Turkey Charcuterie Board

I'm obsessed with making fun little charcuterie boards for various holidays.  My Halloween Fruit Char-BOO-terie board was a big hit, so I decided a Turkey Charcuterie board was just thing for Thanksgiving.  Imagine bringing this cute little guy and a bottle of wine to Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving?  It's just so fun and the ideas are endless, as to the meats, cheeses, fruits and crackers.  I have a giant round board I like to use for tailgates and parties, and I think it would make a gorgeous turkey board.  It's pretty huge, and since I was making this board for just my husband and I, this version was more simple.  I just used an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers and grapes.  You could certainly make his feathers fancier with the addition of apple slices, more nuts, and even small bowls of mustards and jams.  All you need is a pear for the body and then go to town with your favorite charcuterie board ingredients.  You can be as whimsical as you want (with candy eyes) or go for a more classic look with dried whole cloves or pepper corns.  Whatever you decide, this will be a fun and delicious addition to any Thanksgiving get together.  Who doesn't love to graze on some cheese and crackers while the real turkey is cooking!

THIS and a bottle of wine.
The perfect FRIENDSGIVING.

Grab your standard charcuterie ingredients
plus a pear for the turkey body.

I used candy eyes and cheese for the beak.

Create the look of feathers by alternating
meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, nuts,
olives etc... on a round board.
Use your imagination.  The bigger your board
the more "feathers" and ingredients you can add.

Fill in any gaps with small clusters of 
grapes and garnish with fresh rosemary.

Serve with some good wine and have
a Happy Thanksgiving.

TURKEY CHARCUTERIE BOARD

1 pear (brown, red or green)
assorted meats, cheeses and crackers
assorted fruits
smoked almonds and other nuts
Optional: Candy eyes 
Fresh Rosemary for garnish

Cut your pear in half.  Place him at the bottom of a round charcuterie board or platter.  If you wish to add eyes, do it now.  I cut a piece of cheese for the beak and turkey wattle.  If you want your turkey to look less whimsical you can skip this step. 

Place the smoked almonds around the pear (turkey body) 

Begin alternating meats, cheeses, crackers and fruit in concentric circles around the pear to create the look of feathers.  For round pieces of salami and other meats, fold them in half, and then in half again.  This will give your board some depth, and create a ruffled look.  You can also opt to place your ingredients in single rows so each "feather" is a different color.  Think a vertical row of cheese, then crackers, then meat, then nuts etc... There really is no correct way to do this, just fill it all in an make it look nice and tasty. 

Fill in any gaps with small bunches of grapes and fresh rosemary.

Enjoy.

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies - It's National Espresso Day

It's National Espresso Day, and I debated whether I wanted to post a demo of Mr. Devilish Dish making a perfect cup full of espresso at our home coffee bar, or whether I wanted to post an actual recipe.  The other night we attended a cooking class.  The chef made the most decadent chocolate sorbet an he discussed how adding instant espresso powder to recipes really amplifies the flavor of chocolate.  I've long known the addition of espresso powder to a chocolate cake recipe will make the cake even more decadent.  That's when I decided the espresso brewing demo would be another day and I would share the tastiest chocolate chip cookies with you.  What instant espresso does to enhance the chocolate flavor of a cake, does that same thing to enhance the flavor of the chocolate chips.  Think of your favorite childhood cookie, taken to the next level with the subtle hint of grown up espresso flavor.  And the sprinkle of flaky sea salt at the end enhances the flavors even more.  While these cookies are perfect alone, or with a tall glass of cold milk, they are even better with a hot cup of coffee or espresso.  Afterall, we are celebrating National Espresso Day!

The Ingredients

Steep the espresso granules in the melted butter

Strain butter through a fine mesh strainer
into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Follow the directions for making
the dough.  
THEN CHILL THE DOUGH.

Once the dough has chilled,
use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough.

Place onto parchment-lined cookie sheets
and bake.

Sprinkle with flaky sea salt
as soon as you removed the cookies
from the oven.

Cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy with coffee.

A sweet and salty sensation,
enhanced by the addition of espresso granules.

I can't even begin to explain to you how tasty
the espresso-infused butter makes this recipe.
Celebrate National Espresso Day by 
trying it for yourself.

ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
1/4 cup instant espresso granules
3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon espresso granules
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
flaky sea salt such as Maldon

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Turn off the heat and add the 1/4 cup of instant espresso granules.  Stir well.  Cover the pan with the lid and allow the butter to steep with the espresso grounds.  Pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer in to the bowl of a stand mixer.  (Discard the espresso grounds) 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, tablespoon of espresso grounds, baking powder, baking soda and Kosher salt.  Set aside.  

To the butter in the stand mixer, add the brown sugar and granulated sugar.  Beat together until mixture is fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time until combine.  Add in the vanilla and mix once more.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time until incorporated into the creamed butter mixture.  Once your cookie dough is combined, stir in the chocolate chips.

At this point, cover the dough and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or over night.  Do not skip this part.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.  Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop your ball of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.  With the size of my scoop, I placed 12 cookies per pan.  Bake 7-11 minutes (depending upon how chilled your dough is) or until the cookies are a medium golden brown.  Upon removing from the oven, immediately sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of flaky sea alt.  Allow to cool on the pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Mini Pumpkin Cheeseballs

I'm so excited to share these little cheeseballs.  They are quite simple to make, but they are so tasty and so cute.  They would be ideal to take to a Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving meal, or an adorable addition to a charcuterie board.  The best part is the cheeseball mixture itself is a great base for whatever garnish you decide to roll your pumpkins in.  I used Everything Bagel Seasoning, Cajun Seasoning, Italian Seasoning and crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos.  You could also roll them into freshly chopped herbs, toasted sesame seed, black sesame seeds. smoked paprika, finely chopped nuts and more.  The flavors and ideas are endless.  Mr. Devilish Dish really liked the Italian Seasoning and the Cajun Seasoning the best.  The variety of color and flavor combinations are what makes these so cute.  Each batch of cheeseball mixture makes approximately 7 little pumpkin cheeseballs, so plan your toppings accordingly.  Simply serve them with a variety of crackers and sliced apples or pears and you've got the cutest little holiday snack platter around.  Bonus, you can make the cheeseball mixture in advance and create the pumpkins slightly in advance of serving.  A make ahead recipe we can all use this time of year, with a presentation that will WOW everyone that sees it!

The CUTEST little pumpkins in the patch.

The cheeseball ingredients are fairly simple.
That way you have a good base flavor 
before rolling the mini cheeseballs 
into a multitude of flavor toppings such as:

Crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos.
Use a mini food processor to finely crush toppings
like chips or nuts.

Scoop the mixture with a large 
cookie scoop so you have 7-8 uniform
sized cheeseballs.

Scoop them all out...

Roll them into assorted toppings
for varying colors.

Use a piece of butcher's twine to press
the look of the pumpkin segments into the cheeseballs.

Rotate the cheeseball until you have 8 segments.

Add a pretzel stick stem.

Place the pumpkin cheeseballs on a platter
and chill 1-2 hours before serving.

Opt for assorted toppings so you have 
a variety of pumpkin colors on your platter.

Aren't these just the cutest.

Serve with crackers or sliced apples and pears.

Choose toppings like Italian Seasoning,
Cajun Seasoning, Everything Bagel Seasoning,
crushed chips, chopped nuts, black sesame 
seeds, finely chopped fresh herbs.

Using the butcher's twine really helps 
make them look like real pumpkins.

What a fun holiday appetizer or
addition to a charcuterie board!

MINI PUMPKIN CHEESEBALLS

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1 packet (1 ounce) Ranch dressing mix
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
pretzel sticks for stems
Assorted seasonings, chopped nuts and herbs for garnish

Assorted crackers and sliced apples or pears for serving

In a mixing bowl or stand mixer combine the cream cheese, shredded cheddar, dry ranch seasoning and Worcestershire sauce until smooth.  Use a large cookie scoop to make small balls (about the size of a regular scoop of ice cream - slightly larger than a golf ball.)  

Roll the balls into assorted herbs and seasonings such as Italian seasoning, Everything Bagel Crunch, crushed Doritos chips, finely chopped nuts, etc...

Using a piece of butcher's twine, press into the cheese mixture in opposite directions to create the look of the pumpkin segments.  

Add a pretzel stick for the stem. Place onto serving platter.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to firm up before serving.

Harvest Chex Mix

So I have two things I need to admit.  First, when I made holiday themed things for the blog, I typically do it in advance.  So when you think we might be eating Eerie Eyeball Pasta Salad the week of Halloween, we are really eating it in August or September.  So during the month of October, I was busy planning Fall and Thanksgiving themed things to make.  When I came up with this Harvest Chex Mix as an idea for Thanksgiving snacking, or little hostess gifts for Thanksgiving Day, I really made it in October.  The second thing I will admit it although the intention is for the Bugles chips to look like little cornucopias for Thanksgiving, I bagged this Chex Mix up and gave it away for Halloween.  All of my family and friends got a cute little Halloween sack full of this and I flat out admitted, "This is really a Thanksgiving-themed snack mix but it's for the blog so pretend this is a Halloween gift."  No one complained, because it's pretty tasty and so cute.  I think a big bowl of this for guests to munch on while the Thanksgiving meal is being prepared would be ideal.  Or to enjoy while watching those holiday football games.  OR bagged up into Thanksgiving-themed treat bags as a cute little hostess gift if you happen to be visiting someone else's home for the holiday meal.  The colors are perfect for the holiday and the addition of the candy pumpkins and candy corn look just like Thanksgiving.

Perfect for Thanksgiving season - with the 
cute little Bugle "Cornucopias"

The Ingredients

In a large bowl, combine the 
Chex cereal, the Bugles and the 
pretzel sticks.

Melt the butter and brown sugar
together over low heat.  You could add
pumpkin spice or apple pie spice at
this point, but I like keeping the mixture
fairly plain so you can taste all of the 
other ingredients.

Divide the mixture between two
baking sheets and bake.

Once the mixture has cooled,
add in the candy ingredients.

Serve and enjoy or bag up to give
as little gifts.

Perfect for holiday snacking,

Makes a cute little hostess gift too.

HARVEST CHEX MIX

1 (12 ounce) box Rice Chex Cereal
1 small bag (7 ounces) Bugles corn snacks
4 cups pretzel sticks
2 (movie sized) boxes Reese's Pieces
1 bag candy corn
1 bag harvest mix (the candy corn mix with the pumpkins)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl combine the Rice Chex, Bugles and pretzels.  In a small pan, melt together the butter and brown sugar until well combined.  Pour the butter mixture of the chex mixture and toss to coat.  Divide mixture evenly between the two baking sheets and place in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes, stir and then bake for an additional 15 minutes.  (If you can't fit both baking sheets on the same rack in the oven, when you remove them at the 15 minutes point to stir, switch the pans between the racks.) Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  Stir in the remaining candy ingredients before serving.

 

Barbecue Beef & Cheddar Sliders

We're getting into that hectic time of year.  Holiday cooking, decorating and shopping, football games and tailgates.  The sun sets earlier and makes the day feel shorter, but there's even more to do in what feels like less time.  Totally the time of year for easy meals that feed a crowd without a lot of effort.  This recipe checks all of those boxes!  It's hearty enough for lunch or dinner, and the slider size makes it great for an appetizer party or hearty snack.  Whether you have guests coming to visit for the holidays, or your favorite football team still has a few games left, these Barbecue Beef and Cheddar Sliders will satisfy an entire crowd.  Simply toss deli-sliced roast beef in your favorite barbecue sauce, add some sliced cheddar cheese and bake for a warm and cozy sandwich treat.

The best little sandwiches for tailgate, tv watching
or the upcoming busy season!

Cut your rolls into half horizontally.

Place the bottoms of the rolls into a 
baking pan.

Combine the roast beef with your 
favorite barbecue sauce.

Place the roast beef mixture on top of 
the roll bottoms.  Top the roast beef with
slices of cheddar cheese and place the tops
of the rolls on top of the cheese.

Combine the melted butter with the
brown sugar, Dijon mustard, 
Worcestershire sauce and poppy seeds.

Pour this mixture over the
tops of the sandwiches.

I made this away from home with the wrong-sized
pan.  It's okay, it still turned out great.

Ready to bake!

Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes
until the top browns and starts to crisp.

Cool slightly and cut into
12 slider style sandwiches.

Enjoy!

BARBECUE BEEF & CHEDDAR SLIDERS

1 package (12) Hawaiian dinner rolls
1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
8 sliced cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, toss together the roast beef and barbecue sauce.
Cut the dinner rolls in half horizontally, and place the bottoms of the rolls into a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan.  Top the bottoms of the rolls with the roast beef/barbecue sauce mixture.  Place the sliced cheese on top of the roast beef.  Place the roll tops on on top of the cheese.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter and stir in brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and poppy seeds, and then pour over the tops of the sandwiches.  Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes until the tops of the sandwiches begin to get brown and crispy.  Cool slightly and then cut into 12 slider-sized sandwiches.