Choco-Roaches

October 14: National Chocolate-Covered Insects Day

Gross out your guests when you gather together during the month of Halloween! Serve up some creepy critters we call “choco-roaches”! They look like chocolate-covered insects but they are really chocolate-covered dried dates with eerie innards of white frosting and nut chips. The string licorice antennae add disgusting details to the dates. Instead of eating real roaches for National Chocolate-Covered Insects Day, chew on “choco-roaches”!

Recipe

Ingredients

• Dried, pitted dates
• White tube frosting
• Chopped nut pieces (we used pecan chips)
• Black string licorice, sliced thinly
• Chocolate squares or candy melts

Directions

Slit open the dried dates. Using a small round tip, pipe white frosting inside. Tuck in a few nut pieces. Close the dates and set aside.

Print out a template of a cockroach clip art. Place under waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Slice the black string licorice thinly to make antennae. Position them on top of the waxed paper.

Melt the chocolate and fill a pastry bag with a small round tip. Trace over the cockroach clip art, filling in the body and incorporating the antennae. With the lefttover chocolate, dip the dates until coated. Place on another cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Refrigerate both cookie sheets until the chocolate is chilled and set. Carefully remove the flat roaches from the cookie sheet and place on a treat liner or plate. Pipe melted chocolate on top of the body and “glue” a chocolate-covered date on top. Refrigerate to set. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Notes

• Some cultures consider insects a delicacy, whether plain or chocolate-covered.
• An easier version of “choco-roaches” would be to eliminate all the ingredients except the chocolate, which could be melted and piped into cockroach shapes. They are flatter but still freaky!
• We serve our “choco-roaches” in individual rectangle treat liners sold by Wilton.
• Search our blog for more gross-looking goodies for Halloween.

Poulet à Sainte-Ménehould

(St. Ménehould Chicken)

October 14: Feast Day of St. Ménehould (Manechildis)

We have had ham hocks and pig’s feet before. So we would not mind if we prepared pied de cochon as St. Ménehould’s feast day food. But because some ingredients are not readily available at our grocery store, we prepared poulet (chicken) instead. The dish could also be made with eel, salmon, lamb or turkey but trotters are traditional. Pied de cochon is the local specialty in the northeastern French town that bears the saint’s name, Ste-Ménehould. Whatever meat is chosen for their patroness, the preparation for this saint’s day dish is similar: braising then broiling. This is a flavorful feast day food so try it and make it in memory of St. Ménehould.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking With the Saints by Ernst Scheugraf)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds chicken (we used thighs), boneless or bone-in
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chives, chopped
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon basil
• 1 clove
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1-2 tablespoons cream

Directions

In a baking pan with lid, pour the wine. Add the butter, onion, garlic, chives, thyme, basil, clove, salt, pepper and bay leaf and mix well. Place the chicken on top. Cover with the lid and simmer in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for 45-minutes to an hour until the chicken is cooked through. Baste the chicken with the liquid every 15 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and reserve the liquid.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and brush beaten egg yolks all over it. Dredge the chicken in bread crumbs. Place in a baking pan over the melted butter. Broil it until the chicken is browned (or bake the chicken on the top rack at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes), being careful not to burn the bread crumb coating.

While the chicken is broiling/baking, transfer the reserved liquid to a saucepan. Simmer to thicken it slightly. Stir in the cream and mix well. Strain the gravy into a serving boat. Plate the chicken and serve the gravy along side of it. Garnish with fresh parsely leaves, if desired.

Notes

• Not much is known about St. Ménehould except that she was a fifth century nun who, along with her sisters (also saints), are venerated in the Champagne region of France.  They were the daughters of Count Sigmar of Perthois. Although they grew up wealthy, they dedicated themselves to serve and live among the poor and sick near the Marne river.
• We halved the original recipe above to feed just the two of us at home. Serve with slices of French bread or baguette, potatoes and a side of salad, if desired.