Blue Cheese Biscuits

I've been going through the archives of photos and recipes and came across this gem which I had completely forgotten about! These are a deliciously divine accompaniment to any meal...they'd be great with Gumbo!

BLUE CHEESE BISCUITS

• 1 cup Bisquick
• 6-8 oz crumbled blue cheese
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put cast iron skillet into hot oven and preheat it for 15-20 minutes. Whisk through the Bisquick to break up any lumps. Crumble blue cheese into dry ingredients and stir until well distributed throughout. Add buttermilk and stir until well combined. Drop by spoonfuls into your pre-heated skillet and bake 15-20 minutes.

You could drop these onto a baking sheet lined with parchment as an alternative to the cast iron. The benefit to using the cast iron skillet is that you get a really nice crust on the bottom of these delicious biscuits. Use your favorite biscuit dough recipe if you'd like to forego the Bisquick.

Don't forget to visit my new website!! www.davenportsdivinedelicacies.com

May your eats be delicious and your dinners divine!

-A-

GUMBO!!!

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. I hope you all indulged in delicious eats and divine treats!! Our delicious dish of choice was Gumbo. This classic Cajun dish was a staple in my childhood. Growing up whenever there was a party, my Aunt Suzy would make two giant pots of Gumbo. Yes. Two. Why two? Because I (the only one in the family...a very large family back then) didn't like seafood. I especially hated shrimp...IMAGINE! It's still not my favorite thing, and certainly wouldn't be my go-to over the land locked creatures, but I enjoy it more now than I did then.

Two pots of Gumbo: one seafood based, one with chicken and sausage. We always ate it served over white rice and usually had cornbread. (There was usually a plate of devilled eggs hidden in the back of the fridge for me, too. What can I say? I was an adorable kid...who liked to eat!) Having Gumbo always brings back great memories. Some of those memories are better than others. Aunt Suzy, who was really the matriarch of our family, the woman who was always laughing, always having fun, who would throw a party because she broke a nail, left us too soon. I remember being at her house after the funeral and telling one of her best friends that I didn't know how to make roux and I wasn't sure anyone would ever be able to teach me now that she was gone. That friend walked me through the process, and taught me, more than anything, that anytime I make Gumbo the important thing, regardless of the end result, is that I'm thinking of and remembering Aunt Suzy. Even if I burn the roux, or the end product (a disaster...), she's still there with me as I chop, sautee, stir (and stir and stir and stir) and create something rich and deliciously wonderful.

One year (I'm sure more than one year, and I share this only to let you know what kind of woman she really was) Aunt Suzy went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. She always drove some kind of massive car with a massive trunk. Think Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DeVille. A car with the kind of trunk that could hold several bodies, always used. Her return to Port Arthur, TX that year post-Mardi Gras was epic. We were driving around town, probably looking for garage sales, and would stop in parking lots across town. Usually parking lots filled with people...think mall parking lots in the 90's. She'd park the Lincoln and pop the trunk...which was full...I mean FULL...of strands of beads! Every kind of bead you can imagine in every color, including the GIANT pearl beads that go on our Christmas Tree every year. (Side note: for those of you without knowledge of Mardi Gras, getting the GIANT beads isn't an easy feat.) Suzy would start yelling at strangers in the parking lots and throwing handfuls of beads in their direction. The sheer joy and surprise that she brought to these people was inspiring and wonderful. She was a wonderfully special person. Divine then, and even more-so now.

If you ever taste a gumbo that takes you to a place you've never been, or see a feather randomly falling or somehow out of place, know that our Aunt Suzy is reaching out to you, too.

Until next time...may your eats be delicious and your dinner divine!!
-A-

Flourless Chocolate Cake

First and foremost...I've been away since 2011?!?!?? Well...I'm back!!

I've ventured out on several new business fronts, one being a catering company that shares its name with this blog: Davenport's Divine Delicacies. You can see pictures and updates from me at https://www.facebook.com/DavenportsDivineDelicacies?fref=nf. A post that has garnered a lot of attention was this picture...

This is a birthday cake I made for a client for her 50th birthday party. It is a two-layer Flourless Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Buttercream Frosting. It is extremely rich and wonderfully decadent, and, more importantly for this client, gluten free!

This recipe has been a staple of mine since 2002. I am copying it from the New York Times Magazine from the January 20th edition since so many of you have been requesting the recipe. It comes to us from pastry chef Bert Padell. I've made tweaks to the original to suit my own personal tastes over the past decade, but here is the recipe in it's original state.

Happy Cooking!!

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

• 1 pound unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
• Almond flour for dusting the pan (the original recipe calls for AP flour...I substitute Almond to make this cake completely gluten free)
• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 4 oz bitter (or unsweetened) chocolate
• 1 bar (3.5 oz) milk chocolate with cappuccino filling (or caramel if you prefer)
• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons espresso powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water (or 1 very strong cup of coffee)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan and line the bottom of it with parchment paper. Set the pan on a square of heavy-duty aluminum foil and bring the foil up around the sides of the pan. Set aside.

2. Combine the butter and chocolates in a saucepan and melt over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Transfer to a heatproof measuring cup.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes at medium-high speed. With the mixture running, pour in the espresso and beat until blended, then the butter-chocolate mixture, beating until blended.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes. (The cake will crack around the rim.) Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to a month).

5. Twelve to 24 hours before serving, take the cake out of the refrigerator. Remove the sides of the pan, slide a metal spatula under the parchment paper and slide the cake onto a serving plate. Serve with whipped cream.

Yield: 12-14 servings.

As I said, I've made adjustments to the recipe over the last years and feel free to make your own changes! The coffee, which I know was a concern for one reader, can be completely omitted. You don't need the extra cup of liquid that it provides. Sometimes I've replaced the coffee with substitutes such as Grand Marnier, Countreau, Kahlua, or a nice bourbon all with great success. I also have found that the slightly tart flavor of creme fraiche helps to balance the dense sweetness of the chocolate cake. I'll post my recipe for Rosemary Creme Fraiche below. Another change I've made is using Abuelita Hot Chocolate tabs (which have a slightly cinnamon taste) in lieu of regular bittersweet chocolate. I've also been using Turbinado sugar in this recipe for the last couple of years due to its low glycemic levels, and it works just as beautifully as regular refined sugar. 

I hope you'll all be adventurous and share your cakes with me!! Happy Cooking!!

ROSEMARY CREME FRAICHE

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary finely chopped

Beat the cream until it just comes together. You want it firm, but not completely whipped. Stir in sour cream and rosemary. Seal in an airtight container for at least 4 hours (it's best to let it rest for a week). 

Ta-dah! You made Creme Fraiche! It's also quite delicious dolloped on my Tomato Pear Bisque. If I'm feeling generous I might share that recipe sometime soon!

May your eats be delicious and your dinners divine!!
-Ashley XOXO