Moroccan Burgers

MOROCCAN BURGERS

This is a yummy recipe that I've tried before with ground lamb, but today I did it will ground beef.  It was so good!  Moroccan cuisine is pretty new to me.  I guess its a combination of sweet and spicy that makes it so good.  This version is pretty mellow in flavor.  You may want to double the spices to give it more punch. 

You'll need:
1 lb Ground Beef ( lamb, turkey, pork or chicken would work as well)
1/3 dried apricots, chopped  (or1/3 c apricot jam)
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp coriander
 (sweet chili sauce  or hot pepper jelly for topping)

Assemble all your spices and mix with the ground meat.

 Form into patties or meat balls.

Grill for 5 mins on each side.

Serve on hamburger buns or alone with a side.

Top with sweet chili sauce or hot pepper jelly

Now for the recipe for the side dish of green beans, onions and tomatoes.
You'll need:
1 onion
bunch of fresh or frozen green beans
2 tomatoes or can of chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
butter and olive oil

 

Start by slicing the onion and frying it in a little oil and butter

 Let them cook for about 5 mins on a medium heat, turning frequently until a nice caramel color.

Meanwhile snap the ends off the fresh green beans, and blanch them in boiling water, then add to the  frying pan with the onions, and stir fry for about 3 mins.  Add the salt and pepper

 Next add the canned tomatoes and heat through, or the fresh tomatoes until just warmed. Then serve.

You can add fresh garlic, or garlic powder to the beans as well.  Balsamic vinegar would go well with it also.

Easter Morning Breakfast

Easter morning breakfast.
                                            Parsnip, zucchini, carrot Frittata
                                                                   and Bacon, cheese, scallion scones.

To make this yummy Frittata you'll need:

1 Zucchini, washed and  grated
1 Carrot, peeled and grated
1 Parsnip, peeled and grated
2 green onions, chopped
Olive oil to coat the pan
2 - 3 eggs
1/3 c cheese grated
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp Parsley, chopped
Salt and Pepper

In a frying pan, saute the vegetables until tender.  About 5 mins.
 Meanwhile Preheat the oven to 350 oF
In a shallow greased, baking pan, spread the cooled vegetables to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cover with 1/3 c of grated cheese (I used Gruyere)
In a bowl mix 2 - 3 eggs & 2 Tbsp flour.
 Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cheese.  Top with 2 Tbsp of chopped parsley.

 Bake for 12 mins.  Cool and serve in squares.

Using the same recipe for Cheese Scones in a previous post, I just substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for white flour, and added 1 green onion chopped, and 1/3 cup of crumbled bacon pieces, and used Gruyere cheese instead of sharp cheddar.  These were so good.  I froze the leftovers and am eating them for breakfast for the next few days.

 Easter morning breakfast.  Parsnip, zucchini, carrot Frittata and Bacon, cheese, scallion scones.

 Parsnips are delicious, yet rarely eaten vegetable. They are sweet and have a flavor all their own.  They go really well with their cousin, carrots.  I have always loved  boiled carrots and parsnips mashed together and served with salt and butter.  Mmmmm Yummm!!!  So that's the secret ingredient of the day on my blog.  Give parsnips a try.  You'll be so happy you did.

In my previous post I served parsnips, roasted.  That really brings their flavor to a whole new level.

Roast Lamb

ROAST LAMB 

Roast Lamb represents so many  great memories for me, of my childhood,  growing up in New Zealand.   It was the classic Sunday dinner after church.  My Mom would throw it in the oven and it would be all ready by the time we got home.  We'd always invite a few extra people home with us, to share the meal.  So for me this is the ultimate comfort food.  Nowadays the only time we eat it is Christmas and Easter, because its so expensive.  So I savor these special occasions, as it brings back so many great memories.  These days I'm the one cooking the roast and my parents are the guests at my table.

Roasting anything is always an easy way to make great food for guests with hardly any effort.  You aren't rushing around at the last... all the prep is done in advance and you just carve and serve. Roasting the vegetables along with the meat saves heaps of time as well.  And they taste so good!

Here's what you'll need:

 One  3 - 6 lb leg of lamb (with bone or without bone)
 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp  Fresh rosemary leaves chopped
1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme leaves chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Salt and  1 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 oF
Get a large roasting pan and put a wire rack in the bottom
Mix the garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Then massage into the outside of the roast. 
Place the roast on the rack in the roasting pan. Sprinkle additional salt on the fat.
Cook for 15 mins in the oven on 500 oF, then lower temperature to 400 oF and cook for 45 mins more, then lower temperature to 325 oF and cook for 1 hour more, until meat is done and juices are no longer blood red. 

 I put peeled carrots, parsnips and onion around the meat. And roasted purple potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes in a separate pan with some olive oil and salt.

Remove the roast from the pan and let rest, covered for about 20 mins, before carving.
To make the gravy......Get some of the grease out of the roasting pan with a paper towel, then add
wine and chicken stock to the roasting pan, placed over a burner, and stir and loosen all the crunchy drippings.  Add a slurry of corn starch and water to thicken, stirring until just boiling with a wire whisk. 

 Traditionally, we serve it with mint sauce and gravy, and have peas as the green vegetable.

Thai Fried Rice

THAI FRIED RICE

I want to pay homage to my dear Thai friend and mentor Senuan (See – new- wan) who passed away quite a few years ago.  She lived with us for three years, and she’s the one who taught me everything I know about Thai cooking.  She also helped me learn to speak the Thai language…. because at that time she couldn’t speak any English. We were living in a town called Phanat Nikom, two  hours drive, south of Bangkok.  We were volunteering in a refugee camp for Cambodian, Vietnamese and Lao. We had about 12 others with us, and our team grew to 25 over the years. During those years I did my best to recreate meals for our fellow team members that would remind them of home.   So, I learned to make bread, mayonnaise, yogurt, pickles, jam, tortillas and many other familiar things.  There was no supermarket, just an open market with meat hanging on hooks. No beef, just water buffalo (don’t get me started), whole river fish, pork and whole chickens (with the head and feet still on). Vegetables that I’d never seen before, and plenty of mangos in April and Pineapple all year round.

However Thai cuisine, in my opinion, is the best flavored food in the world… right up there with Mexican food and Italian.   The first day we arrived in Thailand was Christmas day, 1979.  Our meal was Kao Phad (that’s Thai for Fried Rice).  We bought it from a street vendor.  It was delicious, and became our main stay for lunch through the years we lived there.  Bread was very hard to come by, so sandwiches were a rare thing.  If you’ve only ever had take out Fried Rice from an American/Chinese restaurant, you’re missing out.  Here’s what we became addicted to, and have never liked Fried Rice any other way since.  The secret to Thai cooking is something sweet, sour, salty and spicy. 

Start by steaming some Jasmine rice.  I used Jasmine brown rice, from Trader Joes.  I cup of rice yields about 3 cups cooked rice.  Takes 45 mins to cook.  Its key to have warm or hot rice.  If you have leftover rice, reheat it in the microwave first.

Next wisk 2 eggs and fry in a little oil like an omelet.  Turn onto a plate and cut into small chunks.



I had some leftover cooked pork that I cubed, you can use shrimp, chicken, tofu or beef as well.

You'll need some Fish sauce (Nam-Pla), 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 generous tsp of chopped garlic.

Next cut up an onion in half moons, some carrots and whatever other vegetables you like. I happened to have some pea pods.











  The rice should be ready to go .

Heat up some oil in a wok and start frying the onion for about 2 minutes before adding the other vegetables.

 Now add the carrots, pea pods and garlic and cook until bright in color.

Now its time to add the eggs, meat,  2 Tbsp fish sauce and 2 Tbsp sugar.

 Mix all together and take off the heat.

 Put in a serving dish and garnish with cilantro, green onions, cucumber slices and fresh lemon juice.

                                     

Feel free to add hot spicy peppers to this.  That's something the Thai people can't live without.

THAI FRIED RICE

3- 4 cups cooked  Jasmine  (brown or white) rice

2 eggs, mixed and fried

1 - 2 cups of cooked pork, chicken, shrimp, beef, or tofu

1 onion, sliced into half moons

oil

1 tsp garlic chopped

carrots, pea pods or any other vegetable

 2 Tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)

2 Tbsp sugar

lemon

cilantro

cucumber

green onion

hot peppers

 Again, you don't even need a wok if you use hot rice.  Just fry up the eggs, meat and vegatables, and combine with the hot rice.  You won't need to use that much oil.  The secret to making this taste really Thai, is the sugar, fish sauce and lemon.  Don't even think about using soy sauce!!!!

Let me know how it goes for you.  I've made all kinds of variations of this recipe over the years.
You can add curry powder, pineapple, cranberries, pecans, tomatoes..........the ideas are limitless.
Have fun!!!

Tortilla Chicken Bake

TORTILLA CHICKEN BAKE

This is a low calorie, low fat, low carb recipe.  Feel free to change it up and make it more fattening with cheese and sour cream.  I have lost 25 lbs recently, so I'm being careful not to add weight back on, so I can keep my new wardrobe.

  This recipe started by, me looking in the freezer and pantry and seeing what I had on hand.  I had half a package or frozen corn tortillas and a couple of zip bags of frozen rotissere chicken  I had previously deboned and stored the chicken in individual servings, from a chicken I'd bought at Costco.  Love those  roasted chickens.... and always find uses for them.

I wasn't sure how great it would turn out, but started snapping pictures anyway.  It was a really yummy success, so its 'blog worthy'........here's what you'll need.

6 Corn Tortillas

8 oz jar of Pace Picante Sauce (or 4 oz),of any salsa

1 can tomato soup

2 cups of cooked chicken

2 Tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper (yellow or green are fine), chopped.

1 can of black beans, drained and rinced

salt and pepper

1/2 cup or more of grated cheese

Greek yogurt 0% or sour cream

cilantro and green onions for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 oF.

Start by putting the onions and peppers in a frying pan with the oil and cook until tender, about 5 mins, stirring occasionally.

        Once the onions and peppers are tender, add the picante sauce or salsa and stir until bubbly
                                                            add some salt and pepper

            (Wow, that's a weird picture of my hand.........you can see the age spots so clearly!!!!)

                                                        Now add the black beans and stir

   
                                                       Then add the tomato soup

                                                        Heat until just bubbling

                Spray a casserole dish with spray oil and layer half the mixture on the bottom.

                Place three of the corn tortillas on the top of the sauce.  I tore one in half to fit the dish.
 You could use white four tortillas, or whole wheat tortillas.  The corn tortillas are lower in calaries     and give more flavor to the dish, in my opinion.

                                              

                                          Next lay all of the chicken on top of the tortillas.

                                            Top the chicken with another layer of tortillas, then
                                  Top with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with the cheese.

                    Bake for 30 mins. at 350 oF or until cheese melts and  casserole bubbles at the edges.

                We got 6 servings from this, but you may serve 4. depending on the portions.

          Serve with sour cream or as I did, with 0% Greek Yogurt, cilantro and green onions.

California is known for its Mexican food.  You won't find this recipe in any Mexican cookbook, but its got the flavors that we love so much in Mexican food.

My secret ingredient in Mexican dishes, to make it creamy, is the tomato soup.

So chalk that one up for an experiment gone right.  Hope you like it too!

French Onion Soup

Fond memories of my first date with my husband John of 36 years,( so that would be 38 years ago) was him taking me to A&W Root Beer for a bacon/cheese burger, onion rings and of course a frosty mug of their root beer.   The second date was on my 19th birthday........to the big city of St. Louis.....we had Chinese food........I think.  But, the best date was when we went for lunch (also in St. Louis, Missouri) to a big department store called Famous and Barr, for French Onion Soup and Chicken Salad Sandwiches. We went back there many times in the first few years of our relationship.

 Here's my attempt and recreating that soup..........John thought it was pretty spectacular, and I would have to agree.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

Thinly slice 7 medium onions into half moons.

 Saute the onions in 4 Tbsp. of butter for about 20 mins or more, until caramelized.

 Don't hurry this step, its crucial that the onions turn a deep, rich brown color on a medium to low heat.

 Add 5-6 cups of beef broth, 1/4tsp dried thyme, dash of balsamic vinegar, dash of Worcestershire sauce, and 2 tsp of brown sugar....simmer for another 30 mins until thickened.

Keep the pot uncovered, while the soup is reducing and simmering.  Meanwhile get some hearty thick bread and cut it to fit oven proof soup bowls and grate or slice Gruyere or Swiss cheese.

The soup  should be thick.

Heat oven to 450 oF.

 On a foil covered baking dish place oven proof soup bowls.

 Spoon onion soup into bowls,

Top with crusty bread and Gruyere cheese and bake for 12 - 15 mins.

The soup and cheese will ooze over the edges. Heat until bubbly.

We couldn't even finish ours.  We only served two, but its way plenty for four people. Just serve into four bowls instead.

Here's what we looked like at our wedding. I was only 20 years old. Such a baby.

This is us now.  Not bad for a couple of old farts.