Tourtierre

This is something we usually eat around the holidays because it can be made ahead and kept frozen, I think it is a French Canadian recipe (although I’m not French Canadian).

Ingredients

Filling

1lb ground turkey

1lb 98% lean ground beef

2 yellow onions, grated

1 cup water

2 t salt

½ t pepper

½ t thyme

½ t savory

½ t oregano

½ t parsley

½ t allspice

2 gloves garlic, minced

1 cups quick oats

Pastry (this is the same as the pie recipe from Thanksgiving)

3 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

2/3 cup (or less) ice cold water

Preparation

Filling

-simmer meat with onions and water until thoroughly cooked

-mix in herbs, spices, and garlic

-once cooked mixture cools add quick oats, add more if mixture is still watery

Pastry

-cut together all ingredients except water with fork or pastry blender

-quickly stir in ice water and form into two flattened balls, add more water if needed for consistency, do not overwork

-flour board and rolling pin

-roll out into two circles about 1/8 inch, will make 2 pastry crusts (one top and one bottom)

-Place one pastry circle in the bottom of a pie pan, fill with seasoned and cooked ground meat

-Brush edges of bottom pastry with water, then cover with second pastry circle, trim and crimp edges.
-add vents to top crust (If making ahead cover well with saran wrap and freeze until needed*. Tourtierre can be kept frozen and then cooked as usual once completely thawed).

-bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then at 350 for 30-40 minutes

 

Shopping List

1lb ground turkey

1lb 98% lean ground beef

2 yellow onions

salt

pepper

thyme

savory

oregano

parsley

allspice

garlic

1 cups quick oats

unbleached flour

salt

baking powder

unsalted butter

“Uppity” Pot roast

I made this with my mum when I got back from school about a week ago. We served it with the rosemary potatoes I posted last week.  Besides the actual roast, it usually has onions, carrots, Yukon gold/redskin potatoes, button mushrooms, and roasted garlic.  I think the olive oil, mushrooms and perhaps the specific type of potato, or the roasting of the garlic makes it uppity. Either way, this pot roast just thinks its better than the rest; but I guess you can be the judge of that.

Use a roasting pan with a lid for this recipe. What works for my family is a 2-3lb roast and 1 each of carrots, potatoes, and onions along with 1lb of mushrooms. This amount fits in our roasting pan and yields a nice serving for 4 people.

Ingredients

2-3lb English roast (could also use Chuck Roast, doesn’t need to be an expensive cut)

Broth

Cooking oil (I used grape seed oil)

Yukon gold or Redskin potatoes, quartered

Carrots, cut into medium chunks

Whole button mushrooms

Yellow onions, quartered

1-3 garlic cloves, whole

savory herbs (ex oregano, ground rosemary, lovage, sage, lemon thyme, basil, marjoram, dill, parsley)

salt

pepper

Preparation

-preheat oven to 325F

-put oil and seasonings and roast in roasting pan and turn a few times so it is well coated.

- place roasting pan on stove top and brown roast on all sides at medium high heat (note, the side of the roast with more fat should be on top when it goes in the oven).
-add broth or water to pan, bring to boil and place covered in preheated 325F oven for about 1 hour per pound of meat (ex 2lb English roast will cook for 2 hours but check internal temperature to avoid over cooking)

-Wrap garlic bulb or cloves with a little olive oil in foil and put them in oven for about 10 minutes or more until tender
-Wash, dry, and cut the vegetables (potatoes and onions in halves or quarters; mushrooms left whole).
-Toss prepared vegetables in olive oil seasoned with salt, pepper, and savory herbs of choice; then set aside.

-Remove garlic from oven,  and set it aside to cool

 

-During last hour of cooking check internal temperature of roast and add vegetables (place around roast in pan, placing mushrooms over top of roast).


When roast is done (safe internal temp for beef is 145F , but it will continue to rise as it stands) remove roast from oven to stand, and remove vegetables to a separate bowl, tossing them with a little salt, pepper, olive oil and the roasted garlic (by cutting the end off cloves and squeezing out the roasted interior for additional seasoning).

Paprika and Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes

Rosemary is so delicious! Make sure to grind or crush the leaves because they can have a very woody, sharp texture when dried. I used a mortar and pestle to get them to a more pleasant consistency.

Ingredients

Red potatoes cut in small pieces (halved or quartered if potatoes are roughly the size of a golf ball)

2 t grape seed oil

Seasoning blend:

½ t paprika

1 t dried rosemary, crushed/ground

½ t salt

Pepper

Preparation

-Preheat oven to 400F

-Add seasoning blend to olive oil

-Arrange potato pieces on pan covered with foil or parchment paper

-Brush the oil/seasoning mixture onto potatoes until they are well covered

-Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes or until crispy and golden brown

Shopping List

Red potatoes

Grape seed oil

Paprika

Dried rosemary

Salt

Pepper

Tin foil or parchment paper

Please print a copy and drop off a donation at the Chagrin Falls Park Community Center, thank you!

Turkey Soup

I thought I was getting sick last weekend and my roommate put her thanksgiving leftovers up for grabs so I made myself some turkey soup. I ended up never actually getting sick, and while I won’t claim the soup cured me, it was really good. I only used a few ingredients (turkey, onions, bouillon, and herbs/seasonings) but the addition of carrots, celery, garlic, and noodles would be good. Chicken can be substituted as well.

Ingredients

Turkey or Chicken (I just scavenged some pieces off the leftover turkey, but pretty much any type will do as long as it cooked before it goes in the soup pot)

Bouillon cube (chicken or vegetable are widely available), prepared to package directions

1 onion, diced

Carrot, diced

Celery, sliced in small pieces

Garlic minced

Turmeric, salt, and dried herbs to taste

Preparation

-If you bought chicken/turkey for this recipe, cook it in any manner you find convenient (but avoid breading or battering)

-Otherwise choose whatever pieces from your leftovers you want to use, the carcass can also be boiled to get the last pieces of a whole bird

- Prepare the bouillon according to the directions, tailoring the amount to the size pot you use. Don’t fill it all the way so that there will be room to add the other ingredients

-Bring to boil

-Add chicken/turkey, vegetables (carrot, celery, onion, garlic), noodles (if you like) and seasonings to taste (salt, turmeric, dried herbs), the turmeric gives it a really beautiful golden color

-Bring to boil again, then turn to lower heat and simmer

*The amount of time the soup simmers is flexible, as long as its heated well throughout, the soup is ready to eat, but longer simmering times will help the vegetables become tender and the flavors to combine.

Shopping list

-Chicken or Turkey (for those who don’t have leftovers, cuts like breasts and thighs will work, and even canned chicken can be used)

-1 onion

-Carrots (a few, they usually come packaged together)

-Celery

- Rice or Noodles (optional)

- Garlic clove

-Salt

-Turmeric

-Dried herbs (try parsley, oregano, or an Italian seasoning blend

Thanksgiving Favorites

My roommates and I are holding a mock thanksgiving this weekend before we all go home to our respective families. I’m making butternut pie and cranberry sauce because they are two of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes.

If you're interested in one more Thanksgiving dish, check out "Grandma's Oatmeal Stuffing" that I posted for Canadian Thanksgiving: http://eatgooddogood.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-grandmas-oatmeal-dressing-for.html

Cranberry sauce

Before Cooking

Chill the Finished Product

Boil the Cranberries

Ingredients

1 bag of cranberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Preparation

-Most bags of cranberries have a recipe for cranberry sauce on them but if yours doesn’t this is the basic recipe

-Add 1c. water and 1c. sugar to pot

-Bring to boil

-Add cranberries

-Bring to boil again

-Continue boiling at lower temperature for 10 min, stirring occasionally, then remove and chill in fridge

*If you like, you can also strain the sauce but I like mine with whole berries

Butternut Pie (its almost indistinguishable from pumpkin pie-just a little bit more caramel I taste and texture)

I’m using a whole butternut and making my puree from scratch, you can also use a pie pumpkin (smaller and sweeter than a carving pumpkin) or canned pumpkin puree (not canned pumpkin pie filling)

Puree

*Skip this if you’re using canned pumpkin

-Cut the butternut or pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy parts

-Place upside down in a pan and bake at 350 until tender (mine took around 1 ½ hours, but you can check by pulling it out, flipping over one of the halves and piercing with a fork, if its tender its done)

-Scoop out the flesh and puree in a blender until smooth, refrigerate until used

Filling

Ingredients

1 small can ( 15 oz) pumpkin puree/1 cup homemade pumpkin or butternut puree

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ginger

½ tsp mace

OR

2 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¼ tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

Preparation

-Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl, pour into pie shell

-bake at 450 for ten minutes

-bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted in center

-Serve warm or cool with whipped cream

Pastry

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

2/3 cup (or less) ice cold water

Preparation

-cut together all ingredients except water with fork or pastry blender

-quickly stir in ice water and form into two flattened balls, add more water if needed for consistency, do not overwork

-flour board and rolling pin

-roll out into two circles about 1/8 inch, will make 2 pastry crusts (two bottom crusts or one top and one bottom)

Serve with whipped cream!

Shopping list

Cranberry sauce

1 bag of cranberries

white sugar

Pumpkin/Butternut Pie

1 small can (15 oz) pumpkin puree/1 butternut squash/1 pie pumpkin

            -pumpkin pie spice- OR –cinnamon +ginger + mace

ground cloves

nutmeg

allspice

dark brown sugar

eggs

milk

unbleached flour

salt

baking powder

unsalted butter 

whipped cream

Drop of Thanksgiving ingredients and recipes at Chagrin Falls Park Community Center!

Spaghetti Squash

A little while ago I bought a spaghetti squash at a farmers’ market. Spaghetti squash is incredibly easy to cook but it’s not quick (probably 45min- 1 hr in the oven). Long story short I ran out of time and had to go somewhere so I couldn’t eat or prepare it. I put it in a Tupperware in the fridge as soon as it finished cooking and I’ve been eating it as leftovers since.

Ingredients

1 whole spaghetti squash

ground turkey (I don’t remember how much I bought, but its not an exact science)

tomato sauce

carrots

onion

garlic

olive oil

seasonings (I used salt, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dried parsley, but this is flexible)

Preparation:

-Method 1: Cut spaghetti squash in ½, scoop out seeds, place both halves upside down in a pan and bake at 350 for 45min-1hr (or until flesh is tender)

-Method 2: pierce outside of whole squash several times with a knife or fork and bake until tender (easily pierced with a fork) then cut in half and scoop out seeds/stringy bits

-Once the squash is cooked and the seeds are out, pull out the flesh with a fork, dragging the tines through it to promote a “stringy” texture as the flesh comes apart.

*at this point I had to leave so I put it all in a container in the fridge, but if you budget your time better than I do, you can proceed to the rest of the recipe immediately

-I sautéed the squash with olive oil, minced garlic, and the seasonings mentioned above

-At the same time, I sautéed a small amount of diced onions and carrots in a pot, once they were tender I added tomato sauce and continued to heat on low

-When I felt like the sauce and squash were cooked long enough I threw the ground turkey in another pan on the stove with some olive oil and cooked it thoroughly (until all the pink is gone), I also put some of the seasonings in with the turkey

-Finally, I mixed them all together and topped with some parmesan (optional)

*My thoughts on spaghetti squash: Don’t go into this thinking you will get a spaghetti substitute. The texture is reminiscent of spaghetti but not the same. This might be partly because I cooked then reheated the squash so it got a bit mushier. That being said, I think it is really good, but think of it more like squash than pasta

Shopping List

1 whole spaghetti squash

ground turkey

tomato sauce

carrots

onion

garlic

olive oil

seasonings (I used salt, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dried parsley, but this is flexible)