National Waffle Week!

When Paula tweeted that it was National Waffle Week, I took this opportunity to try her waffles with blackberry syrup.  I already knew this was going to be a win-win recipe.  First, I love waffles, who doesn't?  Second, I love anything that has to do with blackberries.  I remember when I was growing up, we always had a lot of wild blackberry bushes around, and we would go pick them for my mom.  She used to make jams, jellies, and my favorite, cobbler.  I think a homemade blackberry cobbler with a big scoop of ice cream on top may be on of the best things in this world!  Being a southern boy, the way to my heart really is through some good ole country cooking. 

 

Anyways, back to the waffles.  One thing I have noticed about Paula's Southern Cooking Bible is, all the recipes are simple, anyone could make these, even if you aren't the best in the kitchen.  To make these waffles, you just combine the dry ingredients then mix together the wet ingredients and then fold together.  How much easier can you get? 

 

The blackberry syrup was just as simple.  You mix the ingredients bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 15 minutes.  The waffles were perfect, but the blackberry syrup took center stage!  This syrup is smack your momma good!  I think I could probably put this on everything.  I did add one thing extra to this recipe.  I made some homemade whipped cream to top everything off.  You can never go wrong with a dollop of whip cream on anything!  Hope y'all enjoy this, I plan on making this again for brunch or another breakfast for dinner very soon!!!

Waffles

Mix dry ingredients together, in separate bowl mix together wet ingredients, then fold the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined

 Put about 1 cup of batter in a waffle iron and cook until golden brown,  if you have a small waffle iron just use about 1/2 cup. (make sure you spry your waffle Iron with cooking spray to make sure they don't stick)

Blackberry Syrup

Coming blackberries, the sugar and about 2 tablespoons of water in a pan and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

 

Top Waffle with warm blackberry syrup and enjoy, and if you want you can make some homemade whip cream too.  It's easy, I used about 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 tablespoon of sugar and about 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat for a few minutes.

 

 



http://books.google.com/books?id=jUw66qJg-PYC&pg=PA301&lpg=PA301&dq=waffles+with+blackberry+syrup+paula+deen&source=bl&ots=yOAGUzSfIj&sig=7QuiG6s3iEABYmySSX37NH4NbOQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-jMtUreJBJHa8AT1iYCQCQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=waffles%20with%20blackberry%20syrup%20paula%20deen&f=false

Let Them Eat Cake!

One of my favorite cakes a child was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  To me, you could not get any better than this.  I don't know about the rest of you, but normally my favorite part of the cake is the frosting.  This time, the cake was just as good as the frosting!  Even though I love chocolate cake, I have found it's hard to find a really good recipe.  Many that I have tried have come out very dry and overall just weren’t that great.  This is never a good thing.  Paula's chocolate cake did not disappoint.  This cake was extremely moist and perfectly sweetened.  I think it may have been one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever tried.  The friends I cooked for that evening loved it as well, but many wanted some vanilla ice cream to help cut the sweetness of the frosting! (I will warn you, the icing on this cake is filled with sugar, even though it tastes great, it is extremely rich and you may need a glass of milk or something to go with it.)

So, as a nice treat, I decided to take what was left of this cake to work and let my co-workers try it.  Their reaction was even better than my friends!  My friend Jackie actually got 3 pieces, and no, not to eat all at once, but she took some home.  I informed them that this cake is the best served warm, but no one took my advice at first.  They said the cake was good as it was, but Jackie decided to take my advice after having a few bites and she finally realized this cake is even better warm!  The warmth helps make the frosting become gooey and just plain good!  If you love chocolate cake you definitely need to try this recipe!  In the words of Marie Antoinette "Let them eat Cake!"

First whisk all dry ingredients together expect the cocoa powder.

Dry ingredients

 Next mix eggs, butter milk and vanilla

Egg mixture

Mix together the cocoa and water and dissolve completely, then stir in your butter.  Once done then mix in your egg mixture and fold in your dry ingredients.

Cake batter

Pour into your prepared 13 x 9 and bake at 350 degrees for around 30 minutes or until done.




Before



After

 

 

 

Fudge Frosting

 

Mix together granulated sugar and cocoa powder then whisk in the milk, butter and corn syrup and bring this mixture to a boil. 

 

I did something a little different here than Paula's instructions.  I then poured the mixture over my powdered sugar and stirred until dissolved then added my vanilla. Icing the cake immediately, while its still warm.

 

 

Note I may have gotten a little to much powdered sugar so my icing is extremely thick.  But it was still awesome!

 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/texas_sheet_cake_with_chocolate_fudge_frosting/

 



 





Perfect Summer Sides! Sauteed Yellow Squash and Easy Cole Slaw

I love Summer. It's a great time of year to be outside at the beach or just sitting back and relaxing on porch with a glass of ice cold lemonade or sweet iced tea.  But the thing I love the most, are fresh vegetables.  When I was growing my up, my parents had a huge garden.  I remember the days when I could walk out to the garden and pick a vine ripe tomato or fresh cucumber right off the vine and have a perfect summer snack.   One of my favorite vegetables is yellow squash.  I can eat yellow squash any way you wanna cook it.  My favorite is fried but the Sautéed Summer Squash by Paula Deen is definitely a close second.  The blend of butter, onions, squash, and some fresh thyme make this dish refreshing and a little sweet.  I agree with Paula, I like my squash picked on the smaller side so they have a little bit of a sweet flavor and right now is the perfect time to find it.  Besides the crab cakes, this side a close second to a crowd favorite.  Its quick and easy with loads of flavor! 

To make the Squash, cut up about  2-3 yellow squash and rough chop some onions.

 

You want to melt your butter in a pan and add the onions and a little salt until the onions are soft.  Throw in squash, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the tender.   (Note fresh thyme works the best, but dried thyme works ok too)

Sautéed Summer Squash



 

 

2 Tablespoons butter                         2 small yellow squash or zucchini, cut

1/2 medium yellow onion                 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt                               1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

 

 

Easy Coleslaw

 

Coleslaw is one of my favorite sides.  But I am very picky on how its chopped and tastes.  Some think I'm a little prude, but I'm a momma's boy and I love the way my mom makes her coleslaw and that's just the way I like it!  I like it chopped fine, not stringy, and I want mayonnaise-base not mustard or Asian.  Sorry, if you don't agree with me, but it's one of the few foods I can honestly say I have to have it my way or I just won't eat it.  This coleslaw recipe reminds me of exactly how my momma makes it.  Basic ingredients but a lot of flavor.  This recipe only calls for cabbage, apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. How much easier can you get?  Even with so few ingredients, this coleslaw is perfect!  There is no need to change anything.  When I have tried making coleslaw before I have never been able to get my proportions right between the dressing and the cabbage.  Paula's recipe makes it easy for you and this will come out perfect every time.  I think my friend Jill, who says she doesn't like anything "goopy" made with mayo, even liked this dish a little. 

 

Mix all ingredients except the cabbage together. Shred the cabbage (I chopped mine up pretty fine but if you want yours more shredded that works too).  Pour dressing mixture over the cabbage and stir until covered.  You may need to add more salt or pepper if you desire.  I personally like a little more pepper myself.

 

 

Easy Coleslaw



3/4 cup Mayo                                            8 Cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup Apple cider Vinegar                     Salt
1 tablespoon sugar                                     Pepper



         

Crab Cakes That Put the Rest To Shame and Jalapeno Hush Puppies

Crab is one of my favorite things to eat, but honestly I have never really cooked with it much.  I tried making crab cakes about a year ago and they didn't turn out so well, so I was a little hesitant to try again.  The first time I ever made them, I could not get them to stay together when I was frying them.  Even though they tasted great, it wasn't exactly what I would call a "cake".  With this recipe, I decided to take a new approach.  I decided to patty the crab cakes the night before and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight.  This made all the difference.  This gave the bread crumbs time to soak in the crab and the other ingredients and allowed them to stay together nicely.  I would say you probably won't have to let them sit overnight but a couple hours should do the trick.  Now a funny story about this meal, I actually made this meal two weeks ago, but everything was so good I didn't get any pictures of the meal, so I figured I needed to make it again!

These crab cakes, first of all, are extremely easy to make and fry.  But the best part about them, is the taste!  It really puts others to shame!  I could not think of anything I would want to do differently with these.  I don't know about you, but I really hate when I get crab cakes that are mostly breading and very little crab, Paula doesn't disappoint here either.  These crab cakes are busting with crab meat.  Paula seasoned these crake bakes to perfection. With the mixture of Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, scallions, mustard powder, and a little hot sauce these crab cakes are the best around.  My friend Stephen actually said "I think these are better than any I have ever had at any restaurant."  I think these crab cakes would also be good baked. Especially if you were wanting to make them a little healthier.  If you love crab cakes then you will definitely love this recipe,  I recommend everyone try this today, you won't regret it!

First mix all ingredients until well combined.  I personally use my hands for this, its much easier, but you can use a spoon if you want.

Form into 8 equal crab cakes with your hands

Fry in enough oil to cover half of the crab cake.  You will fry around 3 minutes on each side or until browned.  Then flip and fry another 3 minutes until done.  Be careful when flipping, you can easily splatter oil making these. 

Serve hot with sauce of your choosing and maybe some lemon.

Savannah Crab Cakes

A pound of crab meat, make sure                           1 Tbl. Old Bay

you check for shells                                                1 Tsp. Mustard Powder

1/2 cup bread crumbs                                             1/2 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1/3 cup mayo                                                          1/4 Tsp. hot sauce

1/4 cup scallions                                                     Oil for frying

1 egg beaten                                                            Lemon (optional for serving)

If you have the book the recipe is on page 197. 

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/paula-deen-savannah-crab-cakes-recipe

Jalapeno Hush Puppies

You can't have seafood without some good hush puppies, it's just unheard of.  So I decided to try Paula's Jalapeno Hush Puppies.  I will have to say, these may be the best hush puppies I have ever tasted.  These hush puppies are almost like corn bread, but with a kick.  The hush puppies are a perfect blend of sweet and spicy.  I don't know how Paula does it but every thing she touches turns to gold.  I think the key to these hush puppies is using the fresh jalapenos.  If you like hush puppies definitely give these a try.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, except the jalapenos.  In another bowl mix together the egg, buttermilk and the jalapenos then add those to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Using a small scoop, put in 350 degree oil and fry until golden brown.

I was unable to find the exact recipe online.  The jalapeno hush puppies on pauladeen.com is different than the one in the Southern Cooking Bible

oil for deep frying

1 cup of yellow cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbl Spoon sugar

2 Tsp salt

1 Tsp baking powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/4 cup Jalapeno pepper