York. I wanted to chat with you for a bit, so could you call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx, please? Thanks! Have a good day." Ummm, what?!?!?! I will tell you, the chills and the adrenaline build during that voice mail were like nothing I had felt before. It took 3 more voice mail repeats before I could even jot her name and number down, although the 1st replay was just to hear it again! I put the phone down. Most people would immediately start dialing the number back, BUT if you ever have those true, out-of-body adrenaline experiences, you know there is no way in hell you can speak to someone "professionally" two minutes later. I found my husband outside and told him what I had just listened to. His jaw dropped. So, I got my pad of paper, a pen, my phone, a damn cigarette and went upstairs to get my head together and to speak in the privacy of my bedroom. I stopped by my nine-year-old daughter's room to tell her Rachael Ray called Mommy and she screamed! She started to ask a million questions and I just told her I didn't know anything yet. I made it to my bedroom, called Monica back and darn! It was her voicemail! Ugh. Well, about ten minutes later, Monica called me back and asked if I would be interested in doing an at-home video for Rachael's Top Ten Recipes of 2011 show. Uh, yeah, of course!!! So, after 4 days of planning, going through camera nightmares, practicing, retakes, prepping, making my kitchen look like a "T.V. kitchen," I finally have wrapped it all up and sent the footage on to Monica! 

Now, remember my injury here? The whole reason for the slow down of this blog? The reason for all my doleful rants on Facebook? The whole reason I was going crazy because I couldn't "feed my family like I want to?" Yeah. Here's a time where not only do I have to have makeup on, decent clothes on, a smile on, but I have to stand. And I have to stand for a long time. I have to practice in the mirror. I have to help my husband get the camera angle correct. I have to go through the whole shebang over and over. I have to prep my food perfectly. I have to make sure everything in the camera's eye is clean, organized and T.V. ready. Yes, this is a lot of standing. By the end of day one, I was in so much frickin' pain. I did the last leg of the video for Recipe #1 (no pun intended), and I could barely see straight. I wanted to cry, and as soon as that camera went off for the last time, I did. The next day, my poor foot was a balloon. I couldn't walk. There was no way I could do Recipe #2 that day. I was confined to the bed...again. But, wait! I was given a deadline and it was all supposed to be there Friday morning! I had so many camera issues the first day, I had to eventually resort to a Hi 8mm camcorder instead of my digital camcorder, which means I have to SNAIL MAIL the videos! (I'll wait for all the gasps to subside)... ... ... .... ... I can't even put weight on my foot and I am supposed to have both videos/recipes to Monica in the morning. Aye. I told Monica I had camera issues and the footage was going to have to be mailed to her...like in the "real" mail. She gave me the "okay," and I was so relieved (never telling her I was in the damn bed for a balloon foot). So, after a day of bed rest, my foot seemed to be somewhat better (I could put weight on it) and I taped video #2 this (Friday) morning. My husband mailed it off early afternoon and it should be there Monday. Video #2 was easier. We knew what worked for the camera, I knew how it was going to go and it wasn't as much food prep, etc. I do hope they choose video #1 for her Slow Cooker: Chicken and Biscuits. Mainly because I worked soooo hard on that one and pushed through so much pain and furthermore, my kids also made a cameo appearance!

So, there's the lovely beginning to my Rachael Ray shoot. My, oh my. And here I am, ready to start taping video #2!!!

Moreover, I did take a few personal photos of RR's Chicken-and-Bacon Mac & Cheese that I prepared for video so I could also blog it. My family loved this!!! I also added a slight twist at the end to make it my Texas own. I did make it according to her recipe except one slight variation at the end, so please check it out to get all the details on how to prepare this. I will give you the short version since I have already gone on-and-on about the taping days themselves. :) This one is really easy, folks. Give it a whirl!

Ok, I grilled my chicken on my outside grill. Just make sure you pound the chicken to get it all one thickness so it will cook evenly and cut into even pieces for ya. Salt and pepper it. Drizzle with EVOO.

Meanwhile, cut a large onion, lengthwise, into quarters. Thinly slice it. Go ahead and roughly chop about a tablespoon and a half of fresh thyme on your board while you're at it. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, on medium heat.

Start your pasta water. In a separate skillet, cook some bacon until crisp. Add your onions to your melted butter and let them go for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly caramelized. 

Bacon Tip: Take your 6 slices of bacon and put them in the freezer for about 1-2 hours before cooking. Let them firm up nicely and then cut the bacon into lardons. The firmness makes the bacon SO much easier to cut up.

Once pasta water comes to a boil, salt the water generously and cook your pasta until just shy of al dente. I used whole wheat penne here. I like the hole through the middle of the pasta so the sauce can get up in there. It also has nice ridges, which also allow the sauce to stick to the pasta itself. Drain, then add back to pasta pot. When the bacon is fully cooked, add to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Cut chicken breasts (after a nice rest, of course) in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise, into cubes. Preheat oven to a high broiler.

When the onions are nice and golden, whisk in two heaping tablespoons of flour and let cook for about two minutes. Then, whisk in 1/2 cup chicken stock and then 2 cups whole milk. Let that mixture cook to a slight boil and until it thickens nicely. Add thyme, salt and pepper, and then grate in fresh nutmeg. Lastly, add 1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar and 1 cup shredded gruyere and let cheese melt completely.

Gruyere tip: Gruyere always has a rind on it that must be cut away before consumption. DO NOT throw away the rinds! Freeze them and next time you make french onion soup or another type of hearty soup, add the rinds in the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Remove before serving. They add a wonderful richness to soup...especially my French Onion Soup!

Add chicken, bacon and sauce to the pasta and stir well. Taste your seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. You can see that I have split this into two buttered casserole dishes. Well, my kids like it just the way Rachael has written it. I actually like to add some spice to it. So, I split the recipe into two portions, and add about 3/4 of a can of HOT Rotel to the "adult version" and stir. Make sure you drain the excess liquid out of the Rotel. You don't need it in this. The "kids version" is without Rotel. Pop the casserole dish(es) in the broiler, and let cook for about 7-10 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly!

Here is the recipe, if made my way, with adding the Rotel:

Enjoy!!! And congrats to Rachael Ray on her Top Ten Recipes of 2011!

Lady N'awlins Cajun Cafe -- Restaurant Review

So, I love southern food. I love Texan food...and I love all the Louisiana food that always found its way across the border when I grew up in Texas. When I heard there was a Louisiana-style restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, I made it my mission to make it there as soon as I became able to move around better. On our first "date" out again, after our accident, you bet this is where I chose. Lady N'awlins, located at 2329 West Main Street, claims to have the best cajun food 1,004 miles north of the French Quarter. They have an adequate menu with the classic cajun fare, as well as daily specials. They are on Facebook and you can find them HERE. Their menu is also listed on their Facebook page and that is HERE. We visited Lady N'awlins on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Yes, I am a little slow at getting this up, but I asked everyone to bear with me as I deal with my injury right now.  So, I do apologize. We were seated promptly and immediately I noticed the official Crystal hot sauce on the table. Woo hoo! Lookin' good. Atmosphere was quaint, as one would expect in the Fan District. Music was definitely present. I expected to walk in to a place filled with jazz, but they had a mix of music playing. The back room looked a little better suited for the dinner crowd, but we sat in a booth, across from the bar. For our early dinner, that was just fine with us. Our service was decent. Nothing overly ardent, but we were a couple, eating dinner, enjoying a beer and some wine. I wouldn't expect her to be. 

Ok, to the good stuff. We decided on the Oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer.

The oysters really came out cooked perfectly. I do not appreciate shriveled up oysters at all, but these were still plump and burst in your mouth. For those of you who know me, oysters are my favorite food of all time. So, yes, I can be picky. I'll get to my one "pick" in a moment... Ok, I am pretty sure these had cream cheese on them, which added a nice texture and creaminess to the dish. The bacon was crunchy, but not overcooked. They really were good and easy to slurp on down. Ok, here's my pickiness...they spritzed the oysters with lemon juice before going out or maybe they were cooked in lemon juice. Either way, not a fan of the kitchen adding lemon juice to my oysters. In my personal opinion, lemon and bacon don't go well together. Oysters and bacon? Yes! Oysters and lemon? Absolutely! Oysters, cream cheese, bacon and lemon? Nope. Not for me. I tried to "drain" the excess liquid off of them, but the lemon was still pretty dominant. Overall, great, tasty dish. Wish they would have left the lemon up to the guests, but hey...I can't complain too much when the oysters really were spot on!

Ok, so my husband ordered the fried oysters entree. You can see that below. His sides were the house salad and the jalapeno hush puppies.

He really enjoyed everything. His salad was fresh and crisp. Now, I adore cocktail sauce, but a lot of restaurants just don't get it when it comes to preparing cocktail sauce. This was nicely done. Horseradish (and enough of it) is key, and they didn't disappoint! 

Ok, People, these hushpuppies are AMAZING! Loved them! I ordered them, as well, with my meal and when slathered in their side of butter, oh yeah, baby! I could have devoured a plate of them alone! Creditably done, my friends!!! Now, for his oysters...like I said, he really enjoyed them. I tasted one and I could really taste something of the sort of...well water maybe? I am not sure if they soak them in water and I am just not used to the water down there or what it was. But it definitely had a non-fresh-water taste to them. For these, no, i don't think I could have eaten a full plate of them. They didn't taste like the sea or salty. They tasted like city water to me.

Lastly, I ordered the duck breast with a side of those killer hushpuppies and red beans and rice. 

Y'all already know how I adore the hushpuppies and I will say I adored the red beans and rice just as much. It was a great ratio of rice to beans. It had a slight spiciness and the beans were tender! Great stuff here, I tell ya! When I ordered the duck, the server asked, "Is medium-rare okay?" I affirmed, "Absolutely," but as you can see from the picture, it was not medium rare. Duck really should be served medium rare, but this duck was really delish, despite the slight overdone temperature and was seasoned well. The aioli was creamy, smooth and complimented the duck adequately. 

A definite recommend from me. I will definitely go back. They have Po Boys and gator bites that I want to give a whirl, too. Also, Sunday nights? 50 cent/shell Raw Oyster Night! Raw oysters are my favorite preparation for oysters and definitely am going to try them next time I go (My husband doesn't enjoy the raw variety of oysters, so I opted out of ordering them this time). $5 bowls of Gumbo on Tuesdays until 11 p.m. and $5 Po Boys (shrimp, oyster, crawfish tail, gator, cajun roast beef, smoked sausage or catfish!) on Mondays!!! I make a pretty good gumbo (check out my recipe HERE), but I am always wanting to try others' just to "see." ;) 

So, geaux check 'em out, y'all! Good stuff, I say. Good stuff, here, in the RIC!