My very best friend is moving out of state on Friday. Ami and I have known each other for 13 years… we met during my Freshman year of college and have been great friends ever since. She has been there for me through a lot and has always been one of the constants in my life.

When Ami called only two weeks ago to tell me that her and her family were moving south, I immediately felt choked up. I was so excited and jealous that they were leaving on such a great adventure, but I also knew I was going to miss Ami, her husband and my goddaughter dearly.  

The final days are winding near, we have said our goodbye’s, and I feel comfort in knowing that she is just a quick plane ride away.  

I decided over the weekend to make a Paula Deen recipe. As I was making the recipe, I couldn’t help but hear Paula’s voice reading the ingredients to me in my head. "Ya’ll…this dish needs lots of butter. Sweetie…you know me… might as well not cook if you aren’t going to use lots of butter!" Everything I did, Ms Paula’s voice was in my head. It was then that I knew Ami would do well in the South. How could she not? Being surround by friendly Southern ladies, offering her sweet tea and warm chats. Also, if this lovely cake recipe is any indication of the kind of delicious food she’ll be having, I know that she will quickly embrace the Southern Comfort and hospitality, and at the very least, be eating very well.

Recipe courtesy of The Food Network and Paula Deen

Savannah Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce

Chocolate Cake:
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 eggs
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Hot Fudge Sauce:
1 (4-ounce) bar German chocolate
1/2-ounce unsweetened chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 2/3 cups evaporated milk
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the cake, cream the brown sugar with the shortening in an electric mixer. Add the buttermilk and vanilla then the melted chocolate. With the mixer running, add eggs, 1 at a time. Sift the flour with the baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and beat for 2 minutes.

Grease and flour a 13 by 9 by 2-inch rectangular cake pan. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until the cake is springy and a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly, about 40 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a rack to finish cooling.

To make the sauce: Melt the 2 chocolates with the butter in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir in the powdered sugar, alternating with evaporated milk and blending well. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 8 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Serve slices of cake topped with warm fudge sauce.

Note - In my opinion, a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream is a must for this recipe. It is the perfect compliment to the rich fudge sauce!

Did I mention something last week about cool weather? Really? Because since that post, I think I have jinxed things. The temps were back up in the warmer ranges and the cool days we were were having are long gone for awhile again. Ahhhh…. you have to love Kansas. If you don’t like the weather one day, just wait. It is bound to change!

Kansas weather is not consistent at all. Giada’s recipes? Consistently good. So far, every recipe I have tried out of her cookbook, Everyday Pasta, has been great. Her recipe for Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Pasta Shells was no exception. This recipe was simple and delicious! I felt miserable because of my allergies the night that I made this for dinner for my best friend and her husband. Even through the sniffling and watery eyes, the constant sneezing, and the allergy medicine drug induced coma I was about to be in, I managed to make this recipe and was still able to taste by the time it was ready. Everyone loved it, including myself.

If you are looking for consistency, do not move to Kansas. If you are looking for consistency, turn to Giada’s cookbooks. You will find consistently great recipes every time.

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Pasta Shells (from Everyday Pasta) 

1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells (recommended: Barilla)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 (8 to 10-ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely  (I used canned)
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 cups Arrabbiata Sauce, recipe follows
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (about 5 ounces)Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is slightly golden and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

To stuff the shells, cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of Arrabbiata sauce. Take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full, about 24 shells. Drizzle the remaining Arrabbiata Sauce over the shells, top with the grated mozzarella. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 day and up to 1 month.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes (20 minutes if shells are unfrozen.)

Arrabbiata Sauce:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 ounces sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups jarred or fresh marinara sauceHeat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until tender, about 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

Yield: approximately 6 cups

We had our first really cool day of the season on Monday. It was in the high 60’s by the time dinner time came around and I was in the mood for my annual pot of “first cool day of the season” chili. Of course, I had no idea it was going to be that cool on Monday so I did not have all the ingredients on hand to make chili. You can bet that on Tuesday, I was at the store ready to buy the ingredients to make us some chili. It was not nearly as cool on Tuesday night as it was on Monday, but I had chili on my mind and nothing was going to stop me from making it. I typically make the traditional chili with red beans, ground beef, etc. This year, however, I decided to make my good friend Sara’s White Bean Chicken Chili. If you were the family side of Dine and Dish back in the beginning, you might recall that I wrote about having this chili on Christmas Eve at Sara’s house. This chili is best if simmering on the stove all day. I, being the slacker mom that I am, started it at 3pm for a 6pm dinner time. It was still fantastic (although not as fantastic as Sara’s. I need to find out what her secret is!)

Oh - and doesn’t this beautiful bowl holding the chili just scream “soup” to you? I’ve used it for ice cream in the past, but it really is my new favorite soup bowl. My dear friend Jody of The Devils Cloth made this gorgeous bowl. She is super talented. Check out her store and while you are there snatch up one of her hot and highly demanded by boutiques everywhere, Arm Candy bags. 

Is it cool where you are yet? What is your traditional “first cool day of the season” dish to make?  

From Southern Living Magazine and my friend Sara

White Bean Chicken Chili

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 (15-ounce) cans cannellini or great Northern beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package frozen shoepeg white corn
2 (4.5-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
3 tablespoons lime juice
 Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs

Sauté chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes; add garlic, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken pieces, and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is lightly browned. Stir in 3 cups water and next 5 ingredients; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes or until chicken is done.

Place 2 cans of beans in a blender; add broth, and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

Stir
bean pureé, remaining 2 cans of beans, corn, and chiles into chicken
mixture in Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce
heat, and simmer, stirring often, 30 minutes or until thoroughly
heated. Stir in lime juice just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Note: Use a handheld submersion blender to pureé the beans and broth, if desired.

If you are from Kansas City, like I am, then you can attest to this. One can’t go anywhere in the city and talk about food without someone bringing up barbecue. The debate typically is who has the best? Is it KC Masterpiece, Arthur Bryants, Jack Stack, etc? My favorite Kansas City barbecue, by a long shot, is Oklahoma Joes. I love everything about that place and their ribs are seasoned and cooked to perfection. The meat literally melts in your mouth. My second choice for great Kansas City barbecue is a little joint not many have heard of. It is a place where you can find the most delicious pulled pork sandwiches, fall of the bone tender ribs and great company. This little place is called….my house. Yep. I can get fantastic Kansas City style barbecue without even getting out of my PJ"s, courtesy of my husband and his mega smoker.

It is great to have a husband who can cook such great barbecue. It eliminates our need to go out and face all of the restaurants with three kids in tow. There is one problem with it though. My husband has one perfected barbecue rib recipe, and being the creature of habit that he is, he refuses to change it up at all.

A few months ago when I was browsing through the recipe section of Food & Wines website, I stumbled across a recipe for Asian style ribs. The recipe sounded fantastic, but I am not the rib cooker in the family so I figured that I would never get to try ribs this way. I held on to the recipe though, just in case. Last weekend my husband announced that he was going to make ribs on Saturday and when he did, the Asian style rib recipe popped into my mind. Could I somehow convince my husband to stray from the norm, to branch out and try something new? Long story short, with a lot of nudging, begging and cajoling, I was able to convince him to try something different. We had all the ingredients on hand to make the Asian ribs from Food & Wine and my hubby set out on his adventure of trying something new.

These ribs, although not even close to comparable to Kansas City style barbecue, were phenomenal. The flavor was perfectly "Asian"…they were exactly what I hoped they would be like. I am thankful too because if my husband would have had to stray from his "perfected" recipe to have the ribs be awful, I would be the one to blame.

If you are looking for a different way to make your barbecue ribs, this recipe is a must try. A complete hit from Food & Wine.

Asian Ribs with Five-Spice Rub and Hoisin Glaze

TOTAL TIME: 40 MIN
SERVES: 4

• 4 pounds pork spareribs
• 1/3 cup Asian Five-Spice Rub
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• Vegetable oil, for brushing

1. Using a sharp knife, make 1/4-inch-deep slashes in the rib meat between the bones, without cutting through. Spread all but 1 tablespoon of the spice rub over the ribs and into the slashes and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the hoisin sauce, ketchup and the remaining 1 tablespoon of spice rub and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute, then transfer to a bowl.
3. Light a grill. Lightly brush the ribs with oil and grill over a moderately high fire, turning frequently, until the ribs are sizzling and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Brush the ribs with half of the hoisin glaze and grill for 2 minutes longer. Transfer the ribs to a cutting board and cut in between the bones. Serve the ribs with the remaining hoisin glaze on the side.

Asian Five-Spice Rub

TOTAL TIME: 5 MIN

MAKES ABOUT 1/3 CUP

Chinese five-spice rub is a bold mix of cinnamon, clove, fennel seed, star anise and Sichuan peppercorn. Grace Parisi loves the way these exotic, fragrant spices flavor fabulously sticky spareribs glazed with sweet hoisin sauce.

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

directions

1. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients, pressing out any lumps of brown sugar.

OK - here is the warning right up front. Those of you who turn your noses up at convienence foods, boxed mixes, full of preservatives and sugar packaged snack foods, etc. I am giving you the warning to skip this post all together. What you are about to see will most likely make you want to call Child Protective Services on me. If the Kool-Aid slushes got your goat, this dessert is going to make you wonder what the heck this world is coming to. So, to avoid any unnecessary stress on yourself…just turn your head, plug your ears and yell "La, la, la, la, la" and you can pretend like you never even read this far.

Now, for the rest of you, I am sure that once you saw the picture of this dessert and saw how cute it was, you got right away why I would want to try it out. I just could not resist the sliced up Little Debbie swiss cake rolls and the cuteness factor this dessert has all together. No, it isn’t a complicated, gourmet recipe, but it is a lot of fun. Besides the fun-ness factor, this little recipe is really quite delicious. If Child Protective Services does happen to be called on me for feeding my children such preservative and sugar laden foods, I’m sure I can influence them to let me keep my children by bringing out this tasty dessert.

From the most recent issue of Simple and Delicious magazine.

Chocolate Swirl Dessert

• 1 package (13 ounces) Swiss cake rolls
• 2-3/4 cups cold milk
• 2 packages (3.9 ounces each) instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
• 2 cups whipped topping

Cut each cake roll into eight slices; set aside any chocolate coating that separates from rolls for garnish. Line a 9-in. springform pan with cake slices, completely covering the bottom and sides.
In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Pour over cake. Spread with whipped topping; sprinkle with any reserved chocolate coating. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Yield: 12 servings.