Next Food Network Star: Challenge #3

Ahhh... Chopped. The panic-inducing, time-crunching, totally-bizarre-ingredient-having televised cooking competition. I watch it. Frequently. And, frequently I can even come up with a dish right off the top of my head, just as the infamous basket is thrust open to unveil a collection of ingredients that you would never think of combining. Other times... I sit scratching my head, and thinking, "What the...?"

Episode #3 in The Next Food Network Star was all about Chopped. Dessert Chopped, to be exact. Each team got a mystery basket, then had to compete against the other members of their team to come up with the best dish. Here's the synopsis per Food Network: 

The 13 remaining finalists meet Chopped judges Alex Guarnaschelli, Scott Conant, and Marc Murphy and are given their Star Challenge: desserts. But it's not just any dessert challenge. Each team must use a basket of ingredients to create their best sweet concoction in a head-to-head inter-team battle -- Chopped style!

This go-round, rather than drawing from a hat, I allowed the Mr. to select the mystery basket components. This could have gone horribly wrong in my favor. But, lucky me (or maybe he was just feeling generous)... he picked the one basket I actually had a GREAT idea for!

The contents: Pineapple, Hershey's chocolate, pasta dough, and black lava salt.

First off, pardon me while I excuse myself for a few minutes to attempt to contain my laughter at the thought of the Mr. actually being able to procure black lava salt anywhere near Fayetteville, NC. 

Bahahahahaha!

Okay. I'm back. Oh. You've never had the priveledge of visiting what one old friend lovingly coined "The Armpit of America"? Well, let me tell you... I had visions of the grand ol' south when we first moved here six years ago. Gorgeous, historic churches on every street corner. A mile-long list of mom and pop Carolina BBQ and home cookin' joints to choose from. Living in a turn-of-the-century home with a wrap-around porch that went on for days. Fragrant magnolia trees and hydrangeas dotting the yard.

Reality check: Church is mostly held in run-down double-wides. There are more restaurants of the chain variety than any city should be allowed to contain. And, those gorgeous old homes? Not unless you're Bill Gates. Fayetteville is one of the very few cities in the US where the housing market never completely bottomed out. Not even close. Good luck finding a crappy two-bedroom apartment that doesn't run you $900 a month. So, where culinary delights are concerned? This is the anti-foodie mecca. No black lava salt. Not here. But, I did have some Italian sea salt that I have been hoarding for a year. Good enough.

As soon as they unveiled this basket on the show? What a cinch! I immediately thought of one of our favorite "Chinese" treats: crab rangoon! So, let's get to chopping!

Pineapple Pillows

1/2 C pineapple, chopped into 1/4" pieces

8 oz Philadelphia pineapple cream cheese

Frozen sheets pasta dough

Canola oil

6.5 oz can crushed pineapple

1/4 C, plus 4 fl oz water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Italian sea salt

2 Tbs brown sugar

3 Tbs sugar

6 oz. Hershey chocolate bar

2 Tbs butter

5 Tbs heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

First off, fill a deep fryer with canola oil, and set to 350*. While the oil is heating up, let's start with the pillow filling. Empty the cream cheese into a skillet over med-low heat. Stir frequently until melted. Add the chopped pineapple.

Stir until combined, then remove from heat. Get your pasta dough ready. It will, most likely, come in long rectangular sheets folded into thirds. The fold marks should mark 3 squares along each length of dough. Use a sharp knife to cut dough into squares.

Spoon 1 1/2 Tbs of the cream cheese and pineapple filling into the center of each square of dough.

Fold the dough in half along the diagonal, and pinch around the filling to seal it in.

Fold the right and left edges in towards the filling.

Finally, fold the top edge over. It will look like an envelope, or... a PILLOW!

Repeat until you have all of your pillows. This recipe makes 8. Set aside. Now, let's start on the pineapple compote. Empty the crushed pineapple, 1/4 C water, cinnamon, brown sugar, and some ground sea salt into a small saucepan. Heat over med-low heat, stirring occasionally. This will form a warm, syrupy compote while we're working on the chocolate sauce and frying our pillows.

For the chocolate sauce, bring 4 fl oz of water plus 3 Tbs sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and butter, broken into chunks, stirring until smoothly combined. Then, add cream and vanilla; stir to combine. Let cool slightly.

While chocolate is cooling, and compote is working away, go ahead and drop your pillows into the hot oil. Fry until they reach a nice, golden brown. Remove pillows from fryer; place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain for a couple of minutes. 

Spoon some of the compote onto a plate, and top with one of your scrumptious pineapple pillows...

Drizzle with chocolate sauce, and enjoy!

Admittedly, I am not a huge sweets fan. Give me a good savory dish any day! But, this dessert... this one I am proud of. The tangy cream cheese filling, combined with the comforting, sweetly cinnamon compote, and that drizzle of decadent chocolate... heaven! This is a sweet that I would make an exception for any day!

Next Food Network Star: Challenge #5

It's Sunday! Time to pop some corn, pour a soda, and get comfy on the couch... tv remote in one hand, laptop opened to Twitter in the other. 9:00 pm EST... The Next Food Network Star! And, here on the blog... time to play along with last week's challenge. Here it is per The Food Network's episode synopsis...

A Food Network Star must be ready at any moment for Food Network to ask them to participate in a television special; this week, each team will do just that. Each finalist will have to create and perform a live, themed television special based on a holiday or event. Food Network Star season two winner Guy Fieri hosts each special and gives feedback on which team and individuals performed the best.

Each of the three teams were given one of the following themes: Halloween, Cooking with Kids, and Game Day. So, we tossed them in a hat and got this...

 

Halloween? Ummm... yes, please! Team Alton was dealt Halloween, and I'm totally Team Alton all the way! He has the most unqiue individuals on his team, and their POV's are the most appealing to me. My favorites are Justin, Emily, and Judson (although he was, in my opinion, unjustly eliminated last week). He made this vegetarian chili that sincerely made me want to crawl right through the television screen and scarf down a bowl! It sounded that great. Justin made fried fish skeletons... uber creative, and Halloween-y. And, although the initial thought of munching away on fish bones was unappealing to me, they ended up sounding plenty tasty. Emily canned applesauce. See? My kid of girl... CANNING! And, Martie made hot wings. 

I had grand plans of making this full Halloween spread. But, things have been a bit out of sorts around here this week. Out of sorts in a good way. The Mr. is on block-leave from the military after being deployed for the last 9 months. I hardly ever get to enjoy having him home for 2 straight weeks. Plus, my littles have been gone to their grandparents' since last Friday. Never do I get him to myself for 7 straight days. Never. It has been great fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. But, I'm a girl that tries to stick with her commitments, so here we are. One recipe pegged down. But, it's a good one. All the creepy-crawliness of Halloween. Tasty to children and adults alike. Simple, simple, simple to make!

This recipe has been a family favorite since I was a little girl...

See? Serve 'em up in little flower pots? Fun idea for a Halloween party! You could get super-crafty with it and decorate the pots. Then dessert and a party favor! And, don't think for one minute that I didn't have every intention of decorating those pots. I can't stray from my crafty roots forever. It is, afterall, what this blog was born from. But, again with that time-with -the-Mr. thing!

Dirt Cake

2 (15.35 oz) pkgs Oreos, crushed

1 lg pkg vanilla instant pudding

3 1/2 C cold whole milk

1 stick butter, softened

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

1 C confectioner's sugar

1 lg. tub Cool Whip

1 pkg. gummy worms

Start by crushing the Oreos. I dump the entire container of cookies into a sealable plastic bag, set it on top of a hard, flat surface and use a rolling pin to crush the cookies into bits. This is a great stress-reliever. If you don't feel like simply rolling over the cookies... take the rolling pin, and whack the heck out of 'em!

Whisk the instant pudding and milk together for 2 minutes; set aside for 5 minutes to soft-set the pudding. I know the package insists that only 3 C of milk is needed. Ignore that. You want a different consistency.

Either in a stand-mixer with the paddle attached, or with a hand-mixer, combine butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.

If using a stand-mixer, switch to the whisk. Add the pudding mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Mix, starting on low speed and working up to high until smooth.

Fold in the Cool Whip with a spatula. Now, grab your pots (I've also served this in plastic beach pails and regular trifle dishes). If there is a hole in the bottom of the pot, just place a piece of duct tape over it.  Place the pots on a baking sheet to contain any pesky, stray cookie crumbs. Start with a layer of crushed Oreos on the bottom of the pot. 

Pour a layer of the pudding mixture on top. Repeat with another layer of cookies, then another layer of pudding.

End with a layer of cookies on top. Adorn with some creepy-crawly gummy worms, and you're done!

Now, I know that the contestants were responsible for presenting their dish as well. Although, being in front of a camera is a bit unnerving, I had planned to play along. This time, it has nothing to do with time-with-the-Mr. He is quite supportive (after all, it was HIS idea for me to do this whole play-along gig in the first place). He was going to film it for me. This time it is about the logistics of filming in my ridiculously small kitchen, and the fact that every. single. counter. faces a wall. There is a huge open space in the middle that is totally going to waste. I'm trying to save up money for one of these soon. Problems with filming in my kitchen? Eliminated.

In the meantime, give these little pots full of creepy deliciousness a go! They might look like your 3 year old took a shovel to your garden right after a rain storm, but they taste like fluffy, cookies-and-cream heaven!

Don't forget to check back on Wednesday while we play catch-up with Challenge #3. Now. If you'll excuse me... it's time for The Next Food Network Star!