 It didn’t take me long to learn how to spell Mississippi when we moved here. Okay, I already knew how to spell it, but it took some time to stop me from reciting “M-I-crooked letter, crooked letter, I-crooked letter, crooked letter, I-humpback, humpback, I.” And, I’m not talking about some silly rap song. This is the way I was taught to spell Mississippi in elementary school. How about you?
Anyhow, when I saw this recipe listed in my new Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible, I knew it had to be one of the first recipes I tried. I’ve always heard of Mississippi Mud Cake (and Pie) but never experienced tasting one. Plus, what a more fitting title?
 This is a great party or pot luck cake. It doesn’t take much effort to throw together, and it serves a crowd, depending on the sizes of the serving slices. You can serve it completely cooled to room temperature, or throw each slice into the microwave, like I do, for 15 seconds. Paula suggests the completely cooled route, but I’m such a sucker for melt-in-your mouth warm chocolaty cake.
 Oh, and to cut the pieces into circles as pictured, no fancy tools are needed. Just grab a round glass and dig away!
This week, you have seen three recipes from Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible and now I’m giving you the chance to win your own copy! Smithfield is giving one of you the opportunity to dig into Paula’s book for free, so you can try out hundreds of other of her recipes for fabulous Southern cuisine. She covers everything from Sweet Potato Balls, to Hot Pimiento Cheese Dip, to Southern Brown Rice, to Cheesy Mac, to The Real Deal Gumbo and a bunch of lickin’ your lips desserts! She adds in some tips and illustrations to help give you visuals of some of the more difficult steps, too.
If you would like to win a copy of Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible, please leave a comment attached to this post telling me your favorite southern dish. Only one entry per person, please, and open only to residents in the United States. The contest will close on Sunday, February 26 at 9:00 PM EST. The winner will be picked randomly and announced next week. Good luck!
Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Smithfield, but the opinions expressed of Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible are my own.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
For the cake:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold the milk mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is firm to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and evenly scatter the marshmallows over top. Return to the oven for 5 minutes to melt the marshmallows.
For the glaze:
Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until fragrant, about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop the pecans.
In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, corn syrup, and chocolate. Stir over medium-low heat until the chocolate is melted. Pour the chocolate mixture over the top of the cake. Top with the pecans and coconut. Let cool completely before serving. (Or, serve warm if you're so inclined...) :)
Source: Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible 1.4 http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/24/mississippi-mud-cake-a-giveaway-of-paula-deens-southern-cooking-bible/ Copyright Pennies on a Platter 2007
 If you haven’t tried making stuffed cabbage, you need to. It’s truly an easy method, and you’ll be surprised at how the cabbage leaves just naturally roll right up and seal around your filling. My mother-in-law makes an amazing Syrian stuffed cabbage, that I’ll make myself someday and leave you with the recipe. But, for now, I’m sharing Paula Deen’s recipe with you and one that I liked just as much as the Syrian version. Although, they are much different.
These cabbage rolls are stuffed with ground beef, onion, raisins and rice, then topped with a scrumptious tomato-based sauce. Paula suggests serving them with a dollop of sour cream, but I forgot that part and definitely didn’t miss it.
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 medium head (about 2 pounds) green cabbage
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup cooked rice
- 1/4 cup raisins (I use golden)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- sour cream, for serving (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch pan with cooking spray or oil.
In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
 Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Using a small, sharp knife, cut in a circle all around the stem of the cabbage and remove the core. Place the cabbage in the boiling water. After about 2 minutes an outside leaf will come loose--pull it off and out of the water using tongs. After another minute the next leaf will come loose. Remove and repeat until you have 8 to 10 leaves. Pat the leaves dry with paper towels. Cut out the thick part of the rib from the bottom of each leaf, but don't cut more than a third of the way into the leaf.
 In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, cooled onion, rice, raisins, and salt. With the stem side of the cabbage leaf facing you, place a scant 1/3 cup of the beef mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom edge over the mixture and then fold the sides over and roll into a tidy packet. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish.
In a bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, broth, and paprika. Pour evenly over the cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Optional: Serve the cabbage rolls with a big dollop of sour cream.
Source: Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible 1.4 http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/23/stuffed-cabbage/ Copyright Pennies on a Platter 2007
 Today is the first of at least three posts I’ll be sharing with you this week out of my new Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible cook book. The folks at Smithfield sent me a copy during my move to Mississippi so I could quickly adjust to southern cooking at its best. After taking a few weeks to cook up some of the recipes, I’m in love. Moreover, I’m much more confident with southern cuisine!
In her book, Paula takes the time to explain what southern cooking is all about. Having been born, raised, cooking and eating in the south, she knows her stuff! Then, she (with the help of her coauthor, Melissa Clark) divides the chapters up by their different courses, beginning each with an introduction that outlines her favorites while providing her personal experiences and tips. And, no, the entire book is not all about butter, bacon and grease. There are some surprisingly somewhat healthy dishes, too!
 The first recipe I want to share from the book is Jambalaya. I’ve already made this a few times in the short month we’ve been here. Ben absolutely loves this dish, while I like it as well, but can’t take much of its heat. So, if you’re like me and can’t handle too much spice, you might want to turn it down a notch by reducing or eliminating the cayenne pepper, or choosing a more mild sausage. I also left out the shrimp, because although I do like different types of cooked shrimp, I didn’t feel like putting the money into an ingredient I don’t love.
You’ll love how quickly and easily this dish comes together! The most tedious part is measuring out the rice mix ingredients, but you can always make that ahead of time and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months until ready to use.
Tomorrow, I’ll be back with another Paula recipe and then make sure you come back Friday for a chance to win your own copy of Paula’s new book!
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 Tablespoon beef bouillon granules
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 1/2 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, such as andouille, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional)
In a medium bowl or canister, combine the rice, onion, parsley, bouillon, thyme, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt and bay leaf. Stir to fully mix. (This mixture can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months.)
In a Dutch oven or a large heavy bottom saucepan, combine the rice mixture with the rest of the ingredients, minus the shrimp. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Add the shrimp and cook until just opaque, 5 to 7 minutes more. Discard the bay leaf and serve while hot.
Source: Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible 1.4 http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/22/jambalaya/ Copyright Pennies on a Platter 2007
 It’s here again! Fat Tuesday…or Mardi Gras…the day that you can shove your mouths full of donuts, cake, beer, and whatever else fancies your pants because, well, tomorrow you’re going to give it all up for 40 days, right? RIGHT!? Even if you don’t observe the Lenten season, you are probably still familiar with today’s events, especially when speaking of The Big Easy, or N’awlins (aka New Orleans, LA).
I typically do not participate in the festivities surrounding Mardi Gras, but this weekend we had the opportunity to drive 3 hours due south, to the gulf coast where my cousin lives, and attend a family-friendly Mardi Gras parade. I didn’t know what to expect, but when we arrived at my cousin’s house, he and his wife had Mardi Gras t-shirts for me, Ben and Judah to wear to the parade! So, we scarfed down some pizza, threw on our shirts, and headed to town.
 The event was so much fun! I couldn’t believe all of the bead necklaces that were thrown from the floats, along with some other “goodies” such as moon pies, stuffed animals and even beer! Judah sat on cousin Tim’s shoulders the entire time and quickly learned his way of charming the parade attendants into tossing him some more necklaces. He was decked out in beads by the end of the parade, so much so that I had to worry if his neck was hurting! But, boy, did he enjoy it!
 Ben and I were able to capture some fun photos of different characters in the parade. We were both surprised to see men adorned in beads, galloping on their horses while chugging their Coors Light when the floats were done. It was quite hysterical. Overall, the whole parade was a fun cultural experience for us, and we can’t wait to attend again next year!
 And, next year, I’m going to make this cake again! King Cake is one of the age-old recipes associated with the Carnival season. Traditionally, a plastic baby or small bean is hidden inside the cake where the person who ends up with the piece with the trinket either is favored with good luck or must provide the next king cake (whichever the party decides). You can read more about the history of Mardi Gras and King Cake here.
 I made this to bring with us to my cousin’s house where we ate it after the parade. Since the parade was rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday, we ate it when it was two days old, but a quick warm up in the microwave was all it needed. I managed to have a piece the day I made it, though (you know, because I’m a food blogger and need to take photos while snatching a quick taste.)  And, I must say, it is definitely best the day it’s made. In fact, it’s pretty amazing. Extremely soft on the inside with a succulent cinnamon swirl.
 Even though this cake is supposed to be for the Carnival season, it was so good that I am tempted to make it any time of the year and vary up the icing colors to match any party. Definitely a great alternative to your typical birthday cake. And, guess what? The recipe looks long, but it’s actually very easy!
For the dough:
- 1/4 cup warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees)
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 5 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Pinch of salt
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 1 egg
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Oil for hands and bowl
For the filling:
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
For the colored sugars:
- 1 1/2 cups granulated or superfine sugar, divided
- Food coloring - yellow, green, purple (or a combination of blue and red to make purple)
For the icing:
- 2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 4 Tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream
To make the dough:
In a mixing bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and 1 Tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes until it blooms. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter, 4 Tablespoons of the sugar and the salt while constantly stirring. Once the butter is melted, stir in the sour cream and heat to luke warm.
Once the yeast is active, whisk in the warm butter and sour cream mixture, the egg and 1 cup of the flour. Whisk until smooth. Using an oiled wooden spoon, mix in small amounts of the remaining flour until a soft dough is formed (about another 2 cups of flour). The dough should be tacky, but not sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With oiled hands, knead dough until elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, use your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook to knead for 5 minutes. Add more flour by the teaspoon if needed. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl.
With floured or oiled hands, shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a well-oiled bowl, flipping once to cover with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free area until it has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
For the filling:
Near the end of the dough rising, make the filling. Combine the melted butter, cinnamon and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir until fully incorporated.
Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a giant rectangle, about 18 inches by 14 inches wide.* Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the outside of the dough.
 Roll the cake up jellyroll-style and pinch the seams tight. Carefully transfer the roll to a parchment- or silicone- lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Pull the ends together to form an oval or circle, then press to completely seal the shape.
![]() Cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for another 30 minutes. During this second rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
After 30 minutes, remove the kitchen towel and bake the cake in the center of the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
For the colored sugars:
While the cake is cooling, make the colored sugars. Place ½ cup of sugar into three separate small bowls. Drop green food coloring into one bowl and stir until evenly mixed and colored. Use the back of a small spatula or spoon to grind the sugar granules together and against the bowl for even coating, until there are no clumps. Repeat for the other two bowls of sugar to create one bowl of yellow sugar and one bowl of purple sugar (a mix of red and blue food coloring).
 For the icing:
Once the cake is completely cooled, make the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, melted butter and milk until smooth. The icing should be at a consistency where it can easily drizzle onto the cake, but not run completely off of it. Whisk in more powdered sugar to thicken, or more milk to thin.
Transfer the cake to serving platter. (At this point, you can stick a dried bean or little plastic baby in through the bottom of the cake if you wish to carry on this Mardi Gras tradition. This is obviously completely optional.) Slide pieces of wax paper under the sides of the cake so that it can catch any overflow of icing or sprinkles of sugar, but make sure the wax paper can easily be removed.
Drizzle the icing evenly over the cake and allow to ooze down the sides and middle. Immediately (before the icing has a chance to set) sprinkle on rotating strips of the colored sugars. Work this step speedily, as the icing sets very quickly. Slide the wax paper pieces out from under the cake and discard. Serve within 1 or 2 days, warm or at room temperature.
*Recipe Note: Careful not to roll it out too thin. I think my dough should've only been about 16 inches by 12 inches as it decided to burst (or stick it's tongue out at me during baking). But, I remedied it by cutting off it's "tongue". :)
 Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, originally from YumSugar 1.4 http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/21/mardi-gras-king-cake/ Copyright Pennies on a Platter 2007
 Today we are celebrating another virtual baby shower! Courtney, from Cook Like a Champion, is one of my blogging friends and I’m super excited to help celebrate the expecting arrival of her first child. If you haven’t “attended” a virtual shower before, it is basically a group of bloggers who post recipes they would’ve brought to a real-life shower. Since we all live in different parts of the country, this is the closest we can get to an actual party.
I chose to make these cream puffs for the shower, filled with strawberries and mascarpone. Cream puffs with a plain pastry cream filling seem to be the quintessential shower food, but I wanted them to be even more special for Courtney, which is why I chose this filling.
Always wanting to try my hand at cream puffs, the intimidation of the pate a choux (the dough) was enough to stop me. If only I would have read a few recipes a while ago, my fear would have quickly subsided. It’s only an easy method of boiling water and butter, then stirring in some flour and eggs one at a time! The only tricky part is the elbow grease involved when stirring in the eggs, but even that can be bypassed by using a food processor to do the work. (Let’s just make it clear that I did not go the “wimpy” route and definitely used up all of my elbow grease for the week. And, let’s make another thing clear, that I honestly don’t really think using the food processor is indeed “wimpy”. Can’t have any of you mad at me now.)
 You can spoon the dough into individual mounds, or pipe them from a zipper bag or pastry bag. I prefer the piping method, but make sure you have the right sized hole. My experience was a little frustrated while I had to pipe the dough three times before I got it right. The first time the hole I cut in the bag was too small, so the bag burst. I scraped it all back up, got a new bag and cut a MUCH bigger hole that ended up being too big. So, I scraped the dough up again and grabbed one more bag, thinking to myself that the spooning method was going to be my next move if the third time wasn’t a charm. Finally, I found my sweet spot and was able to pipe beautiful mounds just to my liking.
Let’s talk about the filling…ooohhh, the filling! We had some leftover in the fridge tonight after dinner, along with extra strawberries. Right now, I’m tempted to go back into my fridge for what’s left and run my finger right through it for another lick. It’s THAT good! Sweet, yet subtle enough to not overpower the puffs, allowing room for the strawberries to add in the right amount of additional sweetness.
Josie (our wonderful host) and Courtney both have roundups of the complete bridal shower spread, so make sure you head over there to check out other amazing dishes!
Courtney, I can tell this group of wonderful bloggers is especially excited for you in this time of anticipation for Baby C’s arrival. You are going to love being a mommy and you’ll be GREAT at it! Praying for an easy labor and delivery, and a healthy sweet baby! Congratulations!
Cream Puffs filled with Strawberry and Mascarpone
For the puffs:
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
For the filling:
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sliced strawberries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat; set aside.
Using a large sauce pan, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the butter. Once the butter is melted, stir in the sugar and salt. Reduce the heat to medium and mix in all of the flour at once, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a dough. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 2 minutes.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until each egg is fully incorporated and the dough is shiny and smooth. The dough will separate after each addition, but continue to beat until it comes back together. This will take some powerful elbow grease. Alternatively, use a food processor to mix the dough and all of the eggs at once, if desired. Either way, the dough should be shiny, smooth and thick when mixed well.
Spoon or pipe 8 to 9 mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 to 2 inches apart. Smooth the top of each mound with your finger. Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the mounds are puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.
To make the filling, whip together the mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
To assemble, slice the puffs in half and spread filling on the top of the bottom half. Layer with a few sliced strawberries. Spread another layer of filling on the bottom of the top half, then place over top of the strawberries. Repeat with remaining puffs and cream. Dust the plated puffs with powdered sugar and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.
Source: Adapted from Sunshine and Smile via A Pinch of Love 1.4 http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/02/17/cream-puffs-filled-with-strawberry-and-mascarpone/ Copyright Pennies on a Platter 2007
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( but even the one lifted my spirits and had me saying Laissez les bons temps rouler. Thanks so much for posting this, I will be making one for dessert tonight i think.
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