ummmmm cold, silky, creamy, buttery, satisfying chocolate!!

Being a true southern gal, I can honestly say that I love crunchy Pecan Pie.  But I equally adore Chocolate Cream Pie.  Rich homemade chocolate filling and a generous amount of fresh {real} whipped cream can truly cool you off on a hot, sunny day!  As wonderful as these two pies are, there is something so satisfying about my Mama’s classic cheesecake; add a handful of sliced Louisiana strawberries if they are in season if you want to dress it up.

And surely, if you are going to make one of these wonderful pies from scratch, by all means, Sugah, make a crispy, flakey real pie crust!!

ALL AMERICAN PIE CRUST

Makes enough pastry for one 9-inch deep-dish double-crust pie or two 9-inch deep-dish pie shells
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and put in freezer for 15 minutes
• 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening cut into pieces freeze like the butter
• 1/2 cup cold iced water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter the frozen butter pieces over the dry ingredients. Pulse the machine 5 or 6 times to cut in the butter.
Remove the lid and fluff the mixture with a fork, lifting it up from the bottom of the bowl. Scatter the frozen shortening pieces over the flour and pulse the machine 6 or 7 times. Remove the lid and fluff the mixture again.
Drizzle half of the water over the flour mixture and pulse the machine 5 or 6 times. Remove the lid, fluff the pastry, and sprinkle on the rest of the water. Pulse the machine 5 or 6 times more, until the pastry starts to form clumps.
Overall, it will look like coarse crumbs. Dump the contents of the processor bowl into a large mixing bowl.
Test the pastry by squeezing some of it between your fingertips. If it seems a little dry and not quite packable, drizzle a teaspoon or so of cold water over the pastry and work it in with your fingertips. Using your hands, pack the pastry into 2 balls, as you would pack a snowball. Make one ball slightly larger than the other; this will be your bottom crust. Knead each ball once or twice, and then flatten the balls into 3/4-inch-thick disks on a floured work surface. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling. Or you can freeze it to use for later.  About 10 minutes before rolling, remove the pastry to from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface.  Proceed as directed in your recipe. Continue reading →

Crawfish Shortcakes w a Warm Remoulade Sauce

ANOTHER AWESOME CRAWFISH DISH THAT CAN SERVE AS AN APPETIZER IF MADE SMALL OR AS A MAIN COURSE IF MADE BIGGER.

Either way this is a wonderful recipe to make this crawfish season for something a little different!

Savory Herb Biscuits  (12-14 large)
Chiqui Collier

3 cups White Lily Self-rising Flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh Rosemary leaves, chopped (optional)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon seafood magic or your favorite Creole seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (you may need a little more)

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together to blend well. Make a well in the center and add 1 cup heavy whipping cream and fold into the flour mixture. Add the remaining cream a little at a time until you achieve a moist but firm biscuit dough….just until the dough holds together. Continue reading →

Crawfish season is upon us here in south Louisiana and we are so blessed to be able to purchase precooked and peeled crawfish tails.  This makes preparing a quick meal so easy and delicious!

The recipe for this pasta dish came together the other night when my son Ben decided to cook our dinner.  He just looked in the fridge, the pantry and the freezer and came up with this delicious dinner in less than 30 minutes. Continue reading →

ITALIAN MOCHA MARBLE CHEESECAKE   RECIPE PAGE 196 IN MY COOKBOOK “COORKEY N’ORLEANS STYLE.”

This cheesecake was made with a half recipe of the ingredients.  The full recipe will serve 16 guests.  This was for 9 guests and we had extra to send home with some of the guests.

This cheesecake is light, airy and not overly sweet.  The reason for the lightness is the use of Ricotta cheese and not cream cheese and the fact that whipped heavy cream is folded into the batter before baking.  I used chocolate cream filled cookies similar to Oreos and scraped out the filling to use for the crust.  Sometimes you can find plain dark, chocolate cookie wafers and sometimes they are not available, so these worked really well!

I have also used unsweetened cocoa in the filling instead of chocolate milk powder with great success.  In the recipe it calls for three containers of ricotta cheese.  Try to use whole milk ricotta and each container should be 16 ounces.

This is a great dessert for any special holiday or gathering.  I promise you will get lots of compliments and requests for the recipe!!

…until next time, Bon Appetit,

Chiqui