Market District Halloween-Inspired Recipes

It's Halloween and if you're looking for some spooky recipes, check out these from the Giant Eagle Market District!

Ossi Dei Morti "Bones of the Dead" Cookies
(Compliments of Chef Crystal A.Baldwin)

Makes: 24 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 1 egg white
• 1 ¾ cups flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup almonds - ground
• ½ tsp almond extract
• powdered sugar - to dust

Directions:

In a bowl cream the butter and mix until it is light and fluffy. Add sugar, almond extract, egg white and continue mixing.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon and almond mealAdd in the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl until a ball has formed. Add a tablespoon or two of if necessary to help form a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

On a lightly floured surface, take large walnut size amounts of the dough and roll into ropes that are approximately the width of your finger and 2 ½" long. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Indent the cookies on both ends to form a "bone" shape. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. Dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving.

Chicken Molé
(Compliments Chef Crystal A. Baldwin)

Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 2 ½ hours

Ingredients:

• 4 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 dried chiles negros, stemmed and seeded
• ¾ tsp anise seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp coriander seeds
• 1 ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches long
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 5 tbsp lard or olive oil
• ¼ cup almonds
• 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1 small Spanish onion, peeled and quartered
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 plum tomatoes
• 1 ½ qt Market District Chicken Stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 4-5 lb whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:

Toast the chiles in a skillet over medium-high heat until dark. Place in a bowl and cover with hot water and soak for 30 minutes.

In the same skillet toast the spices and set aside in a bowl to cool. Add the sesame seeds to the pan and toast until dark golden brown. Set aside in the same bowl as the spices. Place the cooled spice mixture in a spice grinder and grind until fine.

Add 2 tbsp of lard to the pan and toast the almonds, pumpkin seeds and raisins until golden and the raisins are plump.

Remove from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl. Add the onions, garlic and tomatoes to pan and cook until the tomatoes are blistered and the onions are charred. Add the drained chiles, spice mixture and nut mixture back to the pan.

Season with salt and pepper; add the stock and cook for 1 hour partially covered until thickened. Puree the mixture in a blender in batches until smooth.

Add the remaining lard to a Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the chicken in batches. Pour the mole over the chicken and cook in a 350⁰ oven until cooked through and tender, approximately 1 hour.

Note: if a spice grinder is not available, ground spices may be used instead of grinding the whole spices.

Pomegranate Margarita
(Compliments of Chef Crystal A. Baldwin)

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: N/A

Ingredients:

• 4 oz pomegranate juice, chilled
• 1 oz lime juice (plus extra to rim margarita glasses), chilled
• ½ oz simple syrup, chilled
• 4 oz tequila, chilled
• Margarita salt

Directions:

Mix ingredients well. Rim a glass with lime juice then dip into margarita salt.. Pour the margarita into the glass over ice and serve.