eG Foodblog: Marlene Maple Leaves, Bacon & Pecans - A Canadian go

[Dave the Cook]

I agree with Judith. These biscuits look overworked.

It's an amazing thing to watch someone who's made biscuits every day of their lives, and to note how wet the dough is, and how little it's handled. But the biscuits come out the same very time -- light, tangy and moist, even though there appears to be no refined technique being applied at all. Shirley Corriher tells a great story about this in her book Cookwise.

[Varmint]

Rolling out the dough shouldn't be the source of the problem, either. Give it another try, and I think you'll be pleased.

Got any collards growing up there???

[Mayhaw Man]

The dough wasn't that wet, but maybe the baking powder wasn't fresh enough. 

I don't think Brooks has posted his fried chicken recipe yet. For Brooks chicken, I'll use crisco, for the deep fried, soya, because that's what I have.  I think it's a cream gravy.

I've got two hungry teenage boys ready to chow down on this.  I'll try to keep at least one piece of each from their grasping fingers for a comparision the next day.

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Marlene, I'm at work and you have the recipe. You can post if you like, or I can do it when I get home.

Love,

Brooks

[Marlene]

I agree with Judith. These biscuits look overworked.

It's an amazing thing to watch someone who's made biscuits every day of their lives, and to note how wet the dough is, and how little it's handled. But the biscuits come out the same very time -- light, tangy and moist, even though there appears to be no refined technique being applied at all. Shirley Corriher tells a great story about this in her book Cookwise.

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I think you're right. They actually don't taste that bad (I did try one when they were hot) but they aren't what they're supposed to be.

Rolling out the dough shouldn't be the source of the problem, either.  Give it another try, and I think you'll be pleased.

Got any collards growing up there??? 

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If I did, they'd be buried under all this snow we're currently getting.

The dough wasn't that wet, but maybe the baking powder wasn't fresh enough. 

I don't think Brooks has posted his fried chicken recipe yet. For Brooks chicken, I'll use crisco, for the deep fried, soya, because that's what I have.  I think it's a cream gravy.

I've got two hungry teenage boys ready to chow down on this.  I'll try to keep at least one piece of each from their grasping fingers for a comparision the next day.

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Marlene, I'm at work and you have the recipe. You can post if you like, or I can do it when I get home.

Love,

Brooks

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Thank Brooks, I'll do it.

Love,

Mama

[Marlene]

As an aside, I never made it to the truffles. Instead, I decided to get the chocolate turtle cheesecake out of the way, since it's a pretty time consuming thing to make. It's currently in the oven, and I'm taking pictures of the process as we go. It should be finished late tonight, and then it will go into the freezer until Sunday's dinner.

I only had to send the boys to the store three times to get stuff I'd forgotten.

10 minute rest coming up here, then I'll peel the potatoes for dinner, and get them in water, blend the seasonings for both sets of chicken, and re read both recipes. ack.

[Marlene]

Brooks' Chicken

Dorothy’s Fried Chicken

Several hours before time to fry the chicken, place cut up pieces in covered container filled with ice water that contains 2 teaspoons of baking powder (this is for one chicken with extra legs, as Brooks and Tom love them). Keep refrigerated until time to fry.

Mix SR Flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder to taste (1 tsp. Salt, ½ tsp peppers and garlic for each cup of flour). Let pieces drain dry and pat with paper towel. Make an egg wash of 2 eggs and 1 cup of ICE COLD water.

Dip chicken in egg wash and dredge in flour, making sure that it is completely covered but not lumpy. Place chicken in a large pot or skillet that has a tight fitting lid. The pot should have about an inch of peanut oil in it @ 350F. Cover when bottom of skillet is covered with chicken (Don’t pack it in, this is not a race, it is supper for hungry boys). Cover and cook on medium high for about 12 minutes. Uncover and turn pieces gently, careful to not knock off the flour. Cook for 10 more minutes or so covered, and remove color and brown if needed (most of the time it is not).

Place cooked chicken in doubled brown paper sacks with the bottoms lined with paper towels.

Better than your Grandma’s Creamed Gravy

Pour all but a little bit of grease out of the skillet. Add the leftover seasoned flour and brown slightly, Stir in a good bit of chicken stock and combine with the four mixture, using a whisk and making sure that you get all of the lumps out. Finish by adding some canned evaporated milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste (it won’t take much if you used good stock). Serve over rice.

[Varmint]

Marlene, if you have self-rising flour, try that with your biscuits, drop the baking powder, but keep the soda. That flour usually is made with a softer wheat, which is better for biscuits.

[Dave the Cook]

I'm wishing we'd had enough notice to send Marlene a Southern care package ahead of time: lard, White Lily SR flour, cane syrup, fresh pecans -- and a pound of grits.

[Marlene]

I'm wishing we'd had enough notice to send Marlene a Southern care package ahead of time: lard, White Lily SR flour, cane syrup, fresh pecans -- and a pound of grits.

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You send it Dave, I'll do the whole dinner all over again. Although I'm pretty sure they won't let the grits into the country, darn it all.

[patti]

For those keeping score, we've just identified a significant geographical schism among the traditional accompaniments to fried chicken:

Phifly: biscuits (where are you from , P?)

Louisiana: rice (Brooks)

South Atlantic coast: mashed potatoes (Varmint, DtC, and every native Georgian I know)

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In my part of Louisiana, fried chicken is accompanied by dirty rice (aka rice dressing) as well as biscuits. Cream gravy and mashed potatoes, too. We loves us some starch!

[Dave the Cook]

In my part of Louisiana, fried chicken is accompanied by dirty rice (aka rice dressing) as well as biscuits. Cream gravy and mashed potatoes, too. We loves us some starch!

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I knew there was something I liked about you folks.

[Swisskaese]

Marlene, if you have self-rising flour, try that with your biscuits, drop the baking powder, but keep the soda.  That flour usually is made with a softer wheat, which is better for biscuits.

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My recipe above is with self-rising flour and you don't have to roll them out.

[Swisskaese]

I'm wishing we'd had enough notice to send Marlene a Southern care package ahead of time: lard, White Lily SR flour, cane syrup, fresh pecans -- and a pound of grits.

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You can send it to me!!! I can't get any of that here. But can you make it Crisco instead of Lard?

Think of it as an early Wedding present. I am getting married in April.

[Marlene]

Marlene, if you have self-rising flour, try that with your biscuits, drop the baking powder, but keep the soda.  That flour usually is made with a softer wheat, which is better for biscuits.

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My recipe above is with self-rising flour and you don't have to roll them out.

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I will be trying these again, on Sat. I need y'all to stick around after tonight experiment, because we've got Sat's Southern Christmas to do and Monday's gumbo. I'd be lost without you folk. I'm learning so much!

Tomorrow, I'll make the pecan pie and the cornbread to get ready for stuffing. Brooks, can that squash casserole be made ahead of time?

[robyn]

Note for Marlene: always refrigerate when brining.

Sure, now you tell me.

Another note for Marlene: I made some changes since I sent this to you, so read carefully.

What!  I've been studying this all night.

Last note for Marlene: you can substitute a decent chili powder for the ancho.

Good thing, since I can't find it anywhere up here.

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Don't know exactly what you have in Canada - but McCormick now has ground Ancho Chile Pepper in its "Gourmet Collection". It's available in most supermarkets where I live. Robyn

[Marlene]

Note for Marlene: always refrigerate when brining.

Sure, now you tell me.

Another note for Marlene: I made some changes since I sent this to you, so read carefully.

What!  I've been studying this all night.

Last note for Marlene: you can substitute a decent chili powder for the ancho.

Good thing, since I can't find it anywhere up here.

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Don't know exactly what you have in Canada - but McCormick now has ground Ancho Chile Pepper in its "Gourmet Collection". It's available in most supermarkets where I live. Robyn

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Thanks Robyn. I'll check on that next time I'm at our quasi gourmet store here.

In the meantime, I'm ready. The seasonings are done, the flour's ready the oil is in R2D2 ( my deep fryer)and in the skillet. Racks are in the oven lined with paper towels. The potatoes are cooking. I suspect Don is not going to make it home in time in this weather to help. I'm also terrified. I just keep telling myself I can do this.

At 7:00 I'll commence the frying. May the best chicken win. Or a least not be burnt.

[robyn]

The biscuit recipe you used should have worked, but you may have overworked the dough.  Was it fairly wet?  Was your baking powder fresh?  Let's get this figured out.

I didn't read Brooks' fried chicken recipe, but what type of fat are you using?  There's no doubt that Crisco is the best for fried chicken, as long as you're going to eat it right away.  If not, a peanut or vegetable oil will suffice.

Are you making pan gravy or cream gravy?  I'd go with the latter along with some mashed potatoes.  That's heaven!

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Hockey puck biscuits (or scones or the like) are usually the result of overworked dough. All I had to do was touch the dough - and it was overworked. So this is what I do. I put the dry stuff in the kitchenaid mixer with the paddle. Add small pieces of very soft butter and mix on the lowest speed until I can't see the butter (which isn't too long). Then I add the liquid while the paddle is still turning. Turn it off when the liquid is in the dough (again - not too long). Drop the biscuits or scones. They are better than the hockey pucks I used to make. Robyn

[Mayhaw Man]

Some Canadian folk should be enjoying some delicious fried chicken right now (or not ). I wonder how it's going?

[Dave the Cook]

Me, too.

[Marlene]

Whew. It's over. Waht a feast. I'll put the pics up first then give you my summary:

Some of Brooks' recipe coated and waiting for frying. The rest was already in the skillet

Dave's recipe waiting for the deep fryer

Brooks' Skillet Fried Chicken

Dave's Deep Fried Chicken

Side by Side:

Mashed Potatoes with Cream Gravy

It was a little hectic, because I ended up doing this myself, and it took about an hour to clean up the kitchen, but it was oh so worth it.

I started heating up the oil in both the deep fryer and the skillet, while I spiced and floured the chicken. As per Dave's instructions, I spiced his first then floured, and as per Brooks, I put the spices in the flour and mixed it together.

I started Brooks chicken first since I was less afraid of skillet frying than I was of deep frying. Deep down, I was hoping Don would arrive in time to take charge of the deep frying. No such luck. I also ran into a slight snag with Brook's recipe when I found I didn't have a lid big enough to cover the skillet, so I improvised a bit.

Once the first batch of Brook's chicken was done, I held my breath, and took the plunge, and put the first batch of deep fried chicken on. Once my heartbeat had slowed down to normal, I realized this wasn't so bad, and I danced back and forth between the two fryers while the potatoes were boiling.

You know, cooking is much like a ballet. When you know what you're doing, each step is precise and matches your partner's perfectly. When you don't, it's like being out of step or stepping on your partner's toes.

For the first few minutes I was like the partner out of step. Slowly though, I got into a rythmn and it just "worked" from there on in.

A few things to note: Dave gave 15 minutes in his directions. I took the chicken out at 10 because I was afraid it would burn to a crisp otherwise. As it was, it was darker than it should have been.

I think the lid is important to Brook's recipe, and next time I would leave it a bit longer. But I was new to this and anxious.

As the last batch of Brooks' chicken was done, I put in the last batch of Dave's, poured the grease from the skillet, mashed the potatoes and made the gravy. By then the last batch of deep fried was done.

I gave the kids and myself one piece from each of the batches and some potatoes. Both kids declined the gravy, but I bravely spooned some over my potatoes.

With perfect timing, Don walked into the house. so I did the same for him.

Observations:

I took a poll. Ryan liked Dave's best. So did Don. Ryan's friend, being the perfect guest declared he liked them both and couldn't choose.

I hemmed and hawed a bit. They are both very different. However, based on our criteria, here's my findings with caveats:

1. crispyness, delicacy - Dave's

2. moistness Brooks

3. least greasy They were just about equal with the nod going to Dave

4. flavour Dave's

5. next day I'll have to report tomorrow.

Now the caveats

I think that Dave is right and spicing the chicken before flouring is key. I want to do Brooks' chicken again and try it this way. The flavour of the spices just didn't come through as well on his.

It might have made a difference if I'd had a proper lid for the skillet.

With Dave's recipe, I would go with a slightly lower heat, so that the chicken was a little more golden in colour.

Cream gravy though is an aquired taste I think. Don said it tasted like KFC's gravy, which I don't think was a compliment. I liked it, but my taste buds are preconditioned to think of gravy tasting another way.

All in all, Ryan and David came out to the kitchen, had seconds, as did Don and the kids pronounced it awesome.

I was thrilled. Not only because it actually turned out, but because I've conquered something I've long been afraid of - deep frying. Thank you everyone for your help and tips. They were invaluable to me along the way. Tomorrow pecan pie and cornbread!

[Marlene]

Now the process for making Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake.

This is a time consuming cake, but your friends are going to think you're a star if you make it. Pics and technique tonight, recipe tomorrow because I have to adapt it.

Start out by makign the crust of butter, sugar and pecans Bake the crust for 20 minutes and pour a layer of caramel and evaporated milk blended together over the crust:

Sprinkle a layer of toasted ground pecans over the caramel:

Cover that with the cream cheese filling:

Bake this for an hour, then turn the oven off and let it sit in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove sides. The top has cracked but it really doesn't matter in this case;

Make a glaze of heavy cream and bittersweet chocolate and pour over the cheesecake, coating it entirely.

Sprinkle the top with toasted pecans: (i've got a few too many here)

Once this sets a bit, I'll take it off the rack, garish it with chocolate chip halves around the bottom and freeze it until Sunday morning.

I'll get a picture of the layers when I cut it on Sunday.

[Mayhaw Man]

See if I send you any more recipes. Huurrrummmpphhhh!

[Marlene]

See if I send you any more recipes. Huurrrummmpphhhh!

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No No! I think it was my fault. I should have cooked it longer, and I needed a lid. But Brooks, I loved it. I really did.

[Mayhaw Man]

See if I send you any more recipes. Huurrrummmpphhhh!

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No No! I think it was my fault. I should have cooked it longer, and I needed a lid. But Brooks, I loved it. I really did.

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Too late. The damage is done. I am a sensitive, new age kind of redneck hippie dude.

[Marlene]

Rats. how about if I send you some maple syrup?