Chocolate Maple Popcorn

A delicious anytime treat that's loaded full of sweet goodness.

Ingredients

8 cups Popcorn, popped

½ cup Pecans, chopped

6 tablespoons Butter, unsalted

1 ½ cups Maple syrup, pure

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

6 ounces Milk chocolate

Method

Toast the pecans and put them in a bowl over the (popped) popcorn.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add maple syrup and salt. Cook until 300°.

Pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn, stirring as you go. Spread it out on a lightly-greased cookie sheet.

While the popcorn is cooling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn.

Let it cool and serve.

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Seafood Sandwich

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Crab meat, lump, cooked
• 1 Avocado, sliced
• 3 tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Red onions, finely diced
• ¼ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• Saffron, tiny pinch
• 6 slices Sourdough bread, soft, toasted
• Black pepper, fresh ground
• 6 jumbo Shrimp
• Olive oil

Method

Combine the mayonnaise, 1/4 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning and a small pinch (ground between your fingers). Stir and chill.

Slice the shrimp down the middle so 6 looks like 12. Sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning and sautee in olive oil. Remove the shrimp and put them in the refrigerator to chill.

After 30 minutes of chilling, combine the crab meat, shrimp and mayonnaise mixture. Stir as gingerly as you've ever stirred before. The goal is to mix it up without breaking up the lump crab meat.

Pile the seafood mixture on the toasted bread. Garnish with avocado slices and fresh ground black pepper. Serve.

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Spanish Paella

Ingredients:

• ½ pound Chicken thighs, diced
• ½ pound Shrimp, (uncooked, shelled)
• ½ pound Lobster tail, Diced
• ½ pound Bay scallops
• ½ pound Chorizo, sliced
• 1 Onion, large, diced
• 1 Yellow bell pepper, large, diced
• 1 cup Artichoke hearts
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 14.5 ounces Tomatoes, crushed
• 2 cups Short-grain rice, (arborio)
• 1 cup Peas
• 4 ½ cups Chicken broth
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
• ¼ teaspoon Saffron
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Lemons, (wedges for serving)

Directions:

Heat a paella pan or LARGE cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil, and let it heat up. Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper and a little bit of the paprika. Sear in the olive oil until browned all over. Transfer to a plate with tongs.

Saute the onions, bell peppers and artichoke hearts until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, paprika, salt, pepper and chorizo. Bring the liquid to a boil and then stir in the rice and saffron. Add the browned chicken pieces. The rice should be completely covered with liquid. Cook the paella without stirring for 20 minutes.

While the dish is cooking, sear the shrimp, scallops and lobster.

When the liquid has all been absorbed, add the shrimp, scallops and lobster. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Pur some blanched peas over the top and serve with lemon wedges.

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Italian Bacon Roll-Up

In another fun twist on the Southwest Heart Attack, I filled this bacon roll with pre-cooked hot Italian sausage balls, pizza sauce, parmesan cheese, and colby-jack cheese.

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Bacon Cheese Potatoes

For today's culinary adventure, I added a half pound of bacon to my Cheesy Shoestring Potatoes, and topped them with crushed cheddar goldfish, instead of breadcrumbs.

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Bacon & Pastrami Roll

Here is a nice twist on one of my older recipes, the Southwest Heart Attack.

Instead of shrimp, green chilies and garlic, line the inside of your bacon weave with thin-sliced pastrami, then spread a little mustard on it before flooding it with colby-jack cheese. Delicious!

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Raspberry Southwest Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 6 ounces Croutons, garlic-flavored
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Black pepper, fresh ground
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon Chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon Ground cumin
• 1 3⁄4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 36 ounces Ground beef
• 1 can Diced green chilies
• 1⁄2 Yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1⁄2 White onion, diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1⁄3 cup Picante sauce, medium
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 3 tablespoons Butter
• 1⁄4 cup Sweet onion, minced
• 1 Chipotle chile, minced
• 3⁄4 cup Seedless raspberry jam
• 1⁄4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Honey

Method

In a food processor, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, thyme, 1 1/2teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper and ground cumin. Pulse until fine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine processed mixture, ground beef, green chilies, bell pepper, white onion, 3 cloves of garlic, picante sauce, and egg. Mix well to combine.

Preheat oven to 325. While that's warming up, get started on the sauce...

Melt the butter. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add 2 cloves garlic and chipotle, and cook for another minute. Add 2 cloves garlic and chipotle, and cook for another minute. Add the raspberry jam, balsamic vinegar, honey and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and simmer until the meatloaf is ready for it.

Line a 10" loaf pan with plastic rap, then pack meat into the pan to mold the shape. Place face-down on a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet and gently remove the pan.

Cook for 10 minutes, then remove and brush with the sauce. Return the loaf to the oven, and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 155.

Let it stand until it reaches 160, then slice and serve with the remaining sauce.

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