Iron Chef September -- Cinnamon (hosted by Mollie & Ty)

Iron Chef September - Cinnamon

Liz & Jim's Appetizer - Pork Tenderloin 

Ingredients

• 2 - 1 lb whole pork tenderoloins

Marinade:2 cloves garlic

• 2 green onions
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons red food coloring, optional*

Directions 

Fine-chop the garlic and green onions. Combine the honey, brown sugar, and wine in a large bowl. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Stir in the cinnamon and then the soy sauce.

Place the tenderloins in the bowl, coating them well with the marinade. Cover the bowl and marinate the meat for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally. (May be left in the refrigerator overnight.)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the meat from the marinade and place them on a broiler pan. Reserve the marinade for basting. Bake until cooked through, about 45 to 60 minutes, basting often. Cool.

Cut the roasted tenderloins into 1/4" slices and transfer to a serving platter.

Liz & Jim's Appetizer -Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Ingredients   

• 2 cups of almonds, pecans, or walnuts – roast each type of nut individually
  2 tablespoons agave or honey
  1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or canola oil
  1 1/2 teaspoons good quality cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

 

Directions

Place a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place nuts in a large bowl. When you roast the nuts, roast each variety in separate glass or ceramic baking dishes as their roasting times vary slightly. You can put two dishes of nuts in the oven at once so long as they fit on the same middle rack. If the nuts are too close to the heating element they’ll burn.

Combine agave, oil, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne powder in a glass measuring cup. Pour mixture over nuts and toss to coat completely. 

Place nuts in a glass baking dish in a single layer. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, stirring after 6 minutes. Test for doneness at 12 minutes. Nuts will still be soft when done and will get crisp as they cool.
 

Let nuts cool in glass dish for a few minutes. Stir to toss nuts in any remaining agave mix on the bottom of the pan. 

Place on heavy duty aluminum foil to cool completely, separating nuts as much as possible so they don’t dry in clumps.
 

For almonds: these take several more minutes to cook. Once cooked, allow to cool in pan, tossing in agave mix. Since the almonds have no ridges to soak up the flavoring, you may need to add a little salt, cinnamon, or cayenne. Taste the nuts and adjust the seasoning as needed. Once they’ve cooled and have nice globs of spicy cinnamon agave on them, move them to heavy duty aluminum foil to cool completely.
 

Store in mason jars for optimal freshness.

Ann & Darren's Side - Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (large)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon (ground)
• salt (seasoned salt)   

•  

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Peel sweet potatoes and then slice into French fry style sticks.
Line a jelly roll pan with a sheet of baker's parchment paper.
Toss sweet potato fries in a bowl with olive oil to coat sweet potatoes.
Lie sweet potato fries on to the parchment paper.
Sprinkle with salt.
Use 1.5 teaspoons worth of cinnamon and sprinkle sweet potato fries.
Bake them for 20 minutes, then turn them over.
Sprinkle salt and remaining cinnamon on the fries. 

Bake them for an additional 30 minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

Micki's Salad - Plum Salad with Cinnamon Honey Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plum preserves
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon McCormick® Grill Mates® Applewood Rub
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 pound extra large shrimp (16 to 20 count), peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 plums, each cut into 6 slices
• 1 package (5 ounces) spring mix salad greens
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 6 slices applewood bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Cinnamon-Honey Dressing:

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Sicilian Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Roasted Saigon Cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons olive oil

 

Directions 

For the Cinnamon-Honey Dressing, mix lemon juice, honey, sea salt and roasted cinnamon in small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Set aside. 

Mix plum preserves and water in small bowl. Set aside. Mix Applewood Rub and lemon peel. Thread shrimp onto skewers. Brush with oil. Coat with Rub mixture.

Grill shrimp skewers over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes per side or just until shrimp turn pink, brushing occasionally with plum preserves mixture. Grill plums 1 to 2 minutes or until grill marks appear, turning frequently and brushing with 2 tablespoons of the Dressing.

To serve, divide salad greens among 6 plates. Top each with shrimp, plums, raspberries and bacon. Serve with remaining Cinnamon-Honey Dressing.

 

Molly & Ty's Main Dish -  Marrakesh Stew

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion, diced large
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 3 3/4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 small eggplants, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• Cooked couscous (optional), for serving

 

Directions  

In an 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne, and allspice and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add carrots, potatoes, and squash and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth (vegetables should be completely covered by liquid; add water to cover if necessary). Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, 20 minutes.

Add eggplant, stir to combine, and simmer until eggplant is tender, 20 minutes. Stir in chickpeas, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook until chickpeas are warmed through, 5 minutes. Serve stew with couscous if desired.

Annie & Jeff's Dessert - Grandma's Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

• 1-1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (~12 whole crackers)
• 1/4 c almonds, finely chopped
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

 Pie Filling

• 6 egg yolks
• 1 - 14oz can sweetened condensed milk 
• 3/4 c fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp grated lime rind

Meringue 

• 6 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 c sugar

 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine crumbs, sugar, almonds, butter & cinnamon in a bowl. Blend well.

Use mixture to line bottom and sides of 10" pie plate.

Bake 8-10 minutes, until golden brown and firm.

Remove to a rack and let cool.

Reduce oven to 250.

Beat egg yolks in a bowl.

Pour in condensed milk, stirring constantly.

Add lime rind and juice.

Pour mixture into crumb crust.

Place pie in oven and bake for 15-30 minutes, until firm.

Transfer to rack and let cool.

In a mixing bowl beat egg whites until frothy.

Gradually add sugar and cream of tartar, beating constantly until peaks are stiff.

Spread meringue over pie, covering the edge of the crust.

Bake until meringue is nicely browned (about 15 min)

Remove to rack to cool.

Be sure pie is completely cooled before moving to fridge. Serve chilled.