Maker's Mark Bourbon Balls

In my family, it isn't Christmas until somebody makes a batch of bourbon balls. This recipe, passed down from my Great-Aunt Marie, is the most popular recipe on HerKentucky!

Because the bourbon isn't cooked down, the candy retains the taste of the bourbon used. I think it's pretty important to use a rich wheated bourbon like Maker's Mark to retain the sweetness of the dough. Bourbon balls made with a rye blend bourbon (think Early Times or Old Forester) tend to add a bitter note. The paraffin wax is totally optional — it makes a smoother, shinier shell to the candy. Since this is an old family recipe, I include it, but it really goes back to the days when high-quality baking chocolate wasn’t readily available and the wax was needed to help make the chocolate adhere.

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Balls

This recipe yields between six and seven dozen bourbon balls.

• 1 to 2 cups good bourbon whisky (I use Maker's Mark)

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 1/2 to 1 cup whole pecan halves (optional)

• 1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 2 bags Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips

• paraffin wax

1. Place 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans in shallow bowl. Pour Maker's Mark over nuts, immersing completely. Cover and let soak 12 hours to overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecan halves in shallow pan and toast lightly for about ten minutes.

3. Cream butter in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Combine bourbon-pecan mixture with just enough powdered sugar to form a stiff ball. Refrigerate to let stiffen slightly.

4. Roll dough into small balls.

5. In double-boiler (or a sauce pan placed over a cooker full of boiling water), add a third to a half a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and, if desired, a small shaving of paraffin wax (no more than 1/4 cup). Heat until just smooth. Dip dough balls into the chocolate mixture. The key is to coat them quickly and make small, frequent batches of melted chocolate.

6. Place bourbon balls on wax paper to cool. Top each with a toasted pecan half, if desired. Results are better if you leave them to cool at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator.

Download the recipe card!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Today is National Gumbo Day. That might be the best holiday I can think of for football season, chilly evenings and, well... any autumn day! I made a big batch of chicken and sausage gumbo last night. I love this recipe because it can be as easy or as elaborate as you'd like it!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

• 2-3 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 8 links andouille sausage, sliced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 bag frozen 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 1 bay leaf
• Cajun seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Louisiana hot sauce
• chicken stock (recipe below or use one box of stock with additional water as needed)
• 2 cups dry rice

If making own stock:

• Skin, drippings, and bones from cooked chicken
• 2-3 garlic cloves, mashed
• 1 white onion, sliced in half
• 4 ribs celery, including tops and leaves
• 2 carrots
• 8-10 cups water

1.  Place chicken breasts and thighs in glass cooking dishes. Bake on 425 until skin is golden brown and meat is cooked through, about 35 minutes. (Breasts will take longer to cook than thighs.)
2. Allow chicken to cool somewhat, peel skin and remove large bones that can be easily separated. Place chicken in stand mixer with paddle attachment and blend on medium low speed until chicken is shredded. Pick through for any remaining bones.
3. If you're making your own stock, add all stock ingredients to a large stockpot, bring to a rolling boil, then allow to simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours. Strain and skim fat from top.
4. In Dutch oven, brown sausage in olive oil on medium-high. Remove meat and set aside, leaving fat in the Dutch oven. Add butter and allow to melt on medium-high heat.
5. Make a roux by reducing heat to medium-low and adding flour to the fat mixture. Stir constantly until the mixture is the color of milk chocolate. (If your roux burns, throw the mixture away and start it over with butter and olive oil and flour!)
6. Add onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, onion, and okra to the roux mixture; saute until vegetables are tender and onions are translucent.
7. Add reserved meats (chicken and sausage) to mixture and cover the mixture with chicken stock (homemade or purchased). Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 2-3 hours, seasoning with Cajun seasoning, bay leaf, and and hot sauce to taste.
8. About twenty minutes before serving, prepare rice according to directions on package. 
9. Serve gumbo over a heaping scoop of rice.

Happy Gumbo Day, y'all!!! 

Pumpkin-Peanut Butter Dog Treats and the Draper James #BeKindYall Challenge!

These cookies are Sophie-certified

The recipe I'm most frequently asked to share is for my homemade dog treats. They're full of pumpkin and peanut butter, and dogs go crazy for them!  I adapted the recipe from this one to make a double batch and amp up the pumpkin and PB goodness. This morning, I decided to bake a batch for my own dog, and to share with my friends' dogs. My friend Ashley just adopted a precious senior beagle from the Kentucky Humane Society (that story is coming soon!) and Cathy's Willie is recovering from severe leg injuries. Since our crazy dog lady crew has eight dogs among the three of us, it seemed like a great time to make a big batch of dog treats! Here's the recipe for you to print out for yourself! (Just make sure your friends' dogs can tolerate wheat! It's a pretty common allergy!)

View recipe on Kulinarian.com

It just happened that, as these treats were cooling this morning, my Draper JamesBe Kind, Y'all tote bag arrived, along with the #bekindyall challenge card. I love this idea: simple ways that you can make someone's day a little better. You'll notice that I may have edited my challenge just a bit! 

I have to say that this challenge has inspired me to find more ways to do small everyday things to be kind to others. I plan to use this tote to carry donations to the food bank donation bin at my local grocery store and dog toys to my humane society. I also plan to keep out some notecards to drop notes to friends more frequently. Thanks so much to Draper James for the important reminder to be kinder! (Click here for $20 off your next Draper James online order!)

How do y'all plan to be kind today?

National Fried Chicken Day

Today is National Fried Chicken Day! Now, I don't know who thought of such a brilliant holiday, but they're 100% correct. Fried chicken sounds wonderful for dinner tonight.

Now, Colonel Harland Sanders tapped into a brilliant psychological marketing plan when he named his famous restaurant. Appalachian grandmothers have been putting amazing fried chicken on the table for as long as anyone remember, so of course Kentucky Fried Chicken is something we'd all love.

Vintage Louisville Stoneware KFC platter

Now I've never had a lot of success re-creating my granny's signature recipe. It looks so easy; you just dredge the chicken pieces in flour and fry in a skillet. No matter how hard I try, the breading winds up coming off. I have the skillet temperature down pat, and I make a tasty breading. It just doesn't stick. My own fried chicken recipe is fairly simple. I let the pieces soak in buttermilk for half an hour or so. I prepare a mixture of flour, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a little cayenne pepper. I dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then deep-fry it in vegetable oil in a dutch oven. This process is quick and ensures a moist, perfect piece.

My recipe is below. Do you make your own fried chicken or do you entrust someone else with that job? (My granny, The Colonel, and The Merrick Inn make my all-time favorites!)

Thortons Kentucky Derby Bourbon Ball Donut

Bourbon balls are one of my very favorite Kentucky traditions. They remind me of holidays with my family; my great-aunt Marie always made bourbon balls using the exact same recipe that I use to this day. I always think of bourbon balls as a Christmas treat, or something to savor at the end of a bourbon distillery tour. I only recently learned that a lot of people make bourbon balls as a Derby treat as well.  This morning, I picked up a bourbon ball donut from Thorntons' new #ThorntonsBourbonKitchen line, and it was fabulous! 

If you're in the mood for a bourbon ball, my recipe is below, or you can just pick up one of those donuts at Thortons for 99 cents. It's the same flavor with a lot less effort! And let me know -- do y'all think of bourbon balls as a Derby time treat?

• 1 to 2 cups good bourbon whiskey 
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 to 1 cup whole pecan halves (optional) 
• 1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 bags Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips
• paraffin wax

1. Place 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans in shallow bowl. Pour bourbon over nuts, immersing completely. Cover and let soak 12 hours to overnight. 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecan halves in shallow pan and toast lightly for about ten minutes. 
3. Cream butter in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Combine bourbon-pecan mixture with powdered sugar to form a stiff ball. Refrigerate to let stiffen slightly. 
4. Roll dough into small balls. 
5. In double-boiler (or a sauce pan placed over a cooker full of boiling water), add a third to a half a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and a small shaving of paraffin wax (no more than 1/4 cup). Heat until just smooth. Dip dough balls into the chocolate mixture. The key is to coat them quickly and make small, frequent batches of melted chocolate. 
6. Place bourbon balls on wax paper to cool. Top each with a toasted pecan half, if desired. Results are better if you leave them to cool at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator.

Yields between six and seven dozen bourbon balls.

Coopers' Craft Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie

Pecan pie always conjures up holiday memories for me. My mom always makes three or four pecan pies for every holiday gathering. Now, I don't have the patience for baking on that scale, but I LOVE this new Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie mix from Coopers' Craft.

In case you haven't heard of Coopers' Craft, it's the first new bourbon that Brown-Forman has introduced in the past 20 years. Coopers' Craft takes its name from the Brown-Forman cooperage. Brown-Forman is the only spirits brand to have its own cooperage (that's where they make whiskey barrels!), and the new Coopers' Craft bourbon is finished with a curated mix of beech and birch charcoal for a smooth finish. 

The folks at Brown-Forman were kind enough to send me a bottle of Coopers' Craft, a container of their Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie Mix, and a Louisville Stoneware pie plate to sample. I've got to say, this is a delicious pie! It combines the rich warmth of pecan pies like my mom makes with a delightful vanilla bourbon note. It is so seriously easy -- you just add eggs and butter, mix well, and add the mixture to your pie shell! You can order your own Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie in a Jar gift set from Louisville Stoneware! It makes a perfect holiday gift!

For a great variant on this recipe, if "First Saturday in May" Pie is your thing, you can add a half cup or so of chocolate chips to the mix.

Thanks to Brown-Forman and Louisville Stoneware for this fantastic holiday recipe!

Rustic Italian Chicken with Red Gold Tomatoes

This morning, I had the chance to share lovely recipe for Rustic Italian Chicken (made with Red Gold® Tomatoes!) on WHAS-11's Great Day Live!

I love this recipe, because it's a delicious and filling meal with an elegant presentation, but takes very minimal effort through the modern miracle of slow cooker cooking! 

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, around 12 thighs
• 2 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning 
• Salt and black pepper to taste 
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes 
• 1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (15 ounce) cans Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes
• 3 cups penne pasta, cooked and drained (I like whole wheat pasta!)

Directions
•    Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place chicken in slow cooker and top with remaining ingredients, except pasta and garnish.
•    Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Serve chicken over pasta and garnish with cheese and parsley.