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Apr 29

Turkey Zucchini Burgers With Creamy Sumac Sauce And Great Hummus Recipe

I have been extremely busy lately, haven’t really had the time to spend in the kitchen or on the blog for that matter. Honestly, I have been struggling to find inspiration, feeling like I did not have anything new and exciting to offer. As I was sitting with Percy the other day and I looked at my stack of cookbooks that are collecting dust and I grabbed my copy of Jerusalem by the divine team of Ottolenghi and Tamimi. Thumbing through the book this recipe leaped out at me, it sounds delicious and simple to make full of flavor and texture. I doubled the recipe using ground turkey and turkey breast. Below is the recipe as written in the cookbook.

I am bringing the burgers, hummus and fixings to Fiesta Friday #117 this week. Angie always manages to throw an incredible party and this week to help her the co hosts are: Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau and Scarlett @ Unwed Housewife

Turkey Zucchini Burgers

Recipe from Jerusalem by Ottolenghi and Tamimi

Makes 18 small burgers (I doubled the recipe and made bigger ones and got 18)

1 lb ground turkey

1 large zucchini coursely grated (a scant 2 cups)

2 green onions thinly sliced

1 large free range egg

2 tbs chopped mint

2 tbs chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

about 6 1/2 tbs sunflower oil for searing

Sour Cream and Sumac Sauce

scant 1/2 cup sour cream

scant 2/3 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 small clove garlic crushed

1 1/2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs sumac

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

First make the sour cream sauce by placing all the ingredients in a small bowl.

hummus with pita

This is such an easy recipe. It’s on food52 and they use dry chickpeas but I can’t really be bothered soaking them etc… so I used canned in the interest of time and my hunger. What’s a bit different about this is that the garlic is processed peel and all with the lemon juice, left to sit for a few minutes then strained and the garlicky lemony liquid is used to flavor the hummus. It’s such a nice recipe, for the one on Food52 just click on the link above.

Hummus

3 cloves garlic with skin on

A generous 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

pinch of salt

2/3 cup tahini

1/4 cup ice water

1 15.5 oz can chick peas drained

1/4 tsp cummin

Olive oil and sumac to garnish

In the bowl of the food processor add the garlic and lemon juice and process until the garlic is completely pulverized. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then pour through a sieve leaving the solids behind. Pour the liquid back in the processor and add the tahini, process and add the ice water a tbs at a time. It will sieze but thats ok keep going until all the water is added and its smooth. Now add the chick peas, salt and cumin and process until smooth and creamy. Serve with vegetables, crackers or bread. Generously pour olive oil on top and I like to sprinkle with sumac.

Apr 9

132 Comments

The Versatile Crepe

Does anyone remember Magic Pan Creperie? I don’t know if they are still around but it was always one of my favorite places to eat. Crepes are such a wonderful food you can have them at any meal, they can be a lovely breakfast either sweet or savory and make an amazing dessert, think Crepe Suzette. They are light and paper thin pancakes, more egg than flour, a very runny batter swirled in a crepe pan. They take only minutes to cook and are so delicious. I have used this recipe for many years, it’s from Julia Child and it never fails to produce a perfect crepe.

Fill with ricotta or farmers cheese and serve with a mound of berries, they are delicious served as shown in my photo at the top of the page, very simple, folded, topped with blackberries macerated in orange or tangerine syrup and a squeeze of orange or tangerine juice and dust with some confectioners sugar, or a savory breakfast crepe can be filled with scrambled eggs, chives, cheese and if you like bacon. ham or sausage. A dinner crepe can be filled with meat or vegetables or make manicotti . For dessert you can serve Crepe Suzette or simply fill with vanilla ice cream and add roasted apples or pears. The possibilities are endless, and it’s all good.

I am bringing the manicotti to Fiesta Friday #114, steadfast Angie has this party every week without fail and this week her co host, yep co host this week is the lovely Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

I am also bringing Mr. Percy I hope it’s a pet friendly party, maybe there will be some other dogs for Percy to play with and I got him an assortment of bow ties just for the occasion. Which one should Percy wear to the party, they are all so festive. Percy is part of a pug pack on Instagram and you will see many of the pugs wearing these adorable bow ties. I got these ties from Mollys Pawtique in case anyone wants a super cute bow tie for their fur kid.

Crepes

Makes 10 8 inch crepes

1 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup cold milk

2/3 cup cold water

3 large eggs

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbs melted unsalted butter

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until it’s all combined and there is no trace of lumps or flour. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour or more before making the crepes.

Heat your pan (I recommend non stick) until drops of water dance on the surface. Brush pan with butter and pour approximatly 3 or 4 tbs of batter into the pan swirling the pan in all directions until the bottom is covered. Cook on medium high until the edges start to come away from the sides of the pan, gently flip with spatula the crepe will be lightly browned, let the other side brown, stack on rack with parchment in between each crepe. If serving immediately you can keep them in the oven with the temperature on warm. They freeze beautifully as well separated by parchment and place in zip lock bag.

Manicotti

Makes 4

1-1 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta

1 egg lightly beaten

small handfull Italian flat leaf parsley chopped

1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top

salt and pepper

your favorite marinara sauce

Coat the bottom of a baking dish with some of the marinara. Place a crepe on work surface and add a few tbs of the ricotta filling, roll the crepe and place seam side down in baking dish. Spoon more of the marinara on top of the manicotti and sprinkle with some grated cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 20-30 minutes. Serve immediately with some more sauce and grated cheese.

Apr 8

72 Comments

A #Not Recipe With Zoodles And The Real Deal At Food52 Pasta Night

Zoodles

This a #not recipe. I’m having fun posting on Food52’s new app and decided to share this, it’s really more of an idea than a recipe I guess you could say.

It started with zoodles, you know zucchini noodles, some oven roasted tomatoes, burrata and shaved parmigiana. Simple right?

Heat some olive oil in a skillet, add some garlic sliced thinly and cook until garlic is softened but not brown. Add the zoodles, season with salt and pepper and may be a little crushed red pepper and toss them around in the olive oil and garlic until the zoodles are warmed, I let them cook about 5 minutes. Remove and place in your bowl or on your plate.

If your burrata is not room temperature put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. In the same pan heat your tomatoes if they have been refrigerated or if you made the tomatoes and they are still warm just spoon on top of the zoodles. Take some of the lovely burrata and place on top of the tomatoes, spoon some of the tomato juices that are mixed with olive oil on top of the burrata. Shave some parmigiana or romano on top and enjoy.

Make sure each layer is seasoned with salt and pepper.

This dish is low carb, delicious and nutritious and also really quick and easy to put together.

Pasta Night

Last night I went to the Food52 HQ in Chelsea to enjoy an evening of great food and company. First of all the offices that house Food52 are incredible, light filled, lofty and beautiful. The space is designed so well, it works beautifully and gives the feeling of home rather than office. I could not get any photo’s of the completed pasta dishes for ambiance the light was very dim and it just didn’t work with my iphone. The tables were set up communal style, the dishes and flatware were exactly what you will find in the food52 shop, beautiful. Their kitchen is a dream, so beautiful and practical at the same time.

Filming for snap chat

Menu, drool worthy food

Gorgeous kitchen

Food and drink

My fizzy aperol cocktail

I love everything but for me the star of the show was dessert, so simple but the combination was amazing. Olive oil gelato, crumbled biscotti, beautiful sliced oranges all of this drizzled with good olive oil and chiffonade of basil. Profoundly delicious. I begged for the gelato recipe and Amanda said it is a community recipe that will be in the new Ice Cream cookbook. Really it’s the best olive oil gelato I have ever had.

Apr 4

132 Comments

Lemon Meringue Tart

I’ve been wanting lemon meringue pie or tart for a while now. I planned on making it last week but got sick. I have had this recipe in my to do pile for a while now and since lemon is one of my favorite flavors it went straight to the top of recipes I wanted to try. Usually when I make a lemon tart I use the tartine lemon cream recipe, It has the perfect consistency and holds up beautifully giving a perfect slice. Most recipes for lemon meringue pie that I have tried have been really tasty but are a bit on the runny side. When I saw the photo that came with this recipe I thought I had found nirvana, a lemon meringue pie that looks perfect, produces a clean slice and sounds like it’s very tasty. This recipe is all that except that it is still a bit on the runny side even after sitting overnight in the refrigerator. Don’t get me wrong it tastes amazing but it does not produce a clean slice. Next time I will add more cornstarch, while I was making it my gut instinct was to add more but I held myself back. Oh well, should have gone with my gut.

Pate Sucré

Makes 9 inch tart or 6 tartlets
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
8 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
3 egg yolks from large eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Put the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor, pulse to combine, add the butter and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk and cream and pulse until the dough comes together, it will be shaggy but thats ok, test it by pinching a piece and if it holds together it’s fine. Divide in two, press into disks and refrigerate for an hour. Pre heat the oven to 375, line tart pan or tartlet pans, prick with fork and place in freezer for 30 minutes. Place a piece of parchment in the tart pan or pans and pour in pie weights or beans. Bake 20 minutes remove the parchment and weights and place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on rack.

Lemon Filling

Fills a 9 inch pie or tart

1 cup water

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch (Next time I would add an additional 1-2tbs of cornstarch)

pinch of salt

4 eggs separated – the yolks are for the filling and whites for meringue

5 tbs cold unsalted butter

4 tsp lemon zest

In medium sauce pan add the water. lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and salt and whisk to combine so there are no lumps. Turn heat to medium and cook stirring constantly until mixture is thick, Whisk the egg yolks and slowely add the hot lemon mixture whisking while adding. Pour back into the pan and cook for 60 seconds (1 minute). Remove from heat and add the butter and lemon zest. Let come to room temparature and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Swiss Meringue

4 egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl of the stand mixer over a double boiler and cook, stirring occasionally, until the egg whites are very warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved. Whip the egg whites on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Add in the salt and vanilla extract and whip to combine.

A little runny but delicious

Apr 1

101 Comments

Lemon Posset, A Vanilla Shortage And Fiesta Friday

Last night I had company for dinner, I’ve known about this for a while and had grand plans to make a lovely meal but unfortunately, I have been sick for the last few days, a stomach virus. I haven’t eaten much of anything and generally felt really bad. I was not really inspired to cook. I opted for a starter salad, simple roasted chicken with roasted vegetables, let the oven do the work I say. My plan was to make a lemon meringue tart but I didn’t have the energy so I remembered this quick and easy recipe by Mrs. Larkin on Food52 for lemon posset. A magical concoction, tart and sweet and creamy and a lovely light dessert. It couldn’t be simpler to make and most of the time it’s sitting in the fridge setting.

vanilla

I have been stocking up on vanilla extract. Have you noticed rising prices? Evidently there was a bad crop in Madagascar which basically decimated the entire vanilla crop leaving a huge shortage, there is always high demand for vanilla, it’s in almost everything. This has caused prices to rise, I went to several sites and noticed a price change of anwhere from 2-10 dollar price increase per bottle. I usually use Nielsen- Massey, it’s my vanilla of choice but have been know to use the big bottle from Costco which is good as well as King Arthurs brand of vanilla extract. So I found the 4 oz bottle at the same price at my usual shopping site and bought 4 bottles which should last until the next crop which they are saying should be ok.

This Fiesta Friday which by the way is #113 I am bringing Lemon Posset and a bottle of vanilla extract as a hostess gift for Angie. Our lovely co hosts this week are two of my favorite bloggers welcome Sonal @ simplyvegetarian777 and Laurie @ ten.times.tea.

Lemon Posset

Serves 4 – Recipe by Liz Larkin for Food52

2 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

5 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest of 1 whole lemon (I added that it’s not in the recipe)

Place cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil stirring so that the sugar dissolves. Let boil for 5 minutes watching carefully and adjusting temperature so it doesn’t boil over. After 5 minutes remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and zest. Let sit for about 15 minutes to cool. Pour into serving dishes, sprinkle top with a little more lemon zest and refrigerate at least 4 hours, I like overnight. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, I put a few raspberries on top as well.