Everything but the Kitchen Sink Bark

Chocolate, salty, creamy, crunchy-everything you crave, all in one bite. If the candies I chose aren’t to your liking, feel free to substitute whatever you like. Movie night? Bring it on!

Ingredients:

2 (12 ounce) bags of semi-sweet chocolate morsels

½ cup dry roasted peanuts

½ cup peanut butter filled pretzels, lightly crushed

½ cup chocolate covered caramel candies (like Mini Rolos®)

½ cup chocolate covered toffee bits (like Heath Pieces®)

½ cup peanut butter filled candies (like M and Ms®)

Directions: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate morsels in a double boiler (no special equipment needed-just place water in a large pan and heat to a simmer. Place a saucepan that just fits into the top of the large pan and melt the chocolate in the saucepan.

Spread the chocolate out in an even layer on the parchment paper. Working quickly, sprinkle the chocolate with the peanuts, pretzels and assorted candies as you see fit. Lay a piece of waxed paper over the top and lightly press the candies down into the chocolate. Remove the waxed paper and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Break into pieces.

Enlightened Cannelloni

Cannelloni lovers unite! I have never been able to resist cannelloni on any menu. This is way different than your typical cannelloni, however. These have a very light feel to them and you can taste every single ingredient. Just a few notes first: Your noodles may tear when you remove them from the boiling water. That’s ok. Just roll as you see fit and use any broken pieces to patch the tops. I recently had something like this at a restaurant and it was completely made up of patches of noodles. I thought it made it very rustic and made it look more like it was made from scratch. However, if you enjoy trying to stuff tubes of pasta, go for it. You may also have some scraps of noodles left over. Save those and toss with a hearty sauce and you’ve got another dinner. This is very much an ‘it’s great, no matter how you make it’ dish, so please feel free to change up anything.

Ingredients (makes about 15 cannelloni-5 servings of 3 rolls each):

Filling:

1 (12 ounce) package Italian style turkey or chicken sausage, removed from casing and broken up if needed or cut into a small dice if not in a casing

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup onion, finely chopped

½ of a 15 ounce bag of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (you could just one square box, if you would like)

1 (15 ounce) container part skim ricotta

¼ cup grated parmesan

Salt and black pepper to taste

Noodles:

One package ‘oven-ready’ lasagna sheets (the ones I found are perfect-about 7 inches long by 3 ½ inches wide) or you could use 15 cannelloni shells.  

Sauce:

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (with liquid)

1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

¼  cup half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

About 1 cup of shredded or shaved parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown the sausage in a skillet (you may want to add a smidge of olive oil to help it along). Add in the garlic and onions-cook on medium until the garlic and onions are fragrant, but not brown. Add in the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat and transfer the sausage mixture into a bowl. Mix in the ricotta and parmesan and then add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray two large, shallow, casserole dishes with cooking spray (or use two 13x9 baking pans). Dip the noodles in boiling water for about 2 minutes or until just flexible enough to roll. Drain and quickly lay out on wax paper coated with cooking spray. Fill each noodle with about 2-3 Tablespoons of filling each, lengthwise and roll up. Place (seam side down) in the casserole dishes.

Make the sauce by adding cooking the tomatoes, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a skillet and cooking on medium 10 minutes. Remove from heat stir in the half and half. Adjust seasoning. Ladle over the stuffed noodles in the casserole dishes. Sprinkle ½ cup of the shaved/shredded parmesan over the top and bake the casserole for 20 minutes. Garnish with the other ½ cup of shredded parmesan. 

Hot and Sweet Orange BBQ Chicken

I am not a fan of heat for the sake of heat, but I do love layering sweet and tangy and hot together. The different flavors here are so good. Also, you can make extra of this sauce and use it for dipping chicken nuggets or even as a sandwich spread.

Ingredients:

Brine:

4 cups water

1/3 cup kosher salt

¼ cup brown sugar, lightly packed

Chicken:

2 ½ pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces

3 cups ice

Sauce:

1 orange

1 ½ cups prepared or homemade barbecue sauce

¼ cup hot sauce (I like Frank’s®)—more or less, depending on how hot you want it

2 Tablespoons honey

Directions: For the brine: Bring the water, salt and brown sugar to boil in a saucepan. Cook until the salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Place the chicken in a large zip top bag and pour the brine over it. Add the ice, close the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the sauce: Cut the orange into eights and remove any seeds. Place the orange pieces in a food processor (yes, rind and all) and pulse until it is pureed. Put the orange puree into a mixing bowl and add the hot sauce and honey. Save about a cup of the sauce in a small bowl for dipping the chicken later, if you wish.

To cook the chicken: Heat your grill to medium heat. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Place the chicken on the grill and cook, turning often, until the juices just start to run clear. Reduce the heat to low. Brush the sauce on one side of the chicken and then flip and coat the other side. Let cook 5 minutes. Repeat until the chicken registers 165 degrees F and the sauce is glazed and caramelized. 

Cardamom Buckwheat Pancakes with Whipped Orange Butter

I don’t know why, but I've really wanted pancakes lately. These buckwheat pancakes are amazing; they are earthy, slightly nutty and when the cardamom and vanilla hit the orange from the butter—Wow! Do me a favor and make a double batch (or triple batch) of the whipped orange butter. You will want it on toast, crackers, everything!

Ingredients (makes about 18 pancakes):

Whipped orange butter:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 Tablespoon orange juice

1 Tablespoon orange zest

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Cardamom buckwheat pancakes:

1 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 Tablespoon (packed) brown sugar

1 teaspoon toasted wheat germ (optional)

2 eggs, beaten

1 Tablespoon oil or melted butter

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

2 cups milk

Vegetable oil for greasing the griddle

For serving:

Maple syrup

Directions:

For the whipped orange butter: Combine all ingredients and whip with an electric mixer until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

For the pancakes: Stir the flours, salt, baking powder, cardamom, brown sugar and wheat germ (if using) together with a whisk. Stir in the eggs, oil/melted butter, vanilla and milk.

Lightly oil the griddle (you will need a little more oil for buckwheat than for traditional pancakes—they are denser and tend to stick more) and heat it to medium heat (a drop of water should dance when dropped on the griddle). Pour a circle of batter onto the hot griddle. Cook until small bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake (these take a little bit longer than traditional pancakes). Flip the pancakes and cook until you can see the bottom edges turn lightly golden. Remove the pancakes and keep warm. Check the griddle and add more oil if necessary. Repeat with any remaining batter.

Serve with maple syrup and a spoonful of the orange butter. 

Tamale Pie

Ingredients:

1 to 1 ½ pounds ground beef

¾ cup onion, chopped

½ cup chopped green pepper

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1 (15.25 ounce) can of corn, drained

1 (2.25 ounce) can of sliced ripe olives, drained

4 cups beef broth (or water, if you prefer)

1 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, whatever)

Chopped green onions and sour cream to garnish

Directions: Brown the ground beef in a large skillet and drain off any excess fat. Add the onion and green pepper to the beef and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomato sauce and 2 teaspoons chili powder to the skillet and cook on medium for 20 minutes, adding salt to your taste. Add in the corn and black olives and reduce the heat to a low simmer while you prepare the corn meal mixture (below).

Bring the beef broth to a boil and slowly whisk in the corn meal, 1 teaspoon chili powder and 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, whisking often. Be careful not to let the bottom burn. Adjust salt and chili powder to your taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 1.5 ovenproof casserole or large cast iron skillet with cooking spray. Add the corn meal mixture and spread to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon in the meat mixture to the center of the corn meal mixture. Bake for 20 minutes and then sprinkle the cheese on top. Continue baking for another 20-25 minutes or until the sides are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Let cool slightly and cut into squares or wedges.  Garnish with green onions and sour cream.

Fresh Blackberry Cobbler with a Hint of Orange

If anyone were to ask me what my favorite dessert is, I will always say warm blackberry cobbler. I love it any way it is done. This kind of ‘dump’ cobbler has always been my favorite, though. It is winter here, but most of my local grocery stores put blackberries on sale for a dollar per 6 ounce container. I grab four or five of those and I’m ready to go!

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh blackberries

2/3 cup water

½ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
½ cup (1 stick) butter

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine the blackberries, water, sugar and orange zest. Bring to a boil and then quickly drop the temperature down to medium. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the blackberries just start breaking down. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

While the blackberries are cooking down, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and milk together and set aside.

Place the butter in a 13 by 9 ovenproof dish and place in the oven until melted (about 8 to 10 minutes).

Remove the butter from the oven and pour the batter into the butter without stirring. Spoon the blackberries over the batter, without stirring. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly on top. Turn off the oven and let the cobbler rest in the oven 15 minutes more. Let the dish cool for 15 minutes or so and then spoon the hot cobbler into bowls and add a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Potted Devilled Ham

This is an excellent spread to serve with crusty bread, crackers, some pickles and some cheese—a perfect lunch. You can also turn this in a sandwich spread by adding some mayonnaise and maybe a little chopped celery and/or onion.

Ingredients (makes about 3 cups):

A little more than ½ cup cold water

1 to 2 teaspoons dry mustard (like Coleman’s®), depending on your taste

½ teaspoon turmeric

Pinch of ground nutmeg

3 cups coarsely chopped ham

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 Tablespoon capers (optional)

¼ cup butter, melted (for creating a seal over the ham)

Directions: In a mixing bowl, combine half of the cold water, dry mustard, turmeric and cloves. Toss the chopped ham in this mixture and then pulse in a food processor about 15 times until all ingredients are very finely chopped (almost like a pate). Add additional water, a little at a time, until the spread holds together to your liking. Stir in the pepper and capers, if using. Pack tightly into clean jars and then cover with about ¼ inch of melted butter. Chill until the butter hardens and then store in the fridge for a week or so. Once you break through the butter seal, use within a few days. If you prefer, you can just pack it into clean containers without the butter and use within a few days.