Every community, particularly in the South, has those handful of classic community cookbooks that everyone seems to own, or haveaccess to, or just know about.  They are the reference points for the community table. Compiled by church auxiliaries, symphony leagues, historic societies, these treasure troves bind a community through the most essential love we all share. Food.   When you are at a party, or have friends over and someone prepares a great dish, how often is the answer to the recipe request, “oh, it’s in…”  In Memphis, the end of that sentence is frequently, “Heart and Soul” one of the most popular of the local Junior League’s cookbook offerings.  There are recipes included in Heart and Soul that people know by heart now, that are as much a part of the Memphis lexicon as an Elvis song.  But there a few that get overlooked.  This is one of those recipes.

I never really noticed this delicious appetizer recipe in the book, but awhile back, a friend served it at book club.  We were all much impressed.  She offhandedly remarked “oh, it’s just from “Heart and Soul.”  It took me awhile, but I pulled out the book and made the recipe myself, and it is so good, it is worth sharing.  These tender little golden bites are so surprising.  Rich with chicken and a real depth from the seasonings.  These make a nice change from your standard appetizer fare.

I have made a few adjustments to the recipe to streamline the prep, and I serve them now with a blue cheese dip, which complements the chicken and pecans so well. I do recommend celery salt, but if you don’t have it on hand, try your favorite seasoned salt or a little plain salt.  And these do freeze beautifully, so you can always have some on hand.

Chicken Pecan Bites with Blue Cheese Dip

For the Chicken Bites:

1 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs, at room temperature

½ cup chopped pecans

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1.2 teaspoon celery salt

For the Dip:

4 ounces crumbled blue cheese

8 ounces plain Greek yogurt

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 -2 Tablespoons milk or buttermilk

Generous grindings of black pepper

For the Chicken Bites:

Melt the butter in the chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a sturdy wooden spoon.  The mixture will roll away from the sides of the pan and come together in a ball.  Keep stirring until the mixture is relatively smooth.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, finely chop the cooked chicken breast.  You want small pieces.

When the flour mixture has cooled, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth and completely combined.  Stir in the chicken, pecans, parsley, Worcestershire, poultry seasoning and celery salt and stir until well combined.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Scoop the chicken bites onto the pan.  I use a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop for a nice hearty bite, which makes about 2 dozen.  Feel free to scoop smaller bites if you’d prefer.

You can preheat to oven to 400 degrees and cook the bites immediately for 20- 30 minutes until firm and golden, or freeze the tray of unbaked bites for a few hours until firm, then remove to a zip-top freezer bag.  Bake from frozen, but you may need to increase the cooking time accordingly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 24, more if you choose to make them smaller

For the Dip:

Place the blue cheese, yogurt, and mayonnaise in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add a little milk to thin it out to a dipping consistency as needed.  Season generously with black pepper.  Pour the dip in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

The dip can be made up to 2 days ahead.  You may want to thin it with a little milk before serving.

Makes 1 ¼ cup

Adapted from Heart and Soul: Stirring Recipes from Memphis

If you are like me, you always offer to bring something when invited to someone’s house.  I mean the offer, I always love an opportunity to cook for people, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with a quick idea on the fly. And when it’s one of those roaming parties – not a seated affair – choosing a dish that doesn’t have to be kept hot or cold or require and special equipment adds to the challenge.  I tend to fall back on the same recipes, but I recently wanted to add one to my repertoire – after all, it gets to be the same people at parties, right?  These little Fig and Blue Cheese bites are easy but very elegant, and the surprising tart and tangy with sweet combination is a real treat.

Blue Cheese and Fig Savories

You’ll find fig preserves at the grocery – it may be shelved with the “fancy” jams and jellies. You can make these a day ahead and keep them in two layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container.

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Ground black pepper

Fig preserves (about 3 Tablespoons)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the flour, butter, blue cheese and a few grinds of black pepper in the bowl of a food processor.  Process until the dough just comes together and starts to form a ball.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to pull the dough together. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin.  Cut rounds out of the dough with a floured 1-inch cutter and transfer the rounds to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Using the back or a round half-teaspoon measure or your knuckle, make an indention in the top of each dough round.  Spoon about ¼ teaspoon of fig preserves into each indention, using your finger to push the preserves as best as possible into the indentions.

Bake the savories for 10 – 14 minutes, until the preserves are bubbling and the pastry is light golden on the bottom.

Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes, the remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen

There are moments in the kitchen when you remember why you love to cook so much.  That flash of personal genius that leads to the creation of something really great.  A perfect moment of synergy when you find a way to combine your favorite ingredients into one sublime dish.  This Corn and Blue Cheese Chowder, begun and ended with smoky, crispy bacon represents that moment for me.  It’s nothing overly fancy, and surprisingly easy to prepare, but it is truly a big bowl of my favorite things. 

Served with a warm slice of Muddy Bread or Super-Quick Smoky Cheddar Loaf, this chowder could not be a more comforting meal.

Corn and Blue Cheese Chowder

This soup can be made one day ahead and refrigerated tightly covered.  Gently reheat before serving, adding additional half and half if necessary.

6 strips bacon

½ cup chopped onion (from 1 small or ½ a large onion)

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 baking potatoes, peeled

32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth

1 (10-ounce) bag cups frozen corn kernels

1 cup half and half

5 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, plus more for topping

Kosher salt

In a Dutch oven or stock pot, sauté bacon over medium heat until crisp and remove to paper towels to drain.  Drain and reserve the bacon drippings and carefully wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel to remove any burned or dark brown bits.  This will prevent the final color of the soup from being muddy. Pour about 4 Tablespoons of bacon dripping back into the pot, enough to coat the bottom. Add onions to drippings in pot and sauté until soft and turning golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for a further minute.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into small cubes, remembering that this will be eaten with a spoon, so they should not be too big. Add the potato cubes to the pot and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.  Sauté for two minutes, stirring frequently, then pour in chicken broth.  Add the corn and simmer over medium heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the half and half, stirring to combine.  When the soup is heated through, add the bleu cheese a handful at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Season to taste with salt.

Serve topped with crumbled bacon and additional blue cheese.

 Serves 6