Butter Cookie Adventures

So....

I've been working on a new cookie recipe. It's a shortbread "lunchroom" cookie recipe based on the one in Chef Darius Williams' book Stories from My Grandmother's Kitchen. The first batch was great, as everyone at work enjoyed them.  (I wish I had a picture of them).

Here's a pic of them off the internets:

They were sooooo good. The official name of them are lunchroom butter cookies. I don't remember those in my lunchroom. He had the store bought butter cookies.

I wanted to experiment with the next batch. So I looked around on pinterest and tweeked it a little. Darius' recipe was the best, but I wanted something that I could roll and cut into shapes. (I think I can do that with his recipe if I worked the dough enough).

Here are the results.

A plain butter cookie.

A cinnamon butter cookie (added 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon).

A pecan sandie version.

Those were delicious. I think they would jump a notch in flavor if I sauteed the pecans in butter, or roasted the pecans.

And that's too much work for me. Regular chopped pecans will have to do.

I'm going to experiment with a lemon, orange, or chocolate version. It doesn't matter if I mess up because I can just bring them to work.

These people will eat anything!!

A Red Pepper Oldgirl

I like Old school things.

And when I say Old school things, I mean Color Purple Celie Oldschool. types of things.

I like doing stuff they had to do back in the day just for fun...

Stuff like canning!

I only can one thing: red pepper ketchup. I make it every couple of years, so I got the BRIGHT idea to make it the night before I was due back to work (after being off for 12 days).

I haven't been able to find any organic red peppers for some reason. So I found some the other day at $2.99 a pound. (I saw some for $6.99 a pound here and there, but I didn't want to pay that much).

Here's my recipe!

As you can tell, the recipe is well worn, pages all smudged. It looks like one of my grandmas's recipe books.

Or one of Celie's recipe books.

That's Oldschool right there.

Here's my mason jars, justa boiling and sterilizing and boiling away...

Here are my ingredients!

Diced red bell peppers (9 cups), onions (5 cups), garlic and ginger.

Honey, that all took me an hour to cut up. It felt longer than an hour.

Here's my spice mix.

That took about 15 minutes to mix up.  My kitchen stills smells strongly of cloves.

Here's everything cooking and stewing down.

I let that stew for an hour!!

Then I pureed it all in my blender.  I added some light brown sugar and apple cider vinegar and let it cook down for a good hour and I canned it all up.

And here we have it! My red pepper ketchup!

That's good stuff. I didn't finish until one in the morning. My back was on fire from all that standing and stirring. I was not a happy camper the next morning.

But at least I had my ketchup. That's all that matters.

I probably won't make anymore for awhile.

Unless I have another Color Purple Celie moment.

Wordless Wednesday: Holiday Gumbo in Pictures

LadyLee in the Kitchen!

If you know me, then you know I have my pet peeves.

One of them is that I cannot STAND spending all day in the kitchen.

And I'm not even talking about a hot kitchen, with the oven on high and the pots boiling over on the stove. Nerp. I'm talking about just not liking to spend too much time in the kitchen.

But then there are those times I don't mind. Like when I make my red pepper ketchup.

And to tell the truth, it isn't all day. Maybe a couple of hours.

And that feels like all day.

But I LOVE this ketchup. I first had it at the Watershed some 4 years ago. It came as a condiment with the fried oyster appetizer. I remember saying to the waitress? "Red pepper ketchup? What the world? Bring me a side of tartar sauce with my oysters."

She said I would really enjoy it. And she was right! It is indeed a surpising taste.

So I bought the chefs cookbook, and lo and behold, I saw it in there.

I didn't know you could make ketchup out of any veggie, fruit or nut. I just always thought ketchup was tomato ketchup. So I made it 4 years ago, and I make it now, like, every 2 years.

It's not that hard. It is more a matter of getting all the chopping of the vegetables done. WOW!





I needed 9 cups of red bell peppers, and 5 cups of onions. All chopped.

O_O

That was the worst part. Let's just say, I turned on the TV in the living room, hoping to find a good Lifetime Movie. LOL. Nope, I watched a couple of shows on ESPN. That was all that was on good on Sunday morning before Church.

I also had to sterilize my Mason jars.


I boiled those, along with my tongs for gripping them, for a good hour. Not sure I did that right. But I took all the lids and jars out and let them dry on a paper towel.

(That was painstaking. Had to be careful not to touch nothing.)

I threw all my peppers in a skillet, but the skillet was much too small.

That is my favorite skillet, though. It is 20 years old. First skillet I bought for my new place when I was in grad school. That's an ollllldddd skillet.

But I couldn't use it. Had to bring out a dutch boiler (I think that's what it is called).

In addition to the chopped red bell peppers and onions, I also had to finely chope some ginger and garlic (UGH! That took forever). There were also a TON of spices to measure out. Cumin, coriander, cinnamon, salt, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, and some more I can't even remember).

I added all of those to the pot with a half cup of water, and simmered it for about half an hour, while sitting there stirring and tossing it with tongs.



After the peppers and onions softened up, I added it all to a blender and pureed it.



First time I did that, it wasn't cute. Adding hot stuff to a blender... man, I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just say an Oldgirl is much more careful these days. LOL

I added brown sugar and apple cider vinegar, 2 cups each, and let that simmer for about an hour and a half. I carefully poured everything into my cooled jars, and capped them off.





Not sure how much that came out to be. Looks like with all those doggone peppers I cut up, I should have more than that! But once it cooks down and reduces some of the water out, I guess that is all I get. But that is cool.

The top bigger jar is an old jar I used last time, and that alone lasted 2 years in the fridge. I plan to give the others as gifts. I want to leave one on the shelf, just to see if I did the sterilizing process correctly. I wish I could find an older lady from the Celie Color Purple era that understood all this canning stuff. It seems to have become a lost art. Sigh.

I gave a jar to one of my coworkers, who likes to bring me in GREAT meals to try.
I didn't tell her what it is... I just told her it was... ketchup.

LOL.

But it has a different taste. And used all organic veggies, which makes it EXTRA good. I love it with my french fries, and with seafood, on the rare occasions I eat that.

But it is good stuff. I am trying to summon up the courage to try different veggies and fruits... like mangos. I bet THAT would be good.

If only I didn't mind being in the kitchen for so long... No telling what I could do!

But that was my adventure for the weekend! Spending 3 or 4 hours around the kitchen!

I hope you are having kitchen adventures this holiday season too!

On Baking that "Better than Sex" Cake...

So...

I got a call from one of my friends a couple weeks ago.

She had several requests, one of which was to make a double chocolate coffee infused cake with pecancs. I made it for a journal writing group gathering at my house several years ago.

(That gathering unnerved me. My house is about size as of a shoe box. Not meant for entertaining. It should be against the law for me to have more than two guests. Sigh)

But she wanted that cake. She's been talking about it for the past year, wanting me to bring it to a writing group meeting. I didn't care to do that. It takes to much time to try to do it on a weekday. Stresses me out, man.

It was what she called the "Better than Sex" cake.

She has said for a long time, "This cake here, you don't need sex if you have this cake. This cake does the job!"

*crickets*

I don't agree with that. But we won't discuss that.

Anyway... I was antsy about making this cake. Why?

Because she had that sound in her voice like she may change her mind.

There are about 12-15 ingredients. Some of them pricey. I had to buy them all. We were gonna FIGHT if she changed her mind. FIGHT, I tell you.

Let's just say she got a few texts from me throughout the week: "You sure you want this cake!?"

I hope I didn't make her feel bad. It's just that, Man...

If I spent time on this cake...

YOU GONNA EAT THIS DAYUM CAKE, ANNA MAE!

Period.

I wasn't going to eat it. Bump that. I can buy a slice of it for 8 bucks over at the Watershed Restaurant in Decatur, especially since I would only want a taste. And I haven't had any in a good 3 years, so that lets you know how much I'm feening for cake.

Plus I ain't a cake baker. My mother is. Not me.

So, I read the recipe and listed out all my ingredients on a pink slip of paper (pink so I could easily locate it). Then I did some obsessive compulsive madness - read the ingredients over and over and over to make sure I didn't miss a thing!

I bought my ingredients and then I commenced to making the cake. I bought the last ingredient, an extra large cup of coffee, from Whole Foods on Friday night. I was not brewing up my $26/lb of Hawaiian Kona coffe. Nerp!

Now I've made this cake 4 or 5 times. I remember that I needed to make the frosting the day before, but I wasn't sure why. Dawn wanted the cake by Saturday. That meant I had better make the frosting on Friday night. But I was bone tired on Friday night and not in the mood, so I made it Saturday morning.

Here's my frosting.




It looks pretty good. Very small lumps in it, but that's alright. That meant I didn't stir it long enough. I remembered why now that I would make it the night before: it takes about 4 hours to cool and thicken up. Sigh. So I would make it before bed and leave it on the stove. By morning it would be at room temperature and the right consistency.

But me... and my hardheaded self... decided to make it that morning at 7 am. Sigh. Oh well, it was all good. The frosting was ready by noon.

Making the actual cake wasn't too bad. The worse part was shaving down the unsweetened baking chocolate bars.



It was not too bad with a good sharp knife. But still, I can do that the day before. Now, I was supposed to do the same thing with the chocolate blocks for the frosting. But it called for blocks of semi-sweet chocolate. I did the bootleg thang, and got some bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Worked just fine!

It took about 20 minutes to get that batter prepared and stirred up. I poured it in pans I had sprayed with flour cooking spray, and then placed them in the oven at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.



It looked a little soupy. I thought about adding more cake flour, but decided against it.

I was going to use that 40 minutes to get some sleep. I was tired. Tried to go to sleep but was too scared that the cake layers would overcook.

But alas, all was well... They looked good.


I let those layers cool. Took a WHOLE hour and a half. (I went and took a nap for real, then.) I assembled my layers and commenced to icing the cake.



That wasn't too hard. Took about 5 minutes. (Yeah I was ready to be DONE with this.)

I got the notion to arrange chocolate chips on the top. Not a good look. It came out crooked. Oh well. I wasn't going to start over. It would have to do.

I sprinkled on my chopped pecans... and voila! Finished that cake.

Glory!

A better picture.


Something strange was going on with that design, those chocolate chips across the top, look, I don't know...



Crooked. That's the word. Crooked.

Wasn't going to worry about it. That would mean rearranging some chips. Uh, NO. Better luck next time with that.

(And do you like my Easter flowers? It's a spray of mini-roses. That's the girlie side of me. I like fresh flowers on the table for holidays!)

I wrapped it up with plastic wrap.



I was glad to wrap that sucker. They said in the cookbook that the cake didn't travel well. Well, it was gonna travel well THAT day.

I sat it on the backseat of my car and headed out to the WestSide of ATL. I was still hoping that Dawn had not changed her mind, or if she was at home. I called before I left so that was cool (It would have been left at the gate of her townhouse complex, you know. Don't try me, lol)

I dropped it off. She was pleased. Just to see the light in her eyes was well worth the time and effort it took to make the cake.

And that made it all worth it.

I don't know why I was so O_o when it came to making this cake. I haven't made it in 2 or 3 years, and I was afraid that I was going to be looking crazy. Dawn gave up chocolate for Lent, and she needed that cake for Easter. I didn't want to mess up and have to start over. (Yep, been there, done that). Add to that me not being in the most stellar mood these days, and uh... the potential for problems was at hand for real.

But it went well. I watched a good Lifetime Movie while getting it together. You can't beat Lifetime television for Womens when you're cleaning up or cooking!

So Happy Birthday Dawn. I hope you enjoy the cake.

Correction: I hope you enjoy your "Better than Sex" cake...

Dinner with the Great Chef Darius!!!

So...

I have my stalkerish ways, you know... I like to stalk some of my favorite bloggers.

One of my favorites has been Master Chef Darius of EverydayCookin.com.

We ooooh and awwww over his videos and food posts. And I've cooked a few of his dishes, and they are always easy and wonderful and DELICIOUS.

Our favorite was his special Tequila Lime chicken Fettucine.

Talking about GOOD. And QUICK. And Cheap and EASY!

I am crazy about Darius. I stalk him on twitter. I've told him, if he was 15 years older, and of the heterosexual persuasion, and lived in ATL instead of Chicago... I'd be on him, stalking him HARD. He'd have to have me locked up!

So, when he said he'd be visiting Atlanta sometime in November, and wanted to have a dinner party...

You KNOW I got all giddy.

*turning to cubicle mate, the Cowgirl Cre and hollering "Darius is coming to town, and he's gonna cook!!!!"*

There was much discussion about him looking for a house to cook at. If you've ever been to my crib, it is TOO small for a party over 5 people, lol. Cowgirl Cre said he could cook at her house if he wanted.

Someone in another cubicle, who'd requested for Darius to come up with a sesame chicken recipe a couple of years ago, called my work phone and whispered "He can use my house if he wants to."

As a matter of fact, The Cowgirl Cre has been telling him for a couple of years that he should come do a tour, and cook at a different house each night.

We would eagerly show up wherever he would be, you see.

Anyway, the date of the party was to be November 20th... at his friend's house in Buford, Ga.

Waaaaaaay the hell up in Buford.

The Cowgirl Cre and I looked at each other.

"Whatever man. We're going. Gonna take us an hour to get there. Whatever!"

Darius was like "I understand that's a little far!"

"Dude," I replied. "That's like Denzel Washington saying he was having a party way up in Buford, and he knows it's a little far, but..."

BUMP THAT.

He also said let him know if we have dietary concerns or requests, because there would be plenty of pork and beef and butter!

"Whatever," I told Cowgirl Cre. "This here is Darius. I'm eating it ALL."

That boy could've cooked some chitlins soaked in lard, with a side of fatback... LadyLee was gonna get her eat on! And just be inflamed and sick as a dog later.

LOL

We were going. Gas up the car. Steal some gas. Steal a car, man. We're going!

Cowgirl Cre printed out the directions... even secured a emergency phone number, just in case we got lost in the backwoods of Buford.

(Yes we were that serious. Come hell or high water, we were going to FIND Chef Darius!)

So, we sat out to Buford Ga. Took me 30 minutes to get to The Cowgirl Cre's house, and it took us another 45 minutes to get to Buford.

We parked and walked into a most lovely townhouse.

And there he was... Chef Darius... in the kitchen... cooking up a storm!

*Lee screaming uncontrollably deep deep inside*

"It's him," I whispered to Cresha. "It's really him!"

He gave me a hug. And he went back to cooking.

We all stood in the kitchen... watching and talking.

We drank Pomegrante margaritas. OH THEY WERE GOOD!!!

Chef Darius made some eggrolls, but used rice paper, and he was hollering about he wasn't going to cook them, because the rice paper was coming apart.

Uh, uh... we convinced him to cook the eggrolls.

And they were the BEST I've ever tasted. Yep!

Then there was dinter!!!

OH MY!!

Braised Beef Ribs!!!



OH MY!! I had to really gear myself up to eat some red meat, but I had a rib. (There was someone there who hadn't had beef in 8 years. She had some too. We picked on her something terrible. She was gonna be all jacked up the next day. We told her husband to get ready to help her in some kind of way!)

Macaroni and Cheese!!!





Very cheesy! Party in your mouth! He must've used 100 differnt cheeses in that mac and cheese! Best I've ever tasted!

Green Beans!!!


Sauteed with some scallions, sundried tomatoes, garlic and pancetta.

GLORY!!!!

A brave soul inquired about the pancetta. Darius said it was italian bacon.

We all saw *crickets* with that one. He could've said it was regular old bacon. WHATEVER!

The beans were great. Cooked perfectly, not undercooked, not overcooked, perfectly tender.

And you know me... keenly interested more in veggies than anything else.

"I'ma hook this up," I said to Cowgirl Cre. "I'ma leave this bacon off. I can hook it up with the sundried tomatoes, scallions, and garlic, man!!!"

LOL

Then there was the cornbread! All cheesy, with corn mixed in.



WOW.

I think I was suppose to just cut a small piece, but I got a whole block of it.

GOOD EATING! I don't eat much cornbread, but this reminded me of how my grandfather use to cook it... with the corn kernels all throughout the bread!

Good stuff.

Then... Darius, proud owner of the Cupcake gallery, brought out the cupcakes!!!



He made 2 types for us: banana and red velvet.

We all stood back and listened quietly as he gave a little speech about the cupcakes. You would've thought he was reading Shakespeare or something!

He'd whipped up some cream cheese icing, and we were to ice our own cupcakes.

He demonstrated to us how to ice the cupcakes...



He showed us how to peel the paper cup away from the cupcake.

(We stared in amazement.)

He showed us how to eat the cupcakes...

I don't think we need to know all that. We were willing and eager to work that out.

And as you can see, Cowgirl Cre peeled her cupcake perfectly.

I didn't eat my cupcakes until later. I was having TOO much fun with the crowd of people that were there, including Jermaine Sellers from last season's American Idol, shown here with the Cowgirl Cre.

Man, I was having TOO good of a time. Darius has some HILARIOUS friends.

Cowgirl Cre whispered "Girl, get a cupcake before they disappear."

I got a banana cupcake. And WOW!!!

Best cupcake I've ever had.

Darius did not make that cupcake.

Jesus made that cupcake!!!

That cupcake. I can't describe it. It was full-bodied banana. chunks of soft banana throughout. And topped with that cream cheese icing, which was suprisingly light and almost mereigned-like (yeah, I spelled it wrong)... MAN IT WAS GOOD.

Now I'm not a fan of red velvet, but this was a GREAT red velvet cake. Very moist and flavorable.

Go DARIUS!!

I spent a couple of hours having a good time, and whispering to the Cowgirl Cre "Girl, I got the itis! I need to lay out on the sofa!"

I think we left around midnight. I dropped Cowgirl Cre back off at her house. And I arrived home at 1:30 am.

I immediatley went to sleep. With a smile on my face, lol.

I woke up the next morning, to my phone buzzing from Miss Celie's tweets.

She called me and I relayed (very animated, I must say), the details of the food and drinks from the night before.

She thought I was still tipsy.

No, just giddy! (And headachy and discombobulated from liquor and meat, too. I was JACKED up for a good 48 hours. Just say no to liquor, pork and beef is all I got to say... well unless Darius hooks it up. My body hated me for a minute. And I'd probably scream and faint if I saw another piece of red meat on my plate anytime soon after feeling like crap!)

I was happy for a good meal, from the best Chef on the Planet -- Chef Darius.

Darius, thank you for such a great meal. Like that tat says on your arm, man... Food is your life, and life is your food!

Yes indeed.

So if Chef Darius tours a town near you, BE SURE to get to a dinner party! Man... you will NOT regret it!

Darius... feel free to come back to the ATL anytime! You hear me? Really!!!

Here's one last tidbit... One of my favorite videos by Darius!!! Enjoy!!!