Witch's Cauldron Cupcakes

Have you heard of black cocoa powder?   Black cocoa powder is "ultra alkalized" also known as "super Dutched" cocoa powder.  This process turns it jet black, with a mild flavor but appearance similar to an Oreo.  The black appearance makes it ideal for Halloween baking and all things spooky.  I found these mixed Halloween sprinkles in fun colors with little candy eyeballs and it reminded me of the things in a Witch's Cauldron.  You know, "eye of newt and toe of frog" like Macbeth, only orange, black, purple and made of sugar.  I had this vision of a neon green "radioactive" looking frosting with these sprinkles like a bubbling cauldron.  So I grabbed my handy dandy black cocoa powder to create the base for these cupcakes.  The perfect black "cauldron" to hold that scoop of frosting and sprinkles.  Complete with a pretzel stick to stir the cauldron with.  I am so happy with how these turned out.  Halloween is my favorite holiday and my absolute favorite time of year to bake and create yummy Halloween treats.  Even though my tiniest devils like in Colorado and I don't get to bake for them much, thank goodness Mr. Devilish Dish understands my love for all things Halloween and doesn't mind eating a dozen neon green and black cupcakes.  In fact he said, "The base of this is a really good cupcake and everyone loves a homemade buttercream frosting." These cupcakes aren't just for looks.  They are a really tasty little treat that just happens to be spooky sweet.

Happy Halloween!
These might be my favorite spooky
creation ever.

Combine the dry ingredients.

You can see just how dark the 
black cocoa is.  It makes the 
flour look grey.

Melt the butter and semi-sweet
chocolate together.
Set aside and cool.

Cream together the eggs and sugar
until thick and pale.

You can see just how dark 
this batter is.

These cupcakes don't really have much
of a leavening agent so they don't 
rise very tall.  Which is nice, because you 
get a rich, dense cake that is the 
perfect cauldron base.

Make the buttercream frosting.

You want a thick frosting so that you can
scoop it onto the cupcakes rather than

a spreadable frosting.

Garnish with Halloween sprinkles,
eyeballs and a pretzel stick for 
"stirring the cauldron."

Have a Happy Halloween and
enjoy this wonderfully 
witchy dessert.

WITCH'S CAULDRON CUPCAKES

For the cupcakes:

2 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
9 ounces semi sweet chocolate
3/4 cup black cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tablespoons cake flour (*SEE NOTE)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.  Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Stir in semisweet chocolate until melted.  Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.  Whisk together black cocoa powder, all purpose flour, cake flour and salt.  Set aside.  

In a stan mixer beat the eggs and granulated sugar until pale and thick, approximately 5 minutes on medium speed.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour mixture in 3 separate additions, alternating the flour mixture with the chocolate-butter mixture.  Begin and end with flour mixture, and mix until combined in between each addition.  Place 1/3 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup.  Bake until cakes rise and spring back when touched, approximately 20-25 minutes.  Let cupcakes cool in muffin pans 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack and allowing to cool completely before frosting.  

*NOTE: you can make your own cake flour by combining 1 cup all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of corn starch.  Simply measure out the amount needed for recipe and store the remaining mix for another use.  

For the frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons milk
yellow & green food coloring

In a stand beat the butter until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar a little at a time to create a frosting.  Add vanilla and milk until the frosting is a thick texture.  (You will be scooping this frosting instead of spreading it.)  Add yellow and green food coloring until the desired color is achieved.  If you are using liquid food coloring you may need to add a touch more powdered sugar to keep the mixture stiff and scoopable.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop the frosting on top of each cupcake to create the look of a "cauldron bubbling and boiling over."  

For the garnish:

Halloween sprinkles and candy eyeballs
pretzel sticks

Garnish the green frosting with Halloween sprinkles.  I used tiny tweezers to place them on, rather than just shaking.  Insert a pretzel stick as the spoon for the cauldron.

Chicken Pot Pie Gnocchi

It's been hotter than Hades in Oklahoma this summer.  It's almost October and it is still 91 degrees as I'm typing this.  We are in a severe drought.  Yards are brown.  Gardens are meh.  As of mid September we've had 40 days that were 100 degrees or over.  It's the time of year that I'm getting tired of grilling and I'm ready for the comfort food of fall.  Except it doesn't feel like fall outside.  We had one day recently that wasn't 100 degrees.  It wasn't cool by any means, but I didn't care, I was making some indoor comfort food and willing the weather to cool down.  Even though Mr. Devilish Dish loves to grill or use his smoker almost daily, more than grilling, he loves a good pot pie.  I knew this recipe would lure him away from the back patio and inside for some comfort food.  This Chicken Pot Pie Gnocchi has all of the creamy, savory flavor of a good chicken pot pie filling, without the effort of making a crust or assembling a pie.  A package of gnocchi is the perfect substitution for the flavor and texture of a pie crust.  It reminds me of dumplings in chicken and dumplings.  In fact this recipe is like a mash up of a pot pie and chicken and dumplings.  Making it the perfect comfort food.  Especially if you are lucky enough to get some cooler weather.  

This is the most delicious comfort food
dinner.  It's like a cross between
chicken pot pie and chicken and 
dumplings but so easy to prepare
in one pot!

Sauté the carrots, celery and shallots.

Add the seasonings and garlic.

Coat with flour.

Cook for an additional minute.
The flour is your thickener.
Cooking it for a minute or two
will cook out the raw flour flavor.

Add the chicken stock and milk.
Kick the heat up so it starts to 
thicken.  Add your gnocchi and 
cook until it is cooked.
(I followed the package directions
for the correct internal temperature.)

Once the gnocchi is cooked,
add your shredded chicken and peas
and cook until heated through.

Season with salt and pepper and 
enjoy this delicious comfort food meal.

CHICKEN POT PIE GNOCCHI

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 small or 1 large shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
1 package refrigerated gnocchi
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup frozen peas

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the carrots, celery and shallot and sauté approximately 5-7 minutes until the vegetables begin to lightly brown and slightly soften.  Add in the garlic, poultry seasoning and thyme.  Sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, coating well.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add the chicken stock and milk.  Turn the heat up to medium-high.  As soon as the mixture starts to boil and thicken , reduce to a simmer and add the gnocchi.  Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the gnocchi are cooked.  Stir in the shredded chicken and peas.  Heat through approximately 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Smoked Pigs in a Blanket

I'm a sucker for a nostalgic appetizer.  Pigs in a blanket were a party staple when I was a kid.  Crescent roll dough wrapped around a little smokie sausage and baked until golden brown and puffed.  Not only were these a hit at parties, but they made a great breakfast treat or after school snack.  NOW imagine that childhood favorite with an makeover that includes your backyard smoker?  When I say these are so much better made in the smoker I am neither lying nor exaggerating.  Something about the convection air of the smoker really gets the pastry dough golden and crisp.  With just a hint of smoke flavor and an extra boost from your favorite seasoning brushed on top.  These are truly ELEVATED pigs in a blanket.  We've made these several times.  Sometimes we brush them with everything bagel seasoning, and sometimes we use an all-purpose barbecue seasoning.  Mr. Devilish Dish likes to dip them in hot honey.  I don't they need dipping, their flavor and texture is perfect as is.  Definitely try these the next time your fire up the smoker, you won't be disappointed!

The best way to enjoy a pig in a blanket.
IN THE SMOKER!

Separate the crescent dough and cut each
triangle in half.  Roll up a cocktail 
sausage in each triangle.

Place 2 inches apart on a wire rack.

Brush each pig in a blanket with
melted butter.

Sprinkle with your favorite
barbecue seasoning or everything
bagel seasoning is good too.

Smoke for 10 minutes at 225 degrees F.
Turn up to 350 degrees F and smoke an 
additional 15 minutes, or until golden, crisp
and puffed up.

Enjoy.  These are amazing.

SMOKED PIGS IN A BLANKET

1 package little smokies (cocktail wieners)
1 can crescent roll dough
2 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning (Or your favorite BBQ rub)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat smoker to 225 degrees F.  Unroll the crescent dough and cut each triangle in half.  Place a little smokie at the large base of the triangle and roll to the tip of the triangle.  Press lightly to make sure it stays rolled up.  (The ends of the sausage will not be encased in dough.)  Place each rolled up pig in a blanket on a wire rack about 2 inches apart.  Set the rack over a baking tray.  Brush each pig in a blanket with melted butter and sprinkle with seasoning.  Place the wire rack into the preheated smoker and smoke at 225 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat up to 350 degrees F and continue cooking for another 15 minutes, until the dough it puffy and golden brown.

Garlic Butter Shrimp Sliders

This has been a boring summer.  With the exception of a trip to Omaha for the College World Series we haven't done much around here.  A visit from the tiniest devils is the highlight for sure.  Most weekends Mr. Devilish Dish puts something in the smoker and I make some kind of side dish to share with you.  We sit in our pool, listen to 80's Alternative music, and make frozen drinks in our Ninja Slushi machine.  It's been so hot, we run all of our errands early in the morning and just hang around all weekend.  Often in our menu planning we forget lunches.  We're so excited for a new smoker recipe or a new frozen drink recipe that I forget to plan lunch.  Not this time though.  I made these delicious Garlic Butter Shrimp Sliders - which were a simple, and less expensive twist on a traditional lobster roll.  How can you go wrong with lots of lemon, garlic and butter?  These were a huge hit, and a great test run for football season when I'll definitely need some new ideas for gameday watch parties.  I even got to use the abundance of fresh chives from my garden.  These made an ideal light weekend lunch, but they are perfect for parties too.

A delicious alternative to the 
traditional slider!

The ingredients

Cut out the top and center of
each Hawaiian roll.

Try to keep the slab together.
It should look like this.

Brush the rolls inside and out
with garlic butter and bake
 until golden brown.

Meanwhile cook the seasoned
shrimp.

Fill the toasted rolls with the
shrimp mixture.  Top with 
chopped chives.

Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP SLIDERS

1 package Hawaiian-style rolls
12-15 large shrimp - raw, peeled an deveined
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp paprika

1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1/2 lemon
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Using a small serrated knife, cut out the top and center of each Hawaiian roll.  Place the slab of rolls onto a baking sheet and set aside.  

Cut shrimp into small pieces and place in a bowl.  Toss with old bay, paprika and olive oil.  Place in a skillet of medium heat and add sauté with butter and garlic until the shrimp turn pink.  Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice.  

Melt the 4 tbsp of butter and stir in the other two cloves of minced garlic.  Brush the rolls inside and out with garlic butter and bake for approximately 5 minutes or until they are golden brown and slightly crisp.  

Remove from oven and fill each roll with cooked shrimp. Top with chopped chives and serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Pit Beans

Shout out to Mr. Devilish Dish for this recipe.  It took some convincing for me to let him make this.  I'm partial to my Baked Beans recipe, which is really my mom's method which is really just emptying a bunch of random stuff from the fridge into a dish and baking it.  I rarely make my baked beans the same way twice, but we always love how they turn out.  When I say empty out the fridge I seriously mean add part of a jar of salsa, add a little bit of tomato sauce etc...So when Mr. Devilish Dish volunteered to make Baked Beans in the smoker, I was a little bit hesitant.  Not that I don't like the things he makes in the smoker.  For the most part.  Sometimes I don't want every part of the meal to taste like smoke.  And what's delicious to me about baked beans is that sweet and savory flavor combination.  I was afraid a batch of beans cooked in the smoker would be too smoky.  I was wrong!  These beans have that sweet baked bean flavor, with all the savory goodness of a traditional barbecue side dish, with just the faintest hint of smoke.  And that's not even the best part.  The best part is he mixes it all up in a foil pan and cooks it in the smoker so I don't even have to worry about the cooking or dishes.  This is literally a win for everyone involved.  And, you can cook these alongside whatever meat you are smoking making it so simple to prepare.

Cooked right alongside your smoked meat.

Thick and delicious.  The perfect combo
of sweet and savory with a little bit of
smoke and spice.

We used a Dutch oven for this, but you can
easily prepare in a large foil pan 
making clean up a breeze!

PIT BEANS

1 small white onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 (28-31 ounce) cans Pork & Beans, drained
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup barbecue sauce (NOTE- this doesn't have to be fancy sauce, grab one on sale)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/8 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce (or Allegro, Dale's or W Sauce)
salt & pepper
barbecue seasoning/rub (use your favorite)

In a small skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions approximately 5-7 minutes until the onions become translucent.  In a large foil pan, or fire-safe Dutch oven pour in the drained beans.  Stir in the cooked onions, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.  Season well with salt, pepper and a little bit of your favorite barbecue rub/seasoning.  Cook uncovered until the beans have thickened slightly.  The best part about this side dish is it can be cooked right along whatever meat you are cooking.  You just need to cook the beans long enough for them to reduce and thicken.  For 250 degrees F, they will cook approximately 3-4 hours.  At 300 degrees F, approximately 1.5-2 hours.  Be sure and stir a couple of times during the cook.  

Monterey Chicken

This recipe is an oldie, but a goodie.  I think I've been making this one since early marriage and that has been quite a while.  We love to cook and experiment so we are constantly trying new recipes here.  with the exception of some of our tried and true family recipes that we make often like Green Chile Stew, Greg's Chili or Gran Gran's Chicken Spaghetti, there are not a lot of recipes that are in regular rotation.  In fact, when we made this, we both agreed this is a recipe we should make more often.  I love grilled chicken.  One of the recipes that IS in our constant rotation is a Green Chile Chicken Sandwich.  Just a marinated chicken breast, grilled and topped with cheese and diced green chiles.  This chicken preparation is just a tasty variation of that.  It's a hearty main dish, it would be delicious as chicken sandwich, and it's a great way to use up a little leftover bacon and cheese. We will definitely be making this more often.  

One of our favorites. We need to make 
this way more often.

Once your seasoned chicken breasts
are cooked, brush them generously
 with your favorite barbecue sauce.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Add cooked and crumbled bacon,
diced Roma tomatoes and chopped
green onions.

Broil under a low broiler until cheese melts.

Serve with your favorites side dishes
for a delicious and flavorful main course,
or on a toasted bun for a
delicious chicken sandwich.

Be sure to add this one to your regular
recipe rotation.  I know we will!

MONTEREY CHICKEN 

(serves 2)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
your favorite seasoning
salt & pepper
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 Roma tomato, diced
3 green onions (green parts only) sliced

Season your chicken breasts on both sides with your favorite seasoning.  We used Cuso's Southwest Sand and salt & pepper.  Place in a hot skillet with a small amount of neutral oil.  Cook approximately 4-5 minutes per side, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.  When the chicken breasts are done, place on a baking sheet that is lined with foil or parchment for easy clean-up.  Brush the chicken breasts allover with barbecue sauce.  Top with shredded cheese, bacon, tomatoes and green onions.  Broil in the oven on low broil until the cheese melts.  Serve immediately while the toppings are hot and bubbly.

Twinkie Poke Cake

I'm a sucker for nostalgic desserts.  One of my favorite things to prepare is Twinkies on our Blackstone Griddle.  Once they become crisp and caramelized, I serve them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and call it Griddled Twinkie Strawberry Shortcake.  It's a really fun and impressive dessert, but it's not one I made when we are busy entertaining, or absorbed in watching a baseball game.  I say that, because I made this specific cake when we had guests over to watch OU Baseball playing their way to the national championship.  In the past both my Southern Pecan Praline Poke Cake and Coconut Cake have been huge hits.  And both start with a boxed cake mix.  I figured a Twinkie poke-style cake would be a huge hit, easily made ahead and a great dessert to enjoy while we watched the game.  This cake turned out unbelievably delicious, with a frosting that is so reminiscent of that delicious sponge cake filling. Seriously the frosting could just be in a post by itself, it is that good. 

A delicious, nostalgic dessert.

The ingredients.
Make sure you have oil and eggs 
to prepare the boxed cake mix.

Prepare the cake mix according
to the package directions.
Bake and let cool completely.

Mix together butter and marshmallow
fluff until smooth.  Add the powdered
sugar, milk and vanilla to create 
the tastiest frosting.

Place part of the frosting into a piping
bag and pipe into holes made in the 
cooled cake.

Use the remaining frosting to frost 
the top of the cake, spreading until smooth.

Serve and enjoy.

TWINKIE POKE CAKE

1 box yellow cake mix PLUS: oil, eggs, water needed to make the cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 large (16 ounce) container marshmallow fluff
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions in a 9x13-inch baking pan.  Allow the cake to cool completely.  With the bottom of a wooden spoon, poke holes allover the cooled cake.

While the cake is cooling prepare the filling/frosting.  In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter and marshmallow fluff, mixing until smooth.  Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until combined.  Add in the milk and vanilla.  Once this is smooth and combined, place about 1/3 of the frosting mixture into a piping bag fitted with a larger tip.  (The open-circle style works best.  I could not find that one, so I used a larger star tip and it worked just fine.)

Carefully pipe the frosting into the holes in the cake, making sure to fill them up.  Use a spatula to smooth out any overfill.  Use the remaining frosting to frost the top of the cake, spreading until smooth.