This recipe comes from my two new boos, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. They are the authors of my baking bible, Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented. Enjoy!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Yields 10-12 large whoopie pies, 15-17 small pies

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups (17.5 oz) All Purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (2.18 oz) dark cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot coffee
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot water
2 cups (15.32 oz) light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) canola oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) buttermilk, shaken
Swiss vanilla filling (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the AP flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and espresso powder. Pour the hot coffee and hot water over the cocoa mixture and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

In another medium bowl, combine the canola oil and light brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.

Spoon into a piping bag and pipe into 2 inch rounds on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart (or scoop onto sheets with a small scoop).

Bake 10-15 minutes, until the cookies crack slightly on top and spring back in the center when gently pressed. Let cool completely, then remove from sheet with an offset spatula. Pipe or scoop half of the rounds with the filling. Top each piped round with another cookie and serve.

Swiss vanilla filling
5 egg whites
1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) sugar
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk until the sugar dissolves (test this by dipping your finger into the mixture – when you can no longer feel grains of sugar when you rub the mixture between your fingers, then the sugar has dissolved) – the mixture will be slightly warmer than body temperature.

Transfer bowl to mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until the mixture is smooth, white, and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the butter, one piece at a time. Add sea salt and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Beat until the filling is smooth and glossy (it may look curdled, but just continue to beat – eventually the mixture will come together).

So as you all know, I am a fan of Macaroni and Cheese and Mac n Cheese recipes. While there is such a thing as a bad dish of it, there are soooo many combinations and opportunities for fabulous ones! Before they flip the switch on the chair, there are two things I am requesting. First, this Macaroni and Cheese (on the finest of China, of course!) and a slice of the Kicking Key Lime Pie! Okay, okay…the whole pie. HEY! I’m dying I should get as much as I want! *side eye* After those two, I will repent and go in peace.
Anyway, this recipe calls for making a béchamel sauce. Basically, you’ll be making a roux (some type of fat i.e. butter, shortening, oil + flour) and then combining that with milk and cheese. Piece of cake!

Ingredients

Macaroni & Cheese:
4 oz grated white Cheddar cheese
4 oz finely cubed Fontina cheese*
4 oz grated Gruyere cheese*
8 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality parmesan cheese (about 2 c)
1 lb penne pasta (or your preference such as elbow)
1 tea minced garlic
7 T butter
4 T flour
2 c half and half
3/4 tea salt
1/4 tea ground white pepper

Topping:
1/2 c bread crumbs (fresh if possible)
1/2 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality parmesan cheese
2 tea dried parsley
1/4 tea of white pepper

*Note: I get my cheeses from Publix’s deli and I rarely find the Fontina and Gruyere hard enough to get a good grate out of them. They are much softer than the cheddar and parmesan. When you ask for them at the counter, ask for a large brick of each instead of sliced cheese.

Directions

In a heavy, medium saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. With whisk in hand, add the flour and combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. It will look like corn meal and will be wet but thick.
Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half and half little by little. (Big splash, whisk, big splash, whisk…) It should take you about 5 minutes to whisk it all in. There should never be a point when the liquid isn’t instantly absorbed into the flour/butter mixture. Take your time. As you’re adding it, it will start looking like the paste we used for the paper Mache projects from elementary school. Unlike in school, please try to resist the urge to eat it we need it for the dish. O_o Lol Cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and 4 ounces of the grated parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste and, while stirring, add the macaroni. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for about 5 minutes, or until macaroni is very al dente (slightly undercooked). DO NOT OVERCOOK! The macaroni will continue to cook in the oven. (IMO, one of the worst things you can do to a mac n cheese is to overcook the noodles; that and leave out the cheese. lol) Drain in a colander and return the macaroni to the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and the garlic and stir to combine. Add the béchamel sauce and stir until well combined. Set aside.
Using the remaining tablespoon of butter, grease a 3-quart baking dish or casserole and set aside.
In a large bowl combine 4 ounces of each, the parmesan, cheddar, fontina and gruyere cheese. Toss to combine.
In another small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and set aside.
Depending on the size/deepness of your dish, you may be able to do three layers which I think works better. However, my casserole dish (pictured) is very shallow and wide so I only have 2 layers. You’ll be able to tell once you spread a third of the noodles in the dish and seeing if it completely covers the bottom or not. If not, switch to two layers….still amazing don’t worry. So after you have your first layer (completely covering the bottom) add a 1/3 (or 1/2 if doing 2 layers) of the mixed cheeses. Go on to your next layer of noodles, followed by the next layer of cheeses…..etc. Once all of your macaroni is in the dish, cover with the topping mixture.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the macaroni and cheese is bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Voila! That is it! I defy you to find one that is better….but please do because I want it!!!

On most days of the week, I send my sister off with food to help her (and a few of her fellow RN buddies) get through the long night shifts. She doesn’t know it, but I leave my phone on just so I can get the call from her telling me how awesome the food was.   Last night, I sent her with a new Mac n Cheese recipe I tinkered around with. She saw me as I was packing the food and I could tell that she was a little skeptical about it. It was understandable. After all, it was a white sauce recipe, involved rigatoni pasta (extremely large, ridged, tubular noodles) and panko bread crumbs. A far cry from the bright orange and yellow dish with macaroni noodles to which she’s accustomed. To add insult to injury, when she questioned the “green stuff” I’d mixed in, I told her that I thought a few scraps of the uncooked collard greens from my mom’s dish would be a “good touch”. You should’ve seen her face!! lol. I could not bring myself to tell her that it was actually parsley. In spite of my laughter, I took her scrunched up nose as a challenge.

I got my phone call around 1:42 a.m., pretended that I hadn’t been sleep since 10 and listened. A smile crept across my sleep-deprived face as she recounted  how she began apologizing to her friends for my experimentation on them; promising that there was a bottle of hot sauce on hand to mask my mistakes if needed. She said that she was cursing me for the embarrassment she was sure to suffer even up until she placed it in the microwave. She watched its rotations with indifference and was happy she had the other dishes on hand. But 2 minutes into the warm-up, she noticed the dish was different. It bubbled, gooed and oozed and suddenly she was squirming, writhing and salivating. (She didn’t say that but I know that’s what really happened) Of course, once tasted, it did not disappoint. In fact, she claims it “MURDERED ALL MAC N CHEESES BEFORE IT.”(o_O  Given her profession, I will accept that idiom as high praise, lol)  Her friends went on and on about it and I could hear it in her voice that she was as proud as a 7 year old whose mom brought cupcakes to the school on her birthday. She ended our phone call with “…and the collard greens WERE a good touch, ZINA! Gurl you good!”

poor child…smh.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Rigatoni Pasta, cooked according to package (salt the water)

1 1/2 c. Panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 lb extra sharp white cheddar, freshly shredded (stop being lazy)

1/2 lb deli sliced fontina

1/2 lb deli sliced gruyere

2 1/2 c. heavy cream

2 1/2 c. half n half

2 tbsp. minced garlic (I had some roasted minced garlic in the fridge)

3 tbsp. parsley

1 tea. Kosher salt

1 tea. Black pepper

Butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 casserole dish. Spread the cooked pasta into the dish. (I don’t need to tell you to drain it, right? lol) Take half the breadcrumbs and spread them over the noodles. Add the parsley and toss it all to get a good mix. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat the cream, half n half, garlic, salt and pepper and cheddar (freshly shredded, right?) on medium. As it starts to melt, grab the other cheeses and break off pieces to toss into the pot. The fontina is too soft for shredding and the gruyere is a pain to work with and I’ve found that it’s gonna melt regardless of how it started. (Yep, figured that out all by myself). Incorporate all the cheese and continue to heat on medium until it is melted and has the consistency of a sauce. Pour sauce over the pasta and stir it a little to “slaquer it” all over every noodle and in every crevice allowable. (I coined that term myself….I’m on a thinking roll today hunh?) Once every noodle is coated, toss remaining bread crumbs over the entire dish and pop that baby in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until bread crumbs are lightly toasted.

In continuing my war on baking (see Monkey Bread post), I attacked the traditional parkerhouse dinner roll. I found a quick recipe from The Pioneer Woman and dived in. For me, baking requires patience and  my mind, as we know it, is ALL        ova         THE          PLACE! So when I read I had to allow the dough to rise for 3 hours before baking, I was immediately turned off. However, I got up super early Saturday morning lovign yall but not enough to run to the store at that very moment. I played around with a little “housecleaning” and realized I much rather go to the store, lol. But, a quick once over in the pantry and fridge revealed I already had all the ingredients for the rolls I’d been dodging for weeks in  my possession. So I put my big girl panties on (as Neicey Nash would say to the hoarding female homeowners on Clean House) and got busy. It literally took 8 mins of “work time” but that patience thing I told you about took 3 hrs.

They smelled sooooo delicious! Oh Oh Oh! What a marvelous smell!!! I wished all yall were there until I opened the oven and revealed I’d made a freaking MESS!!!!  :/  

They failed to rise and were hard and crumbly. My sister tore them up (which means we can no longer trust her as a taste-tester, lol) and was mad when I discarded all that I could pry from her grip but I considered them a hands-down Fierce Failure…smh. See for yourself.

I HAD to try it again and would do so FIRST thing on Sunday. (Yall can’t have alllll my time!)

I concluded that the reason they failed to rise must have been my lack of respect for the instruction to allow to rise in a warm, NON-DRAFTY spot in my kitchen. I thought I had a regular kitchen but apparently, it’s cold and drafty o_O so I resulted to placing round 2 of the rolls in the kitchen cabinet and closing the door. I found this to be absurd and thought it wouldn’t matter but boy was I wrong.

What ensued was something I could be proud of and looked GREAT as I placed them on the table with dinner. The idea of having them served tableside in the cast-iron skillet was genius!

Ingredients:

Bridgford Ready-made Parkerhouse dough (or any other frozen dough, freezer section at Publix)

2 Sprigs of rosemary (coarsely chopped)

1 stick, unsalted butter, melted

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO courtesy of Rachel Ray)

Sea Salt (DO NOT USE TABLE SALT!!)

Directions:

Generously grease a cast iron skillet. (You can use another pan but for presentation, the skillet was remarkable)

Place frozen dough 2 inches apart in pan, cover with saran wrap or a kitchen towel and allow to rise for several hours. (In my house, this meant 3 1/2 hours)

Melt butter in the microwave and using a pastry brush, coat the rolls with it.

Sprinkle rosemary over rolls and brush again with the butter.

Finally, sprinkle sea salt over the rolls before placing them in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or according to package instructions.

Once you pull them out of the oven….BRUSH THEM AGAIN with butter (HEY! NO JUDGING!)  as you take them to the table! Ohh Weeee! They’ll love you forever! I think when I die, I want one of these in my mouth, lol.  

Ingredients

• 2 pounds medium red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• Parsley
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Recipe Ingredients 

Cornbread

• 2 boxes (8 1⁄2 oz each) corn muffin mix
• 1 can (11 oz) vacuum-packed Mexican-style corn
• 2⁄3 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp stick butter, melted
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded Cheddar cheese

Scallion Butter

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter
• 2 Tbsp minced scallions

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a 9-in. round cake pan with nonstick spray.2. Stir first 5 ingredients in a bowl until blended; fold in cheese. Scrape into prepared pan.3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut in wedges.

4. Serve with Scallion Butter: Mix 1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter with 2 Tbsp minced scallions.

Note: If you use a muffin pan, it takes a little less time (as you can see, it’s a lesson I LEARNED, lol)

Ohhh Weeeeee…this was a HOT one! I once prided myself as being able to eat some pretty hot stuff so diving right into the “Spicy like Me” chapter of Legendary Patti LaBelle’s Recipes for the Good Life cookbook happened without the least bit of caution. But baybaeeeee, this songbird put me in my place….stagehand. lol Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious!!!! However, it got to the point that I was picking out the minced pieces of jalepeno and habanero peppers with my fingers (at the dinner table) to get the tiniest bit of relief. It didn’t work. It was insufferable and my diners, Greg and Tera, shared my sentiment. lol I definitely recommend this dish………….MINUS 2/3′s of the peppers. TRUST ME! A Fiercefodie is ALWAYS HOT but panting and gagging is NEVER sexy….well, unless you’re into that I guess. lol

(Below, the recipe I believe will work next time with 1/3 of the heat)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used Yukon Gold instead, since that’s what I had in the house–it was fine)

2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut, crosswise, into thick slices

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

1 large red bell pepper, well-washed, cored, seeded, membrane removed, and sliced

1/3 habanero chile, trimmed and sliced, or to taste

1/3 jalapeno chile, trimmed and sliced, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 medium head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, or water

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (I’m not really a big cilantro fan so I skipped this, but I bet it helps to cool off and balance the heat from the peppers.)

Instructions

1. Place a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When just hot, add the oil.

2. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes, carrots, onion, bell pepper, chiles and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or just until very fragrant and beginning to soften. Add the cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook, stirring, for 4 minutes.

3. Add the broth, stirring to blend. Lower the heat and cook, tossing and stirring, for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended.

4. Remove from the heat, stir in the cilantro, and serve.

This recipe comes to you by way of my boss. She makes this for our holiday party every year and it is ALWAYS a hit. I doctored it up a little with vanilla, cream and cinnamon to give a little more fierceness ; )  but it was still great as it was.

While doing the meal planning with my friends at work we discussed having mashed potatoes vs sweet potatoes and I was the only one to insist the lunacy of NOT HAVING YAMS with our ham!! I was really passionate about it and realized they were all looking at me like I was crazy, lol. But really, mashed potatoes? Come on….

Ingredients:

• 5 large mashed sweet potatoes (approximately 6 cups)
• 2 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teas. Pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 heavy cream*
• 1 tea. cinnamon
• 1 tea. salt
• 1 cup melted butter

*you can definitely use all (1 ½ c.) milk if you don’t have cream.

Topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup melted butter (salted)
• 2 cup chopped pecans (one 6 oz. bag.- try to get the pecan halves (instead of pre-chopped) and chop yourself. The closer they are to you cracking them open yourself, the fresher and better. And the lack of uniformity in the pieces gives the dish a real homemade feel in my opinion.)

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Peel and mash. To the bowl with the mashed potatoes, add the beaten eggs, milk, cream, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, brown sugar and melted butter. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle over dish. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and browned. (I ended up baking mine for an hour because of the depth of my pan (2 inches), so check it and make sure that it’s hot.)

NOTES: I am going to work on cooking for two, but in the meanwhile, this recipe can easily feed 12. Please halve it, lol. Literally, cut the measurements for the entire recipe in half. I have a conversion page in the works and will do my best to make them more suitable for a regular sized family and not the one I grew up in. : )  Additionally, baking the potatoes would have been better because I noticed that my boil water was reddish brown in the end and I was sad b/c I knew that I’d lost some of the good, natural, sweet potato flavor. (However, I did make the mistake of piercing one and it fell open so it could have just been the product of it not having it’s protective skin for the duration of the cooking)

YUMMY! THAT CRUST IS SICK!! No marshmallows needed, Donyale. I promise. ; )

]]> http://www.fiercefoodie.com/fierce-recipes/sweet-potato-casserole/feed/ 0 http://www.fiercefoodie.com/fierce-recipes/no-meat-needed-collard-greens/ http://www.fiercefoodie.com/fierce-recipes/no-meat-needed-collard-greens/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:02:48 +0000 Zina http://www.fiercefoodie.com/?p=378

All of my cooking life, I have been warned of the perils involved in purchasing pre-cut fresh greens because they are notorious for being too “stemmy”. You know, big pieces of bitter, twiggy collard green stalks that interrupt the pleasure of eating cooked greens. However, for the first time, I bought GLORY pre-cut collards and they were surprisingly ok. Don’t get me wrong, I DID have to pour them into a pan and re-de-stem them, lol. But I think mommy would be  as pleasantly surprised as I was that they weren’t full of stems.

If you know me, you know that I DO NOT cook collards. I’ve always associated greens with cooking a day before the meal. You know, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, Easter Eve(?)…you get it, lol. That, coupled with the fact that I have always been hell-bent on cooking them without pork fat, made them unappealing. Today, on New Year’s, I got over all of that and put on a pot of greens!! I’m not superstitious but eating a good bowl of greens aint never hurt nobody! : )

2 - 1lb bags Glory Brand Pre-cut Collard Greens (Publix BOGO, baby!)

2 medium white onions, roughly chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 whole jalapeno pepper

2 tbs vinegar

2 tea. sugar

1/2 tea. + 1/8 tea. cayenne pepper

1/2 tbs. black pepper

1/2 tbs. salt

Cleaning vs Washing

I’m not sure if it’s required since I was using pre-cut and hence, somewhat processed greens but out of tradition (and the fact that it couldn’t hurt) I “washed” the greens in a sink full of cold water. To wash them, push them down in the water several times to release any grit that may be on them. Drain the sink and repeat. “Cleaning” in greens terminology, means to de-stem them. This would be done if you bought whole bunches of collards. Since I didn’t, the next step is to remove them in batches from the sink, shaking excess water off, and begin to de-stem. 

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. It should be enough to coat the pan. Add onions and enjoy that sizzle. Spread a little more oil over onions. After they cook a little, add jalepeno pepper and pour broth in pot and cut the heat up to high. Bring the broth to a boil and as you de-stem them, add them to the pot. Occassionally toss the greens to get the greens on top into the broth. Gradually continue adding greens to pot. Once all the greens are in, add red pepper, vinegar and sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low for 35 minutes or until tender.  I heard somewhere (I think from “Good Eats”, I love Alton Brown) that adding salt to greens will toughen them so I chose to reserve both, the salt and pepper, until the end.

If you want them spicier, I would suggest chopping the pepper before adding to the pot. Remember, the heat is in the seeds so you can control it by reserving some if needed. And always, be sure to wear gloves when working with peppers. Peppers can burn the skin just on contact, let alone what they can do if you touch your eyes. :(

After you make these carrots, you will be able to get even the biggest veggie-haters to indulge. The best part, it only takes 3 ingredients.

Directions:

Slice 1 lb. baby carrots lenghtwise. Heat in a skillet with 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp brown sugar. Sprinkle a little salt and cook at Medium for 15 minutes. Add black pepper just before serving.  Absolutely Excellent!  

Note: You could also use regular carrots but you’d have to peel them but it may be worth it to you because I was chasing these little ones down with every cut.