Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Puree

Mashed sweet potato has grown on me slowly. A staple to Christmas and Thanksgiving menus, I used to take the smallest little dollop in comparison to all the other, much tastier things to be eaten. However, my opinion is changing!

 This recipe brings out the clean taste of delicious sweet potato which meets the complementary soft sweetness of the roasted apple perfectly. It is a super easy dish to prepare with the help of a stand mixer that can quickly puree the roasted potato and apple together! 

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes

1 gala apple, cored and chopped in two 

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

salt to taste

*Note, these values produce about 2 good servings of mash,  the ratio of sweet potato to apple could be maintained when increasing the dish to accommodate for a larger crowd. 

Preheat the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place whole sweet potatoes and halved apple on a baking sheet and bake until very soft (approx. 1 hour). Remove and let cool until cool enough to handle. Remove skins. Place sweet potato and apple in the stand mixer bowl outfitted with the metal whip. Add the butter and salt. Beat on high until sweet potatoes are smooth and only small chunks of apple remain.

Place in an oven safe dish and return to the oven approximately 10 minutes before eating to warm the mix back up to an enjoyable temperature.  

This recipe receives a three whisk rating simply because the stand mixer made it super easy to mash the apples and sweet potato. It saved a good chuck of time and effort to throw everything into the bowl and turn on the mixer while I got the rest of the meal ready to plate. 

Savoury Beef Pie in a Braided Rosemary Pastry

I follow a fabulous blog called Family Feedbag. Tonight I tried a beef pie recipe from Amy's collection. To make it my own I did a rosemary infused pastry crust rather than the walnut crust she presents. This is such a delicious dish and fancy enough that it could easily serve as a fabulous Christmas Eve/ New Years eve dish. 

Ingredients

Pastry

follow recipe for pastry found here 

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 

Filling
a splash of olive oil
1 cups onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef OR 1 package of Yves Veggie Ground Round 'Beef'
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp mustard seeds or 1 tsp ground clove

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Topping
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and onions. Cook until onions are softened. Add ground beef and spices and cook until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Let cool. 

To the plain pasty, add chopped rosemary and knead until well-incorporated. Roll out into an elongated oval form. Coat a baking sheet with a small amount of olive oil and lay the rolled out pasty down. Top with the beef mixture, building the beef into a column in the middle of the pastry.  

Along the pastry's edges, cut inch wide strips that run perpendicular to the column of beef. Braid the pastry by first folding up the end, then alternating strips from the left and right sides of the beef, tucking edges into one another. 

The photo below demonstrates the end product of the braiding step. Next, brush the exterior with a beaten egg and top with a small amount of salt. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.  

Enjoy with fresh peas and roasted sweet potato and apple puree. 

This recipe gets a three whisk rating due to the pastry.

Sundried Tomato Focaccia

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons rapid-rising dry yeast
• • 1 cup warm water
• • 2 tablespoons sugar
• • 3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
• • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• • 1/4 cup olive oil

• Toppings: 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
• • 2 garlic cloves, minced
• • • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• • Freshly ground black pepper
• • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the yeast, warm water, and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve. Let stand 3 minutes until foam appears. Turn mixer on low and slowly add flour to the bowl. Once incorporated, add the water and salt. Finally, Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold over itself a few times. Form the dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (30-45 minutes)

Coat a  cookies with a little olive oil. Once the dough is doubled and domed, turn it out onto the counter. Roll and stretch the dough out to an oblong shape about 1/2-inch thick. Lay the flattened dough on the pan and cover with plastic wrap again. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Uncover the dough and dimple with your fingertips.Top the dough with salt, pepper, minced garlic, sundried tomato, and rosemary then paint with remaining olive oil. Bake on the bottom rack for 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe gets a four whisk rating! I am not trying to say that focaccia cannot be made without a stand mixer but I certainly would not have tried the recipe if I had not had my stand mixer to use. For that reason, the focaccia earns the four whisks!

Moroccan Night

APPETIZER: Grilled Lamb Kebab in a spicy Chermoula Sauce

Prepare the Chermoula: combine fresh chopped cilantro, flat-leafed parsley, minced garlic, ground cumin and coriander seeds, paprika, cayenne, rehydrated chopped chilies, preserved lemon slivers, olive oil and fresh lemon juice in a blender (I used a magic bullet) and blend.

Marinate the Lamb: I purchased lamb already cut up into chunks which made it easy to mix with the marinate and throw in the fridge. Marinate over night.

Prepare the Moroccan yogurt sauce: all best prepared the day before and left in the fridge to marinate overnight. Combine:
1 cup yogurt
1 cup cucumber, peeled and grated
1/4 cup mint, minced
3 tablespoons preserved lemon, minced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

I actually halved this recipe because there there only two of us. It produced more than plenty. 

Prepare Skewers: thread meat onto metal or wooden skewers. If using wood, soak the skewers in water for several hours before skewering so they don't catch fire on the BBQ. I never seem to soak my skewers for long enough - they always catch fire. I think I will abandon the wood skewers for good and stick to re-useable metal.

BBQ lamb and pita: I've never cooked lamb before so didn't know what 'cook to liking' might be. Jamie Oliver reccommended BBQing lamb kebab for a mere 5 minutes on high heat so the middle is nice and red. I cooked my kebabs for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat (resulting in well-done lamb). So BBQ to your liking.... While BBQing, brush pita bread with olive oil, place on the grill for 2-3 minutes until lightly crisped. Note: too crispy and they become pita chips!

SALAD: Traditional Carrot and Orange Blossom Salad

Again, I also halved this recipe producing more than plenty for 2 people. I was able to find Orange Blossom water at my local Loblaws in the international isle, although a middle eastern grocer is likely to carry it as well.

6 cups (1.5 L) carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cup (250 mL) golden raisins
⅓ cup (75 mL) extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon juice

1½ tbsp (22 mL) orange blossom water

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup (125 mL) coriander, chopped

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl, toss to evenly coat the raisins and carrots with the dressing, cover and refrigerate for several hours, or until the carrots have softened and the raisins have absorbed some of the liquid. When ready to serve, check seasoning and add more salt if necessary. 

Source: LCBO

MAIN: Spicy Chicken Tagine 

Ingredients:

1 kg of dark meat chicken chopped into chunks 

3 tsp cayenne pepper

3 tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp turmeric

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Olive and vegetable oil

4 cups finely chopped onions

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 litre tomato juice

2 fresh tomatoes chopped

1 cup dried apricots, halved

1/2 cup raisins or sultanas

1 large preserved lemon, chopped

2 tsp strands saffron, soaked in cold water

2 Tbsp clear honey

Place the cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir. Coat chicken pieces half of the prepared spice mix, set aside the remaining spices. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap, place in the fridge and let marinate overnight.

Heat a combination of olive and vegetable oil in a large cast iron pan (or dish that can be used on the stove top and oven). Add the onions and the remaining spice mix and cook over a low heat for 7 minutes until the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the garlic, and sautee for another 3 minutes or so. 

Heat the remaining oil in a a separate pan and brown chicken, turning over to cook the exterior. Remove from the pan and place in the cast iron pan with onions.

Pour 250ml tomato juice into the pan used for cooking the chicken and stir well, scraping up all the bits on the bottom, then pour the contents of the pan into the cast iron plan

Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, preserved lemon, raisins, saffron, and honey to the casserole dish. If  Bring to the boil, cover with a tightly fitting lid or tin foil and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

SIDE: Moroccan Eggplant Salad with Preserved Lemon

1 medium eggplant, unpeeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Dash of hot pepper flakes

1 tablespoon finely diced preserved lemon

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly coat eggplant in olive oil. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until eggplant is tender–about 30 minutes. Place the eggplant in a serving bowl and toss it with the lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, pepper flakes and preserved lemon. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavours to mix. Serve well-chilled.

SIDE: Couscous Marrakesh

3 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 pinch of saffron, crumbled and soaked in 1 Tbsp of cold water
1 pinch of salt
2 cups uncooked couscous
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

1 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbs. salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. turmeric

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/4 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

1/3 cup eggplant finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour couscous into a medium sized baking dish. In a small saucepan bring chicken broth, butter, saffron infused water and salt to a boil. Add to baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir couscous with a fork and stir in 1-3 Tbsp of olive oil to prevent clumping.
While couscous is cooking, heat remaining oil in a pan. Add spices and onion and cook until onions begin to soften (4-5 minutes). Add remaining veggies and pan fry until cooked. Top prepared couscous with veggies and top with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley. 

DESSERT: Almond Pastry 

1 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup flaked almonds
125 g icing sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1-2 Tbsp orange blossom water
6 sheets phyllo pasty
1/2 cup butter, melted 

Combine almonds (ground and flaked) together with icing sugar and zest. Add orange blossom water to create a paste. Add more orange blossom water as needed to obtain sticky consistency. Prepare 2 sheets of phyllo together at a time. Coating one side with butter, and placing about 1/3 of the almond mixture at the far right side of the phyllo sheet. Wrap the almond mixture up pinching in the ends of the phyllo. Coat with butter to seal phyllo ends together and place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the almond mixture is used up about 3 pastries. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F or until pastry is lightly browned. Serve warm, topped with icing sugar.

Each of the recipes in this post receive a one whisk rating as none involved the stand mixer. I was just excited to try out a little Moroccan food! 

Raisin Buns

My mother-in-law made these delicious buns for us yesterday. Similar to a raisin tea biscuit, these buns are deliciously light and very tasty warmed with a bit of butter. I had two for breakfast, a wonderful accompaniment to my morning coffee.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups raisins
3/4 cups butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
6 tsp baking powder

Beat egg and milk together. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cut into scones with a medium sized cookie cutter or drinking glass. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy while still warm out of the oven, keep in a sealed plastic bag.

I don't know about you, but when I travel I do not pack my stand mixer. Its a good thing this recipe was so incredibly simple no stand mixer was required. You can whip these buns together with your big strong Newfie arms no problem! 

Partridge Berry Pie

Also known as lingonberry, the partridge berry is a small sour berry grows in rich boreal forests and arctic tundra of the Canadian North. In late summer, many Newfoundlanders traverse rocky forests and low lying boggy tundra to harvest the berry. Commonly used in preserves, jams, pies and wine, partridge berry pie is a classic dessert of Newfoundland. I have yet to make this tangy tart myself but certainly enjoy having a taste of it. It is served best alongside vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche or even as I had it tonight, with a dollop of cream cheese flavoured fruit dip. The creamy addition softens the tanginess of the berries a little.

A quick google search produced a trusted recipe from Canadian Living. I suggest making your pie crust by scratch.

In heavy saucepan, combine 2 cups of partridgeberries with 2 cups of sugar. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring, often, until berries burst. This will take about 7 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, mash some of the berries that have yet to burst. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes longer or the filling has thickened slightly. Let cool. The filling can be stored in airtight container in fridge for up to 4 days. 

Fill prepared pie pastry with filling, top with a latticed pastry design. Do so, by rolling out remaining pastry and cutting into 1 inch-wide strips. Moisten rim of pie with water. Weave strips tightly into lattice so strips are touching. Trim off lattice ends at rim; press and crimp to seal.

For a glaze, brush the top of the pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes then reduce to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Bake until the filling is bubbly and the pastry is golden brown. Let cool a little before serving. (Don't forget that ice cream or creme fraiche!)

If you are planning on making your own pastry, this recipe definitely deserves a three whisk rating. If you prefer to go about your pastry a different way (i.e. Tenderflake) then the rating could be reduced to just one whisk. 

Mussels and Lobster Boil

Step 1: find some lobster and mussels fresh out of the ocean

Step 2: boil water in the largest pot you've got any way possible...

Step 3: in a covered pot, boil lobsters for 20 minutes. In a separate pot, boil mussels, covered, until their shells open wide (throw any away that don't open)

Step 4: let the lobsters cool for 10 minutes before taking on the task of breaking open the shell. Enjoy the mussels with a little bit of melted garlic butter

This may be a bit unnecessary, it goes without saying - you do not need a stand mixer to have a mussels and lobster boil!