Meat Pies and Chai--Another Wednesday of Cooking

Even after getting off work early instead of late, getting things done I wanted to do was not in the cards.  Upon arriving home, we had company. After the company, I put together the shopping list of free or almost free items from Practical Saver, pulled the coupons and ran around getting the items. Also went to Honeyman’s and purchased spices to make chai. I love Honeyman’s!  It’s a great place for honey, nuts, dried fruits, natural ingredients, teas, and spices. Prices are so much better than on the net…Penzey’s or Spices Etc….and if they don’t have something, they’ll order it for you!  So after those errands, I came home, made Roy dinner and then instead of sewing on my quilts, I cooked. Better therapy to calm me down than quilting!

Iris’ Chai recipe comes from my good friend Iris in Santa Cruz. It’s delicious, makes 4 quarts, and I put them into bottles and they go into the refrigerator. When I want some, I pull out a bottle, pour it into a cup, add stevia or honey and milk or soy milk, and a big shake of pure powdered vanilla (you do not want to use liquid vanilla—the alcohol in it tastes nasty!), stir it up and then either pour it over a glass filled with ice, or heat it up via saucepan or microwave. Delicious!  And SO much cheaper than buying it at a coffee shop!

          Then I proceeded to make 6 Sfiha, with a little variation in the crust. The Sfiha recipe is from a marvelous cookbook I received from my friends Terri & Paul for Christmas last year called The World of Street Food.  So many wonderful recipes, but this one is from the section on Middle Eastern recipes. Sfiha are meat pies from the Middle Eastern countries of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, etc. Meat pies of all kinds are found in every culture in the world—Samosas, Pasties, Dumplings—all flavorful, inexpensive, and easy to shove down your pie hole while you work!  To make it easier, you can use pie crust mix or pre-made purchased from your market. I, however, decided to use a recipe from Beef Patties recipe I had from the Queen, Martha Stewart, as it had curry in it and I thought it would be exceptional with the savory meat filling. Either way, they are delicious!

Sfiha

¾ lb frozen pastry, thawed  (can also use a box mix)

1 lb ground lamb

1 onion, finely diced

1/3 c pine nuts (I substituted cashews…awesome!)

½ t. cinnamon

½ t. allspice

3 tomatoes, diced (I used diced petite canned tomates drained of their juice)

3 T lemon juice

Oil

Salt & pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet. When hot, put in the lamb and cook until crumbly and brown. Add the onion and sauté until wilted then add nuts, spices and seasonings. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

Add tomatoes and stir well. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes or until tomato is soft and incorporated. Remove from heat and pour in enough lemon juice to make a moist mixture. Set aside to cool.

Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut circles of approximately 3 inches across. (For quicker assembly, make larger and then once cooked, cut in half to serve). Place the rounds under a cloth to cover.

Take a circle of dough, spread on a spoonful of the meat on one side. Fold over (or put another circle on top using more filling inside) and close the edges by pressing with a fork. Using some egg wash helps to hold the edges together.

Put on lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until crust is golden. Serve hot with fresh lemon and/or yogurt sauce.

ALTERNATE PASTRY/CRUST RECIPE

2 ½ cups flour

½ t salt

¼ t baking powder

2 T curry powder (Madras is always my preference)

½ c. butter (1 stick)

¾ c. ice cold water

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder & curry powder in large bowl (or use food processor with chopping blade). Cut the butter into small pieces, add to the bowl, and work into the flour mixture with your fingers, rubbing together flour & butter until it resembles very course cornmeal.  Add the water and mix until just together. Remove with floured hands and squeeze the dough until it forms a ball. Knead it once or twice just to combine—the less kneading the better.  Spread the dough into 2 pieces, flattening each into a thick pancake. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 15 minutes (will keep refrigerated for 5 days—remove from refrigerator a few minutes before using). Roll out per instructions above.

IRIS' CHAI RECIPE

4 quarts water                                   5 cinnamon sticks                  5 star anise, whole
3 T. whole black pepper corns          1 t. whole allspice                  1 t. dried orange peel
1 t. corriander seed                           1 T. cloves, whole                 2 t. whole cardamom pods
1 t. fennel seed                                  3 T dried ginger (or fresh cut into small dice, or 5 pieces chrystalized)
1/3 cup black tea

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add all ingredients except the black tea. Cover and simmer for 20-40 minutes depending on how strong you want it. Turn off heat and add tea. Brew for 2-4 minutes...no longer or else it may start to taste bitter.  Strain all solids out of liquid and pour into bottles.   Pour into cup or glass, add honey (or other sweetner to your liking) and vanilla soy milk, or milk and a teaspoon of pure vanilla powder. Heat if hot tea is preferred, or pour over a glass of ice for iced chai.

Bountiful Basket Saturday

I dislike working on Saturdays, but alas, until I find a replacement (impossible) for our dear Kelly at work, that’s my plight.  I am so grateful to have had her helping me for the past 6 months, especially during my surgery and recovery. Because of her I was able to take my recovery easy and not fret about what was NOT getting done or being taken care of at work. I knew students and inquiries were all being given the best of care, and any problems that arose she would solve. It was a God send and I am so happy that  now she has a full time benefitted job that will use her skills and degree more profitably for her. I however will miss her.

But I have to say with all candor, this Saturday was not too bad, and even included a trip to pick up fresh produce from Bountiful Baskets prior to going in to work. Do you know about Bountiful Baskets? It’s fabulous…you place your order on-line on Monday or Tuesday, you receive a basket of fruit and a basket of vegetables (whatever is there, you do not get to choose) for $15.00 plus $1.50 handling. You pay for it over the internet with your Visa/MC, and then on Saturday, pick up your basket. Now this is available in many states, so check the web site at bountifulbaskets.org.  it is a volunteer effort and there is not a week that goes by that I feel we do not get more than our money’s worth. Plus you get a variety of fruits and vegetables not of your choosing, so you get to try and use them in your weekly meals, thus adding more fruits and veges to your diet…this is a good thing!

 Although I felt it a little short in the vegetable department this week (romaine lettuce, asparagus, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, green beans), it truly was bountiful in the fruit department—fresh pineapple, casaba melon, pineapple, bananas, oranges, apples…yum!  But best of all, in the vege department was a big head of cauliflower. I am so thrilled to receive cauliflower since finding an amazing delicious outstanding recipe in Mary Jane’s Farm (a great magazine on country living, organic gardening, home lifestyle, etc.) a few months ago.  It is for Curried-Cashew Cauliflower and we love it!  It’s simple, healthy, nutritious, and delicious—what more can you ask.  And for all my vegetarian friends, it’s perfect for you too!

Curried-Cashew Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, cut into large florets

½ cup organic cashew butter  (if you can’t find this, which is the problem I’m having, just use ½ c. of raw cashews and some extra olive oil, blending together in the blender and adding more olive oil until you get the consistency of creamy peanut butter)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons curry powder (I use Madras Curry Powder as has the taste and flavor I love)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ c. cashews…raw or roasted…roughly chopped

Preheat the broiler. The rack should be in the top portion of the oven so the cauliflower is about 3-4 inches away from the heat while cooking.  Mix together the cashew butter, curry powder, olive oil and salt. Toss the cauliflower in the mixture, add the chopped cashews and mix again (I use my hands, works great). Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast the cauliflower under the broiler for 8-10 minutes, until just tender when pierced and golden brown with some crunchiness on the edges. Check halfway through and flip with a spatula if necessary. Remove from the over and serve immediately. Serves 6 as a side dish.

Insomnia, Full Moons, and Flannel Quilts

Sometimes do you wake up, completely awake, like you’ve slept all night, only to figure out that it’s in the middle of the night?  I do this often. Often enough so that seeing the clock registering 3:05 a.m. didn’t surprise me. Nor did it dismay me as I knew I didn’t have to work today, so if I got tired later I’d just go back to sleep.

          There was no outstanding reason behind the insomnia this time. No stomach upset; my brain wasn’t going around like a whirling dervish with things to do at work or at home; I wasn’t hungry; I wasn’t even hurting too much—at least not enough that that could be the culprit. Maybe it was the moon. I’m not kidding you. There is a full moon out there that had the back yard lit up like mid-day when I looked out, and my insomnia is worse during the full moon periods.          

still love horses and this one loves apples

               I remember when I was a young teenager in Cornville and there were moons like this in the summer. A few times, when I was spending the night with my friend Vickie, we went out in a big pack and walked the hills where the moon would reflect on the white caliche cliffs and make it so bright it was truly like walking during the day. There were always any number of kids, boys and girls, at Vickie’s house during the summer—her mom Martha treated us all like her own, there was a swimming pool, horses to ride, cows to milk, ping pong tables inside when it was too hot, books to read, Nana to wonder what she was going to come up with next (we just thought her to be eccentric as Alzheimers was not something that had a name at that time) and a rooster who liked to chase tennis shoes that we’d throw into the yard, where he’d run to them, and hump ‘em (we always said we were going to be overrun with roosters in tennis shoes or tennis shoes made of feathers), and an atmosphere of freedom and fun that wasn’t especially prevalent in other homes.

           And if you had questions, you weren’t embarrassed or afraid to ask them and they’d usually get answered too. Sometimes Bill, her dad, would give us outrageous answers, or roll his eyes and mutter about having no brains, but most of the time, the atmosphere and treatment were fair and loving. In fact, even when we were asking questions because we were dumber than bags of dirt, it was fair treatment! So tonight when I saw that bright moon, it brought back the memories of fun and outrageousness that were part of my childhood.

          Being wide awake, I decided not to waste the time. I got up and put on my fleece pullover over my nightgown and my hubby’s slippers to keep warm (great outfit—Vogue would be here with cameras for this innovative style if only they knew—Adele would have nothing on me). First I did up the dishes that were left from dinner, being too lazy to do them at that time. Then having just read about Overnight Oatmeal, decided to do it. The crock pot was washed and ready to go, so I put it together. Since I didn’t have all night to let it cook, I turned it on high to just get it going and went about my business.

1st 3 rows of flannel quilt

the studio with quilt in progress

          That business was quilting. I went into the work shop and finished putting together the last four quilt strips. I am doing an all flannel quilt. The top is different flannel plaids from shirts to pajamas, that I have gotten from my own stash, my hubby’s shirts, thrift shops, and donations. Then I am using red flannel strips to pull it all together. Not sure of the backing nor binding yet, but I’ll figure it out once I see the top finished. After a couple of hours, had to quit as my neck was hurting, but have all the blocks sewn together, and three of the seven block strips sewn together. Will work on the other four later today, and hope to have the top completed before Blue Bloods comes on at 9:00 p.m. tonight. It won’t be perfect or show quality as using recycled materials doesn’t always come down to perfection, but it’s very satisfying knowing you’re reused and recycled fabric that may have just gone to waste or the landfill. Plus I know it’s going to be warm and soft and will feel great on cold winter nights.

          Speaking of cold winter nights, I’m VERY tired of winter. For a few days the temps rose and it was beautiful and I was so hoping for a continuance. I knew it was pure folly on my part---it’s only the beginning of March. But I’m exceptionally tired of winter this year. So when I looked out the window Wednesday afternoon and snow was drifting down and blowing around in a dance like demented fairies, I was not happy. It’s not pretty any more, and I want sun and warmth now.  Tuesday there were 55 mph winds, and I swear they were blowing in straight from the Arctic Circle. It was frigid!  Same with last Friday. Roy and I were out doing the weekly shopping and every time I’d come out of a shop or store it would take my breath away. So to say I  not in a great mood about the cold is a real understatement. There is hope for some warm up over this weekend. And I cannot cross my fingers enough.

          If it does warm up, there are some garden beds which need attention. I must water the garlic I planted 2 weeks ago, and give the strawberries, roses, and marigolds that are coming up a drink too. But mainly need to pull the weeds and grasses out of the beds and rake out the straw, so I can get the yellow and red onions planted…one bed of each.  Beets and carrots should go in too, but will wait until back from Palm Springs for them.

          March and April are lining up to be darn hectic, so this is about the last free time I’ll have for myself until the first of May. Maybe that’s the underlying cause of the middle of the night wake up---finding time for myself to commune with me, a new recipe, and my sewing machine. There couldn’t be any better reasons in my book. 

          So whip up a pot of Overnight Oatmeal for your family, or for company (great way to serve a warm delicious breakfast without having to get up 2 hours ahead of everyone), and start your day with a warm full tummy. 

             

            OVERNIGHT OATMEAL

Makes 6 servings

OATMEAL:

3 c milk                 
1 ½ c steel cut oats                 
½ c. dark brown sugar    
¾ t. salt

TOPPING:

2 apples, cored and diced      
2 T dark brown sugar              
3 T dried cranberries or raisins

3 T chopped walnuts

Oatmeal:  Coat a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Combine milk, 3 c water, oats, ¼ c. brown sugar, and salt in slow cooker. Cover and cook overnight on LOW for 9 ½ to 10 hours.  Uncover and stir in remaining ¼ c. brown sugar. Re-cover, and turn off heat.


Topping:  Coat a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add apples and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar, 1 T water and dried cranberries. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in nuts.

     Stir oatmeal in slow cooker until smooth. Spoon about a cup into a bowl and add a few tablespoons of the topping. Serve warm

You can also cook the apple mixture the day before, seal in a microwave proof container, and then heat up the next morning just before serving the oatmeal. Great way to feed guests in a hurry without making a kitchen mess and without having to get up 2 hours early!!!  Serving size ½ cup.

It's Been Awhile----

     I know, it's been awhile, but well, life gets in the way.  The stacked cervical fusion surgery went well, recovery was 2 months, and although the debilitating pain in my left arm was gone almost immediately, there is some residual numbness in my left thumb and index fingers, and a gnawing and reoccurring pain in my right shoulder/neck area...mostly after being on the computer for any length of time. Since that's what I do at work, it's difficult to get away from it, so tried curbing my time on the computer at home. But it still hurts, so what the heck, I'm back!!

     Friday I did the shopping list, coupon clipping, and then off to the stores. Albertson's for butter, Safeway for milk, rolls, soup, then Fry's. Took a little break and went to Method Coffee to have a cup and see our wonderful sweet girl Kaileena (not our child really but an adoring young woman filled with life, love, talent--artist and musician--and whom we love) and then on to Fry's #2 for 4 more chickens...limit of 2 per customer so enlisted Roy's help and went to both Fry's stores in order to procure 8 chickens. At 77 cents a pound, it was too good a deal not to stock up the freezer a bit. 

     Then back home to unpack the truck and put away the bounty and get moving on all those chickens.  Put one in the oven to roast---Roy's favorite Greek Chicken and all you need to do is after washing the chicken good inside and out (no soap folks, just water), liberally apply Cavendar's Greek Seasoning spice mix, along with liberal amounts of lemon pepper inside and out and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Then it was on to cutting apart the remaining chickens for a bounty of wings, drumsticks, boneless and bone in chicken breast pieces, and a stock pot filled with backs to be cooked and made into soup stock and meat to be pulled from the bones after cooking and kept for soup. And for 77 cents a pound that is an amazing deal. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were being sold right next to the whole fyers for $3.46 a pound!!!

     So as I was beginning the 4th chicken cutting off a leg segment, the damn knife came around and hit me in the bird finger knuckle of my left hand. Wasn't deep because stopped at the knuckle bone, but boy was it a bleeder!  Could not get the bleeding stopped to save my soul.  Took 1/2 hour off to see if would calm down, checked it out again as still bleeding, but made a command decision that it really wasn't a candidate for stitches and ruled out the ER despite Roy's objections. However, needed to finish up the chickens so had to figure out how to stop the bleeding and/or keep the chicken juices out of the wound and keep my blood off the chicken. Even after steri-strips and band aids, it continued to bleed so had Roy get the food handler gloves out of the car. We affectionately call them pooh pooh gloves and use them to take with us whenever we take Guayo for a walk--for obvious reasons!

     I managed to use 10 of the gloves as the bleeding was not stopped by the strips nor the band aids, but did get the chickens cut up, into zipl bags, labeled and into the freezer. Then washed it up again, put clean tight steri-strips on it along with a big gauze bandage and paper tape to finally stop the bleeding.  Nothing but action around here!!!

     Today my friend Carly came over and we went thrift shopping. Went to our favorite thrift shop, the Yavapai Humane Society thrift shop and it was 50% off day!!! Since they are always very reasonable on their items, and they get great items into the shop on a regular basis, the 50% off days are amazing. Last time we went, the Amelda Marcos of big footed women had brought in 100+ pairs of shoes, most of which were never worn and still in the boxes. They were designer labels...Propeet, Mafistos, Clarks, Birkenstock--and I could not believe my luck at having accidentally dropped in when size 10 shoes were everywhere and it was 50% off day.  I came home with a pair of slippers, a pair of boots, 2 pair of summer shoes and 2 pair of winter shoes for a total of $69.  That is less than one pair of my usual good sturdy shoes (aka old women shoes as cannot wear heels any longer as the orthotics look funny in them) and I had just told my hubby it was about time to put out the $$ for a new pair of shoes. He could not believe my luck and wanted to know if there weren't more I should go back and purchase. How's that for a great hubby!!!

     Today I bought a pair of slacks for work--however after getting them home found them to be too big so maybe my sister will be the recipient of a new pair of slacks.  I also bought a beautiful long skirt in a turquoise/white/camel Indian print that fits perfectly and matches a turquoise sweater I have, and hope I will find other items with which to wear it; 4 pieces of fabrics for putting in my quilting stash; 4 coffee mugs to take to school as I do not wish to have my chai in disposable styrofoam cups any longer; a miter saw & metal miter box for ROy--hopefully to be used soon to finish the trim in the master bedroom; 3 1-quart canning jars which I can use with a hopefully abundant harvest for this summer;'s garden; 10 greeting cards; a bag of bird feathers for crafting; and a beautiful hand-knit blue fuzzy scarf; all for $15.  Such a deal!!  And the money goes to help all the sweet dogs and cats at the Humane Society. I would love to volunteer at the shelter if I could, but it ends with my either bringing home more pups or crying, and so Roy has against his usual low-key demeanor, to forbid me to go there.  So supporting the thrift shop is my way of helping them out.

     The rest of the day will be spent with watching a Jesse Stone movie (I love Tom Selleck), balancing my bank book, updating the budget expenditures for February and the first 2 days of March, and working on the flannel quilt top so as to finish it this weekend. That way I can start a new one! We'll be having yummy delicious bbq country style ribs (see jmy recipes for Rib Rub and Mom's Spicy BBQ Sauce), a bit of coleslaw (my secret--put some tarragon into the milk/sugar/rice vinegar/sugar mixture for the dressing along with a few poppy seeds...really sets it off), and a slice of homemade bread.  This is the easiest and most delicious bread recipe I've found. Yes it IS white bread, but not Wonder Bread!  And sometimes when Roy cooks too much of his 9 grain cereal in the morning, we put it into the refrigerator and then I use about 1/2 cup in the dough. SO chewy and good.  Gramma's Country White Bread is fantastic and the entire family will love it. I've included the recipe below.

     Have a great weekend, and I will try NOT to let life get so much in the way in the future!

Gramma’s Country White Bread 

Makes 2 loaves

·                        2 packages active dry yeast

·                        2 cups warm water

·                        1/2 cup honey

·                        1 tablespoon salt

·                        2 eggs (beaten)

·                        1/4 cup olive oil or melted butter

·                        5 1/2 - 6 cups bread flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add honey, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups of bread flour. mix till smooth. Add in remaining flour to form a soft sticky dough. Place on a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for 10 minutes. till smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap till double in bulk. Punch down dough and divide into two loaves. Place into two med. greased loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise till double. Bake in a pre-heated 375F oven for 25-30 minute. Cool on a wire rack.