It is so great living in the woods. Except if you want to grow things deer like to munch on. Which is pretty much everything. Scott and his dad worked on a fence for a new and improved garden. I am so excited it is done! Now we just have to build the new beds and I will be set to go for next year. I will be planting some garlic and shallots along with my other flower bulbs this fall to give them a head start.
I made up a recipe today with what I had on hand for curried tuna melts. They were actually very good.
Curried Tuna Melts
1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 T thinly sliced green onions
2 T craisins
¼ cup chopped cashews
2 t lemon juice
pinch salt
1 t curry powder
4 slices hearty bread
4 slices Cheddar cheese
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine tuna, mayonnaise, onions, craisins, cashews, lemon juice, salt and curry powder. Spread about 1/4 cup on each slice of bread and top with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
I am working on my cookbook and it is going slow and steady. The hardest thing is remembering to take pictures when I make things. Some items I don't make very often so if I forget to take a picture it is quite disappointing.
Maddie had fun at preschool today. I do think she is teething though as everything is going in her mouth again and she has been really sleepy lately. Hopefully the teeth will come in soon.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Oopa! Greek Meze Party
We had a fabulous Greek Meze Party on Saturday with our friends Brooke and Jason (and their adorable son Liel) and some new friends Brittnay and Chris (and their tiny sweet daughter Nora). Good wine, great conversation and tasty food. We started the night off with an aperitif of ouzo, orange juice and sparkling water. It was pretty good and cut the ouzo a bit, though it was still quite potent.
Brittany and Chris made a greek rice salad and smooth delicious hummus. Scott said we need to start making our own, because it was better than store bought. Brooke and Jason made baba ganoush, meat filled dolmas, and feta grilled in grape leaves. Oh my gosh everything was so delcious. I have never had meat in dolma's before and the feta on the grill was salty, smoky devine. Check out Brooke's blog for her fabulous recipes: http://lifeofsimplepleasures.blogspot.com/
Here are the recipes we made:
Wheat Greek Pita Bread
Fine Cooking July 2008 No. 93
Yields 12 7-inch pitas.
It helps to have a scale to divide dough evenly , and you'll need at least 6 sq. ft. of counter space to lay out the rolled pitas.
1 t granulated sugar
two ¼ oz. Packages active dry yeast
13 ½ oz (3 cups) unbleached all purpose flour, more for dusting
13 ½ oz (3 cups) whole-wheat flour
2 t kosher salt, more for sprinkling
½ cup plus 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
Make the dough: In a liquid measure, stir the sugar into 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir in the yeast and set aside until the yeast is foamy (5 min).In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together both flours and the salt. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the oil, and 1 cup lukewarm water into the well. Mix with the dough hook on low speed until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and gathers around the hook, 4-5 minutes.By hand shape the dough into a ball. Wipe out the mixing bowl an put the dough back in the bowl. Drizzle with 2 T oil and turn to coat. Cover with cloth and set aside in warm place 1 hour.
Gently deflate the dough with your hands, cover and let rest 20 minutes.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured counter. Divide into 12 even pieces (3 ¾ oz each).
Shape each piece into a rough ball and then put each ball on an unfloured section of the counter, cup you hand over it and quickly rotate you hand over the dough. As long as the dough is stuck to the counter, this motion shapes the dough into a tight evenly round ball.
On the floured part of the counter, roll each pies into a 1/8-inch thick round that is about 7-inches across. As you finish each round, set aside on a lightly floured surface. When all the dough is rolled, cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 1 hour. Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom of the oven and heat to 500 degrees F.
Lightly sprinkle dough with salt. Arrange as many of the rounds as will fit on an unrimmed baking sheet and bake 5-6 minutes until just golden on top. As each batch comes out of the oven, stack 4 high and wrap in clean kitchen towels. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature. Well wrapped they will keep 3 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. Reheat in a warm oven to soften before serving.
Greek pitas normally don't have pockets- the are meant to be wrapped around foods, not stuffed. This recipe has potential to make puffy pocketed pitas if the dough is rolled quickly but gently so as to express as little air as possible. Also be gentle when transferring pitas to the baking sheet.
Crisp Lamb Meat Balls
Fine Cooking July 2008 No. 93
3 oz (about 3 slices) artisan style bread or dense white bread
1 lb ground lamb
½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 T chopped mint, more for garnish
2 T grated Greek kefalotyri cheese (or Parmigiano-Reggiano)
4 gloves garlic, minced
2 t chopped fresh oregano
1 t ground cinnamon
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups olive oil for frying
Put bread in small bowl and add enough water to soak through (about ½ cup). With your hands, squeeze the water out of bread and tear it into small pieces into a medium bowl. Add the lamb, onion, egg, mint, cheese, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, 1 t salt and ½ t pepper. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to overnight.
Roll meat into 1-inch balls. Spread flour on baking sheet and gently roll balls until well covered. Pour oil into 12-inch skillet to a depth of ½ inch. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Add meatballs in a single layer and cook, turning occasionally until crisp and brown on all sides, 4-6 minutes total. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels. Arrange meatballs on a platter and sprinkle with remaining mint.
You can make the meatball mixture up to a day ahead. You can shape the meatballs up to an hour ahead; fry them close to serving. Keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.
Zucchini Fritters
2 cups shredded zucchini
½ cup shredded yellow onion
2 cloves minced garlic
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup corn meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 t chili powder
½ t pepper
¼ t salt
oil for frying
Mix all ingredients. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoon fulls into hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, flipping half way.
If your mixture seems very wet or soupy, add more flour. Some zucchini are wetter than others.
For dessert we had a fresh pears mixed with some cinnamon sugar, a little almond paste, some sour cream wrapped in a puff pastry shell. Served with homemade vanilla icecream. Here is the recipe for home-made puff pastry and icecream.
Puff Pastry
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour
½ t salt
2 t sugar (for a sweet puff pastry, if making savory leave out)
12 T unsalted butter
Ice cold water
Mix flours and salt (sugar if using) and put in freezer for 1 hour. Cut butter into chunks and freeze for one hour. Pour flour on counter top and add butter. Using a bench scraper cut butter into flour mixture until it is pea-sized. Try to touch the flour as little as possible with your hands. Make a trench in the flour and butter mixture and at 2 T ice cold water. Using bench scraper and hands gently mix water in. Continue to add water until the pastry just holds together. It can be a little crumbly. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle and then fold rectangle into ¼ Th's bringing each side into the middle and then folding the two sides onto themselves. Rotate the dough ¼ turn and roll into another rectangle and fold into fourths (we are creating the layers in the pastry). Repeat 2 more times. Roll out into rectangle one more time and fold into 1/3's like a letter. At this point pastry can be well wrapped and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 2 months. If ready to use roll into desired shape approximately ¼ inch thick.
Vanilla Ice Cream
3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
9 ounces vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream (and vanilla bean if using) into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract or scrape seeds out of bean pod. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.
Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.
If you do not have an ice cream maker, simply put the cooled mixture into a freezer container and stir every hour for at least 4 hours until desired hardness is reached.
Brittany and Chris made a greek rice salad and smooth delicious hummus. Scott said we need to start making our own, because it was better than store bought. Brooke and Jason made baba ganoush, meat filled dolmas, and feta grilled in grape leaves. Oh my gosh everything was so delcious. I have never had meat in dolma's before and the feta on the grill was salty, smoky devine. Check out Brooke's blog for her fabulous recipes: http://lifeofsimplepleasures.blogspot.com/
Here are the recipes we made:
Wheat Greek Pita Bread
Fine Cooking July 2008 No. 93
Yields 12 7-inch pitas.
It helps to have a scale to divide dough evenly , and you'll need at least 6 sq. ft. of counter space to lay out the rolled pitas.
1 t granulated sugar
two ¼ oz. Packages active dry yeast
13 ½ oz (3 cups) unbleached all purpose flour, more for dusting
13 ½ oz (3 cups) whole-wheat flour
2 t kosher salt, more for sprinkling
½ cup plus 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
Make the dough: In a liquid measure, stir the sugar into 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir in the yeast and set aside until the yeast is foamy (5 min).In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together both flours and the salt. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the oil, and 1 cup lukewarm water into the well. Mix with the dough hook on low speed until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and gathers around the hook, 4-5 minutes.By hand shape the dough into a ball. Wipe out the mixing bowl an put the dough back in the bowl. Drizzle with 2 T oil and turn to coat. Cover with cloth and set aside in warm place 1 hour.
Gently deflate the dough with your hands, cover and let rest 20 minutes.
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured counter. Divide into 12 even pieces (3 ¾ oz each).
Shape each piece into a rough ball and then put each ball on an unfloured section of the counter, cup you hand over it and quickly rotate you hand over the dough. As long as the dough is stuck to the counter, this motion shapes the dough into a tight evenly round ball.
On the floured part of the counter, roll each pies into a 1/8-inch thick round that is about 7-inches across. As you finish each round, set aside on a lightly floured surface. When all the dough is rolled, cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 1 hour. Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom of the oven and heat to 500 degrees F.
Lightly sprinkle dough with salt. Arrange as many of the rounds as will fit on an unrimmed baking sheet and bake 5-6 minutes until just golden on top. As each batch comes out of the oven, stack 4 high and wrap in clean kitchen towels. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature. Well wrapped they will keep 3 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. Reheat in a warm oven to soften before serving.
Greek pitas normally don't have pockets- the are meant to be wrapped around foods, not stuffed. This recipe has potential to make puffy pocketed pitas if the dough is rolled quickly but gently so as to express as little air as possible. Also be gentle when transferring pitas to the baking sheet.
Crisp Lamb Meat Balls
Fine Cooking July 2008 No. 93
3 oz (about 3 slices) artisan style bread or dense white bread
1 lb ground lamb
½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 T chopped mint, more for garnish
2 T grated Greek kefalotyri cheese (or Parmigiano-Reggiano)
4 gloves garlic, minced
2 t chopped fresh oregano
1 t ground cinnamon
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups olive oil for frying
Put bread in small bowl and add enough water to soak through (about ½ cup). With your hands, squeeze the water out of bread and tear it into small pieces into a medium bowl. Add the lamb, onion, egg, mint, cheese, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, 1 t salt and ½ t pepper. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to overnight.
Roll meat into 1-inch balls. Spread flour on baking sheet and gently roll balls until well covered. Pour oil into 12-inch skillet to a depth of ½ inch. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Add meatballs in a single layer and cook, turning occasionally until crisp and brown on all sides, 4-6 minutes total. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels. Arrange meatballs on a platter and sprinkle with remaining mint.
You can make the meatball mixture up to a day ahead. You can shape the meatballs up to an hour ahead; fry them close to serving. Keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.
Zucchini Fritters
2 cups shredded zucchini
½ cup shredded yellow onion
2 cloves minced garlic
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup corn meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 t chili powder
½ t pepper
¼ t salt
oil for frying
Mix all ingredients. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoon fulls into hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, flipping half way.
If your mixture seems very wet or soupy, add more flour. Some zucchini are wetter than others.
For dessert we had a fresh pears mixed with some cinnamon sugar, a little almond paste, some sour cream wrapped in a puff pastry shell. Served with homemade vanilla icecream. Here is the recipe for home-made puff pastry and icecream.
Puff Pastry
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour
½ t salt
2 t sugar (for a sweet puff pastry, if making savory leave out)
12 T unsalted butter
Ice cold water
Mix flours and salt (sugar if using) and put in freezer for 1 hour. Cut butter into chunks and freeze for one hour. Pour flour on counter top and add butter. Using a bench scraper cut butter into flour mixture until it is pea-sized. Try to touch the flour as little as possible with your hands. Make a trench in the flour and butter mixture and at 2 T ice cold water. Using bench scraper and hands gently mix water in. Continue to add water until the pastry just holds together. It can be a little crumbly. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle and then fold rectangle into ¼ Th's bringing each side into the middle and then folding the two sides onto themselves. Rotate the dough ¼ turn and roll into another rectangle and fold into fourths (we are creating the layers in the pastry). Repeat 2 more times. Roll out into rectangle one more time and fold into 1/3's like a letter. At this point pastry can be well wrapped and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 2 months. If ready to use roll into desired shape approximately ¼ inch thick.
Vanilla Ice Cream
3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
9 ounces vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream (and vanilla bean if using) into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract or scrape seeds out of bean pod. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.
Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.
If you do not have an ice cream maker, simply put the cooled mixture into a freezer container and stir every hour for at least 4 hours until desired hardness is reached.
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