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Halloween Candy Corn Bark Ideas!

Kent Whitaker, also known as "The Deck Chef," is a culinary writer and cookbook author. He's also penned Young Reader and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love when he fires up the smoker or grill. Halloween .........is always a fun time of year but due to the way things have gone in 2020 trick-or-treating may be a little bit different. That means it may be time for a few ideas on making treats at home! So, why not take advantage of some of the Halloween favorites available at stores right now… such as Candy Corn! Yep, It’s time to put some Halloween candy fun into your homemade cookie and treat recipes starting with a few ways to make Candy Corn Halloween Bark. If you are familiar with candy bark served up during Christmas and the Holiday season then these versions will be a snap! Basic Halloween Candy Corn Bark This recipe is your base recipe for your Halloween bark. Once you have this simple three-four ingredient recipe down then the rest of the ideas mentioned below will be easy to prepare. Ingredients 24 oz vanilla-flavored candy coating (white bark), broken up into small pieces. 2 cups pretzels, broken up. 2 1/2 cups candy corn candy (traditional color) A few drops of oil if needed First, prepare a cookie sheet with sides, or a large baking pan, with non-stick spray, non-stick foil, or waxed paper. Next, use a large microwavable bowl to melt the white bark candy coating as directed on the packaging. Some brands may call for a drop or two of oil if needed. The directions will probably be to melt in short bursts then stir and repeat as needed. Then, stir in pretzels and 2 cups of the candy corn and mix well. Working quickly before the mixture sets, spread evenly over your prepared cookie sheet or baking pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup candy corn evenly over top; press in lightly. To finish, let the mixture rest and set for about an hour then break into pieces for serving! Done! – Now here’s where the fun begins! A Few Over the Top Ideas for Candy Corn Bark! Let's expand the basic recipe with a few tasty ideas that still have a Halloween feel starting with Pumpkin colored bark! Start all of [...]

By |2024-01-10T05:09:35+00:00October 24th, 2020|Halloween|0 Comments
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Valentine’s Cooking Tips with Quick and Easy Recipe for Chocolate Lovers

Author Bio: Kent Whitaker (Author of this post Recipe for Chocolate Lovers), also known as “The Deck Chef,” is an award-winning culinary writer and cookbook author. He’s also penned Young Reader, NASCAR and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love when he fires up the smoker or grill. You can reach out to Kent at www.thedeckchef.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The Perfect Recipe for Chocolate Lovers on Valentine’s Day: Many people opt for a private home cooked meal on Valentine’s Day instead of spending too much on dinner out with possibly inflated prices. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a big dinner out with your Valentine if the budget and schedule allows it. However, many may find a romantic dinner at home more affordable and equally desired. The trick is to make sure the romantic event is different from a normal meal Here are some suggestions followed by a quick and easy recipe for Chocolate lovers! Simple is the ticket during the month for lovers. You want to impress your dinner partner. But that does not mean picking a dish that requires you spending all your time in the kitchen. Nothing says love like waiting for hours while food is cooking. Keep it quick and simple… but new. Keep it fresh. This applies on two levels, fresh foods and a fresh recipe. Avoid bland frozen items and choose a dish that is not something the two of you would eat on a regular basis. Comfort But try to stay in both of your comfort zones. This is not the time to try an exotic recipe for the first time. One, make sure you can cook the dish. Don’t pick something that takes more skill than you can muster, or time than you can dedicate to it. Two, don’t go crazy on something that neither one of you would really enjoy. Portions Size. Dishes are smaller, everything is easier, cooking time is reduced and both of you are more likely to enjoy each other’s company more if you don’t feel the need for a nap after dinner. Clean Up! Are you kidding me? Save the dishes for later. In short, make it simple, realistic and something you know you can cook but don’t all the time then try to add a twist. And even if you [...]

By |2024-01-10T15:57:36+00:00January 25th, 2020|Fruits, Valentine Day|0 Comments
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Easy Grilled Foil Fish Boat

About the Author: Kent Whitaker who is author of this post Grilled Foil Fish is a culinary writer and cookbook author. He is the winner of the Emeril Live BBQ contest and winner of an American Authors Association Gold medal. Kent’s books are in bookstores nationwide and are available online. Kent lives in Chattanooga. Visit him online at www.thedeckchef.com Grilled Foil Fish: The Ultimate Guide Sometimes you want something other than a hot dog or burger on the grill and that’s where seafood comes in to play. Seafood, from simple cod fillets to shrimp, clams, oysters, shark steaks, and more are all perfect for cooking over hot coals or open gas flames. The trick is to understand one important thing… grilling seafood is incredibly simple! And that’s where using something as simple as a foil fish boat comes in handy. Unless you grill all of the time and have a wide variety of non-stick grilling baskets you may be hesitant about grilling more delicate white fish fillets directly on the hot grate. The obvious fear that that the fillet will break apart… which it will naturally flake when it’s done. Flakes can turn into large chunks of your meal falling into to fire. Why a Boat and not just a sheet of Foil? What’s a foil fish boat? – all you are really doing is providing a nice surface that you can grill thin and delicate filets on worry-free. A splash of butter or non-stick spray is all you really need. I love foil and this is a recipe and technique that I use to cook seafood and shrimp on the grill. T also works with vegetable burgers and turkey burgers. The point is, you have the smooth surface of a skillet with the smoky flavor from your grill! Here’s where a “boat” comes in handy! By forming a boat or bowl type of shape with your foil you can add additional items in without having to worry about things sliding off. Plus, depending on how thin your fillet is, you may not even need to turn it. Just let the heat from the bottom coals and the refracted heat from a closed cover grill, smoke and bake your fish at the same time. And, if the sides of the foil are long enough you can add the ingredients, fold lightly to seal, and then grill. You’ve just eliminated the worry of serving dried out fillets. Serving shrimp? Toss in the shrimp, sprinkle with [...]

By |2024-01-10T22:37:49+00:00July 2nd, 2019|BBQ|0 Comments
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Spooky Halloween Shrunken Head Sliders

By Kent Whitaker - How to Grill Shrunken Head Sliders for Halloween Have you ever eaten a shrunken head with melted Colby and Pepper Jack cheese? Who says that Halloween is just for handing out candy and popcorn balls to neighborhood kids? It’s time to toss in some fun foodie ideas that are well suited for the kitchen or grill. And, why not make it fun, kind of gross… and yet packed with flavor? For any other article this recipe would simply be for a burger with some spicy seasoning, steamed onions, a tangy jalapeno mustard BBQ sauce and gherkin pickle wedges. For Halloween, this recipe transforms into something a bit more fun. Tell your family, or guests, you’re serving up Shrunken Head Sliders with tape worms, zombie sauce and alien fingers… with cheese! Remember, you’re having fun and getting into the Halloween spirit, pun intended, but that’s no reason to forget about making a great tasting dish. I suggest that you make a blended burger for extra flavor. I suggest combining ground beef with ground Italian sausage. Or, ground turkey and black bean burgers. If you break up the beans your ground turkey will have a creepy purple tint to them – perfect for Halloween! The “zombie sauce” mentioned above is one of my standard quick and easy “cheater junk sauces.” That’s where you have some sauce in the fridge and you add some extra “junk” to it for bonus flavor. For this I combined a mustard based barbecue sauce with a splash of honey and store bought chopped jalapenos. Use these recipe as a starting point for your creative ideas and have fun! Easy Beef & Italian Sausage Burgers 1 pound lean ground beef, 80/20 1/2 pound Italian sausage, ground Salt and pepper to taste Steak sauce Cajun seasoning Cheese Combine the beef and ground Italian sausage in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Form into equally sized meatballs about the size of a golf ball. Next, flatten each ball while pinching one side into a thinner piece forming a skeleton head type of shape. Next, season each side with a light brushing of steak sauce and a few dashes of Cajun seasoning. Grill, bake or broil as you normally would. Use tiny slices of cheese for x’s representing stitched eyes and for the mouth. I used pepper jack. Serve hot on toasted slider buns covered in cheese with zombie sauce, steamed onion slices and gherkin pickle wedges. Serve open faced. Kent “The [...]

By |2024-01-12T01:18:09+00:00October 4th, 2017|BBQ, BBQ Recipes, Halloween|1 Comment
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