Veggie Roulade

Never before have I been involved in such a beautiful culinary adventure. It was truly a tarty party.  The vegetable roulade was a magnificent undertaking and was of course another example of Abby's unending bravery! How many people in this world could be so bold and NOT follow a recipe. The best attempt at a recipe would be to follow some of these links below, otherwise I learned from the master by just doing! That deserves a Yoda quote.

The crust is made from many layers of filo and melted butter (at least of stick per tart) and we used layers of thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots.

Food Republic

Vimeo

YouTube

Yes it was all done using the mandolin, but this is picture shows it with onions which are not in this recipe. I used the mandolin and the onions for another recipe. Lesson learned: I won't do that again.
 
















 



 

 



 

 

 
 

 
 










 

 

 

 


 

 


 



 

5-Minute Pizza Sauce from Crunchy Creamy Sweet

This recipe is from one of my favorite new blogs! Crunchy Creamy Sweet is the find of the summer and with excellent communication skills. You should have see how quickly she replied to me when I let her know her blog was down. We had instant email exchange where she shared with me the zucchini recipe I was after.

Zucchini Bread

I didn't realize until today that there is no zucchini bread recipe on my blog. Here's one  from Food and Wine.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pound zucchini, coarsely shredded

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan and coat it with sugar. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a medium bowl, whisk the canola oil with the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add the shredded zucchini. Stir the zucchini batter into the dry ingredients.
2. Pour the zucchini bread batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make Ahead

The zucchini bread can be frozen for up to 2 months or refrigerated for up to 5 days.

99% Kid cooked dinner!

Spiralizer

This tool has been the best addition to my kitchen ever!

Laure's Gardens: The Wonderful Wonderberry

Laure's Gardens: The Wonderful Wonderberry: Part of the excitement of growing your own food is trying out some plants you haven’t tasted before.  We all love to try new varieties of to...

Sambal Dip

A vegetarians delight, and presumably able to be made vegan too, this dip is healthy and super tasty! This yummy dip was one of Hi-Ho's favorites and still elicits fond memories of the funny way she would enthusiastically say it's name when she made it, knowing it would always make me smile. It is full of vegetables so it is very healthy, and ever so slightly spicy with an Indian touch, but is not to be confused with the Malaysian Sambal. A keeper for sure!

Ingredients
1 one-half inch slice medium size onion
2 clove garlic
2 stalks celery
1 large cucumber, seeded
1 green pepper, seeded
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed cumin seed
2 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 pint sour cream (vegan or fat-free is fine)
fresh minced coriander/cilantro

Process
1. Grind the onion, garlic, celery, cucumber, and green pepper in a blender/food processor, using the finest knife.

2. Turn into a sieve over bowl and press out the juice.



















3. Reserve the  juice and save for a healthy drink, or added to soup, stews, or sauces.

4. Put vegetable mix into a medium bowl and sprinkle spices over and mix.





















5. Blend in the tomato paste.
 


































6. Add the sour cream and stir until mixed.

7. Chill until ready to serve. Use as a dip for crackers, bread cubes (I am a big fan of using cubed baguette) , or fresh vegetable crudite.

Baked Brie Bites

 

 These wonderful bites that remind me of Christmas are from Sommer Collier and her awesome blog A Spicy Perspective.I make them with my Cranberry Ginger Relish. http://merrymeetingmenu.blogspot.com/2014/11/cranberry-ginger-relish.html

Yield: 15
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes

Baked Brie Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 box Athens Mini Fillo Shells
• 4 ounces brie cheese
• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce  
• 3 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the Athens Mini Fillo Shells on a baking sheet.
2. Cut the brie into small 1/2 tsp. sized chunks and place one in each mini fillo shell. Bake for 5 minutes, until the brie is melted.
3. Remove from the oven and dollop a scant spoonful of cranberry sauce on each little brie tart. Sprinkle with pistachios and serve warm.

Crock pot Cranberry Butter

I forget how I stumbled upon this recipe (it could have been Pinterest) but it is in the crock pot today! I intended for it to be Thanksgiving place setting gifts, but I am thinking it might be the one and only thing I have canned for Christmas. We shall see how it goes. This recipe is from the blog The View From Great Island.

Crockpot Cranberry Butter

Yield: makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 12-oz bags of cranberries, rinsed
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 cup apple cider

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients in a crockpot and stir to combine well. Turn on high. Let it cook for about 2 hours or until the cranberries are soft.
2. Remove the cinnamon stick and puree the mixture in a food processor. Do this in two batches. Be careful as the mixture is hot, I cover the top opening of the machine with a dish cloth. Let the machine run for a full minute to puree the cranberries very finely.
3. Force the cranberry puree through a mesh sieve or strainer. Push forcefully with the back of a spoon to get as much cranberry puree as you can. Discard the solids.
4. Pour the puree back into the crockpot. Turn the crockpot to high, and leave the lid ajar. Cook until thickened, approximately another 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Put the cranberry butter into clean jars with tight fitting lids and let cool. Store in the refrigerator and consume within a month.

Note:  Be sure to remove the cinnamon stick before pureeing the cooked cranberries...I learned the hard way!

Shumai

Shumai are open-topped dumpling,s stuffed with tasty ground meat and vegetable filling, then steamed. Tonight I will be making these with the first batch  of our own ground pork. I will likely close them and give them a quick pan sear for a seal and extra flavor before steaming. 

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken (or pork)

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup coarsely shredded carrot

2 Thai chilis, minced

2 Tablespoons chopped basil

2 Tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large egg beaten

1 small shallot, minced

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

40 wonton wrappers

Green leaf lettuce leaves for steaming

special equipment: bamboo steamers

Soy sauce and Sriracha chili sauce, for serving

Process

1. In large bowl, combine the ground chicken with the coconut milk, carrot, chiles, basil, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, egg, shallot, ginger, salt and pepper. Using your hands mixed thoroughly.

2. Follow the directions on the wrappers, create your shumai dumplings in the wonton wrappers. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling. 

 

 

3. Fill a wok or a very large skillet with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.

4. Line a double tiered bamboo steamer with lettuce leaves and arrange the shumai in the steamer without crowding.

5. Cover and steam over moderate heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

6. Repeat with the remaining shumai. You may also choose to pan fry them for extra crisp after the steam or even skip the steam all together. Yummy versatile and great for the whole family!

Serve immediately with the sauces.

Shu Mai

It looks like this recipe MAY have originated from a Food and Wine magazine. I found a nearly identical recipe here: Chicken and Coconut Shumai

Merry Meeting Menus: Cranberry Sauce

Merry Meeting Menus: Cranberry Sauce: This recipe is taken more or less straight out of the Ball book for canning. It's an oldy but a goody!

 

 

Stuffing in a Bundt Pan

Stuffing in a Bundt Pan

Cranberry Ginger Relish

Merry Meeting Menus: Cranberry Ginger Relish: This 2008 Martha Stewart recipe is a favorite I keep coming back to.

Ingredients

• 1 bag (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, ginger, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until most of the cranberries have popped, 10 to 15 minutes.
2.  Stir in vinegar.
3. Mash around with a potato masher to make it into a rough chutney. 
4. Continue cooking until it looks consistent.
   
5. Remove relish from heat. Let cool to room temperature, and serve.

*** you can also hot water can this in clean jars and warm lids, processing for 10 minutes ***

Earl Grey Kulfi thanks to Aarti Paarti

First and foremost, I need to give a bright and loud shout out to my favorite new Indian chef and Blogger Aarti Paarti!  She was a highlight for my latest Indian Dinner party and I have added her cookbook to my wish list for Christmas. Welcome to the ranks of Madjur Jaffrey on my shelf Aarti because you are my new favorite! Thank you for finding me! :)

So I stumbled upon this recipe when searching for Indian desserts and candies that I could make. The original recipe can be found here: Aarti Parti Earl Grey Kulfi Pops. 

I doubled the recipe and had enough to fill my popsicle racks as well as an additional bowl. This was perfect because I scooped the ice cream from the bowl for the dinner party  and fed the kids the popsicles. They loved it so much they are clamoring for me to make it again!

Earl Grey Kulfi Pops

Ingredients
1 12oz can evaporated milk 4 earl grey tea bags 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1 14oz sweetened condensed milk 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream Handful of finely chopped pistachios

Directions
11.  Heat evaporated milk over medium heat until small bubbles form around the circumference of the pot. While it is heating, snip the tops of the tea bags. 

2. Once the milk is hot, whisk to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. 

3.  Turn the heat off, and add the contents of the tea bags. 

4.  Cover. Let it sit and steep for 30 minutes.

5. Strain the evaporated milk into a big bowl. 

6.  Add cardamom, condensed milk, heavy cream and pistachios. Whisk together. 

7.  Either pour into popsicle molds, small bowls or one large bowl (cover bowls with a piece of plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn and formation of a “skin”). Pop into the freezer overnight. 

8.  When you’re ready to serve, run the popsicle mold under hot water to loosen it.Let larger bowls thaw a bit on counter as it freezes very hard. 

Apricot Soda Bread

This was a REALLY yummy version of soda bread that makes a really nice breakfast bread. Will definitely make this one again.  The recipe is from Flavor the Moments and the recipe can be found HERE.

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dried apricots

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" dice

1 3/4 cup cold low fat buttermilk, shaken

1 egg

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 cup chopped dried apricots

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use your handheld electric mixer. Mix the dry ingredients on low speed. 

4. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is completely mixed into the dry ingredients. Using a fork, beat the egg, buttermilk, and zest in a measuring cup. Turn the mixer on low speed, and slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Combine the dried apricots with one tablespoon of flour, then mix into the dough on low speed just until combined. The dough is VERY wet!

Pour the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead a few times until it's in the shape of a round loaf. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, cut a small "X" into the center. Bake 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.