Makes 8 large or 16 small Biscuits

For the Biscuits:

3 1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 tsp sugar, plus more for tops

1 1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To prepare biscuit dough, place flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl, and stir together. Pour in milk and 2/3 cup butter, and mix just until dry ingredients are evenly moistened. The dough should be lumpy and sticky, not smooth like cake batter.  Drop biscuit dough in large spoonfuls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Chill biscuits for 15 minutes. With remaining 1 tbsp of butter, brush tops of biscuits and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before splitting and serving with sausage gravy.

For the Sausage Gravy:

1 tablespoon butter

1 log package sausage

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup maple syrup

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

In a large heavy bottom pot melt the tablespoon of butter and brown the sausage for about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Once at a simmer, add the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and maple syrup. Simmer the gravy for 15 minutes and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the strawberries:

1 pint strawberries

2-3 tsps brown sugar

2 Tbsp sour cream, Mexican crema or Greek yogurt

Wash, core and slice strawberries. Mix strawberries with sugar. Let sit at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes or until sugar has dissolved and formed a sauce. Mix in the sour cream.

Makes 12-15 six inch churros

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 or 5 extra large eggs

Canola Oil for frying

½ cup granulated sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

Combine 1 cup water, the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium saucepan and heat over medium high heat until the liquid starts to bubble around the edges. Add the flour all at once and stir briskly with a wooden spoon until well mixed and no lumps of flour remain.

Remove from the heat. Add 4 eggs one at a time, beating well with the wooden spoon after each addition, making sure to get into the corners and all along the sides and bottom of the pan. The dough should look soft and glossy and keep a “hook” shape when the spoon is pulled from the dough. If it does not, beat in the last egg.

Scrape the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pour enough canola oil into a deep heavy skillet (cast iron is ideal) to come to 1 inch. Heat over medium heat until the tip of the handle of a wooden spoon dipped in the oil gives off a steady stream of tiny bubbles (about 350 degrees.) Carefully pipe the dough into the oil, forming 6 inch long crullers, and making only as many crullers as will fit comfortably. Overcrowding the pan will result in soggy crullers. Fry, turning once, until golden brown on each side, about 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Put the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a paper bag, crimp the top, and shake well to mix. Drop a few crullers at a time into the bag and shake until coated. These are best served as soon as possible.

Makes Two 8 inch Loaves

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 extra large eggs at room temperature

1/3 cup grated lemon zest from 6-8 large lemons

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Glaze:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease, flour and line the bottom of two 8 1/2 X 4 1/4 X 2 1/2 inch loaf pans with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar int he bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves.

When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

This recipe is from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Parties! Buy it now.

This recipe is from the Early Spring menu that includes this stuffed chicken, small shellfish pastries to start, potatoes with garlic and asparagus puree with cheese for side dishes and orange souffles in orange shells for dessert. That sounds wonderful! This recipe for a roast chicken stuffed in the style of escargot has all of the delicious French flavors we should expect from Mrs. Beck including garlic, chicken livers, breadcrumbs, Cognac and shallots. I have transcribed the recipe for you below and included scans of the actual pages from the book.

Le poulet au beurre “d’escargot”

Roast Chicken Stuffed Beneath the Skin with Chicken Livers, Bread Crumbs, Herbs and Garlic Butter

Serves 8

Chickens and Fresh Chicken Bouillon

2 roasting chickens, 3 1/2 pounds each

2 cups chicken bouillon (she means stock or broth)

Garlic and Bread Crumb Stuffing

1/2 pound plus 2 tbsp butter

4 large cloves garlic, minced

8 to 10 shallots or scallions, minced

2 Tbsp each chives, chervil and parsley, minced (if dried, about 1/2 tsp each)

1 tsp dried thyme

2 chicken livers

3 or 4 Tbsp Cognac

2 cups stale bread crumbs, homemade from good bread

Salt

Black Pepper, freshly ground

Cream the butter in a mixing bowl with the garlic, shallots or scallions, and herbs, working thoroughly to make a homogenous mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Chop the raw chicken livers, combine them with the Cognac, and blend thoroughly with a fork. Add half of the bread crumbs, blend in the herb butter, and add the remaining bread crumbs. Taste and correct the seasoning. Set aside.

To Prepare and Stuff the Chicken:

1 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil

Turn the chickens breast side up.

Lightly loosen the skin of both chickens so that the stuffing can be inserted: first detach the skin on either side of the tail with the point of the knife. Then, dip your fingers into the oil and gently insert them under the skin of the breast. (If you have long fingernails, put on rubber gloves, so as not to pierce the skin.) Push your fingers gradually farther under the skin to loosen it as much as possible. In the same way, loosen some skin along the thighs and legs and a little on the back.

Carefully fill the areas between the flesh and the loosened skin with the stuffing (do not put in too much) and pat to distribute the stuffing evenly. Sprinkle the chickens inside with salt and pepper and fill them with the rest of the stuffing. Sew up all the openings, and truss the chicken.

To Roast and Serve:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2 or 3 Tbsp butter

Remove the grease from the chicken bouillon. Put the chickens into the broiler pan or a shallow roasting pan. Set the pan over medium heat and brown the chickens on each side. (If some of the stuffing escapes, don’t worry.) Pour 2/3 cup of the chicken bouillon into the pan. Then turn the chickens on their sides and set them into a preheated oven to cook for about 45 to 50 minutes until they are tender. Turn them halfway through the cooking.

Remove the chickens and keep them warm while completing the sauce.

Add about 1 1/3 cups of chicken bouillon to the liquid in the roasting pan, set over heat, and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a fork to collect all the sediments. Strain, return to the sauce pan, set over heat and let the sauce boil for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and swirl in 2 or 3 tablespoons of butter.

To serve, coat the chickens with some of the sauce and serve the rest in a sauceboat.

I recently made this cake to bring to a party which is why I only have pictures of the outside of the cake. As soon as I get a picture of the inside I will add it here. It turned out great! My inspiration was a recipe from Philadelphia Cream Cheese for Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake but I just couldn’t leave the recipe alone. With a vanilla cheesecake on the bottom and a vanilla mousse on top, I felt that those could be any flavor and the possibilities were endless! My combination choice? Chocolate and Coffee, one of my favorites. I have posted the original recipe below in black and my additions in red. I think some other nice options would be lemon cheesecake with lemon mousse, vanilla cheesecake with orange mousse and chocolate chip cheesecake with peanut butter mousse. What are your ideas?

ProTip: When a recipe’s ingredients call for something to be “divided” it means portions of the total amount will be used in different parts of the recipe so read the whole recipe through before starting.

Serves 16

40 vanilla wafers, crushed (about 1 1/2 cups)

3 Tbsp butter, melted

4 (8oz) packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened, divided

1 cup sugar, divided

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp vanilla, divided

10 oz bittersweet chocolate, divided

1/4 cup water

2 tsp cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 Tbsp plus 1/8 tsp instant coffee granules, divided

8 oz whipped topping, thawed

1/4 cup heavy cream

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix wafer crumbs and butter; press into bottom of 9 inch springform pan.

Place 6oz of the bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. Bring the 1/4 cup water to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted. If it does not melt completely, microwave for 10 seconds at a time until fully melted, stirring in between. Set melted chocolate aside.

Beat 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Do not over mix. Pour over crust.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool cake completely in pan.

Beat remaining cream cheese, sugar and (if you are staying with vanilla mousse add the 1 tsp vanilla here) 1 Tbsp instant coffee in a large bowl until well blended. Whisk in whipped topping; spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours or over night.

For the chocolate swirl on top, place remaining 4 oz of chocolate  and the 1/8 tsp instant coffee in a bowl. Bring the 1/4 cup of heavy cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate is melted. Transfer melted chocolate to a resealable plastic bag and push the chocolate into one corner. Cut off a very small amount of the corner of the bag and pipe your choice of designs on top of the cake. I just did continuous concentric circles.

Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake. Garnish with fresh berries if desired.