From the TVCasualties cookbook… Hurley style feast

On the menu for tonight’s Lost finale is a duo of pizzas and a tropical island style trifle.

Pineapple and Wild Boar *cough* bacon *cough* pizza

Ingredients

1 cup pizza sauce (recommended: Dei Fratelli)
1 recipe pizza dough (I like the frozen stuff by Tiseo’s)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 oz. parmesan cheese, shredded
6 slices of boar bacon, fried and chopped (or regular bacon, if that’s all you can find…)
1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/8 cup dried pineapple
1 green onion, chopped
olive oil

 

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. I like to use cast iron pans to cook my pizza, but use whatever you like best or have on hand – pizza stone, cookie sheet, pizza pan, etc. Slather your vessel with olive oil.
3. Roll and stretch the dough into a 12-14″ circle and place on your greased pizza vessel.
4. Slather with sauce, stopping about 1″ from the edge of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan evenly over the top, followed by the bacon, tomato, pineapple and green onion.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes or ’til golden brown and bubbly.
7. Slather generously with ranch dressing.

Jerked Chicken and Goat Cheese pizza

Ingredients

1 cup pizza sauce (recommended: Dei Fratelli)
1 recipe pizza dough (I like the frozen stuff by Tiseo’s)
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 oz. parmesan cheese, shredded
1 jerked chicken breast, grilled and chopped
1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 oz. goat cheese
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. I like to use cast iron pans to cook my pizza, but use whatever you like best or have on hand – pizza stone, cookie sheet, pizza pan, etc. Slather your vessel with olive oil.
3. Roll and stretch the dough into a 12-14″ circle and place on your greased pizza vessel.
4. Slather with sauce, stopping about 1″ from the edge of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan evenly over the top, followed by the chicken, goat cheese, tomato and red onion.
6. Bake 10-15 minutes or ’til golden brown and bubbly.
7. Slather generously with ranch dressing.

Tropical Island Trifle

Ingredients

1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (9 inch) angel food cake, roughly chopped
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla
pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
3 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
2 small mangos, peeled and sliced
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and diced

1. Mix instant pudding and cold milk per package instructions and let set.
2. In a large bowl, mix the whipping cream and powdered sugar, and then whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. Mix prepared pudding and sour cream, and then gently fold in whipped cream mixture.
4. Line a large serving bowl with half of the strawberries and all of the kiwi slices.
5. Cover with 1/3 of the cake pieces, followed by 1/3 of the pudding/cream mixture.
6. Layer half of the pineapple and all of the mango slices, followed by 1/3 of the cake pieces and 1/3 of the pudding/cream mixture.
7. Top with the remaining strawberries and pineapple, followed by the remaining cake and pudding/cream mixture.
8. Top with a few strawberries and kiwi slices.
9. Slather generously with ranch dressing (Okay, not really.)

Notes: The trifle tastes best if you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, but it will get soggy overnight, so I recommend only making as much as you can eat in one sitting.

31 Days of Candy – October 9th – Hot Tamales

Hot Tamales are one of the few non-chocolate/gummy candies that I can remember adults taking an interest in. An for good reason: these tasty treats give you a tantalizing tingle on the tip of your tongue… Okay, enough with the t’s. Seriously though, Hot Tamales combine spicy cinnamon with gummy goodness in such a way that only a wuss wouldn’t like them.

I was always tempted by their fruity counterpart, Mike and Ike since you get 5 flavors instead of just one, but in retrospect, Hot Tamales are better.

31 Days of Candy – October 8th – Butterfinger

I am not a fan of the Butterfinger, but it’s such a quintessential trick or treating item that I didn’t feel right leaving it out. There’s really nothing good to be said of the Butterfinger… it’s too sweet and to crunchy. It’s like airy peanut brittle, which may be what they’re going for and may be why I don’t like it, since I don’t like peanut brittle.

The only redeeming quality is that it’s covered in chocolate. And since there’s always a Butterfinger fan in every crowd, it can always be traded for something more desirable.

31 Days of Candy – October 7th – 100 Grand

I’m salivating profusely as I type this… the mere thought of caramel + crispies + chocolate is drool-inducing. In my opinion, this is one of the finest candy bars man has ever made. It’s the prefect combination of chewy and crunchy. If only they’d start making a dark chocolate 100 Grand, life would be complete.

31 Days of Candy – October 6th – Nerds

You always knew you got a box of Nerds whilst trick or treating because of that distinct rattle. Nothing else sounds like a box of nerds.

Just the right mix of tart and sweet, plus you they come in packages with 2 flavors in one box- genius!

I never considered it before, but the illustration on the box really suggests you’re eating those little Yoshi/Lemming looking dudes, and that’s kind of creepy.

31 Days of Candy – October 5th – Twix

I ate Twix pretty much daily from the time I was 11 to 13. I had Cookies and Creme Twix. I had Chocolate Fudge Twix. I had Peanut Butter Twix. But the classic Twix always has been and always will be the Chocolate Caramel Twix.

 

31 Days of Candy – October 4th – Snickers

Snickers is the perfect example of a candy bar in which the ‘fun size’ or mini version is better than the full size candy bar. Fact!

Snickers is a genre-buster. It’s one of the few candy bars made for adults (anything with nuts is going to automatically turn some kids off) that still appeals to kids. Just the right amount of chewy, crunchy, and sweet.

The new Snickers Dark is divine.

31 Days of Candy – Oct 3 – Dubble Bubble

Just seeing that wrapper sets my teeth a-grinding. There’s no other gum quite like the Dubble Bubble: it’s rock hard, but softens to almost goopy consistency with a little elbow grease (or would it be jaw grease?) and saliva. Incredibly sticky-sweet, with that mega potent bubblegum flavor.

Score: 2.5/5 cavities

31 Days of Candy – October 2nd – Dots

I’m not sure exactly what it was about Dots that made them so appealing. They’re essentially gum drops minus the sugar coating… and what kind of candy is good minus the sugar coating? But if I didn’t get at least one (pathetically small) box of Dots during an outing of trick or treating, I considered it somewhat of a failure. Maybe it was the noise the box made when you shook it.

In fairness, the green ones taste like Windex, but the rest are that wonderful kind of gummy deliciousness that dentists probably dream about at night.

Score: 4.5/5 cavities

31 Days of Candy – October 1st – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

One of the classic Halloween treats.

 

I went through an anti-nut phase, so I used to detest the combination of peanut butter and chocolate (and yes, I know peanuts are actually legumes- bitch, please!). Even though I got a ton of them and wouldn’t eat them, they were valuable in the Halloween Candy trade. I could barter with my brother for another box of Dots or something else a little more exotic. They were also handy for when the Tax Man (aka my mother) came around trolling for a candy fix. So unlike the vomitastic peanut butter taffy that comes in the orange and black wrappers, the Reese’s Cups were at least worth something.

But now I’ve come to my senses. I no longer fear the marriage of chocolate and peanut butter, in fact, I embrace it.

Score: 5/5 cavities

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