Chicken Strip Dipping Sauces

Update! I had said earlier that the original recipe that I posted is thicker than the restaurant version but with the modifications listed below in red, I think I may have a pretty passable copycat recipe!

Back home in Baton Rouge, there is a certain fast food joint that only serves chicken fingers. While the chicken fingers are really, really good it's the sauce that really makes them extraordinary! I didn't like the sauce at first but after awhile, I started to crave it. I have been known to order two more sauces so that I could dunk my fries in them, it is that good! The chain hasn't made it's way over to the Carolinas yet so I've been on a search for a recipe for me to make it myself. I've made this one and while it's thicker than the sauce you get from the restaurant, the flavor is very similar to what I remember.

Chicken Strip Dipping Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Guthrie's (where the BR restaurant allegedly got the recipe)

1/2 1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
Generous amount of black pepper (cover surface two or three times and mix in)
Buttermilk (maybe a teaspoon or so?)

Combine all ingredients. Think it out with a little bit of buttermilk. It will start to look and taste right as you blend them together, but it is best to let the sauce sit for a few hours before serving.

Whole Lemon Tart

If you like to look at pictures of food like I do, you should check out Tastespotting. It's a website that combs blogs for beautiful pictures of foods that usually include recipes. Or at least, I think that is what the website does, all I know is that I am subbed to it via a blog reader and everyday I am treated to a feast for the eyes. Earlier this month, I saw a gorgeous picture of a lemon tart that directed me to the food blog, Smitten Kitchen. Smitten Kitchen is a wonderful blog with gorgeous pictures and wonderful recipes and I look forward to making more recipes from it! I finally made this recipe this past weekend for a girls dinner party and not only was it super easy, it was delicious! The picture above is one that my friend, Karen, took of the tart right before we dug in!

Whole Lemon Tart

Source: Smitten Kitchen (this recipe is verbatim from SK)

1 partially baked 9-inch (24-cm) Great Unshrinkable Tart Shell, or your favorite sweet tart shell

1 average-sized lemon (about 4 1/2 ounces; 130 grams), rinsed and dried (a regular lemon will make a sharper, more bitter tart; a Meyer lemon, however, will really make this tart sing)

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar

1 large egg1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch

1 stick (4 ounces; 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven 325°F (165°C). Line a trimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and put the tart shell on the sheet.

Slice the lemon into thin wedges, remove the seeds, and toss the lemon and sugar into the container of a blender or food processor. Blend or process, scraping down the sides of the container as needed, until the lemon is thoroughly pureed and blended with the sugar, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the mixture into a bowl and, using a whisk, gently stir in the whole egg and the yolk, followed by the cornstarch and melted butter. [I actually just use the food processor for this whole mixing part, beating the other ingredients in until smooth.] Pour the filling into the crust but be sure to leave 1/4 inch between the top of your filling and the top edge of your crust. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake the tart for 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C) and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling, lightly browned and set. Don’t take the tart out until it is clearly set, however — you’re looking for a slight jiggliness with no suggestion of liquid underneath. Transfer the tart, still on the baking sheet, to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the pan. The tart is ready to be served when it reaches room temperature.

Pass: Fantastic Black Bean Chili

Fantastic Black Bean Chili was one of my pending recipes. Go here for the recipe.

So I made this recipe last night and while it looked really good and got some pretty high ratings on allrecipes.com, I was disappointed. I didn't care for the ground turkey since it lacked a certain depth of meat taste that I want in my chili. I didn't really take notice of it when I read the recipe but I really don't like that a lot of the liquid in the chili come from the black beans being undrained. I think I would have drained the beans and added in more flavor through the liquid.

It's not a bad recipe, just not fantastic. I do have to admit that it was very easy to put together and the recipe made a lot. If I make this again, I would use ground beef for the meat, drain the beans, use beef broth in place of the liquid from canned beans and maybe even replace the crushed tomato with Rotel tomatoes. But I have other chili recipes that I want to try first.

Apple Pudding Cake

In college I worked in the college bookstore. We sometimes had parties where we would lay food out in the stockroom next to the time clock. One lady always made an apple cake that was incredible. It was spicy with a sweet glaze that made the cake dense and moist. I had the recipe at one time but I seem to have lost it in one of my last six moves! Reaching back far into the recesses of my mind, I remember there being a can of evaporated milk in a sauce that was poured over the top of the cake when it came out of the oven. I went on a search for the recipe and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I found lots of good recipes but none that seemed right. But I finally found it! This is a very easy cake to make although I will warn you that when you fold in the apples, you are going to think that you did something seriously wrong. It is not going to look like there is enough batter for the cake but trust me, continue with the recipe as written and you will be rewarded!

Apple Pudding Cake

Recipe from Cooks.com

CAKE:

2 c. sugar

2/3 c. butter

2 eggs

4 c. chopped apples

1 c. nuts, chopped (I omitted because nuts don't belong in baked goods :P)

2 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

I eyeballed the following in probably 1/4 tsp increments each: cloves, ginger, nutmeg

SAUCE:

1 c. butter

1 c. evaporated milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. sugar

1 tbsp. flour

CAKE: Mix as for any cake, folding apples in last. Bake in a greased 13x9 pan, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. When cake is taken out of the oven, poke a few holes and pour the sauce on top to soak. Let cool.

SAUCE: Mix and bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute.

This cake is very moist and very rich. In the picture below the cake is sitting on an appetizer plate and each piece is about the size of a matchbox. This is more than enough to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth! It would be wonderful with a scoop of ice cream or even just a tall glass of cold milk!

London Broil Marinade

This recipe is excellent for a flank steak or a london broil because it makes a pretty cheap cut of beef taste pretty, well, tasty. In my area london broil always seems to be on sale and half a $5 packet will feed more than James and myself for a dinner leaving leftovers for lunch (the other half gets frozen). The key to making this tough cut tender is to let it rest after being removed from the grill and thinly slice it against the grain.

London Broil Marinade
Recipe from allrecipes.com

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (don't substitute olive oil, the fruity taste is too overpowering)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 teaspoons crushed ginger
4 pounds flank steak

In a gallon zip bag, mix together garlic, salt, soy sauce, ketchup, vegetable oil, black pepper and ginger. Add meat and refrigerate overnight. Flip meat every few hours. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate. Place meat on the prepared grill. Cook for 3 to 7 minutes per side and under cook it a smidgen. Remove from grill and tent with foil for about 10 minutes. The meat will continue to cook and the juices will be released. Cut thinly across the grain and serve!