Welcome to #Choctoberfest 2019

By: The Food Hunter


Welcome to #Choctoberfest, an annual recipe-sharing event. This year, over 70 bloggers are joining together for a week full of chocolate cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, tarts, candies, and more. You can follow along by searching for the hashtag #Choctoberfest on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Or, simply follow any of the participating bloggers listed below.

We also have some awesome sponsors, who make #Choctoberfest possible every year. Our sponsors have banded together to put together a delicious prize pack worth $400. (enter below)

 a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Entries from spam or inactive accounts are invalid. #Choctoberfest bloggers, sponsors, and their immediate families/households are not eligible to win. This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Make sure you check out the participating bloggers to see #Choctoberfest recipes throughout the week:

Triple Chocolate Kitchen • 2 Cookin Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • A Labour of Life • A Little Fish in the Kitchen • A Southern Fairytale • Amy's Cooking Adventures • An Affair from the Heart • Bottom Left of the Mitten • Broken Teepee • Bunsen Burner Bakery • Champagne and Coconuts • Cindy's Recipes and Writings • Cook with Renu • Cook's Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Crafty Cooking Mama • Daily Dish Recipes • Dixie Chik Cooks • Everyday Eileen • Fairyburger • First Timer Cook • Fix Me a Little Lunch • Frugal & Fit • Fun Happy Home • Get the Good Stuff! • Glenda Embree • Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks • How Was Your Day? • I Can Cook That • Join Us, Pull up a Chair • Karen's Kitchen Stories • Kate's Recipe Box • Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats • Life & Medicine Blog • Life on Food • Long Distance Baking • Lynchburg Mama • Makes, Bakes and Decor • Making Miracles • Mama Needs Cake • Memories In The Kitchen • Our Good Life • Our Sutton Place • Palatable Pastime • Queenslee Appétit • Reviewz & Newz • Sarah Cooks the Books • Sarah's Bake Studio • Seduction In The Kitchen • Shockingly Delicious • Simple Family Crazy Life • Simply Inspired Meals • Sneha's Recipe • Style Island • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Sweet Coralice • Sweet Dash of Sass • Take Two Tapas • That Recipe • The Awesome Muse • The Beard and The Baker • The Delicious Spoon • The Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Redhead Baker • The Schizo Chef • The Spiffy Cookie • The Urben Life • Trampling Rose • Turnips 2 Tangerines • Who Needs A Cape? • Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

LG InstaView™ Door-in-Door® Refrigerator with Craft Ice™ #AD

By: The Food Hunter

If you are into cocktails...even a little bit...you know how crucial "ice" can be when mixing your favorite beverage. As ice melts, it becomes part of the cocktail and can literally make or break a drink.

LG’s newest InstaView™ Door-in-Door® refrigerators have everything you need to make the ultimate cocktail ice. Dual ice makers with Craft Ice™ automatically create crushed, cubed and LG’s exclusive slow-melting round ice on demand; perfect for crafting upscale cocktails home.

A game changer for home entertainers; there is no more messing with expensive and time-consuming molds that only produce one or two ice cubes at a time, the LG offers the ice you need in a timely and effortless fashion. 

If that isn't enough to get you thinking about the LG InstaView refrigerator how about the fact that the new design lets you see inside your refrigerator without ever opening the door—simply knock twice on the unique glass panel and you will have a nice view of your food. You are also able to  access grab-and-go items without having to open the whole fridge. Think about all the money you will save!!! It's a win win if you ask me.

Chicken Ragù with Fennel, and Peas

By: The Food Hunter

I truly love a good pasta sauce and the recipe below, from epicurious.com is no exception. (Note I substituted pancetta for the bacon in the original recipe and had great results) The creamy, milk based sauce, is studded with green peas, chopped fennel and pieces of tender chicken making it simply irresistible.  Even better; the sauce can be made in advance for a delicious dinner any night of the week.



 Chicken Ragù with Fennel, and Peas 

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces pancetta, cubed
1 1/2 pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 6 total)
salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped, plus 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fronds
6 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb pasta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus shaved for serving
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Heat oil in a wide large saucepan or a Dutch oven over medium. Cook pancetta, stirring often, until browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl with a slotted spoon.

Increase heat to medium-high. Season chicken all over with salt, then set in pan, skin side down. Cook, turning halfway through, until golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. fat from pan. Add onions and chopped fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, 6–8 minutes. Add thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in wine and simmer, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Return pancetta and chicken to pan (chicken should fit snugly in a single layer); pour in water to barely cover chicken. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and set lid askew. Cook until chicken is tender, 45–60 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a clean plate; let cool. Finely shred chicken meat; discard bones and skin.
Add milk to pan and set over medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until sauce is nearly reduced by half and slightly thickened, 8–12 minutes.

Mix peas and chicken into sauce and cook until peas are just tender, about 4 minutes for fresh peas and 2 minutes for frozen. Season ragù with salt and plenty of pepper. Keep warm while you cook the pasta.

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Add pasta, butter, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, and 1/2 cup pasta water to ragù and mix to coat pasta with sauce. Increase heat to medium (sauce should be bubbling just a little) and continue cooking, stirring and adding more cooking liquid as needed if sauce is too thick, until butter and cheese are melted and incorporated into ragù and pasta is well coated in sauce. Add parsley and toss to evenly distribute through pasta.

Divide pasta among bowls. Top with fennel fronds and shaved Parmesan.

The New Fashioned Cocktail

By: The Food Hunter

Sometimes all it takes to transform a classic cocktail is a new spirit; like the D'USSE Cognac, a naturally aged bold, full-bodied blend Cognac. The taste is subtle yet  arouses the palate. Try it in the New Fashioned Cocktail

NEW FASHIONED

2 oz- D’USSÉ Cognac

.75 oz- Simple Syrup

4 Dashes- Angostura Bitters

Glassware: Old Fashioned

Garnish: Orange Peel

Garnish: Brandied Cherry

Method:

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice.  Stir until cold.  Strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large format ice cube.  Twist orange peel over the cocktail to release the oils.  Garnish with the Orange Peel and a brandied Cherry.

Sagamore Pumpkin Flip

 By: The Food Hunter

Looking for a new way to enjoy Pumpkin Spice?

 

The Sagamore Pumpkin Flip, is an adult cocktail that blends amaretto with the brand’s Signature Rye Whiskey. Adding just a few pumps of pumpkin syrup will give you a tasty new way to savor your favorite fall spice.

 

Sagamore Pumpkin Flip   1 1/2 oz Sagamore Signature rye 1/2 oz pumpkin syrup 1/4 oz amaretto liqueur 1/4 oz heavy cream 2 dashes pecan bitters 1 whole egg   Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker without ice and shake for 10 seconds. Add ice, double strain into glass and garnish with nutmeg and cinnamon.