Pecan Chicken and Chocolate-Chocolate Desserts

Again we had company for dinner, long time friends from PA and their traveling friends.  They had booked a time share in Nashville, before realizing we live here.  When I planned the dinner, I wanted to make sure I was able to socialize and not be in the kitchen cooking. 

Nuts and Olives

Previous blog Cashews

Carmelized Onion Dip with Chips and Vegetables

Previous blog

Arugula Salad with Orange Vinaigrette and Manchego

Bon Appétit, October 2012

Pecan Chicken

Paula Deen, 2007, FoodTV

Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Butter

Paula Deen, 2007, FoodTV

Black & White Angel Food Cake

Barefoot Contessa at Home

Chocolate Sorbet

Previous blog

I will start with the salad.  This “green” actually used in the magazine was Treviso, a thin variety of radicchio.  I do not like radicchio, so I substituted arugula.  The salad was very tasty.  The recipe says serves 8-10, I served 6 but had a smaller quantity of green.    

Salad Ingredients:

¼ C plus 2 T EVOO

¼ C OJ

4 t honey

Kosher salt and pepper

1# Treviso (I had maybe 10 oz of arugula)

½ C chopped toasted walnuts

1 - 4 oz wedge Manchego cheese

¼ C coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 t finely grated orange zest

Directions:

1.      Whisk oil, oj, honey and vinegar in a large salad bowl until well blended, Season with salt and pepper.  (I forgot the s&p, it really needed it.)

2.      Add the greens to the bowl and toss. 

3.      Divide on the serving plates.

4.      Scatter the walnuts.

5.      Using a vegetable peeler, shave cheese onto salads.

6.      Garnish with parsley and orange zest. 

It was easy and a very pretty salad.  I wanted something light as the rest of the meal was not. 

Pecan Chicken Ingredients:

8 T butter

1 C buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 C all purpose flour

1 C ground pecans

1 t salt

1 T paprika

1/8 t pepper

¼ C sesame seeds

2 (2 ½ #) chickens, cut into quarters

¼ C pecan halves

1 C mixed red and green grapes

Directions:

1.      Melt the butter in a 10 x 15” baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.      In a shallow dish, combine buttermilk and egg.

3.      In another dish combine flour, pecans, salt, paprika, pepper and sesame seeds.

4.      Dip the chicken in the buttermilk and then in the flour.

5.      Place skin side down in the melted butter.  Turn to coat and leave skin side up. 

6.      Sprinkle with pecan halves.

7.      Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes. 

8.      Half way through cooking, toss the grapes onto the baking pan.

I washed and cut up the chickens the night before.  Earlier in the day, I breaded the chicken and then loosely covered with wax paper until the guests arrived.  It was pretty good.  Not as good as I expected, and I see no value added by the whole pecans and grapes. 

Squash Ingredients:

1 acorn squash for every 2 people (3)

2 T brown sugar (6T)

2 T butter softened (6T)

2 T maple syrup (6)

Salt and pepper (forgot as usual)

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2.      Scoop the seeds and stringy pulp out of the squash cavities and discard. 

3.      In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, syrup and salt and pepper. 

4.      Rub the squash cavities and cut edges with the butter mixture.  Place them in a Pyrex baking dish, cut side up. 

5.      Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.

6.      Serve 1 half per person. 

The acorn squash in the market was I thought unusually small, so I have quite a bit of sauce left over.  I froze it and plan to fix these for Turkey Day dinner.  They were good.  Sugar and butter!  What’s not to like. 

Last but not least, the cake.  This cake is a real winner.  It turned out beautiful and boy did it taste good. 

Ingredients:

2 C superfine sugar (If you do not have superfine, put granulated sugar into the food processor fitted with the steel blade and process it for 30 seconds.)

1 1/3 C sifted cake flour

1 ½ C egg whites at room temperature (12 eggs)

¾ t kosher salt

1 ½ t cream of tarter

1 t pure vanilla extract

½ C coarsely grated semisweet chocolate (2 oz.)

For the glaze:

½ # semisweet chocolate chips

¾ C plus 1 T heavy cream

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.      Combine the sugar with the flour and sift them together 4 times.   Set aside. 

3.      Place the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs form medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute.  (Mine took slightly longer)

4.      With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 ½ C sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. 

5.      Beat on high speed for a few minutes, until thick and shiny. 

6.      Add the vanilla and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. 

7.      Sift 1/4^th the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold into the egg whites very carefully with a rubber spatula. 

8.      Continue to add the flour mixture by fourths, folding until incorporated. 

9.      Fold in the grated chocolate.

10.  Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan (removable bottom if you have one), smooth the top.

11.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. 

12.  Turn upside down and cool on a wire rack.  When cool remove from the pan. 

13.  For the glaze, put the chips and the cream in a bowl over simmering water and stir until the chocolate melts. 

14.  Pour the chocolate glaze over the top of the cooled cake to cover the top completely and drizzle down the sides. 

Like I said, alone it was a winner, but I served with the chocolate sorbet.  It was the highlight of the meal.