Recipes

Food is love, says Arden, the owner of the Blue Plate diner. I don’t disagree with her.

I love my readers and am delighted to share some recipes from Spark’s tables to yours.

Enjoy!

Elizabeth

Arden's
Fried Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half to make 4 thin fillets
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup corn starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A neutral oil for frying

Directions for Arden's Fried Chicken

Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a bowl. Add chicken and soak breasts overnight if possible, but for at least two hours in the fridge. About 30 minutes before you’re ready to start frying, combine flour, corn starch, salt, and garlic powder in a zip-top bag. Add one piece of chicken into the bag and shake, making sure to fully coat chicken. Remove coated chicken breast and set on a wire cooling rack. Repeat with the other three pieces. Allow coated breasts to sit on cooling rack while coating becomes sticky, about 30 minutes.

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a heavy skillet.

When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts. Do not crowd the pan – you may need to do two
batches. After 7-8 minutes, flip the chicken and continue to fry until the chicken is golden brown, and the internal temperature is 165 degrees.

Drain on paper towels and serve with a drizzle of honey on top.

Betty's
Broccoli
Salad

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon grated or very finely diced onion
3-4 cups raw broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
¼ cup raisins or craisins
¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
¼ cup chopped cooked bacon, about 6 slices

Directions for Betty's Broccoli Salad

Combine mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, and onion to make dressing. Add broccoli and stir. Refrigerate until time to serve.

Just before serving, add raisins/craisins, peanuts, and bacon.

Stir to combine and serve.

Rennie’s
Honey Moon
Cake

Using local honey makes all the difference with this recipe. This recipe makes one single layer cake. For a two-layer cake, double the cake ingredients and triple the frosting.

FOR THE CAKE:

1 ½ cups plus 4 tablespoons cake flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
½ cup whole milk
¾ cup local honey
1/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, more if needed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream or half-and-half
3 to 4 tablespoons local honey, more if needed

Directions for Rennie's Honey Moon Cake

FOR THE CAKE:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line and grease a 9 inch circular pie pan. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, honey, melted butter, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until fully combined.

Pour mixture into the pie pan and bake 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out on wire rack to cool.

FOR THE FROSTING:

Beat butter and powdered sugar together with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes or until combined. Add remaining ingredients and beat until silky. Add more honey if it’s too thick and add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin.

Once the cake is fully cooled, frost the cake and add a drizzle of honey across the top.