Menu Plan Monday!

In an effort to get my meal planning straight, I'm participating in Menu Plan Monday, hosted each week by I'm An Organizing Junkie. Check out the site - it's pretty informative and a great resource!

Monday: Turkey Parmigiana Lasagna

Tuesday: Herbed Sauteed Salmon with Creamy Leeks & Bacon

Wednesday: Dinner out after running errands

Thursday: Herb Crusted Pork with Brown Rice & Sugar Snap Peas

Friday: Turkey Tacos with Spicy Corn Relish & Guacamole

Saturday: Dinner out with friends

Sunday: Roasted Lemon Chicken with Capers & Olives and Mashed Yukon Potatoes

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The 12 Days of Cookies - A Gourmet cookie extravaganza

This wonderful event is the brain child of Andrea of Andreas Recipes. How I got asked to be involved with this incredible group is beyond me but all the thanks goes to Kelly of Sass & Veracity. There are 8 of us that have decided to do The 12 Days of Cookies - A Gourmet cookie extravaganza. We will be choosing, baking, tasting, blogging and sharing with you a cookie a day for the next 12 days of December.

These cookies are coming from Gourmet's Favorite Cookie Recipes: 1941-2008. They’ve published a lot of cookie recipes in their 68-year history, many of them around the winter holidays. This season they decided to choose the very best from each year.

These are my partners in crime. We will all be choosing different cookies and surprising each other. How fun is that???? Be sure to check out their selections for the day!

Jerry - Cooking...by the seat of my Pants
Ben - What's Cooking
Sandy -At the Baker's Bench
Courtney - Coco Cooks
Kelly - Sass & Veracity
Claire - The Barefoot Kitchen
Andrea - Andreas Recipes


Day 1 of the 12 Days of Cookies features the Lemon Thin!

How do you capture the bright sourness of lemon in a cookie? These thins do the trick: Each unassuming bite packs a punch of citrus flavor.

Lemon Thin - April 1976 (link to the recipe as it was originally printed)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon rind, grated
6 Tbsp butter, softened (I used unsalted)
2/3 Cup flour

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 °
  
• In a bowl beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture forms a ribbon when the beater is lifted. Keep beating and add the lemon rind.
• In a separate bowl beat the butter until it is light and fluffy.
• Add the butter to the egg mixture alternating with the flour.
• Drop the batter by teaspoons about 2-1/2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten the mounds into 2 inch rounds with a spoon dipped in water.
• Bake the cookies for about 5 minutes, or until the edges are browned.
  
• Allow to cook on the sheets for 1 minute then cool them completely on a rack.
• Makes about 48 cookies.

See how nice and thin they are?

These cookies were delicious and were everything I thought they would be. Light, crispy and full of flavor! I had some problem trying to get the size and the timing right. After my first batch I was on the right track.

Will I make these again? I most definitely will. They would be a great snack for a hot summer day around the pool!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Tasty Tools: Baking sheets pans!

For December's Tasty Tools event, we're highlighting baking sheet pans to keep with the holiday cookie season. Aside from cookies, these baking sheet pans can be used for many other dishes. What do you use yours for?

If you happen to use a baking sheet pan for any of your cooking and/or baking this month, submit a recipe you've made with a picture of it on a baking sheet pan to the event all throughout the month of December.

1) Make a recipe using a baking sheet pan and create a blog post about it from now (the date of this post) until midnight, December 31st.

2) Add a link back to my blog within your blog post, Joelen's Culinary Adventures

3) Send an email using this contact form with the following information:
- Title of the blogging adventure in subject line
- Your name, state/country location
- Your food blog name & link to your event entry with picture

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Cranberry Orange Sour Cream Muffins

Kelsey of Apple A Day gave me a wonderful cookbook recently (Sharing the Table at Garland's Lodge) and today I took advantage of some free time to try out a recipe! With some leftover cranberry orange relish, I made these muffins using the cookbook's recipe for Sour Cream Muffins:

Cranberry Orange Sour Cream Muffins

recipe adapted from Sharing a Table Cookbook, pg 29
notes in red are from original recipe

Base muffin recipe:
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (all purpose flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 + 1/2 cups sour cream

Add ins:
1 cup cranberry orange relish (dried cranberries, plumped in orange juice, then drained)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
(1 teaspoon grated orange rind)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg and oil together. Stir in the sour cream.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix in the wet ingredients until the batter coheres. The consistency should be closer to that of biscuit dough than batter. Be careful not to overmix.

Fold in any additional ingredients gently. Spook into muffin tins that have been sprayed well with vegetable oil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Some other variations noted in the cookbook:

Maple Bran Muffins - Add 1./2 cup bran flakes and substitute 1/2 cup maple syrup for the sugar.

Corn Muffins - Add to the basic recipe 2/3 cup cornmeal, 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup additional sour cream.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins - Add 1 cup blueberries and 1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind.

Sour Cream Peach or Apricot Muffins - Add 1 cup chopped fresh or drained canned fruit, plys a dash of nutmeg if desired.

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POST-ELECTION CONFESSIONS : It’s More Than Just About Food

Political Exile, Political Refuge



I have to confess that the months, then weeks, then days, even hours leading up to the Presidential Election 2008 I did quite a lot of Nervous Baking. Cake, cookies, muffins, pies. Comfort baking. Comfort food. It kept me sane and focused. It kept me busy and kept me from running through the house pulling my hair and screaming from the sheer tension and angst.

What was unusual for me was that for the first time since my discovery of the world of blogs, I tore myself away from my daily fill of favorite food sites to the wide, wild, passionate, sometimes heated universe of political blogs. Living so far away from the center of the election universe, getting no closer to the battlefield than my tv, newspapers and computer allowed, having no one around with whom to talk, discuss, dissect or argue (well, argue...) I turned to the internet for succor. I was immediately sucked into the emotional whirlwind of the campaign, jumping from video to campaign site to tv commentary and interview to newspaper headlines. I followed on-line discussions about registration and phone banks, stories about door knocking and neighborhood drives, I witnessed the debunking of smears and I laughted at the gaffes. I listened to speeches and accusations, promises and jokes. But I still had no where to stop and rest, nowhere to unload my rantings, share my thoughts or air my opinions.

I finally settled on one blog, written by the passionate, hard-working, smart and funny AKMuckraker at Mudflats, logging on every morning and tuning into the chat. Needless to say, I found like-minded souls, political and ideological brethren. AKM brought us together around the proverbial political campfire, handing out mugs of hot cocoa and food for thought. She braved the snow and the freezing temperatures to courageously face the often mad, sometimes corrupt world of Alaskan Politics and beyond. All we had to do was pull up a comfortable chair in our warm homes and, with a click of our mouse, we were informed, amused and inspired.

Politics has always been a part of my life. Though rarely involved, I was always aware. My parents brought us along to listen to Hubert Humphrey speak in front of the Jewish Community in Cocoa Beach, Florida in 1968. Even at 8, I was somehow aware of the importance of this man who bent down to shake my hand, impressed by the significance of the moment. 1972, my brother Michael proudly wore his McGovern for President button though 3 years too young to vote, something that I thought was the epitomy of cool, adult and smart. His high school art projects were peppered with political caricatures and cartoons which I tried so hard to understand. We spent our teen years as bleeding heart liberals who decried the government’s wasteful spending on space exploration when people were living in poverty down on earth. My youth group projects often centered around the plight of the Russian Jews and the difficult, often controversial, situation of the State of Israel. I came of age in an era of Women’s Rights which sent out the message that we should be striving to have it all: graduate degrees and high-paying, high-powered jobs, equality in marriage and shards of that good old glass ceiling in our hair as we crashed our way onward and upward.

I actually started to feel the true effect that the power of governement, the wrong government, could have on our daily lives towards the end of my university years. I saw Reaganomics taking its toll on the middle and working classes, on the poor and those who were trying to help others not as well off as themselves. I saw that great surge forward of the upper class in America, the rich not only getting richer, but getting all the breaks as well. While those of us trying to achieve something greater than what we grew up with were having to push harder and harder against a door that was slowly closing on us. This was the moment when I decided to go into what I have since refered to as “My Self-Imposed Political Exile”. I packed two suitcases, dumped all my other belongings that I hadn’t succeeded in giving away out on the curb, and flew off to search for a better life, a a different culture, a more humane society. This was my one great political statement though maybe it just turned out to be a scream in an empty room.

And all the while, I listened, I watched, I studied and I voted.

Election 2008 will surely go down in history as the greatest election of modern times, a campaign and election that awaked so much passion, excited so much emotion and, yes, so much hope. More people came out to work for the Obama Campaign than has ever been seen before. Rejecting 8 long, dirty, difficult years of an Administration that failed America, failed Americans. Inspired by hope and propelled into action, motivated by a smart, educated, compassionate man surrounded by smart, educated and compassionate people, we voted him into office.

I have felt the wave of change sweep over me and all around me. I am still in a dream-like period of disbelief. I am also, like many others, going through election withdrawal. Yes, it has allowed me to refocus on my baking and my blog, as well as my family, I should mention, but the build-up to November 4th was so exhilarating that I am completely exhausted by the fever pitch of the past few months. But the let down is mixed with the true hope that things can and will change. Hopefully we are moving back as well as forward to a more diplomatic, compassionate country, a country and an administration committed to education, health and opportunity.

My own personal political refuge in a small country called mudflats has given me the desire to bring myself out of my political exile and return home. Sooner or later. But for now, through the magic of internet I have been drawn into the shelter of a group of passionate, caring and intelligent people who have gathered around AKM’s campfire. We have opened up our minds and our hearts to each other, going well beyond the talk of issues and administration. We all agree that this election has made us understand how close we are, in fact, to the center, how our every vote, our every action can indeed affect other human beings around us, and how together we can bring about the change we need and crave. We have truly formed a family that I mean to hang onto for a long time.

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Devon's Desi Corridor... and Euro Surprises

It's been awhile since I had an event due to taking some personal time off for my husband's birthday and Thanksgiving. But I had to get my fix of some culinary intervention and today was a perfect day to do just that. I hosted a culinary tour of Chicago's Devon Avenue, also known as the Desi Corridor. It's a vibrant street rich in culture and diversity so with friends, we took in the sights, sounds and flavors Devon Ave. had to offer.

If you ever want to see a diverse neighborhood of Chicago, Devon is a great place to start. Many folks who know about Devon often associate it with Indian & Pakistani culture. It's full of wonderful restaurants, various stores selling saris, electronics, incense, spices and so much more. However further west on Devon Ave. lies a great pocket of European and Jewish businesses. My tour focused on these two very different sides of Devon Ave - Indian & European. Check out the pictures of the stops we made during our tour:

• PATEL BROTHERS MARKET -- Before lunch, we checked out some authentic ingredients and grocery offerings of Patel Brothers Market (2610 W. Devon Ave). They have a great wall of spices, interesting produce and some frozen items I learned about today...

Kantola - Small Indian gourd related to the bittermelon.

Haldi - the Hindi word for tumeric and this is fresh tumeric

Patra - a popular vegetarian dish consisting of taro.
Goovar - Indian beans used mostly in South Indian cuisine.
Ratulu - Indian potato yam.

• KAMDAR PLAZA -- Another great resource for authentic ingredients is Kamdar Plaza (Indian market) (2646 W. Devon Ave) where you'll find other pantry staples. Even more impressive is their large assortment of incense!

• VICEROY OF INDIA -- Lunch was a wonderful Indian buffet lunch at Viceroy of India (2520 W. Devon). We enjoyed a feast of vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings. Right next door was their cafe and bake/candy shop where everything looked so beautiful.

• SUKHADIA'S -- Next up, we satisfied our sweet tooth at Sukhadia's (2559 W. Devon). Here we had some desserts and sipped some authentic masala tea. They had some great sweets and confections of Indian cuisine to choose from.
  

• ARGO GEORGIAN BAKERY -- Have you ever had a hatchapuri? If not, you must check out the Argo Georgian Bakery (2812 W. Devon) here in Chicago. They specialize in Georgian baked goods including hatchapuri, a filled buttery & flaky dough. The most common is one filled with farmers cheese, feta & mozzarella. We learned a bit about their cuisine and took a look at their monstrous Georgian oven, shaped like a dome on the outside and a barrel on the inside.

• THREE SISTER'S DELI -- Three Sister's Delicatessen (2854 W. Devon) is where we checked out some great Russian delicacies. They had beautiful cakes on display, many kinds of jams & jellies as well as breads, smoked fish and deli meats/sausages.

Due to Saturday being the Jewish Sabbath, the other stops we wanted to make were closed. However here is a picture of another place just to show how all these establishments can be found along the same street!

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GREEK SPINACH-FETA & MOROCCAN LAMB TRIANGLES

A LITTLE GEOMETRY - MY COOKING IS SHAPING UP

A few weeks ago, our neighbor Manu came over for a glass of wine before dinner, accompanied by his delightful and mischievous 3-year-old daughter Rosalie. I pulled out all of the usual aperatif olives and store-bought crackers. But give me any reason at all to cook or bake and I will. It is yet another chance to try a new recipe on an unsuspecting guinea pig or elicit oohs and ahs from admiring crowds (well, just a little leeway for exaggeration please....).

I have loved Spanikopita since my brother recreated Anna Thomas’ fabulous recipe from her amazing cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure. Well, as the old saying goes, you can’t return home again.... Once I was married and my children were small, I tried to recapture those heady days of my youth, the days of candles and incense, coop markets and college dinner parties when we were all vegetarians. Kids love feta, I thought, so maybe this is a geat way to get them to eat spinach! Well, needless to say the results were more than disappointing. The filling was boring and watery. I guess I just hadn’t yet developed the patience to work with spinach. Until a very recent lunch with a friend. She prepared these Spinach-Feta Triangles and I finally understood the secret to thoroughly drained spinach. She also added freshly grated parmesan cheese and just a bit of fresh chopped mint. Both complemented the spinach and the feta perfectly. These are utterly delicious!



GREEK-STYLE SPINACH-FETA TRIANGLES

1 1/2 lbs (800 g) fresh spinach, well-cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups (235 g - one package) feta cheese, drained and crumbled
1/2 cup (60 g) grated parmesan cheese, fresh when possible
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (if you make this in pie form, use 4 eggs)
2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
freshly ground pepper and a dash of salt to taste
1/2 lb (250 g, about 20 sheets) filo dough, thawed if frozen - if you make these 6 large triangles, you will need 12 sheets
Melted butter for the filo


Wash the spinach leaves, shake off excess water and put into a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Steam the spinach until wilted, then pour into a collander to drain. Allow to cool until easy to handle. Press out all the excess water you can with your hands, then gather up the cooked spinach and place in the center of a clean but old cloth dishtowel. Wrap or roll up the spinach in the towel and squeeze for all you are worth, squeezing out as much water as possible. Place the spinach on a cutting board and chop.

Put the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl, add the crumbled feta and parmesan cheeses, the chopped mint, nutmeg and salt and a good grinding of pepper (when adding salt, do so sparingly; remember that the feta is salty). Blend well. Now beat the eggs until well blended and stir them into the spinach-cheese mixture.



Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Now - the filo triangles. As you use each sheet of filo, keep the rest of the sheets covered with a just-damp towel so they don't dry out.

Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit.

Lay out the first sheet of filo with the wider length side to side , left to right. Brush the sheet quickly with butter. Lay a second sheet on top of the first and brush with butter. Repeat with a third sheet.

With a very sharp knife, carefully slice from top to bottom into three equal strips. This will make the first three triangles.

Divide the spinach mixture into 6 (like I do here) or more parts depending on whether you want to make more or less triangles.* Scoop up one quantity and place it on the edge of the first strip of filo closest to you. Now, to form a triangle, lift up the bottom edge and bring the right bottom corner up towards the left edge (side), lining up the bottom and side edges to form a triangle. Holding this in place, use your free fingers to push the spinach mixture so it fills the triangle shape. Lift this up and fold upwards and continue folding until you have only about an inch of filo dough at the top. Brush this with butter to moisten, fold it over and seal your triangle "package". Place the triangle on a parchment-lined or buttered baking sheet.



Continue until you have made three triangles with the first three sheets of buttered filo. Repeat the process with three more buttered sheets and the rest of the spinach mixture. You now have 6 large triangles on your baking sheet. The triangles can be made ahead up to this point. Cover them with plastic wrap and put into the fridge until ready to bake.



Brush the surface of each of the triangles with more melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.

* You can make this as one large pie, layering 8 - 10 of the buttered filo sheets in a buttered baking dish (the size of the dish depends on how thick you like the filling to be), spreading the spinach mixture evenly, then layering and buttering 8 - 10 more filo sheets on top. Bake until golden. Or you can make many more smaller triangles by cutting the filo dough either width- or length-wise into narrower strips.

Serve large triangles for lunch or dinner with a salad or smaller triangles as finger food.



The first time I tried this recipe for Little Meat Triangles from Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food, I found it rather bland. It was basically just lamb flavored with sauteed onions and a little dash of spices. As I really love North African lamb dishes, I decided to borrow a bit from my favorite, Lamb with Prunes. Pretty much the same dish - with chunks of lamb instead of ground meat - but with that wonderful Oriental touch of sweet prunes and honey which complement the meat and onions beautifully and with a blend of spices found in so many Moroccan tagines and snacks. I usually increase the quantity of pine nuts, as well, as I love their delicate crunch.

NORTH AFRICAN INSPIRED LAMB TRIANGLES

1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3/4 - 1 lb (350 - 500 g) ground lamb, depending on quantity of triangle you would like to make
Salt and pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 or more Tbs pine nuts, lightly toasted
handful golden raisins
1 - 3 Tbs liquid golden honey
1/2 lb (250 g or 1 package) filo dough, thawed if frozen (count 3 large or 3 - 4 small for 3 sheets of filo dough)
Melted unsalted butter or vegetable or olive oil for brushing the filo dough



For the filling, heat the oil in a large heavy skillet, add the chopped onion and fry until golden, giving it a slightly carmelized flavor. Add the ground lamb and toss, breaking up any chunks, until lightly browned. Salt and pepper the meat to taste. Add and blend in the spices. Toss in the pine nuts and a handful of golden raisins, stirring to heat everything through. Drizzle honey over the mixture a tablespoon at a time, stirring it in and tasting until it is just the right sweetness for you. Let the lamb filling simmer until the meat is cooked and the raisins are soft and plumped.



Allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Prepare the filo dough for making the triangles. As you use each sheet of filo, keep the rest of the sheets covered with a just-damp towel so they don't dry out.

Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit if using butter.

Lay out the first sheet of filo with the wider length side to side, left to right, for large triangles, or away from you for smaller triangles. Brush the sheet quickly with butter or oil. Lay a second sheet on top of the first and brush with butter/oil. Repeat with a third sheet.

With a very sharp knife, carefully slice from top to bottom into three equal strips. This will make the first three triangles.

Scoop up a large tablespoon or teaspoon (again, depending on desired size of triangle) and place it on the edge of the first strip of filo closest to you. Now, to form a triangle, lift up the bottom edge and bring the right bottom corner up towards the left edge (side), lining up the bottom and side edges to form a triangle. Holding this in place, use your free fingers to push the lamb mixture so it fills the triangle shape. Lift this up and fold upwards and continue folding until you have only about an inch of filo dough at the top. Brush this with butter/oil to moisten, fold it over and seal your triangle "package". Place the triangle on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet.

Continue until you have made three or four triangles with the first three sheets of buttered filo. Repeat the process with three more buttered sheets at a time until you have either used up all of the lamb filling or you have the number of triangles needed and the triangles are lined up on a baking sheet. The triangles can be made ahead up to this point. Cover them with plastic wrap and put into the fridge until ready to bake.

Brush the surface of each of the triangles with more melted butter or a beaten egg yolk.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden.



The large triangles can be served for lunch or dinner with a salad, the smaller triangles as finger food.

NEEDLESS to say, Rosalie preferred the store-bought crackers, although she did enjoy pulling off the crisp filo and eating what didn't fall onto the carpet.

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Conor's Saturday Bridge Adventure

Saturday is usually a good day for some walking fun, adventure and a treat. Today Conor and Dad hit the trail, crossed the Westmorland Street Bridge and headed home. We made time on the other side of the river for a treat stop (including Dad's coffee) at the Second Cup in Kings Place where Conor, even when he gets a bit loud, has always been warmly received.

autism

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