Garfield's Favorite Food

The weather has turned cold and windy and snowy so I've been making good, hearty dishes that will keep us warm. Today's post is lacking a photo of the finished product since I was pressed for time and couldn't get a piece out without making a mess everywhere. But there are photos of Garfield's favorite food being made. I'll also note that I used boxed lasagna noodles this time, but I usually make it from my own homemade pasta.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound spicy sausage meat

1/2 medium-sized onion, diced

1 can (28 fl oz) crushed tomatoes

1 can (5.5 fl oz) tomato paste

1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

6 strips of lasagna noodles

1 ball of mozzarella cheese, finely sliced or grated

STEPS

• If using boxed noodles, boil water and pour it over the noodles to soften. If using fresh pasta, skip this step.
• In a skillet, cook the ground turkey, sausage meat and onions together over medium heat. Once the meat has browned, drain off the excess liquid.
• Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and basil and mix in well. Allow it to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• To assemble lasagna, cover the bottom of a casserole dish with a very thin layer of sauce to prevent the noodles from sticking. Then place 3 strips of the pasta on top of the sauce.

• Then cover the pasta with half of the meat sauce.

• Cover the meat sauce with the cheese slices or grated cheese.
• Then cover the cheese layer with another layer of pasta followed by meat sauce and topped with cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cheese has melted and the lasagna is bubbly.

Holiday Feasting!

We're back from spending a good part of the holiday season with family in the Maritimes. What did we do? Well, we did some cross country skiing, enjoyed each other's company, played lots of games and, of course, we ate a lot food!

Here's some of the food that we enjoyed for our Christmas dinner. The wonderful, organic turkey was done by my father-in-law. He also made the stuffing which is a recipe that came from my side of the family. My mother-in-law made the cranberry sauce. It's the best cranberry sauce I've had and I'm still trying to get her to give me the recipe! Maybe if we ask her nicely, she'll provide a guest post for us all...hint** hint**

Here's a picture of the scrumptious stuffing that I talked about earlier. The recipe will follow...

The rest of Christmas dinner involved some sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes along with some really tasty gravy. Mmmm!

And, of course, who can forget dessert?!

This wonderful yule log came from Gourmandises Avenue in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia.

They make fantastic, professional French pastries and chocolates. They also do wedding cakes.

It was a chocolate yule log with a raspberry filling and it was absolutely delicious.

Great food, great family...that's what the holiday season is all about.

Oh, and it's not over yet...this week, we visit my family.

Now, as promised, here's the stuffing recipe:

Turkey Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

1 loaf French or Italian bread, chopped

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 package (500 grams) sausage meat (we use Maple Leaf uncooked sausage meat)

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 large onion, diced

1 teaspoon dried thyme (if using fresh thyme, use about 1 tablespoon or the leaves of 6 sprigs)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

STEPS

• Place all ingredients into a very large bowl and mix together with hands until well blended. Insert stuffing into the neck cavity and the chest cavity of the bird. Extra stuffing may be baked in a casserole dish while the turkey is cooking.

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.
  

Keeping Warm In The Snow

The snow came early this year and it's been an unusually cold November. What better way to stay warm than to curl up with a nice blanket and a plate of scrumptious shepherd's pie.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

black pepper to taste

3/4 cup chicken stock (only required if using ground beef)

1 can corn

4 to 6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• For extra light and fluffy mashed potatoes, rinse the potatoes under cold water then steam the potatoes in a colander over boiling water or in a steaming basket for 10 minutes. Then rinse the potatoes under cold water again until the potatoes are cold. Return them to steam for another 10 minutes or until fork-tender. (Rinsing the potatoes after they have cooked for a few minutes removes the starch that makes mashed potatoes so dense and heavy).
• If short on time or if you want to save yourself a bit of effort, place the potatoes into a deep microwave-safe dish and add just enough water to cover the potatoes. Use the microwave button for potatoes or microwave for about 5 to 8 minutes or until fork-tender.
• Once potatoes are cooked, drain out any remaining water and mash the potatoes and butter together until smooth. Then add the milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper stirring until well-mixed.
• While the potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet on medium heat and brown the ground beef or turkey with the onions. Sprinkle the garlic powder and thyme over the meat while it cooks.
• Once the meat has cooked, if using ground beef, drain the liquid, then stir in chicken stock and corn. If using ground turkey, just stir in the corn.
• To assemble, pour the meat mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. (We like it cheesy, so we slice up the cheese and put it right on top so it forms a crusty cheesy layer.)
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cheese browns a bit and the mixture is bubbly.

Crustless Turkey Pot Pie with Cranberry Sauce

I love turkey dinner, but since it's just the two of us, a whole turkey is far too much. Instead of cooking an entire turkey and all the trimmings, I make a turkey pot pie that works just as well! It's like having a turkey dinner, but in one casserole dish.

For the turkey pot pie:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked turkey meat, cubed

1 cup mixed frozen vegetables

1 can creamy soup (chicken, mushroom, celery, or whatever soup you like most)

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 pkg (500g) sausage meat

2 cups cold mashed potatoes

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 large onion, chopped

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a casserole dish, mix the turkey, vegetables and soup together and spread evenly.
• In a very large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together very well with your hands.
• Spread the bread mixture evenly on top of turkey mixture and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. You may need to place foil on top in the last 15 minutes to keep the top from burning.
• You may have extra left, so you can put that into another dish and cook it next to the turkey pie.
• Serve the turkey pie with cranberry sauce.

For the cranberry sauce:

INGREDIENTS

1 bag frozen cranberries

1 pear, diced

2 tablespoons raisins

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

STEPS

• Put all ingredients into a 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries begin to pop. Then lower the heat and simmer another 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve over turkey pie.
• Keep leftover sauce refrigerated.

Quick and Easy Chili

Fall is in the air and it's time to start making some hearty dishes again. With the house for sale, we're cooking things that can last a few meals and can be done relatively quickly. Here's a quick and easy chili that tastes pretty good. You can experiment with the type of pasta sauce that you use to achieve different flavors.

Quick and Easy Chili

INGREDIENTS

1 to 1-1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey

1 medium sized onion, diced

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed

1 bottle pasta sauce, e.g. Ragu

1 chipotle pepper, chopped (optional)

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (optional)

STEPS

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the meat, onions and chili powder and cook until the meat it is no longer pink. If using ground beef, you will want to drain the liquid once it is cooked. If using turkey, there is no need to drain since it is leaner than beef.
2. Add the beans and the pasta sauce. If you are using a chipotle pepper, add it now. Stir together and bring to a boil. Once it has reached a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Serve in bowls and sprinkle grated cheddar on top if desired. I usually serve the chili with garlic bread made from my own baguettes. This recipe makes 4 large servings or 6 small servings.