Orange Fused Ginger Chutney Sauce

Wow, long title, huh?

But this sauce was so good, people were using it not only on the Pork Fritters but on the fried chicken, the pound cake and I guess, just eating it.  (and I should add this was all for the Boat Club last week)

I know I liked it, a lot.

I was playing around with stuff the other day when I came up with this dipping sauce and I even measured it out, just in case it was good.  And it was good, very good.
But don’t take my word for it, make some yourself and try it out.
I’ll even give you the recipe.

Recipe:
2/3 cup Mrs. Ball’s Chutney
1/3 cup Orange Marmalade (I used some of my 3 Citrus Marmalade)
2 tablespoon Mandarin Fused Olive Oil (use more if you like)
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (I use the ginger root I keep in the freezer)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Grey Poupon mustard, the coarse grind
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Mix it all together in a little pot, heat together and taste.

Which I did, and then I added more ginger, tasted it again and pronounced it good. Heating helps the brown sugar melt into everything.   You get little bits of orange and mango and peach all overlaid with a lovely orange flavour.

I have to say, I’m making this again and again.

** Edited to add:
I just made a second batch of this sauce and this time I added a second tablespoon of the Mandarin Fused EVOO and let it cook for a couple of minutes.   And I think it’s even better than the first batch.

Heavenly Orange Pork Fritters

I had a hard time coming up with a name for this recipe.   sigh   I had this long and wonderful and totally descriptive name for this, but then people kept calling them Pork Fritters, so they are now Heavenly Orange Pork Fritters.

I went to the ‘big city’ with a friend last week and we stopped in at this little store, called Smashing Olive.   Big mistake on my part.   I tried several of the oils and could have drunk a glass full of the Balsamic Vinegar, it was so good.

The mistake on my part?  Well, I only bought a couple of the oils and vinegars and now I have to go back and buy more.  But, I can wait for a week or two before I go back there.

maybe

At any rate, it was Boat Club this week.   We’ve had a summer hiatus, and  people are now back and chomping at the bit and ready to cook and eat and enjoy themselves.

I decided to try using the Mandarin Fused Olive Oil along with the Balsamic Vinegar to make a marinade for the pork tenderloin.   I whisked together roughly equal parts, with a little more oil than vinegar.  Then I went out to the garden and raided my oregano plant and used my mezzaluna to chop up the oregano leaves.

Added those into the marinade and coated the tenderloin and stuck them in the fridge.  After an hour, I decided that I needed to add a minced clove or two of garlic to the marinade, and then the ginger said, use me too, so I used my microplane and added about a half teaspoonful.    I love keeping ginger in the freezer, even if it talks to me sometimes, it’s just so handy.

I was trying to keep it simple.

I didn’t make a lot of marinade, so I used one of my trusty gloves and massaged the marinade into the pork tenderloins, very gently.  I didn’t want all that porky goodness to be overtaken by the orange, I just wanted a hint, to enhance.

 

After they’d rested in the fridge for a couple of hours, I proceeded to use my meat mallet on them.

You can get out a lot of frustrations that way.

I pounded them out quite thin, then did the flour dip, then an egg wash and finally  pressed them into some panko, and fried them quickly in a little hot oil.

 

When the pork is pounded out this thin, it only takes a minute or so to cook, so just go ahead and brown them on each side.  I use peanut oil to fry them, as it is a mild oil.

And you know I taste tested this as well.
There was a lovely hint of orange in finished pork fritter, before dipping it into the dipping sauce I made.  I think maybe I could have used more of the oil, and maybe next time I will.

I’m thinking of all kinds of ways to use this Mandarin Fused Oil.

I served the fritters with a dipping sauce and I’ll share that recipe with you later on.     The dipping sauce is what totally blew this away.

Green Spider Dip

Gotcha!

I had to come up with a nifty name for this.

I had to.

As you might have figured out, it’s almost Halloween, and it’s time to have fun with your food.

It’s time for me to have fun with my food, OK?

I like to make appetizers, or finger food, or cocktail snacks or canape’s or starters, or hors d’oeuvre, I really don’t care what you call them.   I just like to make them.

So, I was thinking the other day, and trying to come up with something fun, healthy and most important of all, YUMMY and adult appropriate.

The ladies I get together with on Friday’s love Hummus, and we usually have at least one dish of hummus or sometimes more to share. 

I did say we like Hummus.

At any rate, I got to thinking and I came up with this.

Green Spider Dip

I made some Spicy Edamame Dip, and ‘floated’ it on top of some plain Hummus, piped a spider web onto it with some crème fraîche, but you can also use sour cream or greek yoghurt, and decorated the edge with a green olive spider.   I would have used a black olive, but the can I thought I had in the cupboard wasn’t there. hmmmm
I guess I used it all up in a Tapenade.

I was in a hurry last night cause I’d just gotten back from the ‘big city’ and a fun shopping trip with a friend so I whipped this up in a hurry.
In retrospect, I think if I’d made some of my Roasted Pepper Hummus to go underneath the green it would have been even more fun, but now I’ve lots of hummus to eat, all by myself.

I served it with some pita chips, and watched part of it disappear.    There were actually a lot of people there last night, and a lot of nibbles as well.  But I wanted to share this idea with you so you can run right out, grab some hummus and make some Spicy Edamame Dip and copy me  

Spicy Witchy Fingers

I love Halloween.   And as you may have surmised by now I love to cook.   But, I really don’t make that many sweet things, and there is a preponderance of sweet stuff you can make online.
I’m really more into appetizer type things anyway.
Do you have any idea how few things there are online to make that aren’t sweet?
I’m so over the sugar rush…
And did I mention I love cheese?
You heard?  Oh.

Well, along the way I found this recipe on Delish,  Spicy Cheddar Witch Fingers  and I had to make them.
I also thought they would be fun to take with me to my Friday night get together.

Well, I made them my own in the sense that I couldn’t leave well enough alone.  I also made them gluten free, cause I thought it might work.   And it did, they were so good.   I know cause I sampled a few.  But in the interests of everyone, I also made a second batch that weren’t gluten free.  In other words I made them with regular flour.   I think I liked the flavour of the gluten free crackers best though.
This recipe is going into my files as one to make often, or as many times as I can justify eating butter and cheese together.   TMI?

8 oz. Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 oz. finely shredded Parmesan Cheese
6 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour  (or 1 cup all purpose flour)
1 large egg yolk, mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
36 (about 1/3 cup) sliced Almonds

Mix together the grated cheese, butter and cayenne in a food processor, if you have one, or just in the KitchenAid and mix til smooth.  Add the flour and either pulse (if using a food processor) or cut in until it’s all mixed together.   Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Divide the dough into 36 pieces and roll each one into a 4 inch long ‘finger’.

I took the dough, divided it into thirds, then took each piece and divided it again, and again.  Until I got it divided into thirty six pieces.   You do the math.    I actually only baked half of each recipe in the end, and froze the remainder.

Place the fingers onto 2 parchment covered baking sheets and brush with egg wash.

Press an almond slice onto the end of each finger for a fingernail.
Hint:  If you do like me and get to this point and find out you don’t have any almond slices, just put a small handful of whole almonds into a cup with some water and microwave them or pour boiling water over them, and let them sit for a few minutes. Slip the skins off and then being very, very, very careful, slice the almonds with a sharp knife.

Place the fingers in the fridge for at least 15 minutes for them to firm up.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the fingers on the upper and lower thirds of the oven for about 13 minutes then swap the pans, and bake an additional 12 minute, until they’re all puffed up and golden.

Cool the ‘fingers’ completely, then arrange on a plate and serve.

And ummm, try not too eat too many before your guests get a chance to sample them.   Of course, I wouldn’t know about that one.