Cream Cheese, Chocolate and Jam Turnovers

Cream Cheese, Chocolate and Jam Turnovers

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

Here’s a simple, elegant dessert you’d never, ever think of cooking on a BBQ grill. Everyone loves turnovers, and these are so simple you can do them with your eyes closed. For variation use apricot and golden raspberry jam, thinly sliced kiwi and blueberries, thinly sliced peaches and crushed blackberries—let your imagination go wild. And, if you are daring, add a tablespoon of cognac, rum or fruit liqueur to the mix before placing into the filo dough.

By the way, filo dough can takes hours to make, so just pop into your local grocery store and buy a box of pre-made dough, thaw it slowly following the directions, then craft up a delicious dessert of browned and crisp turnovers with yummy fruit hidden inside. One caution: when these come out of the oven wait at least ten minutes before eating, as the fruit inside can scald and seriously burn you if you dig right in.

Ingredients

Barbecued turnovers2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
3/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 small bar of milk or semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon milk
1 1/2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Pre-heat a BBQ to 425 degrees F., mounding the charcoal on one side only (or, if using propane, turn on the burners on one side of the BBQ only).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each sheet of pastry into a 12-inch square and cut each square into 4 (6-inch) squares. In a small bowl mix the apricot jam and marmalade together.  You can also use fresh fruit and berries here, if sliced or chopped into small pieces.

Put one very full tablespoon of cream cheese in the center of each pastry square, add another very full tablespoon of the fruit jam mixture, then add one 2” x 2”-inch square of chocolate. Lightly brush all four of the edges of each pastry square with water.

Fold the pastry squares in half diagonally to form triangles, pressing the edges together firmly with the tines of a fork that you have dipped in milk. Seal the edges well.

Mix 1 egg with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the top of each turnover with the egg wash.  

Sprinkle a tablespoon of water on a baking sheet, and arrange the turnovers on the sheet. With a sharp knife cut several slits in the top of each turnover (for steam vents). Sprinkle the turnovers with the confectioner’s sugar and bake them on the unheated side of your BBQ for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden.  

Remove the baking sheet from the BBQ and sprinkle the turnovers with more confectioner’s sugar and serve them warm, with ice cream if you wish. Wait 10 minutes before eating, as the fruit filling can be dangerously hot.

Grilled Banana Splits

Grilled Banana Splits

Dave DeWitt Rapid-Fire: Quick & Easy Grilling, USA Leave a Comment

Speaking of traditional desserts, how about a Barbecued Banana Split? As easy as pie, a delightfully rich treat, and another dish that will cement your reputation as being a master BBQ dessert maker.

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butterGrilled Bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
8 ripe bananas
Vanilla ice cream
Hot Fudge Sauce (or Caramel, Butterscotch, etc.)
Whipped cream
Chopped nuts

Instructions

Preheat your barbecue grill to 350 to 400 degrees F. and spray the grill heavily with PAM or another grilling spray.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until the butter is completely melted and the sugar is dissolved. With a sharp knife, cut each banana in half lengthwise, leaving the peel on the halves.

Brush the cut side of the banana halves with the sugar mixture and place the bananas cut side down on the grill. Grill until golden brown and caramelized, about 2 minutes. Re-spray the grill with PAM and turn the banana halves, peel side down and brush the upper surface of each with more glaze. Grill the bananas 2-3 minutes longer or until tender.

To serve, place two grilled banana halves in a sundae dish or shallow bowl. Top with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with your favorite dessert sauce, and top with whipped cream and chopped nuts.

White Chocolate and Orange Soufflé

White Chocolate and Orange Soufflé

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

The ultimate fancy restaurant dessert is the soufflé. Who does these at home? They’re too hard to make and too fragile, right? Wrong. Remember, your BBQ is nothing more than an oven you’ve taken outdoors, whether you use charcoal, gas, or hardwood logs. If you can do it indoors, you can do it outdoors.

This dish truly amazes people. I even had a 4-star chef once bet me I couldn’t make a soufflé in a BBQ. He ended up eating one, and paying for my dinner that night, which included a soufflé that didn’t rise as high as mine. So there!

Ingredients

Barbecued White Chocolate Souffle1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), coarsely chopped
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 teaspoons grated orange peel
4 teaspoons Grand Marnier
5 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), coarsely chopped
Powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the barbecue to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 6-cup soufflé dish (or small individual soufflé dishes) and sprinkle the dish with sugar; roll the dish around to coat all surfaces, then tap out the excess. Add a buttered and sugared aluminum foil collar that extends 2-3-inches above the rim of the dish and tie in place with butcher’s twine.

On your BBQ grill or on your stove top, heat the cream and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add 6 ounces of white chocolate and stir until the chocolate dissolves. Whisk in egg yolks and orange peel, and cook for about five minutes or until the mixture thickens slightly, stirring constantly; do not boil.

Whisk in the Grand Marnier. Transfer the mixture to large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until soft peaks form.  Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and then beat again until stiff peaks form.

Mix 2 ounces of the chopped chocolate into the warm egg yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites in 2 batches. Transfer the mixture to your prepared soufflé dish. Bake over INDIRECT heat in the BBQ until the soufflé is puffed and the top is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

This moist, orange-flavored soufflé is rich with white chocolate. Offer snifters of orange liqueur, with a mandarin orange segment and cherry on a toothpick floating inside, to sip with the dessert.

Grilled Avocado with Strawberry-Mango Salsa

Grilled Avocado with Strawberry-Mango Salsa

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

Now let’s go wild and whip up a fancy-dancy dessert from something no one else uses for that purpose. The lowly—but elegant—avocado is actually a fruit, so let’s treat it like one for this refreshing, healthy, and surprising dessert.

Ingredients

4 avocados, just turning soft, not fully ripeGrilled Avocados
1 medium mango, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound strawberries, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup honey mixed with 1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

Preheat a well-oiled BBQ grill to medium-high, 300-400 degrees F.  

Slice the avocados in half lengthwise and carefully remove the seed. Brush the exposed flesh with the honey-olive oil mixture, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a cool place (do not refrigerate).

Chop the mangos and strawberries and mix them with the vinegar, orange juice, and lemon juice, let rest at least 20 minutes so the ingredients can blend. Stir occasionally.

Spray your grill very heavily with PAM or another grilling spray.

Grill the avocados skin side down directly on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes, until the skin begins to lightly char and take on grill marks. Re-spray the grill and brush the flesh side of the avocados again with the honey-oil mixture and place the halves flesh side down on the hot grill for another 2-3 minutes.

With a spatula carefully remove the avocados from the grill and place them on a serving plate covered with a bed of lettuce, two halves per person. Fill the seed cavity with the mango-strawberry salsa, generously dribbling some on the top of each half. Serve with a spoon to scoop out the avocado flesh and salsa.

Barbecued Ice Cream (600x450)

Barbecued Ice Cream

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

By far the most requested barbecued dessert I do is Barbecued Ice Cream. Just the name causes most people to peer at me in wonder and ask, “Do you really barbecue ice cream?” And as you’ll see here, the answer is yes, with a bit of culinary trickery.

Ingredients

1 Giant-sized Sara Lee pound cake, cold but not frozen Barbecued Ice Cream
3 Klondike chocolate covered ice cream bars
12-16 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 wooden plank, 12” x 8” by 1-inch thick
Heavy duty aluminum foil to wrap the plank
1 8-ounce jar of raspberry jam
1 8-ounce jar of chocolate fudge sauce

Instructions

Get a good hot fire going in a kettle grill, gas barbecue, or smoker (at least 700 degrees F). If you use charcoal in a kettle grill, mound it in two piles on either side of the cooker, leaving the middle of the grill open. If using a gas grill, turn on all burners to high.

Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar into a stiff meringue so that when you pull the  beaters away, sharp points stand up in the meringue. Cover and put meringue in the refrigerator. Wrap the plank in the foil.  

Cut the pound cake in half as if you were making a large (and decadent) sandwich.

Generously spread all of the raspberry jam on the bottom of the cake. Place 3 ice cream bars (without wrappers) on top of the jam on the bottom layer and cover with the top layer.Put the assembled ice cream cake in the freezer for 10 minutes.

While the ice cream cake is hardening, warm 1 jar of hot fudge sauce in a pot of hot water and keep warm.

Place the cake on a foil-covered board and completely cover the cake on all sides with meringue, being sure to bring the meringue all the way down to touch the foil all around cake.  If you leave any gaps the ice cream may melt and spoil the dessert.

Place the plank on the center of the grill in your very hot barbecue. Check after 2 minutes, and as soon as you see the peaks of meringue become brown, remove the dessert from the cooker. This will only take a few minutes with a very hot fire.

Bring the plank and cake to the table and place on a large serving platter. Cut vertical slices through the meringue, cake and ice cream with an ELECTRIC KNIFE, and put on plates onto which you have spooned a generous pool of the chocolate sauce.