This citrus delight is simple to prepare and and just tart enough to complement the sweet-hot glaze. It is also nice when made in a bundt pan.
Green Chile Fruitcake
Before you go on to another recipe, stop and give this a try! This is not the famed “traveling fruitcake” recipe—the the mythical fruitcake that never spoils and is never eaten! Nope, this is a green chile fruit cake, new and improved, and sassier than ever. Read more great spicy cake recipes by Dave DeWitt here.
Ingredients
3 cups chopped pecans (about 12 ounces)
2 cups chopped candied pineapple (about 10 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped dried mangos
1/3 cup chopped candied orange peel (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1 3/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup green chile, roasted, peeled, stems and seeds removed, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon banana extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar
Instructions
Position the oven rack in lowest third of oven, and preheat to 250 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
In a large bowl, mix the pecans and fruits with 3 tablespoons flour. In another large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Stir in the green chile, vanilla, lemon and banana extracts. Sift the 1 3/4 cups flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and stir until blended. Mix the fruit mixture into batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until it turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 2 1/2 hours. Cool in the pan on a rack for about 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes is up, turn it out onto the rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar.
Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers
This popper recipe is from Mark Masker’s review of the Jalapeño Jeaven’s rack. Read the entire Burn! Blog article here.
Ingredients
35 jalapeños or small sweet peppers
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons black pepper
3 teaspoons granulated onion
3 teaspoons granulated garlic
Instructions
Set the cream cheese out on the counter to warm up.
Wash the peppers and use the corer to remove the tops, seeds, and guts.
In a medium kitchen bowl, mix the warmed cream cheese with the salt, pepper, onion, and garlic.
While the grill heats up to medium or medium high, stuff each pepper with the mixture and place it in the Jeavenly Host (or into your favorite popper grill rack).
Set the rack on the grill grate, close the lid, and let the peppers grill for five minutes.
Remove the Jeavenly Host (or other popper rack) from your grill with a set of oven mitts. Place it where your friends can serve themselves and let them go to town.
Greek Easter Bread (Tsoureki)
This is a traditional Greek sweet bread adorned with colored eggs. It’s not spicy, but it is gorgeous to look at! Read the entire article “Why NOT Eat the Easter Bunny?” by Kelli Bergthold here.
Ingredients
2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
¼ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 (.25-ounce) package active dry yeast
2⁄3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 whole raw eggs
5 whole raw eggs, dyed if desired
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast; stir well. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan; heat until milk is warm and butter is softened but not melted.
Gradually add the milk and butter to the flour mixture; stirring constantly. Add two eggs and ½ cup flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal size rounds; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each round into a long roll about 36 inches long and 1½ inches thick. Using the two long pieces of dough, form a loosely braided ring, leaving spaces for the five colored eggs. Seal the ends of the ring together and use your fingers to slide the eggs between the braids of dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place loaf on a buttered baking sheet and cover loosely with a damp towel. Place loaf in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. Brush risen loaf with melted butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until golden.
Italian Sausage Sandwiches with a Greek Twist
Sizzlin’ Sauces’ Mojo’s Tapenade blends Kalamata olives with sun dried tomatoes into a great spread that goes wonderfully with not just French bread but also burgers and dogs. If you want something sweeter, try the Razing Cane Garlic Relish. It’s sweet, sour, and has just a hint of habanero. Recently, Mark Masker snuck some of each into the Italian sausage sandwiches he was grilling up before a game for some friends and they loved it.
Ingredients
6 Italian sausage links
3 green bell peppers
6 bolillo rolls (cut open)
Sizzlin’ Sauces Mojo’s Tapenade and/or garlic spread
Gorgonzola cheese
Olive oil
Instructions
Heat your grill to medium high.
Gut the peppers, cut it them half, and place it and the sausages on the grate, close the lid, and turn the sausages in three to five minutes.
Close the lid and repeat the process until done.
You’ll want to turn the pepper halves once their color goes to a more olive green.
Once the peppers and sausage are done, remove them and slice the pepper halves into thirds.
Drizzle the cut open rolls with a little olive oil.
Spread either the tapenade or the garlic spread on each and place a sausage in the roll, then top it with gorgonzola cheese.