So we had this for dinner tonight and we really liked it.  I would definitely recommend prepping the sauce and veggies and everything before cooking the meat because it goes fast.  And I may or may not have slightly burned them, since I was trying to get the rest of the stuff ready, heh heh.  Jeff bought pita bread b/c he couldn't find flatbread and I didn't want to go back out to look for flatbread.  Anyway, pitas worked but flatbread would definitely be better.  We also used ground turkey cause that's what we had.  I prepped the meat the night before and I think I would do that again because then the flavors all had time to develop.

Tiernan wouldn't try the sauce because of the cilantro, and Jeff said, "cilantro, presented right, can be good."  Ha ha ha!

Chicken (or turkey) Kofta with Yogurt Sauce

Serves 4

For the meat:

1 lb. ground chicken (or turkey)

1/2 medium onion, grated (I used dehydrated onion and not quite enough to equal a 1/2 onion)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. coriander

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper 

pinch of ground allspice

pinch of ground cinnamon

For the sauce:

1/2 C. plain greek yogurt

1 tsp. grated orange zest

1 Tbsp. orange juice

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. coriander

Flatbread

1 red bell pepper, diced

cucumber, diced, optional

salad greens (spinach, spring mix, whatever you like)

In a medium bowl, add together ingredients for meat mixture and mix until well combined.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes and up to overnight.

Prepare the sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients together until well combined.  Set aside.  

Chop the red pepper and set aside.

Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler to high.  Spray a rimmed baking sheet and metal skewers with nonstick cooking spray.  Remove meat from fridge and form about 2 tablespoons of mixture into an oval around metal skewer.  Add a second oval with another 2 tablespoons of mixture on the same skewer.  Repeat with remaining meat.  Place skewers on prepared pan.

Broil the kofta, flipping once, until browned and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°, about 8-12 minutes.  

Remove from oven.  Serve the kofta on the flatbreads with salad greens, bell pepper and sauce.

Recipe from Eating Well magazine. 

Jam & Cheese Braid Dough

This is the recipe I like to use for jam & cheese braids because I never buy Bisquick. This is a quick and easy dough, too. It makes 4, but you can obviously scale that down. I use Mom's cream cheese filling and method of adding the jam, etc.

I'm also listing the fruit filling I make for those crazy boys of mine that don't like cream cheese.

Jam & Cheese Braid Dough (Yield: 4 braids)

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter, cut into pieces

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 T. yeast

1/2 c. warm water

2 eggs

4 c. flour

Combine the sour cream, sugar, butter, and salt in a saucepan and heat over med-low until the butter melts, stirring occasionally. Let it cool a bit so it's not too hot for the yeast (about 105-115 degrees. Don't stress too much about it, though, as long as it's not super warm).

Meanwhile, combine the yeast and warm water in a large mixing bowl and let stand for about 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream mixture and eggs. Gradually stir in the flour (dough will be soft). Cover and chill overnight or at least 8 hours.

If you're making the fruit filling below, do that now.

Divide dough into fourths. Roll out each fourth on a greased cookie sheet into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Spread the filling (cream cheese or fruit) down the center. Cut the sides and fold over the center to form the braid.

Heat the oven to 375. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned.

Fruit Filling (enough for 1 braid)

Mix 1-2 T. cornstarch with 1/4 c. sugar in a saucepan. Add 1 small package of frozen fruit (any kind of berry is good, or a mix). It can be thawed or frozen. Bring it to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let it simmer until it has thickened. Set aside to cool a bit while you shape the dough.

French Christmas Cookies

 These French sugar cookies are so good with the orange zest and spices.  We used a simple powdered sugar glaze to frost them but next time I'll frost with the royal icing as suggested.  We also tripled the batch because the original recipe made a teeny, tiny batch.  (I've tripled the cookies below, so you don't need to triple it again unless you want a big batch, but I didn't triple the icing recipe since we didn't try it.)

French Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 C. granulated sugar
1/4 + 1/8 C. powdered sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 + 1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 large egg yolks (save the whites for the icing)
3 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of 3 medium oranges (or lemons)
3 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the cookies

For the Icing:

2 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, or a splash of fresh lemon juice
3 C. powdered sugar, sifted
1 drop of blue food coloring (or whatever colors you want)

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add the salt, cinnamon and cloves; mix to combine.  Now, add in the egg yolk, orange zest and vanilla extract and mix until the egg is completely incorporated.  Add the flour and mix just until the flour is incorporated; don't mix anymore than you need to.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and pat down  so that you get a 1-inch disc.  Refrigerate the dough until it's thoroughly chilled, about 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Take your dough out of the fridge and let sit on the counter for about 15 minutes.  If you try to roll the dough right away, you'll end up with a lot of cracks in the dough. 

Dust your counter space with flour and place the dough on this surface.  Roll the dough to a 1/4" thickness, rotating the dough every once in a while; don't roll back and forth.

Cut dough with cookie cutters and place fairly close together on the prepared cookie sheets, as they will not spread much.  

Bake the cookies for about 11-14 minutes.  They should be golden along the edges. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes.

Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  Meanwhile, prepare the royal icing.  In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar or lemon juice just until the egg whites are frothy.  Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition.  Once the icing is white and thick, stop mixing.

Remove about 1/3 cup of the icing and pour into a separate bowl.  Add the drop of blue food coloring and whisk to combine.  Paint the icing onto the cookies and decorate with other embellishments as desired.  

Bone Broth

Bone Broth 

1 chicken or turkey carcass, cleaned pretty well of meat

a couple celery stalks, cut into large pieces (keep the leaves on, too)

1 onion, quartered (keep the skin on, too)

4-5 whole peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

Put the carcass and veggies in your biggest crockpot and pour the vinegar over the bones. Let it sit for 15 minutes (this helps to start drawing the minerals, etc. out of the bones). Add water to fill it to the top. Cook on low for 24 hours. Alternately, you can simmer it in a stockpot on the stove for 24 hours, too.

Pour the broth through a strainer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Add salt as needed. The broth can be pressure canned, frozen, or kept in the fridge to use sooner.

You can repeat the process with the carcass again if you want to get more broth out of it.

You can also add other veggies, like carrots, but I like to save as much room as possible for the water.

*When I did our turkey carcass it was too big for the crockpot, so I started it in a stockpot on the stove so I could see how much water to add, then I transferred it all to my roaster oven to simmer for the 24 hours.

French Lemon Tart

Use fresh lemon juice in this for the best results. I made it with 3/4 cup sugar and it was pretty tart, so if you want it sweeter, use 1 cup.

French Lemon Tart - Tart au Citron

1 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice (7+ lemons, depending on size)

grated zest of 2 lemons

3/4 - 1 c. sugar

12 T. butter, cut into cubes

4 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1 pre-baked tart shell

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all the filling ingredients in a medium pan. Stir until the butter is melted, then whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. It should visibly mound up if you lift some with the whisk and drop it back into the pan. It doesn't take too long.

Pour the lemon curd into a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to press it through. (Don't skip this step or you'll get egg pieces in your filling)

Pour it into the tart, smooth it out, and bake it for about 5-6 minutes or until it is just set.

Let cool before serving.

DavidLebovitz.com

French Chocolate Tart

This is ganache in pie form and would really be best served with some lightly sweetened whipped cream or fresh raspberries on top to cut the richness.

French Chocolate Tart

1 French Pastry, cooked and cooled

1 c. heavy cream

8 oz good quality baking chocolate

2 T. butter

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl.

Heat the cream in a small pan over medium heat, stirring often, until it just reaches the boiling point. Pour over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute to soften. Stir with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate is melted. Add the butter and stir well to melt and incorporate.

Pour into the crust and refrigerate or put in a cool place until firm. Serve topped with whipped cream or fresh fruit, or both!

TheCafeSucreFarine.com

French Pastry Dough

This was cool! I've never seen pastry dough made this way. It makes a very flaky crust that you press right into the pan. It does get some cracks in the dough, so probably wouldn't be best for a really liquidy filling. I used salted butter and thought it was fine. It really works best to weigh the flour if you have a kitchen scale.

French Pastry Dough

6 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 T. vegetable oil

3 T. water

1 T. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

160g flour (5.5 oz or 1 rounded cup)

Preheat oven to 410. In an ovenproof bowl, like Pyrex, combine everything but the flour. Place in oven and heat until it is bubbling and the butter has started to brown, about 15 minutes (but check earlier to be sure it doesn't burn)

Carefully remove from oven and add all the flour at once, stirring it quickly until it comes together in a ball (remember to use a hot pad while stirring). Transfer the dough to a tart mold or pie dish. Once it has cooled a little, pinch off a piece about the size of a raspberry and set aside, then press the dough out to fill the bottom and sides. Use a fork to prick all over the bottom and to press the dough against the side of the pan.

Bake the tart for 15 minutes or until golden brown. If there are any cracks you want to fill, pinch off a little bit of the reserved dough and gently press it into the cracks with your pinky finger. Let cool before filling.

DavidLebovitz.com