Foodie Friday ~ Mystery Ingredient Club!

Happy Foodie Friday featuring our Mystery Ingredient hosted by Michael Lee West at Rattlebridge Farm.
Michael generously sent each of the Mystery Ingredient Club participants Wilton's Creepy Sprinkle Lab:


 

4 vials filled with assorted sprinkles in a lab stand!
Oh, the possibilities are endless~ I decided upon Bark Candy with a Halloween theme.





I built the bark layers upon cinnamon graham crackers, then spread melted white chocolate over the crackers and sprinkled with peanut butter-filled pretzels, Marcona salted almonds, mini-dark chocolate morsels, M & M candies, and the Wilton Sprinkles.

 

If you assemble the layers in a shallow sheet pan, it's easy to move  it to the refrigerator in order to hasten the chocolate firming up.  As soon as it's set up remove from the fridge and break into  large chunks then random smaller chunks. 




The topping possibilities are seemingly infinite ~ (you can use dark chocolate as the base if you prefer) sprinkle broken-up:   leftover Halloween candy cookies candy bars mini marshmallows any kind of nuts  sweetened breakfast cereal mini crackers  (such as goldfish or small cheese crackers)  popcorn, etc.


Have fun with it and enjoy!

I'm sending a big thank you to Michael Lee West for her hospitality and generosity ~
Please come visit Foodie Friday to see what's cooking this week.

Thank you for stopping by today!
~mari

Mystery Ingredient Club ~ Roasted Nori Salmon with Crispy Potatoes and Wasabi Mayonnaise

Using ingredient number two of three, sent to Mystery Ingredient Club members by Michael at Rattlebridge Farm.  (Michael is the creator and host of the club.)

To learn more click the image below:

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I chose to use the Citrus Salt from Cyprus in this recipe from Donna Hay's current magazine edition.  (The original version uses plain sea salt.)





The recipe is very simple and would make a great weeknight dinner as it can be on the table in  less than a half hour.



The sauce is made by blending Wasabi paste with a good quality whole egg mayonnaise and fresh lemon juice. 
The method is to smash the parboiled potatoes with your fingers a little to crush them, drizzle with oil and salt, then roast them on an oiled, shallow rimmed baking sheet  for 10 minutes in a 475ºF/250ºC oven. After the 10 minutes, the seaweed wrapped salmon filets are placed skin side down on the hot baking sheet, (scooting the potatoes to the edge of the pan) then continue roasting the potatoes and salmon together for an additional 8 to 10 minutes.
The filets I used were on the smallish side, so they barely took 6 minutes to cook. (There is carry-over cooking after you remove the pan from the oven.) 
You can make the Wasabi Mayonnaise, and par boil the tiny potatoes  a couple of hours ahead to cut last minute prep time.



I served the salmon with fresh pea sprouts (love those ~ all the flavor of fresh peas, but with a delicate crunch). No prep at all, just rinse them well under cold water and arrange on the plates or platter.
It received a hearty thumbs-up at our table,  and I would definitely make this again.

I've posted the printable recipe over on my  recipe blog ~ click here.
Please hop over to Rattlebridge Farm for The August 2nd edition of Foodie Friday.
Have a wonderful day!
~mari

Mystery Ingredient Club ~ Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Green Olives

Foodie Friday and our 1st

Mystery Ingredient Club Event~

hosted by Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm!

Click here to learn more. I apologize that I am a little late to the party, due to scary wildfires in our area ~ they have interrupted everyday routines, to say the least.

Michael very generously sent each of the participants 3 ingredients to use in any recipe we chose. We could pick one, two or three of the ingredients. (Thank you so much for your generosity Michael!)
I decided to use all three mystery ingredients,  but in separate recipes ~ so I will be posting the other two in the next few days.

I chose the Preserved Lemons to use in my first dish: 



I had been wanting to try this recipe from Tyler Florence (which has received great reviews) for quite some time, so this was my chance.



It is a dish inspired by flavors from the middle East, and it didn't disappoint.
Note: You do not need a tagine to make this dish. I didn't make it in the tagine, I simply transferred it for serving at the table.


One of us (not me!) is not really fond of traditional brined green olives ~ so I used these instead:

I found them in the refrigerated case at Costco, I've also bought them from the olive bar at the grocery store. As the label says, they are very mild, with a pleasing buttery texture.




The recipe doesn't require that you bundle the chicken with twine, but I like to do it sometimes for a neater presentation.




The chicken is absolutely melt-in-your-mouth tender, and very flavorful.




To serve with it, I also made Tyler Florence's recipe for Apricot and Orange CousCous.   click and scroll down His calls for scallions, instead I snipped some chives from the garden.
We loved it!  I served toasted Marcona almonds on the side as a garnish.



I loved this combination of ingredients (I didn't picture the onion, cumin, cloves, saffron, or red pepper here.) I added generous slices of fresh ginger, which I removed before serving.


Would I, should I prepare it again?
Those of us at the table responded with an overwhelming ~
YES!



You can usually tell how much I like a particular dish by the number of images of it that I share. 
(It's a dead give-away with this one!)    :o)



Check in tomorrow for my next entry for the Mystery Ingredient Club, using mystery ingredient #2. It's another winner.
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Please come see all of the recipes at:

(Click image.)
Thank you for stopping by today!