Sunday Dinner

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Obatzda

served with radishes, gherkins, and rye toasts

Choucroute Garnie- My Way

Milky Way Tart

What better way to spend a cloudy, chilly October 31st? With the doorbell ringing in just a few hours, I am not sure we will get the main event (that's ok, we had it last night for dinner). We will, however, be able to grab bites of the Obatzda (I included the link so that you can read all about it) during the neighborhood candy spree.  And when the doorbell stops ringing, we will turn off the lights, turn off the pumpkin candle, close the door behind us and run inside for a slice of my idea of a gourmet candy treat.

There are three wonderful layers of sweetness in this tart; a chocolate pastry crust, a gooey caramel layer and a chocolate-malted chocolate whipped cream.  All three make for an undeniably rich tart. 

I was inspired by an old Bon Appetit magazine recipe, but of course, I have my adaptations.  I used my own chocolate pastry dough and to really make this like a Milky Way, I added a secret ingredient; chocolate-malt milk powder.  I used Ovaltine brand which has plenty of vitamins, so it's good for you right??  The addition of this secret ingredient really gives it that malt chocolate nougat taste.  Finish off the tart with a drizzle of melted chocolate or you can just dust the top with a little cocoa powder. Whichever way will be good.

It's perfect for Halloween, but let's be honest.  Chocolate and Caramel are well received anytime of year!

Have a safe and happy Sunday!

Apricot-Curry Chicken Quinoa Salad

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Are you familiar with quinoa? I was introduced to it over 20 years ago and have loved it ever since. It is a staple on our dinner table and enjoyed when packed for lunches. 

It is referred to as "the mother of all grains", but it is not a grain.  It is actually a seed from the amaranth family.  It is packed with protein, fiber, essential vitamins and minerals. It is cooked similarly to rice and has a wonderful nutty taste.

In this recipe, I add lemon juice, red onion and parsley to round out the flavors for a bowl of goodness and nutrition.

I think it is the perfect recipe to share before a weekend of Halloween sweets!

Apple Butter Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

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OMG! Why did it take me six years to make this?!? This is one unbelievable cake!! It tastes like Fall in sugar form! There really aren't enough words to tell you how good this cake is! (I have writer's block trying to think about how to describe how incredible it tastes, so let me just write about the recipe because you will need to make this cake ASAP.)

This is a cold-oven pound cake. And by that, I mean you turn the oven on AFTER you put the pan in the oven.  It is an old technique that produces a tall cake with a nice crisp crust. I love the crispy bits, don't you? The one thing that I want to point out is the bake time; it will vary depending on how quickly your oven heats up. The pilot light in my gas oven is a little slow to start (because I use it so much), therefore it took my cake a bit longer than 80 minutes to bake. To keep the top from browning too much, I lightly covered it with a sheet of aluminum foil towards the end of the bake time. 

As far as the recipe, I really didn't change much to the cake, but I did to the glaze/frosting.  The original recipe called it a glaze, but I knew by looking at the magazine photo that it was more of a pourable frosting than a glaze.  So to achieve that, I made sure that the base of the frosting was completely cooled before I beat in the confectioners' sugar.  And let me tell you that I am super glad that I went for the pourable frosting.  Holy yum and cue the sugar rush! 

The cake and frosting is all you need, but if you feel like getting fancy, dress the top of the cake with some dried apple chips like I did. Just make sure you wait to garnish until you are going to serve the cake, otherwise the apple chips will soften and loose their crunch.

Now, please don't do what I did and wait six years to make this cake!  It is sooooo good!!