In New Orleans there used to be a local pastry shop known as McKenzie’s Bakery, just about every neighborhood in the city had one. You could drive to Algiers, Gretna, Uptown, Downtown, Mid-City, Metairie, Gentilly, Westwego, or the Lakefront and you could find one of the 47 or so locations. For over sixty-five years, the New Orleans culinary landscape shaped by their popular desserts, pastries and baked goods, yet the love affair would eventually come to an end. In May of 2000, the Entringer family announced that the company was closing up all their shops, but there was a short sigh of relief when a new owner announced plans to re-open some of the store locations, however within a year, they too filed for bankruptcy and by 2001, McKenzie’s Bakery had closed it doors forever. Some of the old locations have been converted to new businesses and some of the old neon remains, as in The Creole Creamery location in Uptown New Orleans.

Some of the beloved treats that McKenzie’s were famous for were the pastry shells, or in the New Orleans vernacular, called “patty shells”. These are small vol au vent brioche-like pastry shells fresh baked and sold by the dozen. The shops had a time keeping up with them around the holidays and during Carnival (Mardi Gras). Several catering menus around town included these on holiday fare, and would feature such savory items as Oyster Patties, Bienville Patties or Rockefeller Patties (all served warm), or even dessert patties with chocolate mousse or with fruit custards too. McKenzie’s were also famous for their ladyfingers, buttermilk drops, Blackout Cake, wine cakes, King Cake, Halloween Cookies and the Chocolate Turtle Cookies featured in this post. And one of Monique’s all time favorite McKenzie’s Bakery favorites is these little baked cookie morsels with pecans and chocolate frosting, she will be surprised when she finds about 4 dozen of them in the kitchen today.

On December 11, 2008 National Public Radio broadcast a segment with an interview of Marcelle Bienvenue, co-author of the book Cooking Up A Storm, click on the link where you can read more about the book. This book is a great tribute to the city of New Orleans and the rich food heritage that continues to flourish four years after Hurricane Katrina. The recipes lost and found by the local newspaper The Times-Picayune is a response to the post-Katrina community pulling together lost recipes through the food section entitled “Exchange Alley” where folks traded lost and found recipes.

One if the beloved recipes in the book are a very close version of McKenzie’s Turtle Cookies, found on page 294 and reproduced here with a few minor variations. There is also another variation of this recipe discovered during a short Internet research and may try that one out later…for now…here is the McKenzie’s Turtle Cookie recipe…brought back to life again!

Note: Click on thumbnail images for a larger view.

Procedure Steps
1.	Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
2.	For the cookies Beat with an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract and mix well.
3.	In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
4.	Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat well to combine.
5.	Place 3 pecan halves close together on an ungreased cookie sheet pan and then scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough on top of the pecans. Be sure they are about 1 ½ inches apart and continue until all dough is used.
6.	Bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges, then let cool on a wire rack before frosting
Frosting
1.	In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, chocolate and milk. Stir well but do not worry if it looks a bit coddled, this is normal.
2.	Pour the chocolate frosting into a mixing bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature.
3.	Add the vanilla extract and then gradually add the sugar and mix with the beater attachment of an electric mixer until smooth and thick
4.	Top each cookie with a dollop of the frosting or using a pastry bag with a star tip, pipe out the frosting into a nice iced design.

This is one of those amazing desserts that make you crave it again and again, especially if you are a chocolate lover. I also include my raspberry coulis recipe with this one too! The marriage of chocolate and raspberry is like no other combination and they were meant for each other! Using a cheesecake spring form pan makes it much easier and I include it in the tools list. You will be the hit of the party with this delicious dessert treat! This is a flourless cake, so anyone with a gluten allergy can eat it without worry.

This cake was as staple featured on the Columns Hotel dessert cart and sold out every night, and with only three ingredients for the cake itself it is quite a treat.

Each recipe makes one (1) cake that serves 12 to 16 portions, depending on how you cut the slices.

Serves 8 to 10 portions

Do you like slow cooking? We love slow cooking! Our slow cooker has paid for itself a thousand fold, and being that it is over 20 years old, it keeps on heating on! Our old crock pot in the image on the left is a Dazey, Model DCP-6, and it holds up to 6 quarts, we even use it for deep-frying with the crock insert removed.

Monique picked out from one of our one-pot cookbooks and in particular for slow-cooker specials and slowly simmered suppers this recipe. The wonderful thing about slow-cookers is you just set up all the ingredients, turn on the heat to the required setting and forget about it…well at least for 5 to 10 hours, depending on the recipe. Then you can enjoy a great one-pot meal!

The original recipe called for Andouille sausage, the spicy Louisiana favorite, the store brand Andouille looks nothing like the kind you get in La Place, Louisiana so we substituted some Polish Kielbasa in its place and it is some good. For more on Andouille, please click the hot link to delve. Served over rice this stew is perfect for the cold weather we are getting these days. You too can warm up inside with a bowl of this hearty black-eye pea stew!

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The Stir-Fried Rice recipe posted yesterday provided many variations for substituting ingredients, flavors, and the same holds true for Stir-Fried Chicken. There are options for preparation techniques as well as similar substitutions for the vegetable selections in this one. Following recipe guidelines from The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley Miller and found on pages 305-306, here are the basic ingredients, steps, notations and variations for creating this dish at your home. I have also added the option of substituting a little brandy in place of the sherry, in step 2.

For this recipe, I used a combination of broccoli florets, shredded Chinese cabbage, sliced button mushrooms, mung bean sprouts, diced tomatoes from the garden, and snow peas for the fresh vegetables and water chestnuts with baby corn for the canned vegetables. The 4 to 6 cups of vegetables seems like a lot at first, but when using Chinese cabbage it tends to shrink by a large volume and therefore requires a bit more than you think in the outset of the recipe, it will cook down. If you are using vegetables that do not cook down much then 4 cups will be just right.

Note: Click on images for a larger view.

Serves 6 to 8 portions

Procedure Steps
1.	Cut the chicken breast into thin slices.
2.	Combine the minced ginger root with the green onions, cornstarch, sherry, water, and salt, toss with the chicken, and allow marinating for at least 15 minutes.
3.	While the chicken is resting, slice the vegetables as selected from the list below.
4.	Heat 1 ½ Tbsp of the sesame oil in the wok or sauté pan and add the chicken and stir-fry until it begins to brown (2 – 4 minutes). Remove from the pan.
5.	Heat the remaining sesame oil in the pan and add the fresh vegetables and stir-fry until tender, then add any canned vegetables and heat through. Sprinkle with the soy sauce and sugar.
6.	Stir in the stock and heat to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and continue until the vegetables are tender. Return the chicken to the pan and stir well to reheat and blend the flavors, or about 1 minute. If the sauce is not the proper consistency or thickness to your liking, add 1 Tbsp cornstarch slurry and stir well to incorporate.

NOTE: In addition to the list from the Stir-Fried Rice recipe, vegetables and other ingredients incorporated in any combination of the following, with some duplicated here:

Onions, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms (fresh, canned, dried – soaked), black mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, celery, almonds, green peas, cucumber, asparagus, green peppers, red peppers, Chinese turnips, green onions, Bok Choy, spinach, or lettuce, mung bean sprouts, snow peas, and baby corn.

Variations: Dice the chicken and vegetables or cut both into strips.

For the ingredients in step 2, substitute either of the following mixtures:

3 Tbsp each cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry.

3 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp oil, 3 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp salt, dash of pepper, and 3 garlic cloves minced.

For step 6, add with the stock 1 ½ tsp sugar, ¾ tsp salt and 2 Tbsp soy sauce.