Baked Entrails (Chorizo Empanada with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce)

There are a million recipes out there for these popular Halloween intestines. Some are sweet and some savory. I think my favorite sweet version on Pinterest is the one made with red velvet cinnamon rolls. The icky pink color really kicks up the gross factor and they are truly horrifying visually...which is a good thing.:) So despite my urge to make disgusting red velvet cinnamon roll guts, I went for a more savory approach. 
My cooking tends to be on the savory side because I don't really eat a lot of sweets normally, but I do love when savory foods are sweet and spicy. My Baked Entrails are the best of all worlds...savory, buttery, smoky, spicy, and sweet with a hint of heat. The best part is that they're easy to throw together thanks to ready made puff pastry and a handful of ingredients. The blackberry chipotle sauce may seem like a strange combination, but I promise you that you will not be disappointed. In fact, you may question why you haven't added a spicy jam to your empanadas before. It's absolutely delicious! 
So...if you are one who thinks it's too early for Halloween food, or if this gruesome recipe just makes your stomach turn (pun intended), don't be afraid. This Mr. Hyde can be easily transformed into the respectable Dr. Jekyll equivalent of Chorizo Empanadas with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce. Instead of rolling up the filling into intestinal tracts, just cut squares of puff pastry, fill with chorizo and cheese, fold diagonally into triangles, bake and serve with sauce. Same great flavors with a lot less guts. 
Have fun and enjoy!
                                ...🎃193 Days until Halloween🎃

Baked Entrails (Chorizo Empanada with Blackberry Chipotle Sauce)

Serves 4-6

2 tubes of chorizo, casings removed (Beef, Pork or Soy)
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup pepper jack cheese, grated
1 1/2-2 packages frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 egg plus 1T water (egg wash)

Bloody Blackberry Chipotle Sauce
1 cup blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 T adobo sauce
salt (to taste)

Add blackberries to a small saucepan and crush with a potato masher. Add sugar, water, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce begins to reduce and thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Blend in a food processor and strain to remove big chunks. Reserve the remaining smooth blackberry sauce. Salt to taste, if needed.

Prepare filling:Cook chorizo and onions in a large skillet over medium high heat. No additional oil is needed as the rendered fat from the chorizo will add fat and flavor as the onions cook. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are soft, stirring occasionally about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the chorizo mixture to cool. 

Preheat: oven to 350 degrees. 
Egg wash:Beat egg and 1 T water for egg wash and set aside.

Assemble pastry: Working on a long piece of parchment paper, remove one sheet of tri-folded puff pastry and cut along the two folds, to create three narrow pieces of pastry. Align the short ends of the pastry end to end, pressing the seams together to create one long piece of puff pastry. Spoon chorizo filling and pepper jack cheese to the center of the pastry dough leaving a half inch on each side of the filling. Run a small amount of egg wash on one side of the filling and fold pastry over to seal it, working your way down the length of the pastry dough. Repeat with remaining tri-fold sheets of puff pastry until you make 3 or 4 rolls of intestines (I used 3 whole puff pastry sheets to make 3 long rolls)

On a parchment lined baking sheet, begin assembling your intestines SEAM SIDE DOWN by coiling and creating twists and turns of filled pastry rolls. Add another roll and join each end by pinching together the seams and continue to coil them to create a gory maze of twisted entrails. 

If you did what I did and assembled the entrails SEAM SIDE UP, not to worry. Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper and place it directly over the SEAM SIDE UP pastry. With the puff pastry sandwiched between two cookie sheets, pick up both cookie sheets and flip them over. Remove the top cookie sheet and parchment, the intestines are ready to bake with SEAM SIDES DOWN. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25*-30 minutes. 

*Optional: To add a little baked in color, remove entrails from oven at 25 minutes and using a paint brush, paint the areas between the twists and turns with the blackberry chipotle sauce. Then place the entrails back in oven and continue to bake an additional 5-8 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let the pastry cool 10 minutes. Run a spatula underneath the cooked pastry to make sure it will slide freely from the parchment paper. If serving on old, worn out cookie sheet, like I did, gently pull the parchment on one side to remove it. Generously spoon and drizzle the Bloody Blackberry Sauce between the folds and twists of the entrails for a gory look. Serve with additional sauce on the side.  If serving on another platter, use the parchment paper to lift then slide the entrails onto the serving platter.  'Bone' Appetit!

More Halloween body-part recipes to try: 

Skewered Epidermis

Sixpence Meat Pies

Amputated Appetizer

Al Pastor Enchiladas with Pineapple Avocado Salsa

I went for a long walk this morning, longer than usual. Maybe it was the fact that is was finally cool with the promise of coming rain that kept me walking. It's Thanksgiving break so my kids were sleeping in and with them now in Middle school and high school, they are pretty self-sufficient now. At least for those 2 hours this morning, time was my own to do what I wanted without any other responsibility tugging at my minutes. As I crunched through fallen leaves, I thought about being thankful. Somewhat fitting with the Thanksgiving holiday where we all take stock in all our blessings. For me it was just happenstance of the timing, but today was the day I really felt thankful for being able to stay at home to raise my kids. Because they are now well on their way to being self sufficient, I've felt a bit lost and I've been feeling the pressure to get back to work. But today, I realized that my work, my job of being a stay-at-home mom was important and is still important. I gave up a career to be home with them. I gave up adult interaction and personal achievement to help guide my kids through, infancy, elementary school, now puberty with the promise into adulthood. I like to think that this time was not wasted. I like to think that my value as a woman, as a mother, and as a human being means something to my kids and to the world at large. Today, I felt proud of all that I gave up to be a good mom to my kids. As I look forward to going back to work and finding my own path outside of motherhood again, I'm excited for what lies ahead but I also feel sad that this time spent with my kids is coming to an end. 

Al Pastor Enchiladas

Makes 12

Main Ingredients
Ground Pork Filling (recipe below)
Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce(recipe below)
Pineapple Avocado Salsa (recipe below)
12 corn tortillas
Oaxaca cheese, grated

Cotija cheese, crumbled

Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce

Makes 3 cups

1 T canola oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T Mexican oregano

2 t  cumin

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t ground cloves

4-6 dried Guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed

2 cups water or chicken broth

1- 15oz. can of pineapple chunks with juice (reserve 1/2 of the pineapple for the salsa)

2 T achiote paste

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt and cayenne pepper (to taste)

Heat oil over medium heat, then add garlic, oregano, cumin, pepper and ground cloves to a medium saucepan and heat until fragrant ~ 1 minute. Add water or chicken broth, dried chiles, pineapple, achoite paste, cider vinegar and boil 30 minutes. Cool and blend well. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside or it can be made ahead, just refrigerate in an air tight container. 

Pineapple Avocado Salsa
Makes ~ 1 cup

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
1/2 reserved pineapple, cubed 
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, finely minced
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper
1 avocado, small dice

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Pork Filling
1 T canola oil

1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 lb ground pork

1 cup Al pastor Enchilada sauce

salt and pepper (to taste)

Add oil and onions to a large skillet and saute until translucent ~5 minutes. Add ground pork and 1 cup Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce and cook until liquid is reduced. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 
Heat tortillas in an oiled skillet and then keep warm in a tortilla warmer until ready to roll.

Pour half of the reserved enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 10 x 14 casserole dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup of meat mixture into tortilla, add a sprinkle of cotija cheese and roll up with seam side down. Repeat. 

Top with Oaxaca cheese and bake in a 350 degrees oven for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.   

Top with Pineapple, avocado salsa, additional cotija cheese or sour cream or all the above. Enjoy! 

Other recipes to try:

Michelada Pops

Albondigas with Chimichurri Pesto

Chilaquiles Corn Bread Stuffing

Corned Beef Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

Dead Sea Spaghetti (Squid Ink Spaghetti with Shrimp)

I realize it's now November, but I'm still working on finishing up a few Halloween blogs as I got a really late start to Halloween this year. I'm still selecting photos and writing for two more Halloween blogs...better late, than never...right?  I made this recipe weeks before Halloween, but I wasn't happy with how the photos came out so I had to make it again. Most times, when I make dishes more than once, I usually do it within the same week or even the same day. But as my husband will attest when I make a large dish of pasta, there is only so much leftover pasta he can eat. So I had to give him time to be willing to eat days of leftover pasta and that day was yesterday. 

I made this delicious Squid Ink Spaghetti with Shrimp and an easy homemade roasted red pepper and leek pasta sauce. It's super simple to prepare just throw the veggies in a skillet with wine and broth, heat until leeks are soft and then blend. Sauce done.✔Cook the pasta and saute the shrimp. ✔✔ Toss together and Tada! Halloween dinner is served. 🎃

Here's a photo with out the basil garnish, I really liked pure black and orange look of this photo for Halloween. 

Dead Sea Spaghetti (Squid Ink Spaghetti with Shrimp)

Serves 4 


Easy Roasted Pepper Leek Sauce
2 T canola oil
2 leeks, white/light green parts chopped 
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 cup roasted red peppers
1-14 oz. can tomatoes, diced
1-14 oz can chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine]
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 T honey
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Pasta and Shrimp
1 lb. squid ink pasta
1 lb 71-90 shrimp, peeled and tail off
salt and cayenne pepper
2 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
Roasted red bell peppers, strips
fresh basil (garnish)

In a large skillet, add oil, leeks, garlic, red peppers, tomatoes, chicken broth, wine, basil, hone, and balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until leeks and garlic are soft. 

Let cool a little and then blend until smooth in a blender. 

Transfer blended sauce to a medium saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste and keep warm on low. 
Prepare squid ink pasta according to package directions. Keep warm and coat with olive oil or canola oil while you prepare the shrimp. 
Salt and pepper the shrimp. Heat butter and garlic in a hot skillet and add shrimp and roasted red bell pepper strips and saute until pink about 8 minutes. Toss butter garlic shrimp with pasta. 
In a large warm serving bowl put the red pepper leek sauce in the bottom of the serving bowl and then top with the pasta and shrimp. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

Other Halloween pasta recipes to try:

Nightcrawlers Con Funghi

Grubs Au Gratin

Love at First Bite Linguini

Polenta Pizza with Sausage

Is anyone else tired of Turkey Day leftovers? I know I am. I could not get myself to eat another turkey sandwich or eat any more reheated side dishes leftover from Thanksgiving. I needed a change of holiday pace and boy do I have a recipe for you. A mouthwatering and satisfying dish that is decidedly the farthest thing from Thanksgiving...Polenta Pizza with Sausage replaces the typical pizza crust with a soft, creamy, cheesy polenta crust topped with a heavenly sausage ragu made with San Marzano tomatoes, sweet Italian sausage, onions and garlic and two cheeses broiled to bubbly perfection. It is absolutely incredible! 

My mom shared this recipe with me after I had it at her house one afternoon. I loved it, so she loaded me up with a ton of leftovers and I literally ate this for breakfast, lunch and dinner the whole next day. It was so delicious! My mom was quick to point out that this recipe is from Chef Michael Symon from The Chew.  She's a huge fan of the show and Chef Symon. All I can say is thank you Chef Symon and thank you mom for sharing it with me.  Trust me, you may never want regular pizza again. Enjoy!

Polenta Pizza with Sausage

Serves 8
slightly adapted recipe by Michael Symon

Polenta Crust 
2 cups Instant Polenta (I used Quick Grits)
7 cups water
salt
1/2 cup Mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (I added 3/4 cup)
2 T butter
salt and pepper (to taste)

In a large saucepan, bring 7 cups of salted water to a boil. Add Polenta or Quick Grits and stir. Heat over medium low heat for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. 

Add butter, marscarpone and Parmesan-reggiano cheeses to the prepared polenta. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Prepare large sheet pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper)I lined with parchment). Pour prepared Polenta into a large sheet pan and refrigerate until set about 30 minutes or while you prepare the sausage ragu.

 Sausage Ragu
14 oz. package sweet Italian Sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1- 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, chopped ( I added the whole can with juice)
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
fresh basil  

In a large dutch oven, brown Italian sausage. Add onions and garlic and continue to cook over medium high heat until onions are translucent ~5 minutes. Add San Marzano tomatoes and continue to heat until tomatoes break down and sauce is reduced and thickened. About 45-60 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.


Assemble Pizza: Pour sauce over set polenta crust and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Heat under the broiler for 7-9 minutes until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. 

Remove from oven, slice and top with fresh basil and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Pizza Soup 

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

They say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I agree. 

We have a gem of a pizza place here in Lakewood called, Laventina's Pizza. They make the most amazing Tandoori Chicken Pizza. It's loaded with beautiful Indian spices, not only in their chicken, but in a delicious Tandoori paste that replaces the usual pizza sauce. It's then topped with cheese, Tandoori chicken, fresh tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, and thinly sliced jalapenos that lend just the right amount of heat. 
It is absolutely superb! So when I taste something this delicious, I want to try to recreate it here at home. So , if you aren't local to Lakewood and can't pick up the original, here is my humble attempt to recreate Laventina's Tandoori Chicken Pizza. Enjoy!

Note: Plan to marinate the chicken overnight for best flavor. Also I used naan flatbread instead of making my own pizza dough and used Serrano chilies instead of jalapenos. 

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Tandoori Masala Spice Mix (recipe from Pepperscale)
3 T paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Before use, heat powder in a large skillet for 30 seconds to 1 minute stirring until fragrant. Do not heat longer than a minute you do not want the oils to burn.

Tandoori Chicken
1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
salt and pepper
1 cup Greek yogurt
2-3 T  Tandoori Spice mix

Marinate Chicken Thighs- Salt and pepper boneless, skinless chicken thighs and place in a plastic ziploc bag. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of  Greek yogurt and about half of the prepared tandoori masala spice mix (2-3T) Add yogurt mixture to the chicken in the ziplock bag and squsih around to coat chicken. Refrigerate 2 hours or over night. Grill chicken and then chop into bite-sized pieces.

Tandoori Paste Pizza Sauce
2 T Tandoori Spice mix
2 T olive oil
2-3 T ketchup*
salt (to taste)

Heat spice mix with olive oil in a skillet until fragrant. 20-30 seconds. Add ketchup until mixture resembles a paste. Add salt to taste and set aside. 
*secret ingredient 😉

Tandoori Chicken Pizza
6 Naan Bread
Tandoori Paste Pizza Sauce (above)Tandoori Chicken, grilled and diced (above)
3-4 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1-2 small serrano pepper, thinly sliced, seeds removed
cilantro leaves
red pepper flakes (to taste)

Assemble pizzas: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush Naan flatbread generously with Tandoori paste. Add mozzarella cheese, chicken, onions, tomatoes and serrano pepper slices. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Garnish with cilantro leaves and red pepper flakes to taste for more heat.

Other recipes to try:

Thai Chicken Enchiladas

Spicy Pork Wonton Tacos

Vegetable Ceviche