Simple Goodness

I think one of the first African-American heritage cookbooks I purchased was Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine. It really inspired me to get serious about preserving my family's recipes. I used it to make my first strawberry shortcake. I became a fan of the biscuit version. The sponge cakes just don't do shortcake justice.

I walked into the grocery store recently and spotted a huge container of strawberries on sale. It was on!!! Strawberry shortcakes would be a treat. It was 66 degrees outside in April and I was going with the flow. It was the warmest it had been in Chicago since October.

After my recipe search, I chose one from Cook's Illustrated. I was intrigued by the recipe because the biscuit contained an egg. The recipe promised a "light, rich, cake-like biscuit." How could I not try it?

The recipe starts like all biscuits: mix the dry ingredients. I'm new school; biscuits and pastry dough are a job for the food processor. Miracle is always up to the task. As always, baking is a science; weigh your ingredients.

Cut up your frozen butter. I like to use a bench scraper for this.

Toss the butter in the flour mixture. Process using short pulses until the mixture has a sandy texture.

Dump the contents of the food processor into a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Add the liquid ingredients.

Mix with a spatula, gently, just until large clumps form.

Flour your board.

Place the dough on the board and knead it just enough so that it comes together. Be gentle! Shape into a rectangle.

Flour the biscuit cutter and make your rounds. Place them on a baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg white. Sprinkle with sugar.

Here's my secret. This was a recipe for six. I chose a smaller cutter and made 12 rounds instead. When you have a sweet tooth as big as mine and you live alone, you have to learn how to make desserts work for you. So now when I want something sweet, I can have a full-flavored dessert with a fraction of the calories. I'm all about mini sizes and individual portions.

Bake at 425 degrees.

Aren't they cute?

As you bake, you can get started on the berries. After they have been washed and hulled, grab your potato masher and go to work on a third of them.

Slice the remaining berries. Mix the crushed and sliced together. Sprinkle with sugar. I used some Splenda.

Let these sit for no more than two hours. They will keep longer than two hours, but the texture will degrade.

Let's whip some cream. I shamelessly admit that I stole this idea from Katy at Sugarlaws.com: balsamic whipped cream. Just add some balsamic vinegar along with your sweetener (Splenda for me) before you whip the cream. I enjoy strawberries with balsamic vinegar, so Katy's post sounded promising.

I think were ready to bring it all together. Split the biscuit by hand. Add a generous amount of strawberries.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream. Wow. Take a bite of the new season.

Tools of the trade:

• Salter Scale
• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Oxo Bench Scraper
• Le Creuset Large Spatula
• Silpat
• Oxo Potato Masher

Oh My Damn

I have been craving chicken and waffles for weeks. It started when the bootleg version of Roscoe's opened in Chicago. Bootleg is the kindest word I have for the foolishness surrounding the Bronzeville restaurant that I think was a year in opening.

Needless to say, because the Chicago version was named Rosscoe's, I had reservations about going. I also have issues about going to restaurants for soul food. Clearly it's something I can do at home. I really like going to restaurants to be challenged and inspired; I like to eat things that I haven't made at home before. So yeah, CPK -- once I nail your crust, it's a wrap! I also had my "Phil" of chicken and waffles at Phil the Fire in Cleveland (RIP).

Back to the subject. I skipped church today. I know; I'm a heathen. I had power chains put on my braces last week and I have had a killer intermittent toothache. Today I gave up and reached for Vicodin, so I figured not driving would be a good thing. The extra time at home gave the chance to rock a f'o' real breakfast.

Let's get started. We've fried chicken before. Brine it, flour it and get it into some hot grease. Drain it on a wire rack.

Moving on to the waffle -- this is my first waffle from scratch! Yea! I turned to Cook's Illustrated for the recipe because they had a recipe for two. This is the fluffiest waffle ever. I'm no longer missing The Waffle House.

Here's the setup: egg yolk whisked with melted butter; flour, baking powder, corn meal and salt; buttermilk; and an egg white beaten to stiff peaks. The genius in me decided to do this by hand. About 10 minutes later, I had stiff peaks.

Make well in the center of the flour mixture and add the liquid. Whisk gently until the mixture almost comes together. Be gentle! You don't want tough waffles!

Now, switch to a spatula and fold in the egg white.

Now you're ready to add the batter to a preheated waffle iron. Bake until desired level of brown. I don't like Belgium waffles anyway, but I must say that thin waffles are wonderful in this dish. I've had the dish before with the thick waffles and it just wasn't working for me.

Let's assemble, shall we? Get some syrup and butter. For years, I have melted the butter inside the syrup. Sometimes I add hot sauce to my ketchup. Shortcuts are a good thing.

Add your chicken. I have to put in a plug for the boneless, skinless chicken breasts here. I especially love them in this dish because everything can be eaten with a knife and fork -- all in one bite. Trust me. If you brine your chicken properly, you won't even miss the skin. Pour a little syrup on the chicken.

Grab the hot sauce and decorate the chicken accordingly.

You are now ready to get yo' eat on.

Damn. That was good.

Tools of the trade:

• Le Creuset Large Spatula
• Villaware Waffle Maker
• French Whisk

Seal The Deal

As with the grown and sexy mac and cheese, use your powers for good and not for evil. Break this out on good friends as a thank you or on your man as a thank you (or a promise)! I like chocolate, but I don't go ga-ga over it. This made me a temporary chocolate fool.

As a single woman, I have to barter to get projects done in my house. I have a mirror that needs to be hung and I've proven time and time again that I should not be allowed to hang anything. I don't measure and I have no sense of proportion. What a bad combination. Anyway, I worked out a deal with a coworker -- food for a mirror. He'd seen me flipping through a King Authur catalog and commented on how good their molten cake looked. I took that as a challenge. It was on!!

The challenge was further cemented when a group of us went out and the subject of molten chocolate cakes came up. I told them I didn't get the hype, it was just some uncooked batter. I was skewered and told that restaurants actually inject the cakes with melted chocolate. I realized I was talking to a bunch of people who didn't cook, so I was even more resolved to prove them wrong. I ended up proving them and me wrong. Here's how: Cook's Illustrated's Chocolate Volcano Cakes.

Prep eight ramekins. Butter and dust with sugar.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir until smooth.

Add the chocolate to sugar and cornstarch.

Lightly beat room temperature eggs and yolks. Add them to the chocolate mixture.

Mix until well incorporated.

Fill the ramekins (an ice cream scoop works wonderfully). The can either go straight to the oven or to the refrigerator for up to a day.

Bake on a baking sheet. The top should puff up and then crack. Cool on a wire rack for two minutes. Loosen the cake with a pairing knife, invert and invert again.

Serve with ice cream. This is homemade vanilla, which I'll write about later. Yes, I hate the pic below, but you get the idea. One day I'll be blessed with a digital SLR.

Tools of the trade:

• Shun Bread Knife
• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Ramekins
• All-Clad Double Boiler
• All-Clad 3-QT Saucepan
• French Whisk
• Le Creuset Large Spatula
• Ice Cream Scoop
• Shun Paring Knife