Spooky Ghosts

We decided to get spooky over here: Check out this website for the recipe. Here are our adventures in getting Ghosty.

I doubled the recipe and used 4 egg whites. It made about 24 ghosties.

 

 

 

 

Chocolat

One of my all time favorite movies. And a lovely recipe to go along with it...and I know it's summer and one may not be in the mood for hot chocolate...but maybe after watching Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, you might be...



And the best line of this movie is: Johnny Depp, "I'll come 'round some time and get that squeak out of your door."

Yes. Please do.

Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon and Chile

Ingredients

cooking chocolate / couverture 1 cup
cream 1 cup
milk 1 cup
cinnamon stick 1 pc
fresh red chile 1 pc

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a thick bottom saucepan (to prevent ant burning)
Using a low to medium heat, slowly bring to a gentle simmer while stirring. This will prevent the chocolate sitting on the bottom of the pan and burning
Once the ingredients have combined and the chocolate has melted, allow to sit on a low heat for 5 - 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Remove the chile and the cinnamon stick
Bring back to a boil
Serve in small espresso cups or 1/2 fill larger cups, top with lightly whipped cream and serve topped with grated chocolate and/or a light sprinkling of ground cinnamon

Chef's Tip:

Chile should be placed in whole, this helps minimise the heat from the chile
and gives a nice mildness in flavour

If you can get smoked chillies this adds an even better twist to the drink

Blueberry Crumble Decadence

So my friend Toby has this amazing recipe for BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE. And when I asked her where she got it, she said The Smitten Kitchen, which is a wonderful cooking blog. And since blueberries are in season, I had to try it.

I made it the other night and trust me, I would run laps and laps just so I could eat this crumble piping hot and drowning in a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Try it. You just have to try it.

1 C white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 C all-purpose flour
1 C cold butter
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 C fresh blueberries
1/2 C white sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. In a med bowl stir together 1 cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a pastry cutter to blend in butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into pan. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer. Bake in oven for 45 min until top is golden brown.

Gourmet Dogs

So, for Lucy's Birthday we decided to try out some "gourmet" hot dogs I saw on Martha Stewart...they were delicious. My favorite was the Bulldog...the homemade coleslaw is divine. Check out Martha for more info...


Bulldog Hotdog (I love this one!)

Ingredients
Makes 6
6 all-beef hot dogs
6 hot dog buns
Mustard, for serving
Classic Creamy Coleslaw, for serving
Real-Deal Chili, for serving
Chopped White Onion, for serving

Directions:
Preheat griddle to medium heat. Fill a medium saucepan three-quarters full of water; bring to a boil. Add hot dogs, reduce heat to simmer, and cook until hot dogs are plump and heated through, about 6 minutes.
Using tongs, transfer hot dogs to griddle. Open buns and place interior-side down on griddle. Cook hot dogs and buns until lightly browned.
Serve hot dogs in buns with mustard, coleslaw, chili, and onions.
First published: February 2006


Coleslaw:
Ingredients
Serves 6 to 8
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 small green cabbage, (about 1 3/4 pounds), finely shredded
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks or coarsely grated
1 small onion, coarsely grated (optional)
Directions
Whisk together mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, mayonnaise, and sour cream in a small bowl. Refrigerate dressing, covered, until ready to use, or up to 2 days.
Put cabbage, carrots, and onion (if desired) in a large bowl. Pour in dressing, and toss thoroughly. Refrigerate, covered, until slaw begins to soften, 1 to 2 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days. Just before serving, toss coleslaw again.







The Ditch Dog (it doesn't get any healthier than this...homemade mac n cheese on a HOTDOG!)

Ingredients
Makes 8 hot dogs
Coarse salt
1 pound elbow pasta
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 pound white American cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, room temperature
1/2 pound Gruyere, grated, room temperature
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 hot dogs
8 potato hot dog buns
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat; generously salt water and return to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat milk and heavy cream over medium-low heat until warmed through.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir until well combined, 5 to 6 minutes, taking care not to let the mixture brown. Slowly add milk mixture, whisking until well combined. Bring to a simmer and let cook 15 minutes.
Whisk in cheese until melted and sauce has thickened; remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth; season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Stir in pasta until fully coated; set macaroni and cheese aside.
Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
Grill hot dogs until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer hot dogs to buns, and top each with about 1/3 cup reserved macaroni and cheese. Serve immediately.
First published: September 2008

Worms and Eyeballs

This is one of our favorite meals that we eat even when it isn't Halloween.



Here's how you make it:
Meatballs: 1lb of ground chicken (or turkey).
3 green onions sliced
1 chopped red/orange pepper
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic
2 T hoisin sauce (in the Asian food section)
salt and pepper

Mix together and form into little balls. Cook on baking sheet (cover with foil for easy clean-up) and bake for 12 min at 400 degrees.

Stir Fry Veggies:
Scallions
Peppers
Snow Peas
Zuchinni
Shredded Carrots
Bean Sprouts
1/2 cup of soy sauce



Cook in 1 T of butter.
Cook 2 handfulls of pasta (buccatini if you have it---makes it more wormy).

Add all ingredients with @ 1 C of soy sauce. Enjoy!




I know these meatballs don't look perfectly round, in fact they look a little like cookies. But, I don't love to handle the meat(gross), so I use a spoon---kind of like cookies. Except they're meat cookies, which doesn't sound very good...but they are delicious. Yum. The chicken is the best.


Tamari soy sauce is the best and because this recipe uses so much soy...I would use only this brand. I've tried it with other brands, but it didn't taste as good.

A Ghosty FHE

We made these cute little ghosties for family home evening. They were super simple.




Here's how:

1. Melt one bag of white chocolate chips over a double boiler.
2. Add 1 1/2 tbls of veg oil and stir until smooth.
3. Then with a spoon of chocolate make the head, arms and then the tail on wax paper.
4. Stick in a lollipop stick, (kind of roll it around in the chocolate to make sure it stays) and then add dark choc chips for eyes.
5. Stick the wax paper on a cookie sheet in the fridge for about 7 min. And voila! A perfectly spooky treat.

Enjoy!
xoxo
Jen