Voodoo Jalapeño Poppers

We've had a bumper crop of jalapeño peppers from the garden this year, and that means POPPERS! Autumn is chile season, though jalapeños are readily available at the grocery store year round. The flavor buzz from these was well worth the effort of seeding all those little suckers, but do wear gloves! The warm bite of jalapeño with smoky paprika in the cheese and the Voodoo sprinkle on top of these poppers goes down well chased by a rich porter. Enjoy a whole platter by yourself while you watch the game like we did, or serve them up at your next fall fête.

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Abuelo's Rabbit Paella

I had the pleasure of making this paella along with my friend Maria. She immigrated here from Madrid and while making this for me, she was beaming with nostalgia. She told me how her grandpa, Cristobal, took great pride in making paella outdoors in the hot Spanish summers. This Valencia-style paella is made with Saffron, Smoked Sweet Paprika, rabbit, and chicken. One of my favorite parts were the large creamy beans and nutty artichoke pieces. The rabbit gets tender while cooking and is similar in texture and flavor to chicken. We're a long ways from Valencia, but I would like to think this dish tasted like a summer vacation in Spain.Paella is a traditional, one-pan dish from Spain. The meats and vegetables used varies from region to region but all keep the signature saffron infused rice as the base. This type of recipe, Paella Valenciana, is hundreds of years old and comes from the paella birthplace, Valencia.A big thanks to Maria O'Connor who taught me her ways and her grandfather Cristobal Nebot for passing down this wonderful dish.

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Smoky Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies

From My Two Souths and Chef Asha Gomez, we get this recipe for Smoky Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies. Her singular recipes are rooted in her love of Deep-South cooking, as well as the Southern Indian flavors of her childhood home in Kerala. This was one of the first recipes we tried. We're thrilled to share it with you. From the author: "I have no doubt that, if I allowed him to do so, Ethan would eat a jar of Nutella in one sitting. To ensure that this creamy hazelnut spread wound up as an ingredient rather than the main course, I realized I had to come up with a Nutella recipe for my boy. Given his well-practiced sweet tooth, a cookie was the obvious and easy direction to take. But, as you may have gathered, my son is his mother's boy: Ethan loves spice in every form and shape as I do. When I added a hint of sugared, smoked paprika to Nutella cookie dough, I knew I had hit it out of the park. These are now Ethan's favorite cookies, and he won't even give them time to cool before snatching them up. I think my kid has a rather grown-up sense of taste for a ten-year-old. I wonder where he got it? My favorite part of this recipe is mixing the dough with my hands, and Ethan loves to roll up his sleeves and get in on the action."

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Big Love Buttermilk Fried Chicken

When Heather Earnhardt opened her tiny cafe, The Wandering Goose, in Seattle, she added a little bit of Southern charm and comfort to the city. From her childhood in the South with her close-knit family comes this collection of traditional Southern favorites that makes use of all of the delicious food ingredients available here in the Pacific Northwest. Her specialty is her biscuits - both sweet and savory - as well as traditional Southern fare such as pickles, pies, cakes, grits and this Big Love Buttermilk Fried Chicken. This delicious recipe comes from Heather L. Earnhardt's Big Food Big Love: Down Home Southern Cooking Full of Heart of Seattle's Wandering Goose.From the Author: "Fried chicken is an emblem of the South and loved the world over: there are as many styles and flavors as there are ways of eating it. Whether it's served hot over a buttermilk biscuit or eaten cold as a midnight snack standing in front of the refrigerator, fried chicken is good any time of the day or night. And it's good for you! If your oil is at the correct temperature, the chicken won't absorb any excess and will come out with a crackling skin and hot, juicy interior. My hope is that you fry enough of this chicken so that there are one or two pieces left for a midnight snack."

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Creole Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are always a crowd pleaser, even more so when you make them with a twist. Enter our Creole Deviled Eggs. This version is anything but ordinary, packed with flavor from Creole Spice and a dusting of Smoked Sweet Paprika on top.

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Lentil Loaf with Awesome Sauce

I've made this recipe for lentil loaf a million times. It is a go-to dish that keeps coming back around. Why? It's true the loaf is moist and flavorful, healthy, and satisfying. It's true that you can make it with just about any assortment of seasonal vegetables and spices. But the real reason is that the sauce is AWESOME. Seriously. For a family that loves to experiment with new dishes, the fact that we keep coming back to this recipe is a testament to its greatness.Credit goes to The Simple Veganista and her perfectly proportioned recipe for The Ultimate Vegetable Lentil Loaf. We've barely adapted it here. For our tastes, the secret is in the sauce, a simple blend of balsamic vinegar, ketchup and maple syrup, that pairs perfectly with all manner of flavors in the loaf. For this recipe I made it with New Mexico Chili Powder and our new Garlic Salt, but Sassy Steak Spice and Creole Seasoning also work well.

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Harissa Spiced Fig, Merguez, and Almond Salad

We love a good salad, and are always looking for a good salad cookbook to give us inspiration. Salmagundi: A Celebration of Salads from around the World by Sally Butchec has wonderful salad recipes from a variety of cuisines! This recipe for a spiced fig salad, which comes from the book, artfully combining sweet and spicy flavors in a spice-infused honey for predictably delicious results.From the Author: "This is a rather special salad. Actually, figs have the capacity to render pretty much anything special: their appearance is lush for starters - they have but to lie down on a plate or pose in a fruit bowl and they steal the show. They are also feted for their aphrodisiac properties: yup - they are the all-around floozy of the fruit world."

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Southwest Pumpkin Soup

This southwest pumpkin soup is a delicious fall treat, perfectly spiced with warm heat from our Chorizo Bomb. Sultry smoke from our perennial favorite, smoked paprika, rounds out the taste. Cooking your own pumpkin for this recipe is really easy, but the canned pureé works fine as well. Serve it up with crusty bread and a nice porter or stout and you’ve got an instant Oktoberfest!

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Paprika Potatoes

Smoked Sweet Paprika is an indispensable ingredient in any spice pantry, and the authors of Fresh & Fermented agree! Check out their delicious recipe below!"Smoked paprika, also known as pimentón, has finally reached mainstream status in the spice world, and not a minute too soon. Made from pimento peppers that have been dried or smoked over a fire, this spice imparts a robust smoky flavor. As a hearty side, this dish pairs well with your favorite sausages, pork loin, or any grilled meat. Leftovers are delicious with eggs in a breakfast burrito or scrambled into a breakfast hash."

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