Home-made Coconut Cake, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Home-made Coconut Cake

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Several years ago, a late friend would wow friends and family with a home-made coconut cake. It was often in demand and a real treat when she presented you with one. Where she discovered the recipe I’ll never know. Barbara is no longer with us having succumbed to cancer over 10 years ago.

While browsing through my mom’s cookbooks I found one that our former church had published ca the mid 1980s. Towards the back in the dessert section, there was Barb’s yummy Coconut Cake recipe bigger than Dallas.

Sweet memories and a sweet cake…too good to pass up and too good not to share…

Barb’s Coconut Cake

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Filling:

2 – 6 oz. packages frozen coconut

1 – ½ cups sugar

1 carton sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Mix together and set aside. Place between the split layers of cake once they have cooled.

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1 cup water

½ cup oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine ingredients and mix for 3 minutes. Pour into 2 nine inch pans and bake for 30 minutes. Let layers cool and then split then in half.

Icing:

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup light Karo syrup

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

2 egg whites

4 tablespoons water

3/4 cup sugar

Add ingredients to a double boiler. Beat to mix. When the water in the bottom of the double boiler begins to boil, remove from heat. Beat the mixture for 3-1/2 to 4 minutes until stiff peaks form. Ice the top and sides of the assembled cake. Garnish with coconut.

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

A Staple of the South, by Beverly Hicks Burch

A Staple in the South

By Beverly Hicks Burch

When I was little there was a food that I absolutely would not touch and it was pimento cheese. Somewhere down the line I mustered up enough courage to try it and a love affair began. I think my first taste must have been a home-made batch because it was fantastic. Ever since then I have been on a quest for the perfect Pimento Cheese recipe. Seems everyone has one…some use mayo, others use Miracle Whip…the recipes vary in some way or another.

Here in the South we love a good Pimento Cheese sandwich and what’s better than crisp, cold celery stuffed with pimento cheese? I’m sure everyone has their own personal favorite use for the decades old stand-by.

While browsing though one of my mother’s cookbooks, The Dinner Doctor, by Anne Byrn (also the author of The Cake Doctor) I noticed yet another recipe for Pimento Cheese. She has made the recipe easy by using packaged shredded cheese. I made a small adaptation to the recipe to lower fat and calories. Regardless, it is a super easy recipe to make.

Enjoy!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Quick and Easy Pimento Cheese Spread

1 8 oz. package of shredded Cheddar cheese

1 2 oz. jar diced pimentos (if you can only find sliced pimentos, chop them up)

1 tablespoon minced onion

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup lite or low fat mayonnaise

Fresh ground pepper to season

1. In a medium bowl mix together the cheese, pimentos, onion and Worcestershire sauce.

2. Fold in mayonnaise and stir to make sure ingredients are mixed well. Season with black pepper.

3. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

**Options: Use a Mexican blend cheese instead of Cheddar.

Add ½ of a seeded and veined and chopped jalapeno pepper to either cheese

recipe.

Add 1 tablespoon of chopped, drained green chiles.

Just in time for Memorial Day – Thai Coconut Chicken, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Just in Time for Memorial Day – Thai Coconut Chicken

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Many people use Memorial Day as the kick off for the summer grilling season. (For the true meaning behind the holiday read my blog The Cost of Liberty at my new blog Uncommon Sensibilities.

Like many of you out there my family loves to grill out. Tall & Handsome discovered a technique a few years ago of roasting a chicken on the grill. It’s called the “beer can chicken” method. I’ve written about it a few times over at my “A Steel Magnolia is an Iron Butterfly” especially here, here and here.

Essentially, the “legend” of the origin goes something like this…some good ole boy decided it would be a really good idea to ram the south end of a big ole roasting chicken on a can of beer…a highly combustible substance (wonder if it was Billy Beer?) After ramming that puppy onto that beer can suppository, you now place the can over an open flame of you backyard grill…leave it to cook and “Viola”, when it done you should have a chicken fit for the food gods…taking into account no hands, eyes or feet were lost in the preparation of the feast…

Well, that’s the story at least…

In theory, some of the story does have good components. T & H and I have made several “beer can chicken” recipes…and believe me when I say today’s technique is a little more safety concerned than the original method and produces moist, flavorful, yummy birds. Today the grill master uses an upright chicken roaster with a center well that takes the place of the “beer can”. You can use any flavorful liquid of your liking in this little magic well.

A couple of weeks back we made Thai Coconut Chicken using this method and I thought I’d share it just in time for Memorial Day. We served Indian Style Rice with Cashews and Raisins and another small side dish.

We found the original recipe in Beer-Cab Chicken and 74 other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill, by Steven Raichlen, but as per my norm, I’ve made some adaptations to the recipe to make the recipe a little healthier. Hope you enjoy…if you do get a chance to make the dish let me know how you liked it!

When preparing the dipping sauce, as with most Asian cooking, I recommend you have most of your ingredients prepared and measured out before you start cooking. Once the cooking starts, it goes fast!

©2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Thai Coconut Chicken

For the rub:

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass or, if you can’t find lemongrass substitute 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use peanut oil for an authentic Thai flavor)

1 can lite coconut milk

1 stalk lemongrass or 2 strips of lemon zest

(1) 3-1/2 to 4 pound whole chicken

2 cups of wood chips (oak or apple would be good for this recipe) soak chip for 1 hour in water and then drain the water from wood chips

Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce

1. Make your rub paste by combining coriander, salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro, minced lemongrass (or grated lemon zest), and fresh ginger in a blender. Puree adding enough peanut oil to make paste.

2. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the paste and set aside. Wash and clean the chicken and remove the giblets. Pat the chicken dry. Next rub the paste inside and outside of the chicken…all over…don’t miss anyplace. Place in a plastic bag and place chicken in the refrigerator for no less than an hour but preferably overnight.

3. When you are ready to cook the bird, pour ¾ cup lite coconut milk into the well of you chicken roaster. Add the trimmed lemongrass stalk or 2 pieces of lemon zest. Place the chicken over the well like you would a beer can, with the largest body cavity opening on the body. Tuck the chicken wings behind the back.

4. Cook on indirect heat preheated to medium. Place your wood chips either in your smoker tray or a wood box you can pick up at Lowe’s or Home Depot. You can also make smoke “bombs” by placing the wood chips in foil and arranging them on the grill.

5. place the bird in the center of the grill, close the grill and cook until the chicken reaches a temperature of about 180° (between 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours depending on the size of the bird).

6. During cooking baste with: 1/4 cup lite coconut milk, and the 1 tablespoon of reserved rub.

7. When done transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for 5 minutes. Carve as you like. Serve with Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce (see recipe below).

Enjoy!

Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 – 3 shallots, finely chopped (a small amount of a mild onion maybe used)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger

1 to 2 Thai chilies or Serrano or jalapeno peppers (seeded and veins removed…leave seeds in for a hotter sauce)

1 teaspoon coriander

¾ cup lite coconut milk

¾ cup chunky peanut butter (I’m sure you could use smooth if you preferred)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons sugar

½ ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat peanut oil in a wok or pan over high heat. Add shallots, garlic, ginger chilies and coriander and stir fry about 3 minutes.

2 Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. Next stir in peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and black pepper. Reduce heat and let simmer about 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and cook about a minute. Adjust for seasoning. This sauce will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Hawaiian Chicken, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Hawaiian Chicken

By Beverly Hicks Burch

I’ve been making this recipe for years…probably 15+ years. Surprisingly it’s one I haven’t prepared for Tall & Handsome yet, but when I told him about it he seemed eager to try it. It is fast and easy to prepare and only take about 45 minutes to an hour to bake.

I’ve made some adaptation to the recipe I found originally in a cookbook by Mary Beth Roe.

The “gravy” or sauce is good with rice or even mashed potatoes. Another good option would be to serve this with a baked sweet potato.

Enjoy!!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Hawaiian Chicken

8 small or 4 – 5 large pieces of chicken (boneless chicken breast would be excellent for this recipe)

1 jar (not too large) fruit jam – the original recipe calls for apricot jam, but peach would be good, too; another optional might be pineapple jam for a real Hawaiian taste

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 8 oz bottle Russian salad dressing

Preheat oven to 350°

Wash and dry chicken; place in a 13 x 9 baking dish.

Mix together the jam, onion soup mix, and Russian salad dressing.

Pour over the chicken in the pan and bake 45 minute to 1 hour or until tender.

Enjoy!!

What a Way to Celebrate! by Beverly Hicks Burch

What a Way to Celebrate!

By Beverly Hicks Burch

I don’t think I’ve ever picked up a magazine that Phyllis Hoffman had anything to do with and didn’t like it. The gal has a golden touch…and to sweeten the pot she’s a native of my beloved Alabama.

Over the years, Phyllis has built a publishing empire that is headquartered in Birmingham. I remember some of her work for a quilting magazine and I loved what she did. Once Phyllis was no longer with the magazine, I could certainly tell. The “sparkle” just seemed to be gone.

Currently Phyllis’ Hoffman Media, LLC publishes a line of magazines that appeal to women in general and Southern gals in particular. Momma has been a devotee of Tea Time and Southern Lady. I would say Phyllis and her crew are certainly giving Southern Living a good run for their money!

A couple of weeks ago I was at Joann’s Fabric with my friend Shari. She was hunting fabric for a new project she was about to start. As we were on our way to the check out, we passed the magazine rack and the cover of one in particular caught my eye.

On the front was a recipe for a moist and delicious “Key Lime Pound Cake”. Utter those two words around me…Key Lime…and it will have the same effect of throwing on the emergency break of a speeding locomotive! In other words, they will stop me in my tracks…My favorite yogurt is Yoplait’s whipped Key Lime Pie. Yum!

Naturally I brought the magazine home! Upon inspection once I had it in my grasp, I couldn’t help but think, “Well, of course.” It was a special edition called Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate Spring. The gal with the golden touch strikes again!

If you like pound cake, run, don’t walk to find this issue. It won’t last long. The Key Lime Pound Cake wasn’t the only recipe in the issue. Other mouth watering pound cake recipes include: Peach Pound Cake, Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and Dreamsicle Pound Cake along with a few others. It is a pound cake bonanza! There are other recipes for other tastes, including a nice section on Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo.

I personally can’t wait to try the Key Lime Pound Cake, oh and Key Lime pie is my Daddy’s favorite, so I’m sure this will find its way to his table also.

If you get a chance give the cake a try…and check out Phyllis’ many publications. You certainly won’t be sorry!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Key Lime Pound Cake

Adapted from a recipe in Celebrate Spring

½ unsalted butter, softened

½ cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, separated

3 cups sifted cake flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons lime zest

½ cup Key Lime juice

Preheat oven to 325°. Prepare a 10 inch tube pan with nonstick baking spray that includes flour.

Beat butter and shortening together in a large bowl on medium speed with an electric mixer. Beat until creamy. Gradually at the sugar and beat until fluffy.

Next add the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat well after each egg yolk addition.

Sift together the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter/egg/sugar mixture. Alternate with the sour cream. Start and end each addition with flour and beat well after each addition.

Next, add lime zest and lime juice. Mix well.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the cake batter.

Pour into the tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove from pan and continue cooling on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Asian Fantasy, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Asian Fantasy

By Beverly Hicks Burch

It all started with a Christmas wish list…Tall & Handsome’s to be exact. You see after we married he adapted quite fast to my family’s tradition of making Christmas wish lists. We list everything from the mundane to the “wow, if you get me that, I’ll be your slave for life” type of things on our individual lists. It really makes shopping for everyone easier, takes a lot of the guess work out of the shopping and cuts down on bad surprises and disappointments.

I’ve mentioned…a time or two…that T & H and I cook together. The man can cook! And he enjoys it. Truth be known, he probably should have gone to chef school and pursued that as a profession.

On his Christmas list last year were cookbooks…Chinese and French. No kidding. After much research, I decided on two: Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking and Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home.

I have never enjoyed someone else’s Christmas gift so much…

Since the first of the year, we have been on an Asian fantasy tour…my wok has been busy…starting with my birthday meal.

Out of Kylie’s book we’ve tried Sweet Corn Soup, Mongolian Beef and Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic.

This past weekend we also tried a new recipe for Pad Thai. We both love Thai food. We topped it off with Thai Fried Bananas with Bryers Vanilla (Lite) Ice Cream.

As usual, I’ve toyed with most of the recipes to fit our tastes. I would also like to highly recommend you seek out a local Asian market. There is just no substituting for the “real deal”…authentic ingredients that you just can’t get at you local megamarket.

The Real Deal – Products from our local Asian Food Market

Also, if possible invest in a good quality wok. I purchased my wok in 1980 when I took a Chinese cooking class at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham). It came highly recommended from my instructor, a very Asian little gal who knew what she was doing. It has served me well all these years…

Old Faithful – Bev’s Wok

So, without further adieu…

Enjoy!!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Mongolian Beef, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Mongolian Beef

Adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong

By Beverly Hicks Burch

I’ve had Mongolian Beef before and I have other Mongolian Beef recipes. Kylie’s is unlike any other I’ve seen or tried, so for my birthday this year, we broke out the wok and prepared this dish. It was scrumptious.

I’ve made a few changes…of course! Next time I make this I may make just a little more “sauce”, but it’s still good this way. Kylie uses ground beef…I use a ground round or ground sirloin. I may also try a finely minced sirloin tip steak when I make it in the future.

We served this with rice. I guarantee you’ll enjoy this version of Mongolian Beef.

Mongolian Beef

1 ¼ pound ground round or sirloin

5 cups chopped Chinese cabbage, bok choy will work

2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons dry sherry

2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon malt vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 small carrot finely sliced or grated

½ medium red bell pepper, sliced thinly

¾ cup chopped green onions

Meat Marinade:

2 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, diced finely

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

½ teaspoon sesame oil

Mix marinade ingredients and add to the ground beef. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.

Wash and dry cabbage. Chop and place in a large bowl. Toss with salt and let stand 15 minutes. Rinse with cold water, drain and dry well, squeezing excess water out with hands if need be.

In wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on high. When hot add half the meat and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Break the meat up into small pieces. Remove the meat from the wok and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok and when hot, add the remaining meat and stir fry in for about 30 seconds or until meat is no longer pink.

Then stir in sherry, Hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. Stir fry 30 seconds.

Next, add cabbage, carrot and pepper and stir fry for about 1 minute. Lastly, add green onions and remove from heat.

Garnish with green onions.

Enjoy!

Chinese Sweet Corn Soup, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Chinese Sweet Corn Soup

Adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Although I had never had it before nor heard of it, Kylie says this soup is a Chinese classic. According to her, some versions are thickened with an agent such as cornstarch, but she prefers it “au natural”.

Kylie also uses sweet corn cut fresh from the cob. I’ve changed that a bit since cutting corn from the cob is hard for me because of my joint problems. Of course you can find fresh corn in the produce section already cut and bagged…or you can have a great sous chef like mine…called Tall & Handsome. When all else fails I resort to frozen sweet corn. Yes, it works just as well…

Kylie also makes her own Chinese chicken stock…different version to be exact. For time sake and as I mentioned because of health limitations, I use Swanson’s chicken broth (my family has used chicken broth in their cooking long before it was the vogue.)

This make a large pot of soup, and it would be easy to half the recipe for a small “crowd”.

Enjoy!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Chinese Sweet Corn  Soup

3 cups corn kernels (frozen or fresh)

2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

1 small white onion

2 tablespoon finely diced fresh ginger

1 – 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

½ cup dry sherry

7 cups chicken broth or stock

1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Chopped green onions for garnish

Heat oil in a large pot. Sauté onion, garlic, ginger and salt for one minute.

Add dry sherry and simmer for about a minute, then stir in corn and chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Next, add soy sauce and stir. Lower the heat further. Take the beaten eggs and holding the bowl slightly high over the pan, pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream, stirring the soup as you do with a fork. This technique results in “egg ribbons” similar to egg drop soup.

Serve the soup on bowls and garnish with green onions.

Enjoy!

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic

Adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong

By Beverly Hicks Burch

As usual, I’ve “Bevized” the recipe to fit my needs and our tastes, but the Asian essence is still present…and delicious! Based on how much we enjoyed this…I may double the recipe next time…

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic

1 pound fresh asparagus

2 tablespoon peanut oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1/3 cup chicken broth or stock

1 ½ teaspoon sesame seed oil (can adjust to your taste)

Prepare asparagus by washing and removing woody ends. Cut on the diagonal in half.

Heat oil in a wok on high. Add garlic and salt and stir fry just a few seconds…about 10. Then add asparagus and stir fry for one minute.

Next add sherry and continue cooking 30 seconds.

Add chicken broth and stir fry and additional 30 seconds.

Season with sesame oil and serve immediately.

Thai Fried Bananas, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Thai Fried Bananas

Adapted on a Recipe by Paula Deen seen on Food Network, June 25, 2007

I’ve made a few changes to this recipe. Tall & Handsome and I think this is the Asian Bananas Foster. We were talking this week end that it might be good with a dash of cinnamon…yum!

3 Tablespoons butter

4 fresh firm, ripe bananas, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

1 lime, juiced

In a wok or large saucepan heat butter. Once melted, add bananas and toss around a bit. Then add the brown sugar and cook the sugar down a tad.

Next add the black sesame seeds and the lime juice. Stir together and serve.

Enjoy!

**This would be wonderful served over vanilla ice cream. I like Breyers low-fat Vanilla Bean. Yum!