Ginger Molasses Cookies – a holiday favorite!

Just wanted to share one of everybody’s favorite cookie recipes from Fried Chicken & Champagne. For some of you that purchased a book prior to December 1st, you may have heard we had a little Oops! The Pastry flour should read “2 ¼” cups instead of “1 1/4 “ cups.

Ginger Molasses Sandwich Cookies (aka Crack Cookies)

Our fans at Pomegranate affectionately call these Crack Cookies. They are terribly addictive—in a good way!

Cookies:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup hot water
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
2-1/4 cups pastry flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:
1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the cookies: In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, brown sugar, and sugar at medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the egg and whip at medium speed until smooth. Add the molasses, and continue to mix until smooth. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add to bowl along with the freshly grated ginger root. Scrape down the bowl and whip for 1 minute at medium speed. In a separate bowl, sift together the pastry flour, cinnamon, powdered ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-molasses mixture and mix well, scraping down the bowl several times with a rubber spatula. Scoop the cookies into 1-inch balls with a small ice cream scoop, and chill until ready to bake. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, cinnamon and sugar until well mixed. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and roll the balls in cinnamon sugar, place onto parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake until just barely done, about 7 to 8 minutes. They will be slightly cracked on top.

To make the filling: In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer with the whip attachment, whip cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.

When the cookies are cool, turn half of the cookies upside down. Place 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling, in a large dot, at the center of each cookie. Place the other half of the cookies on top, creating little sandwiches.

Makes 25 to 30 small sandwich cookies





Pom Cinnamon Rolls

My husband, Jonathan, is an amazing baker and pastry chef. One of the coolest memories I have is of him getting up extra early on Christmas morning to bake these cinnamon rolls for the family. You can start them the night before and form the rolls, then let them rise the morning you plan to serve them .

Yield: 20 small rolls or 9 giant rolls

Dough:
10 ounces warm milk (about 105°F)
2 teaspoons yeast
6 tablespoons sugar
5-1/2 cups bread flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs

Honey butter:
1 cup honey
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Cinnamon sugar:
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing:
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
4-1/2 tablespoons (2-1/4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
10 ounces powdered sugar
2 ounces cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare a sheet pan or baking dish by lining with parchment paper and spraying with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer, stir together the warm milk, yeast, and sugar by hand. Let stand still for 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt, butter, and eggs. Using the dough hook, mix to completely develop the dough, about 8 to 10 minutes (the dough should “clean” the side of the bowl, with no extra flour at the bottom; you might need to add more flour). The finished dough will be tacky but not sticky. Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic. Place the bowl in a warm area and allow the dough to double in size.

To make the honey butter: In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the honey and the butter until completely mixed.

To make the cinnamon sugar: In a small mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until completely mixed.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle that is roughly 18 inches by 24 inches and about 1/2 inch thick. Liberally brush the dough with half of the room-temperature honey butter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Beginning with the 24-inch side of the dough, start rolling from the bottom up to the top of the rectangle. Gently pull the dough to make an even, semi-tight spiral. Divide the “log” by cutting it in half, and then in half again, with a serrated knife. Divide each quarter into 5 pieces. Lay each piece on its side. Take the “tail” of the first piece and gently pull and wrap it around, tucking it under the roll. Press down slightly on the roll and place it on the sheet pan. Continue with the rest of the rolls. Start the day before and that will make it easy Christmas morning to bake warm cinnamon rolls. I have inserted the method below for finishing the baking the next day.


“Press down slightly on the roll and place it on the sheet pan. Continue with the rest of the rolls.”….. Wrap the pan in plastic and refrigerate overnight. First thing in the morning, pull the cinnamon rolls out and let them sit covered with a cloth on top of your stove or another WARM place to rise for 2 hours. It is important that they are warm or they won’t “proof” (rise) properly.

“Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove from oven and lightly brush with reserved honey butter.”


Cover and place the rolls in a warm area and let them rise again.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove from oven and lightly brush with reserved honey butter.

To make the icing: Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer, and mix until smooth at low speed. Add the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla, and whip until smooth.

When the rolls are completely cool, ice them. Serve them cool or warmed in the oven at 325°F for 2 to 3 minutes.

Quillisascut Farm School Trip - October 2010

Our culinary team just spent 4 days at the Quillisascut Farm School with
Rick and Loralea Misterly. Our 9 chefs cooked together and "helped" Rick
and Loralea with their daily chores of milking goats, feeding goats,
dogs, cats, pigs, ducks, turkeys and a calf. We were "helpers" with
pressing walnut oil, picking vegetables, pressing apples for cider,
making goat feta & chevre.
We fabricated one of Rick's goats that he slaughtered for us to cook.
This was an enlightening experience for me as a chef. All cooks and
eaters need to make the connection that amazingly hard working people
raise the food we eat. Imagine being the person that gives up the life
of their farm animal (that has a name) they have cared for from birth
for our dinner. It is humbling and sobering. I've always appreciated
food and the work of our farmers, but walking a mile in their shoes is
something exceptionally different. As they graciously taught us ~
people also need cooks to take these hard earned ingredients and treat
them with respect. Respect includes not wasting, not over or
undercooking, not over preparing, over portioning and not
overeating......

FEATURED WINEMAKER, Eric Dunham, Dunham Cellars



Eric Dunham, among other WA Wine makers are featured after the cocktails section of the cookbook. We couldn’t resist an opportuntiy to give a shout out to the amazing wine industry in Washington State and the amazing winemakers that make it special.
When I heard someone say that “everyone claims to be Eric Dunham’s friend” I just had to smile. Eric makes friends with virtually everyone he meets. His wines are world class www.dunhamcellars.com and his artwork is stunning www.ericdunhamart.com He is always the first to say “yes” to winemaker dinners, joint food and wine adventures and the first to say “SURE I’d love to have a page in the cookbook”… “Sure, I’ll pose with a coonhound!”.

Jonathan and Lisa will be cooking with Eric in Walla Walla on November 6 for
His Harvest winemaker dinner series. Cookbooks will be available for Eric to sign with his artist’s signature!




A SOUTHERN FAVORITE (from the cookbook) – Frogmore Stew



Anything called Frogmore Stew makes you curious. What the heck is in it? When I first tasted this stew in South Carolina, I had to find out where it got it’s name - no frogs in the stew??

This stew gets its name from the small town of Frogmore on St. Helena Island off the coast of South Carolina. Frogmore was once a bustling seafood and caviar center. In the late 20th century the town’s name was changed to St. Helena, leaving the name “Frogmore” to the cuisine and folklore of the South.

Frogmore Stew
Shrimp, crab, andouille sausage, sweet corn in shellfish broth

Yield: 8

¼ Cup Olive oil
1 leek
1`cups white wine
2 qts. Fish stock
1 large tomato, diced
1 fennel bulb, save green fronds for garnish
1 whole corn cob cut through the cob into 1 “ rings
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 lb. sliced Andouille sausage, 1 lb. of Shrimp meat & ½ lb. of crabmeat
¼ tsp. each thyme, marjoram, old bay seasoning, cracked black pepper to taste, 1 tiny pinch of ground clove
Dry vermouth to finish – optional

In a large pot, sauté all diced veggies in olive oil. Add seasoning stir in the wine and bring to a simmer. Add stock. Depending on the strength of the stock you may need a pinch of *lobster base. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Add fish and simmer JUST before serving and cook until done. Add splash of dry vermouth.




FOR THE KIDS

This is fun to make with the kids- my kids are not kids anymore and they STILL want to make these with me!



Years ago, I was given this recipe by a mom-pal at our children’s preschool. Twenty years later, kids are still asking for them. Unlike chocolate truffles, they live in the freezer until you’re ready to enjoy them.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Balls

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups crunchy peanut butter, at room temperature
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 cups Rice Krispies or other crisp rice cereal
2 pounds high-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, blend together the butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Carefully fold in the Rice Krispies so as not to crush them. Roll into small balls, using a small 1/2-ounce ice cream scoop (a scoop is easier and makes consistent bonbons). Freeze the peanut butter balls for at least 3 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over very low heat. Stir to prevent the chocolate from getting too hot as it melts; it should not feel hot to the touch. As soon as the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat. Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer. Dip 5 bonbons at a time into the melted chocolate; use a fork to remove the bonbons so the chocolate can drip back into the bowl. Transfer the dipped bonbons to the prepared baking sheet, and refreeze to let the chocolate set up. Dip the bonbons in chocolate once more for a second coat. Refreeze the bonbons, and store in the freezer in tightly sealed containers until ready to serve. The bonbons will last 6 months in the freezer.

Makes 48 to 68 bonbons, depending on the scoop size

South Carolina

Here are a few images from a recent cookbook trip to South Carolina. Lisa Dupar, Kathryn Barnard, the cookbook's photographer, Callie Meyer, creative director, & Alicia Nammacher, cookbook designer all enjoyed seeing Lisa's childhood stomping grounds and inspirations for many recipes in the book. If you have not been to Charleston, South Carolina, it is a amazing town with charming people and strikingly beautiful landscapes.

Fried Chicken & Champagne - a blog is born!

Fried Chicken & Champange represents my life in the kitchen. From sand-box cakes to clambakes, from farm-fresh eggs to freshly felled venison, my inspiration is a mix of the hometown and the haute. In the end, I'm simply a southern gal who can't resist a glass of champagne with a plate of fried chicken. I hope my recipes, whether from the high-end or the down-home, add to the inspirations you've gathered in your own life.

- LISA DUPAR, Chef & Author