Holiday Hiatus

Hi everyone,

This is just a little note to let you all know that we, at Furry Kitchen, will be taking a much needed break over the holidays to rest and regroup.
We will return after Christmas and hope to be able to cook and bake up a storm so that there will be lots of recipes to post here.

We wish you all a very happy and safe holiday season.

Andrea and the furry ones

More Holiday Baking

I finally had a bit of time to do some baking on the weekend, so I decided to make rugelach. It's a Jewish cookie and this version is made from a cream cheese dough and is filled with cinnamon, sugar, chopped walnuts and raisins. Yummy!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

1 cup unsalted butter

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup ground walnuts

1 cup raisins, finely chopped

STEPS

• Cut cold butter and cream cheese into chunks. If you have a food processor, pulse the butter, cream cheese, flour and sour cream until crumbly. If you don't have a food processor, you can use your mixer. Mix the butter and cream cheese together first, then add the flour and sour cream.
• Shape the crumbly mixture into 4 equal disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
• Combine the sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and raisins in a bowl.
• Once the dough has chilled enough, roll each one into a 9-inch round on a well floured surface. Sprinkle with the sugar mixture and cut into 8 wedges. Roll each one up like a crescent, starting with the rounded end. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes.
• Once the cookies are baked, remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool on a wire rack. Once completely cooled, you can drizzle with icing or leave them plain. I used almond icing which was made with icing sugar, a few drops of almond extract (to taste) and a few drops of water to reach a runny consistency so that I could drizzle it on the cookies, but not so wet that it wouldn't harden.

It's important to keep the dough chilled so that it is easy to work with. If it becomes difficult to work with the dough, put it back into the fridge and allow to chill for longer.

Rugelach on the cookie sheet waiting to be baked.

Rugelach drizzled with almond frosting.

Aioli

It occurred to me that I didn't post the recipes for the aiolis that I made to serve with the empanadas. It also occurred to me that I didn't take photos of them as we were madly dashing out of the house to the party since we were already an hour late. Oops! So hopefully you'll forgive me and will be able to make do with just the recipes. I promise, they're simple.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup roasted red pepper

STEPS

• In a food processor, puree the roasted red pepper and garlic. Then add the mayonnaise and lemon juice and blend together.
• Pour into a dip bowl and serve with empanadas.

Chipotle Aioli

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chipotle peppers (if this is too spicy, you can use 1/4 cup chipotle peppers)

STEPS

• In a food processor, puree the chipotle peppers and garlic. Then add the mayonnaise and lemon juice and blend together.
• Pour into a dip bowl and serve with empanadas.
  

Empanadas

I was inspired by the empanada recipe posted by Elise on her blog and thought that empanadas would be the perfect thing to bring to a Christmas party. I followed her recipe for the dough (except for the amount of salt) and made my own filling with ground turkey. I served them with two different aiolis: roasted red pepper aioli and chipotle aioli.

PASTRY INGREDIENTS
2 packages cream cheese (do not use light), room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water

FILLING INGREDIENTS
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 medium potato, diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can tomato paste
4 tablespoons water

STEPS

• Cream together the cream cheese, butter and salt. Slowly fold in the flour and mix until well incorporated. Divide the dough into two and form flattened, rounded disks. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• While the dough is chilling, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey, onions, potatoes and spices and cook until the meat has browned.
• Add the tomato paste and water and stir to mix. Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. When cooked, remove from heat and place in a bowl.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. If the dough was refrigerated for more than 1 hour, you may need to let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Use a large round cookie cutter (3-inches in diameter) and cut out rounds from the dough.
• Mix the egg and water, then using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the rounds to help them stick together. Place 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture into the centre of the dough, then fold the edges together and use a fork to seal the edges.

• Brush the sides with egg wash (but not the bottom otherwise they will stick to the pan) and place upright on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 50 empanadas.
  

Christmas Baking

I love shortbread cookies and I've been looking for an easy, no-fuss recipe. Melanie, a friend of a friend, was kind enough to drop a little gem in my lap. I had a bit of time on my hands, so naturally, I ran straight to the kitchen and gave it a try. I tweaked it slightly, so here's my version.

Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

1 cup icing sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream together the butter and egg yolk.

• Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

• Mix the flour and salt together, then add it in three batches to the buttery mixture. Mix until crumbly.
• Knead the dough with your hands until it is soft and pliable. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle with about a 1/2-inch thickness.
• Cut the rectangle into strips and prick the tops of each strip with a fork. Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet.

• Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

• Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a rack. 

Meaty Pasta Sauce

This post continues from the garlic and basil pasta post. This is the recipe for Mike's pasta sauce.

Meaty Pasta Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 chipotle pepper, minced

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground turkey

1 bottle pasta sauce

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 teaspoon adobo sauce

STEPS

• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onions, garlic and chipotle peppers.
• Add meat and basil and cook until meat is browned.
• Add pasta sauce and adobo sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Basil Garlic Fettuccine and Meat Sauce

Fresh, homemade pasta is easy to make and it's so delicious that you'll never buy boxed or bagged pasta from the store ever again! Here's my recipe for basil garlic fettuccine and I will post Mike's meat sauce recipe later. Sorry, you won't find any recipes for creamy sauce here since our household is lactose intolerant.

Basil Garlic Pasta

INGREDIENTS

3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups semolina flour (can use all-purpose if you don't have semolina though it will taste different)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1/4 cup finely chopped basil

1 to 2 tablespoons water, if needed

STEPS

• In a small skillet, cook garlic in oil over low heat, stirring constantly for one minute.
• If using an electric mixer, put remaining ingredients into the mixer bowl, add the garlic and mix using the flat paddle for about a minute or two until the ingredients are combined. It should form a dry dough when you squeeze it together with your hands. If it doesn't, add some water a teaspoon at a time, mixing and checking for the right consistency.
• If making by hand, pile the flour up on a counter or table and make a well in the top. Put the eggs, salt, garlic and basil into the well and stir to combine. When it comes together, begin kneading, again adding water only if needed to hold the dough together. The dough should be very dry.
• Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.
• Use pasta roller or pasta roller attachment to roll the pasta to the desired thickness and cut into whatever type of noodles you like. For this recipe, use the fettuccine cutter. I use a pie cutter and cut the noodles into 3-inch wide pieces for lasagna. You can make this into spaghetti or angel hair pasta if you like, or if you have a pasta extruder, you can make macaroni.
• Leftovers can be dried or put into the freezer.
• To cook fresh noodles, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles in the water for 2 minutes. If frozen, add 1 minute to cooking time.