Halloween Tricks and Treats!

April and Michelle - the Halloween Queens! They both shared their coolest Halloween goodies with us! What a treat!

Apple Bites

Ingredients

· Apples

· Slivered almonds

Instructions

1. Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.

2. Tip: If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.

Oreo Spiders - separate oreos, cut pull n' peel licorice (or other thin strips of licorice) to size of legs and stick it into cream filling. Replace tops of cookie (may need to use a little frosting for it to stick). Use frosting to attach candy (reeses or m&m's) for eyes.

Bone Breadsticks

Ingredients

· 1 ½ Cup Warm Water

· 1 T. Yeast

· 1 T. Malt (or Sugar)

· 1 T. Honey

· 1 tsp. Salt

· 4 C. Flour

· Butter

· Garlic salt and parsley (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine water and yeast in a bowl. Add malt, honey, and salt. Stir.
2. Add flour, 1 C. at a time, stirring after each addition, until a soft dough is formed. (Dough should be a little sticky, but easy to work with.)
3. Divide in half and continue to divide until you have 24 or so balls.
4. Roll balls into long bread sticks. To create the “bone” look, tear a slit at one end of the breadstick. Mold each piece of the tears into little rounds to create the boney edges. Do the same to the other end of the breadstick.
5. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with seasonings.
6. Let rise 10-15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 11-13 minutes.

Hot dog Mummies

Ingredients

· refrigerator breadstick, pizza, or rolls dough

· hot dogs

· Yellow mustard

Instructions

1. For each mummy, separate one piece of dough from the roll and use a knife to slice it to create thinner strips.

2. Wrap one strip at a time snugly around the hot dog. Leave about 1/2 inch of hot dog exposed for the face area and continue wrapping the top of the hot dog.

3. Bake the mummies on a cookie sheet at 350º for 15 to 18 minutes or until the dough wrapping is golden brown.

4. Remove the mummies from the oven and cool them for 5 minutes. Add yellow mustard eyes just before serving.

Eyeball Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled egg yolks
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon minced onion
green food coloring (as light or as dark as you want the green to be)

Mix all of the above together. Spoon filling back into egg halves (make them heaping).


For creepy effect:
Add a sliced olive over the filling in each egg.
Use a toothpick dipped in red food coloring to draw the bloody veins onto each egg.


Tip: Draw the veins on just before displaying/serving. If you have to do it ahead of time, do not cover the eggs in the fridge, or else the condensation will smear the red food coloring.

Halloween Finger Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
red decorating gel
sliced almonds

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.

Separately combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture.

If dough is too soft for shaping, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Work with one piece of dough at a time; roll dough into 1-inch balls. Shape balls into 3-inch by 1/2-inch fingers. Use the tip of a butter knife to make an indentation on one end of each finger for the fingernail. With a knife, make two slashes just above the nail indentation, and then three more slashes in the middle of each finger for the knuckles.

Place 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool for a few minutes.

Squeeze a small amount of red gel on each nail bed, and press a sliced almond over the gel for the nail, allowing the gel to ooze around the nail.

Note: You can add a touch of green paste food coloring to the dough while mixing for a monstery finger. Don't use liquid food coloring as that will affect the consistency of the dough, and could also make it more sticky.

Yield: 2 cookie sheets full of fingers, approximately 50-60 cookies

Witch Hat Cookies

Ingredients

· Hershey’s Kisses (unwrapped)

· Fudge-striped cookies

· Icing

· Sprinkles, candy (optional)

Instructions

1. Attach one Kiss to the bottom of a striped cookie, using icing to hold them together.

2. Pipe icing around the base of the Hershey’s Kiss.

3. Decorate with sprinkles or little candies!

Pizza Mummies

Ingredients

· English muffins

· Pizza sauce

· Black olives

· Green veggie

· Cheese sticks or slices

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350º F. For each mummy, spread pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin (toast it first, if you like).

2. Set olive slices in place for eyes and add slices of green veggie for the mummies pupils.

3. Lay strips of cheese (we used a pulled-apart cheese stick) across the muffin for the mummies wrappings.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.

Pumpkin Recipes!

Thanks to everyone that brought a pumpkin recipe to try! Here are some of the recipes, I will add more as they come.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Michelle McKay

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 pound can pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nuts (optional-I don't add these)
2/3 cup chocolate chips (or raisins if you want to be healthier)

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs, pumpkin, and water. Combine dry ingredients, then add them to the pumpkin mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

350 degrees
Small loaf pans 20-25 minutes (makes 7 or 8 mini-loaves)
Large loaf pans 45-60 minutes eke

Note: If you wrap this bread in saran wrap and let it sit for a day, it will be tastier and more moist for eating the next day. It is especially delicious if a slice is heated in the microwave for 10 seconds before eating because then the chocolate chips are gooey!



Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Heather Parker

4 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 cupes canned pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 inch bundt cake pan, set pan aside. Beat eggs and sugar until blended, beat in oil, add flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt into egg mixture, add pumpkin puree, pour batter into pan and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50- 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes then turn out and let cool on rack completely. top with cream cheese frosting.


Penne-wise Pumpkin Pasta
Jackie Costabile - from Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

Salt
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, grated
2 cups chicken stock
1 can pumpkin puree (15 ounces)
1/2 cup cream
2 pinches of cinnamon
1 teaspoon hot sauce, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
7-8 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced (I have a huge plant in my garden if you need some!)
Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

Preparation

Heat the water for the pasta, salt it, then cook the penne to al dente.

Heat the EVOO, about two turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and combine with the pumpkin. Stir in the cream, then season the sauce with the cinnamon and the hot sauce, nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-6 minutes more to thicken. Add a little extra pumpkin, if necessary, and stir in the sage. Toss with the pasta and parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Michelle Mulford

1 med-size carving pumpkin
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon (or more) red Thai chili paste
Curry

Chicken Broth or water
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt (or to taste)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle.

Carefully cut the pumpkin into quarters. Place on baking sheet, skin sides down. Drizzle each piece of pumpkin with melted butter and place in the oven. Roast for about 11/2 hrs or until the pumpkin is tender throughout.

When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle scoop the flesh into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and chili paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand mixer, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add broth a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a light vegetable stock would work here as well. Bring up to a simmer again and add the salt and curry to taste.

Serves six.

Adapted from a recipe found at 101 Cookbooks.

A Mexican Feast!

For our last cooking night we were taught how to make enchiladas and rice by Sister Aviles of the Spanish branch! She taught us how to make red and green sauce enchiladas filled with cheese and onions. Everything was delicious! See below for the recipes - please note these recipes were obtained from watching her cook, so you may have to taste along the way! Please leave your comments when you do try a recipe and let us know how it turned out!

Our next Cooking Club will be Tuesday, October 20th at Michelle McKay's house. We will be making some creepy Halloween food! Please bring your favorite recipe that has pumpkin in it! We will have a great night of Halloween feasting! Costumes are optional. Please email me your pumpkin recipe and I can put it on the blog.

Here is our gracious host, Sister Aviles.

Red Enchiladas with Cheese and Onions

Ingredients:
1 pound dried guajillo chili peppers
2 pinches of dried oregano
salt
water
2 T. corn oil, plus more for frying
2 t. chicken bouillon
12 corn tortillas
3-4 C. Mexican shredded cheese blend
1 C. minced onion
shredded lettuce and sour cream for serving

Here are the guajillo chili peppers at Wal-mart. They were in the produce section, at the end, right by the bananas. They do actually have scales at Wal-mart, I know there is one by the apples.
Directions:
Cut off stems of chili peppers, cut open and take out seeds. Put chilies in pot, cover with water, and heat on stove until the chilies are soft, for about 5 minutes. Then they look like this:

Drain some water (keep some with to puree), put in blender or food processor. Add oregano and some salt (a couple shakes). Puree for a couple minutes until smooth. Put a fine sieve over a bowl and pour puree through sieve to remove skin. Use a spoon to push it through:

Discard pulp. Heat 2 T. corn oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add pepper puree, some salt, and 2 t. chicken bouillon. Cook until boiling. Season to taste. Remove from heat.

Prepare filling by combining cheese and minced onion.

Heat oil in a skillet over high heat until really hot. Dip a tortilla in the sauce and then fry on each side for 10-20 seconds.
Remove to platter and fill with cheese mixture. Roll up and place on serving dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and cheese filling. Top with leftover sauce. Serve with shredded lettuce and sour cream.

Green Enchiladas with Cheese and Onions

This will feed about 4 people.
Ingredients:
1 pound tomatillos
1 jalapeno pepper
a big handful of cilantro
salt
2 T. corn oil
2 t. chicken bouillon
1 t. sugar
12 corn tortillas
more oil for frying
3-4 cups of shredded mexian blend cheese
1 cup minced onions
shredded lettuce and sour cream for serving, if desired

This is what the tomatillos look like at Wal-mart (they are on the refrigerated produce wall, by the green peppers, and right above the jalapenos). They have a husk on them when you buy them. Remove the husks before you are going to use them, and wash them.



Directions:

Place washed tomatillos in a pot and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the jalapeno (she added it later, not sure why!) and continue to boil, reduce heat, until very soft. Drain. Put in blender or food processor. Depending on how much "heat" you want, only add 1/4 to 1/2 of the jalapeno (When I made them, I did about 1/4 and it was not hot at all. I would go for 1/2 next time). Add the handful of cilantro, and some salt (1/2 t.?), and puree.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and pour in tomatillo puree. Bring to a boil, add the chicken bouillon. When it "sours", add the sugar, and continue cooking - probably only about 10 minutes total. Taste it and add more seasoning if desired.

Prepare cheese filling by combining shredded cheese and minced onions.

Remove sauce from heat. Heat more oil in a skillet over high heat. When oil is hot, dip a tortilla in the sauce and then fry in oil for about 10-20 seconds on each side. Remove to platter and fill with cheese mixture. Put in serving dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and cheese. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and serve with shredded lettuce and sour cream.

Chicken or Beef?

If you would like to make the enchiladas with chicken or beef, Sister Aviles gave us instructions for this too. For beef, just brown a pound of ground beef and roll it up in the tortillas. You would not mix it with cheese, but after it is rolled up in the pan, pour more sauce on, and top with some cheese. This is what she told me to do for chicken: cook a 2-3 chicken breasts slowly with water, chicken bouillon, carrots, celery, and lots of bay leaves. So what I did was put my chicken in a crock pot with water and bouillon (I added enough so it was like a broth), 2 celery ribs cut into chunks, and 2 carrots cut into chunks, 7 bay leaves, and I added about 1/2 T. of peppercorns. I let it go all day until I was ready to add it to the enchiladas. I shredded it and added some of the cooking liquid back into it to keep it moist, and a little salt. You may also want to add some of the enchilada sauce. Then just roll it up in the dipped tortillas, top with more sauce and cheese. Bake for a little while to melt the cheese. In my opinion, the red sauce is more suited to the beef, and the green sauce is for the chicken.

I also strained the cooking liquid and used that to cook my rice instead of water, and I left out the chicken bouillon.

Mexican Rice

When Sister Aviles made this for us she used 2 cups of rice, which made a TON! I have scaled down the recipe for what you would make for your family; double it if you have company. Remember, this is based on what we SAW her do, so you may have adjust seasonings to your taste!

Ingredients:
1 T. corn oil
1/4 C. + 2 T. minced onions
1 C. white rice (not instant) - use 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice
2 C. water
1 tomato
1 clove of garlic
2 t. chicken bouillon (enough for 2 C. of water)
2 t. tomato bouillon
1/4 t. salt

In a sauce pan, heat corn oil over med/high heat. Add the 1/4 cup of minced onions, and saute until soft. Add the rice, and "toast" for about 3-5 minutes, keep stirring so it doesn't burn.



While rice is toasting, put tomato, garlic, 2 T. of minced onion, and a little water in a blender or food processor. Puree. Add to the rice in the pan. Stir for a few minutes.


Add the water, chicken, and tomato bouillon, and the salt. Stir, bring to a boil, then cover with a lid, and turn down heat to simmer. Keep covered and simmer for about 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.

A Refreshing Beverage!

Here is the recipe for the drink Sister Aviles served.

Ingredients:
frozen strawberries
ice
sugar
water

Combine strawberries (looked like a whole bag of frozen ones), and all other ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour in a pitcher and add more water or sugar to taste.

Grillin' and Chillin'!

Thank you, Zumsteg's, for being our awesome hosts! Brother and Sister Z., shared lots of great tips with us. But first we learned that we were not barbecuing, we were indeed, GRILLING! Barbecuing is SLOW and LOW temps, while grilling is QUICK and HOT!

Sister Z. showed us her awesome recipe using New York Strip steaks, which have some nice marbling going on!

She also marinated some steaks in a store-bought marinade. She recommends only marinating for 30 minutes - doing so longer can result in tough meat.

Spice-Crusted New York Strip Steaks With Mesa Grill Steak Sauce

Steak Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons dried ancho chile powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons arbol chiles
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (plus extra to season)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground (plus extra to season)
• 4 (12 ounce) New York strip steaks
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• mesa grill steak sauce (Mesa Grill Steak Sauce)

Directions:

1. To make the spice rub, combine the ancho powder, paprika, coriander, dry mustard, oregano, cumin, chile de arbol, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper in a small bowl.
2. Preheat a grill to medium-high or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the steaks with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Rub one side of each steak with about 2 tablespoons of the spice mixture.
3. Grill the steaks, rub side down, until lightly charred and a crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip over the steaks and continue grilling for 5 to 6 minutes more for medium-rare; the steaks will be bright pink in the middle.
4. Spoon some of the Mesa Grill steak sauce into the center of each of 4 plates and top with the steaks. Or serve the sauce on the side for dipping.

Mesa Grill Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained (I use Kraft creamy Horseradish sauce)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons dried ancho chile powder
• kosher salt
• black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

1. Whisk together the ketchup, horseradish, honey, mustard, maple syrup, Worcestershire, and ancho powder in a small bowl until combined, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Cover and refrigerate for a least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld. Bring to room temperature before serving. The sauce will keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator stored in a tightly sealed container.

Happy steak eaters! The steak was soooo good and TENDER! Love that spice!

Now it's time for some ribs!

BBQ RIBS

Cooking Gear:

9 x 13 Roasting Pan
Wire Rack (needs to fit on top of roasting pan without extending too far beyond the edges of it)
Glass Loaf Pan (if metal, spray with cooking spray)
Foil
Plastic Wrap

Smoking Solution:

Liquid Smoke
Soy Sauce
Water

Meat:

Baby Back Pork Ribs

Rub (this is enough for two slabs of ribs):

3 Tbs. Brown Sugar
1½ Tbs. Spanish Paprika
¾ Tbs. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
½ Tbs. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
Dash of Cayenne

BBQ Sauce:

Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ Sauce
Hot Sauce
Honey


1. Mix all the rub ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Prepare ribs by laying them out on plastic wrap. Pull off the first membrane on the back of the ribs (the thin, almost transparent layer). Use a sharp knife to help lift this off. If the membrane gets too slippery to grip, use a paper towel.
3. After pulling the membrane off, turn the ribs over, meat side up, and massage the rub into the meat. Use a generous amount of rub.
4. Wrap in plastic and marinate in the fridge for up to 18 hours depending on your time constraints.
5. When marinating is complete remove ribs from the fridge. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Prepare the smoking solution, by filling your roasting pan with water about one inch high. Add ¼ cup soy sauce and enough liquid smoke, ¼ cup or more, until you get a good smoky aroma to your water (the more liquid smoke you add, the more smoky your ribs will taste). You really can’t overdo it. The water should look like a dark apple juice.
7. Place the metal rack on top of the roasting pan. Make sure all four corners of the rack are secure. Set the loaf pan, upside down on the rack.
8. Set the ribs vertically (with the bones going up and down) on the metal rack, leaning against the loaf pan. If your ribs are too long for the pan, cut the slab in half and put half a slab on each side of the loaf pan. I’ve fit up to three slabs of ribs on this pan. If you have more than one slab, layer half slabs vertically in a circle around the loaf pan.
9. Make a tent with aluminum foil, wrapping the roasting pan. You will need to use quite a few layers of foil. I usually will cover my pan with at least four full layers. Crimp all edges tightly to make sure no air escapes.
10. Bake ribs for 4 hours.
11. When ribs are done, remove from oven and let them sit in the roaster for 15 minutes.
12. Mix ingredients for BBQ sauce. Adjust sweet/spicy as needed.
13. Remove ribs from roaster and brush with BBQ sauce.
14. The Ribs can be eaten at this point or you can put them on the grill for five minutes per side, or under the broiler to crisp them up.

Removing the membrane on the ribs - the non-meaty side.

Pulling the membrane all the way off.

Massaging the rub onto the ribs.

Hello ribs!

The smoking solution should be the color of apple juice and you should be able to

smell the liquid smoke.

Here is the cooling rack, over the pan with the smoking solution, and the ribs

vertical around the loaf pan.

Top view

Cover everything COMPLETELY and TIGHTLY with foil!
This is your "roaster."

This is how they look when they come out of the oven - SOOOO tender and just begging for sauce!

Michelle is slathering on the sauce. Then places them on the grill, meat side down, to crisp. This could also be done in the broiler.

And they're ready! And they were SOOOOO delicious!

Grilled Veggies:

Vegetables of your choice
olive oil
salt
pepper
balsamic vinegar
fresh basil leaves


Select any veggies you like, I love asparagus, zucchini, plum tomatoes, yellow squash, red or yellow peppers, and eggplant. I have also done sweet potatoes, and baking potatoes, you can do corn on the cob, onions, mushrooms... you get the idea.

Whatever you use, wash it and cut off the un-usable parts - stems, ends, etc. Cut into thick slices, veggies like zucchini, eggplant, squash, or potatoes. For things like tomatoes, just cut them in half. Peppers, depending on their size, can be cut in half or in quarters. Asparagus just goes on as is - be sure to cut the ends off.

Put all your veggies in a large bowl or bag and drizzle in some olive oil (I use extra virgin), you want a thin coating on everything.

Place veggies on the grill and salt liberally. Use pepper also. Close the lid and let them grill over high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Check for grill marks - when they appear, flip the veggies and salt and pepper again. Give them a few more minutes. Place on a serving platter and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, if desired, and fresh basil.

Leftovers go great chopped up and tossed with pasta!

Time for dessert! Grilled peaches...

Grilled Peaches with Honey Cream Sauce

ingredients:
1/4 C. light cream cheese, at room temp.
2 T. light sour cream
1 T. honey
cooking spray
3 large peaches, pitted and halved

In a small bowl, mash together the cream cheese and sour cream with a fork; stir in honey until smooth. Coat grill rack with cooking spray (stand back!). Place peaches, cut side down on hot grill and cook until grill marks appear, 2-5 minutes. Turn over and cook a little longer. Serve peaches with honey cream sauce (or ice-cream would be good too!)