Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich

In the summer my parents have a basil plant, or rather a basil bush. I looked up various ways of preserving the leaves. I am aware that freezing them is a conventional method but I wanted to be able to take them with me to Morocco. I didn’t want to lose the texture (and pungency) so I opted not to dry them. I tried storing them with olive oil and salt in jars. I am happy to say that this method proved effective.

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole grain bread

Sliced turkey

Grated Romano

Basil (either fresh, frozen, or salt-stored. A bit of pesto would work too.)

Mozzarella

Garlic (generally fresh is better, but I used a pinch of garlic powder here)

Peperoncini

A bit of tomato paste

Olive oil

Fresh ground pepper

Salt (if not already added to basil)

Directions:

On one open face of the sandwich, put a few slices (thin) of turkey, chopped up basil, a chopped up peperocini or two and some grated Romano.

On the other open face, put a slice or two of turkey, some chunks of Mozzarella, pepper and garlic.

Smear on a bit of tomato paste on each face.

Place the open faced bread slices in a toaster over. Allow the cheese to melt, bubble and brown slightly. The underside of the slices of bread should toast as well.
Add salt to taste.

Close sandwich and enjoy with some olive oil.

Pollo alla Parmigiana

Chicken Parmesan with extra veggies. I made this for 8.

Ingredients:

5-6 chicken breasts

2 eggs

Italian Bread Crumbs

2-3 cloves of fresh garlic

Olive oil

3 small zucchinis

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

10 oz package of frozen spinach

Herbs: Basil, Oregano

1 cup Malbec Red Wine

1 medium onion

Cheeses: Parmesan/ Pecorino Romano, and a mild cheese like Ricotta, or traditionally Mozzarella. (I used some Mexican Farmer Cheese because it was mild and crumbly, tasted a bit like Mozzarella, and I had some left over.)

Sour cream or full fat yogurt.

Kosher Salt & Pepper


Directions:

Begin by rinsing the chicken and removing excess fat. Cut chicken breasts into smaller pieces either in half or in thirds.

Put a quarter of an inch of olive oil in a large frying pan on high-medium heat.

Crack the two eggs into a food processor or a blender. Blend with the garlic cloves.

Prepare a breading assembly line, with the prepared chicken, a dish of the egg mixture, and a bowl of bread crumbs.
Dip the chicken in the egg and then the bread crumbs. Place breaded chicken pieces in the oil to brown, but not necessarily to cook all the way through.

Place browned chicken pieces in the base of a large casserole dish, which has been lightly dusted in fresh ground pepper.

Sprinkle on some Parmesan/Pecorino Romano.

Peel and slice the zucchinis width-wise. Distribute the zucchini rounds on and around the chicken. Add a layer of Mozzarella and a pinch of salt.

In a bowl, thaw the spinach in the microwave (if not already thawed). Drain out excess water. Mix the spinach with the crushed tomatoes and herbs, especially basil. Pour this mixture over what you have in the casserole dish.

In the blender or food processor (it’s ok if a little bit of residual garlic and egg remain, especially garlic) add the wine and onion. Blend until smooth. Add a few dollops of sour cream or full fat yogurt. Pour on top of the tomato/spinach sauce.

Sprinkle more Parmesan/Pecorino Romano on top.

Bake at 325 for about an hour, until the top browns and the sauce bubbles.

Serve with a mix of whole grain and squid ink Spaghetti (Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia) in olive oil.


Have some Pizzelle and espresso for dessert!

Enjoy!

Star Cakes

Listen Star of Wonder

I altered (and so doubled) a Zucchini bread recipe and had fun with presentation.

Ingredients:
6 eggs

2 cups oil
2 cups sugar

2-3 small zucchinis (peeled and grated), 2-3 apples (peeled, cored, and grated)

6 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

fresh grated ginger

Directions:

Beat the eggs lightly.

Add the oil, sugar, and zucchini* and apple*.
Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Cut a good chunk of fresh ginger, peel it and grate or blend (I use a food processor). Add to the mixure with cinnamon.

Raisons or dried cranberries might be nice to add. Butterscotch chips would make this more of a dessert. Mom wanted to make frosting. These are just some suggestions, but I kept it simple this time.

Make sure the batter is well whipped. Grease/flour your bake pans. I used two small star shaped bundts and one regular bundt.

Bake at 325F/ 163C for about an hour.

For the presentation of the star cakes, I put them on a blue plate (the sky) and used powdered sugar as a garnish (the stars). I placed 1 star anise in the center on the top.

Tajine du jour

Ingredients:

2-3 Chicken breasts

3 carrots

3-4 celery stalks

1 zucchini/corgette

a few small Peperoncini

Sundried-tomato-stuffed martini green olives

Raisins

Almond oil

Sea Salt & Pepper

Olive oil

Sauce:

4-5 sprigs fresh Cilantro

4-5 sprigs fresh Parsley

Garlic cloves

2 tangerines

Directions:

Line the bottom of the tajine with almond oil and add a bit of salt and pepper.

Peel carrots and cut in ½ length-wise Line the bottom of the tajine with the carrots.

Rest the chicken atop the carrots.

Peel and slice the zucchini/corgette lengthwise. Prepare celery.

Arrange the zucchini and celery conically around the chicken making a vegetable tent.

Take a few Peperoncini, olives and raisins and distribute around the vegetables.

Add some salt and pepper.

Peel and remove seeds from one tangerine. Place tangerine, cilantro, parsley and several garlic cloves in a food processor. Add juice from a 2^nd tangerine if necessary.

Pour the thick mixture over top your ingredients in the tajine. Drizzle on some olive oil.

Cook on low flame for about 2.5 hours.

If there is an excess of liquid in the tajine (from the vegetables), prop slightly the tajine top with a wooden spoon to allow for some controlled evaporation.

Serve with bread and Green Tea with Mint

Enjoy!

A Note on Wine

I heard a story on the "Freakonomics" segment on Marketplace about wine, and I'd like to share it.

If you'd like more information on wine, check out Wine for the Confused, hosted by Monty Python's John Cleese.

Pre-Holiday Mediterranean Chicken…. And the chicken pot pie which ensued

A word on the title of this post:

A) If you’ve lived in the United States that the retail world seemed to think the “holiday season” begins roughly after (or before) Halloween. I sometimes I resist getting festive before Thanksgiving, but yesterday I found myself singing “For unto us a child is born” from Handel’s Messiah. This is an inspiring soundtrack for your cooking.

B) “Mediterranean” here is not a euphemism for Arab or Middle Eastern, as it sometimes used in the US . I’m referring to the variety of ingredients and flavors I’ve experienced living in France, Spain and Morocco.

Ingredients:

1 whole Chicken

Almond oil

1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes

1 onion

1 large or 2 small eggplants

Parsley

Dill

Garlic cloves

White Wine

Peaches

1 apple

1 orange

Almond slivers

Celery

Beer

Butter

Sage

Fresh ground pepper

Sea Salt

Directions

Rinse the chicken; remove excess fat from underneath the skin and around cavity openings.

In a food processor, blend a handful of dill and a handful or parsley with a few cloves of garlic into a paste. Slide this paste under the skin of the chicken, breast-side up. Apply some salt and pepper

Stuffing: ½ of an onion diced up, peach slices amounting to a few cups, 2-3 stalks of celery chopped, ½ cup of almond slices, and a splash of white wine. Stuff the main opening with these ingredients. You may need to close the main cavity with a few toothpicks. ( I would make this differently if I were to make it again… sautéing the onions and celery and adding an egg and bread…so a more traditional recipe)

In a large roasting pan, line the bottom with almond oil. Place the stuffed bird in the pan.

Peel sweet potatoes, the apple and the eggplants. Slice the apple and stuff the opposite end of the bird with it as best you can. Cut the sweet potato and eggplant into medium pieces. Arrange them in the pan around the chicken.

Peel the orange and slice into thin rounds. Arrange the rounds on top of the chicken. Slice the other ½ of the onion into rounds ad arrange on and around the chicken.

Sauce: In a food process, blend a small peach, ½ cup of beer, ½ stick of melted butter and a few sage leaves. Pour sauce over chicken.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roast at 350 F; (20 minutes per pound), periodically, basting the chicken.

*[ Option: In a small crock pot on low heat, cook sweet breads (aka the stuff from inside the bird) in beer, garlic, sage, almond oil, salt and pepper)]

This dinner got mixed reviews from the familial food critics:

Mom didn’t like the oranges, Dad didn’t like the dill. They liked the idea of stuffing the herbs under the skin and the vegetables, especially the sweet potatoes. You too may find there are too many flavors vying for attention. Pick and choose as you see fit.

With the leftovers, I made a pot pie using:

Ingredients

2 pie crusts

left over chicken + *stock and sweet potatoes

liquid from sweet breads

frozen peas

Method

Pre heat the oven to about 425 F/ 218 C.

I precooked the bottom crust.

Add filling

Add top crust

Pinch the two crusts together, scalloping with your fingertips

Cook until the crust browns and the sauce bubbles from the sides of the crust

* Make sure you add enough stock. I thought the pie would be too liquidy but it ended up being too dry and I had to supplement it with additional gravy.

Sugar-free Pumpkin Pie and Holiday Coffee

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorites and it is a dessert that is easy to make sugar-free.

A) Simply substituting sugar for Splenda does not change the texture or flavor.

B) Prepare some homemade whipped cream with whipping cream, vanilla and Splenda

C) For a crustless version, bake the pie custard in small ramekins. You can put butter and sugar-free maple syrup in the bottom for a flan effect.

Raspberries make a perfect garnish and the tartness compliments the spicy sweetness of the pumpkin.

For holiday coffee, reminiscent of pie, put crushed cinnamon sticks and ground cloves in with the coffee in the Moka... I've also tried cocoa powder. Other ideas; vanilla bean, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, allspice, nutmeg, coconut, etc.

A note on Scrambled Eggs...

Yes, yes, everyone knows how to make eggs. Even people who "can't cook" can make eggs, right? Well, I've been to cooking school in France and yet, my scrambled eggs pretty much sucked until now;

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scrambled-Eggs-40038

The secret: use water (not milk).

And, no I didn't learn this from Bon Appetit Magazine, but my grandmother. She makes them as they describe and they are the best. I would also recommend adding cream cheese and chives; that's the way they sometimes serve them where I used to work, at Andrea's Troy Bumpas Inn Bed & Breakfast in Greensboro, NC.

Black Bean (Turkey Chili) Soup

My lovely friend Mary made a request for something made in a crock-pot and suggested a black bean soup. Well, Mary, here you go. Crock-pots are wonderfully useful; you can make slow-cooked, simmered dishes without the hassle of constantly monitoring the stove or oven. This is nice on a cold rainy day or for a belated Day of the Dead celebration.

Ingredients:

2 onions (I used Peru Onions)

*1 jalapeño

Tomatoes

2 cans of black beans (You could buy them raw and soak them, but save yourself the time.)

1 pound or so of ground lean turkey

A few cloves of garlic

Vegetable oil (I used grape seed but canola is good)

Fresh ground pepper

*Pimentón (La Vera)

**Achiote (aka Annato)

Cumin

Fresh Cilantro

Fresh green onion greens

Sea Salt

Garnish:

Queso Fresco, Salsa Valentina, Lime

* If you don’t have jalapeños or Pimentón you can replace both ingredients with Chipotle powder

** You can get Achiote in the Hispanic food section of many grocery stores or any Latino market.

Directions:

Prepare the jalapeño by making one incision length wise and removing the seeds (unless you want fiery soup…). Remove outer skin from the onions and cut into quarters. Cut two small tomatoes in quarters. Blend these ingredients into a puree with a food processor or a blender. Add to the Crock-pot with the black beans. Add the cumin to taste; about 2 teaspoons. Turn Crock-pot on to low heat.

In a medium frying pan, simmer some oil. Crush the garlic cloves with a garlic press into the oil. Grind some pepper. Let the garlic infuse into the oil a bit. Add the ground turkey, keep the heat at medium and stir the turkey into the garlic-pepper oil. Sprinkle a generous dusting of Pimentón into the turkey mixture. Let the turkey simmer on low to medium heat as some excess liquid evaporates and the turkey absorbs the spices. Add to crock-pot. Do not discard pan.

Slice up 3-4 more tomatoes perhaps amounting to 1-2 cups. Put the pan back on low-medium heat and add the tomatoes. You may add a bit more oil if there is not much left from the turkey mixture. Dust in some Achiote. This gives a warm, sweet, peppery flavor and will enhance the other spices. It is a key ingredient in Latin American cuisine. While the tomatoes are simmering, dice up very finely some fresh cilantro and the greens from a green onion. [This is an accent, and should not overpower the other flavors (garlic, jalapeño, Pimentón- smokey); it also makes for a nice color combination- red tomatoes, black beans and a hint of green…yes aesthetics in the culinary experience is key.] Add cilantro and green onions to the tomatoes, stir for a minute, then put this all into the crock-pot.

Add sea salt to taste. Let the soup cook on low heat for the afternoon.

Serve with Queso Fresco, salsa valentina and lime slices.

Giant Peach Turnover

This is basically a reinvention of the Giant Apple Turnover but with peaches…and pictures.

Ingredients:

1 uncooked pie crust or rolled out pie dough
3-4 peaches pitted and sliced
almond slivers (a few handfuls)

Orange blossom water (to taste)
room temperature butter
nutmeg
cinnamon
ginger

allspice

ground cloves
honey


Directions:

Mix peaches, almonds and orange blossom water together in a bowl and let them sit overnight.

Preheat oven to 385 F/ 196 C

On parchment paper (baking not documents) on a cookie sheet, unroll or roll out the crust.

With a butter knife, spread some butter on the dough, mostly in the middle.

Sprinkle a good dash of each spice; nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice.

Add the peach mixture

Add a tab or so of butter

Drizzle on the honey. (a liberal drizzle but don’t get carried away)

Fold (turn over) the dough in half so as to seal the dough. Pinch the dough around the semi-circle. It should look a bit like a calzone.

Bake in the oven.

When/if juice begins to leak or ooze out of the dough, especially around the edges, use a pastry brush to apply the juice to the top of the turnover glazing the dough

Bake until brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

And now for the photo montage…

How to Seed a Pomegranate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfQ3_N7S6Y

Giant Apple Turnover

After making some pastries with orange blossom water, I had some left-over ingredients.
I had about a ½ cup of walnuts, ½ a jar of juice/syrup from the apricots, and maybe about a teaspoon of orange blossom water. I combined the ingredients in the jar and they’ve been in the fridge that way for over a week.

Ingredients:

1 uncooked pie crust or rolled out pie dough
3-4 apples peeled, and sliced
juice from ½ a fresh lemon
room temperature butter
nutmeg
cinnamon
ginger
apricot syrup-orange blossom water-walnuts


Directions:

After peeling and slicing the apples, place in a small Tupperware and add the fresh lemon juice to them. Seal the Tupperware and shake container so the lemon juice covers the apples. It makes them tart and prevents them from turning brown.

Preheat oven to 385 F/ 196 C

On parchment paper (baking not documents) on a cookie sheet, unroll or roll out the crust.

With a butter knife, spread some butter on the dough, mostly in the middle.

Sprinkle a good dash of each spice; nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger.

Add the apples

Add a tab or so of butter

Add the apricot syrup-orange blossom water-walnuts

Fold (turn over) the dough in half so as to seal the dough. Pinch the dough around the semi-circle. It should look a bit like a calzone.

Bake in the oven.

When/if juice begins to leak or ooze out of the dough, especially around the edges, use a pastry brush to apply the juice to the top of the turnover glazing the dough

Bake until brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I should have gotten a better picture of this but my parents devoured it with little encouragement. : )

Italian Creamed Corn

Think Polenta...

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen corn (or 2 cans, or 3-4 cups fresh)

1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream)

1 tablespoon butter

3 garlic cloves chopped/diced finely

S&P
2 roma tomatoes in slices

about 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

handful fresh cut basil leaves

1/8 cup Grated romano
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directions:

In a sauce pan, melt butter and let garlic brown and sizzle on low heat.

Thaw corn (or drain it)

Blend until creamy with the milk in a food processor or blender.

Add tomatoes to garlic and butter. Add some fresh ground pepper.
Let the tomatoes soak up the flavors.

Add the blended corn. Stir ingredients.

Let mixture simmer on low heat. Add salt to taste.

Add parmesan cheese, stir continuously as the liquid reduces.

Before serving top with fresh basil and romano, stir just slightly.

Enjoy.

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FoOd ArRaNGeD bY CoLoR

Citrus juice

On weekends, in front of the Raleigh Flea Market Mall on 1924 Capital Blvd in Raleigh, NC, there are two fruit and vegetable stands run by Hispanics. Not only can you find fresh and local fruits and vegetables, but also Mexican produce in abundance such as jicama, racimo, nopals, and catus fruits. It is also an excellent place to get key lemons (the "citrus lemon") , plump limes and juice oranges. These citrus fruits are usually 6 for $1 which means I usually come away with a tri-colored mix of 18 peices of fruit.

Aside from being asthetically pleasing arranged quaintly in a bowl, they are extremely good for you.

We often hear about oranges, but limes and lemons? Apparently, in addition to the proverbial Vitamin C, they have cleansing agents, digestive aids, and will solve all of life's problems...

At any rate, they tasted good simply like this;

Ingredients:
1 medium juice orange

1 key lemon

1 lime
2 spoonfulls of sugar or Splenda

crushed ice

water

Directions:

Slice fruit in halves.

Use a juicer like this one (if you don't have an electric one). The seeds and pulp stay on top, the
juice doesn't spill and you can easily pour it into you glass.

The lime I used yeilded as much or more juice as/than the orange.

Add some crushed ice, sugar or Splenda, and cold water.

Enjoy!!

Quiche de ce jour-ci

Ingredients:

Pie/quiche crust
vegetable oil
1/2 bunch of celery...about five stalks with greens chopped
3 eggs
1 cup milk
4 strips of bacon
2 roma tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper
gouda and chedder cheese grated
Pimenton (smokey)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Put a bit of oil in the pie pan, place pie crust in pie pan and pre-cook crust.

In a blender, blend celery, eggs, and milk.

Cut bacon in to small pieces. Cook bacon in a frying pan.

Slice roma tomatoes in rounds then quarters. Add to bacon when it is about 1/2 cooked.
Add some salt and pepper.
Dice or crush the garlic and add to fry pan.

Check the crust. Let it pre-cook until the dough is a bit firm but not browning.

Let the bacon tomato mixture cook well together.

Remove crust.

Grate the cheeses until you have about a cup.

Pour the celery-milk-egg mixture in to the crust.

Add the bacon and tomatoes.

Top with cheese and pimenton.

Bake until firm and brown.

Enjoy!

Much more than a Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

Carton of creamy mushroom soup (like this) or you can use 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz package of mushrooms (I used button, but portabello could be nice), sliced

2-3 tablespoons butter
1/2 roasted read bell pepper, chopped
2.5 oz chopped hard salami
3 tablespoons white wine
1-2 cloves garlic crushed or diced
black pepper



Directions:

-In a sauce pan, pour the base soup (or make it if from a can)
-In a frying pan, melt butter and steam mushrooms in it at med heat until they become soft.
-Add black pepper, diced red roasted pepper, garlic and white wine. Allow the liquid from the mushrooms and the butter to reduced together with the wine. The mushrooms will reabsorb it.
- Add the hard salami, let the mixture cook together for a few minutes on low heat, meanwhile heat up the base soup.
- Add the contents of the frying pan to the sauce pan of base soup. Stir ingredients together.

-Serve with sourdough toast and goat cheese.

Ok, so she's not singing about mushrooms

Tortilla Soup and culinary diaspora

Watch Tortilla Soup : )

In this recipe I tried to implement the "Mexican spice trinity". Chef Zarela Martinez explains the interplay with fruit and spice as a Mediterranean influence. Mexican candy demonstrates this well with such examples as chili dusted mango lollipops. This theme of sweet and savory is a common thread between Morocco and Mexico (think beef tajines with prunes or chicken with cured lemons). The "Mexican spice trinity" has similar elements as "ras al hanout", a Moroccan spice mixture. The cuisine of the Moors brought by Spaniards to the New World? Culinary diaspora at its finest.

Ingredients:

1 bag vegetable stir fry or vegetable assortment
1 cup milk
1/2 cup green scallions chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
juice and pulp from 1/2 of a fresh lime
Black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cube of beef bouillon
"Mexican spice trinity"; teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, cloves and cumin
1 small to medium steak
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
Fresh corn tortillas (when they're fresh they have a warm floral scent)
Sweet red bell pepper

Directions:
If you haven't cooked your steak you may do so now. I like to use my toaster oven.

In a blender or food processor, blend vegetables, milk, scallions, cilantro and lime until smooth. The milk facilitates the liquification so add more as needed.

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter, add a few twists (from a hand grind) of black pepper, the spices and bouillon. Allow to mix and blend.

Add blender mixture to the sauce pan, and reduce to low heat.

Cut the steak into strips and cut into spoonable pieces.

Chop the clove of garlic and add this along with the steak to the soup.

Add the sour cream or yogurt.

Cut tortillas into strips and rectangles, much like the steak.

Add tortillas to the soup, shortly before serving.

Add red bell pepper for presentation.

Moroccan orange blossom water sweets : ) Happy Eid

So, I found this recipe (the subconscious inspiration) after the fact but these were good anyway. I have three bottles of orange blossom water; one from Kenitra, Morocco, one from Moulay Idriss, Morocco and one I bought in a supermarket in Vermont, imported from Lebanon. So I decided to make something with my fragrant surplus. In Morocco, it can be used as a perfume (sometimes spritzed on you after a meal), drunk mixed with milk as an aperitif before weddings, as well as baked into pastries with almonds, Marzipan, pistachios etc. These can be best described as mini baklavas with a Moroccan twist. Having read a bit about Ramadan pastries such as Turkish güllaç and an Iranian or Afghan version of baklava which contains rose water, I am pleased with my once again simple recipe.

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons Moroccan orange blossom water
Phyllo dough ( aka "warqa" )
1 bag walnuts
honey
melted butter

Directions:

Blend (or crush) walnuts into a powder.
Place ground nuts into a small plastic bag (ziplock)
Pour orange blossom water onto ground nuts in the bag.
Seal the bag and kneed the orange blossom water into the nuts.
Leave to sit overnight.

Prepare phyllo dough by cutting into about 3 by 5 inch rectangular strips
Melt at least a 1/2 cup of butter.
Take one strip of phyllo dough and brush it with butter.
Take a second strip and superimpose it perpendicularly (to form a cross). Brush with butter.
Repeat
Place a spoonful of the nut mixture in the center.
Put some honey (1/4 teaspoon?) on top.
Fold in the two horizontal parallel edges of the phyllo dough to cover the nut-honey filling .
Fold in the remaining two to seal the pastry pocket. Brush butter as needed.

Bake at 350 until phyllo turns brown

Enjoy

Today's tartelettes

Ingredients:

Phyllo dough

melted butter

Ingredients for sweet potato pie/yam custard (use a pumpkin recipe such as this) I used nutmeg instead of cloves and I added some cinnamon. I replaced pumpkin with yams.

1 fresh peach
Some fresh strawberries

shavings of white chocolate

Fresh mint springs for garnish

Directions:

Make yam pie mixture, use a blender to get the yams pureed and the custard smooth

Prepare your phyllo dough nests:

In a muffin tin or mold, use a butter brush to put some butter in each muffin cup.

Cut the Phyllo dough with kitchen scissors into small rectangles (but bigger than the muffin cups. For the crust of the tartelette, place one phyllo rectangle (the individual sheet, like paper) in the base of the muffin cup. Brush on a bit more butter; repeat 3 times until you have a small nest-like cup of phyllo dough crust ready for filling.

Fill each "nest" with the pie custard.

Slice into slivers a fresh peach and some strawberries.

Place a bit of each fruit on top of the custard.

Put some white chocolate shavings on top.

Bake at 350 until phyllo dough turns brown and yam custard thickens (clean toothpick test)

Garnish with mint

Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

Chicken breast
Tomatoes in slices
Grated potatoes (uncooked hash browns)
S&P

Sauce

plain yogurt or sour cream
fresh parsley
garlic cloves

Jalepeno Butter

Butter
1 jalepeno

Directions:

Prepare chicken if necessary (rinse, remove excess fat and skin)
Make sauce by blending ingredients in a blender or food processor
Heat oven to 350
Put a layer of grated potatoes in the baking pan you plan to cook the chicken in.
Place chicken on bed of grated potatoes
Place tomato slices on and around the chicken
Pour sauce over top of everything
Melt butter and blend jalepeno into it.
Pour the on the butter
Add S&P
Bake for approx. an hour.

Enjoy : )

Limon y Sal Plantains

Ingredients:

Limes
Salt
Plantains
butter

Directions:

Listen to Limon y Sal by Julieta Venegas

Peel plantains and slice them into oblong rounds (not too thick!)

Let them marinade in fresh squeezed lime juice for at least an hour.

Fry them in butter until they brown and get a bit crisp on the edges

Add a few shakes of salt. Serve.

Tex- Mex Bean Dip & fried corn tortillas

Ingredients:

1 can prepared pinto beans
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup cream cheese
garlic
cumin
smoked grated cheese
1/2 lime squeezed (lime juice)
pimenton

Directions:

Layer salsa, bits or cream cheese and beans in a microwaveable bowl. Add garlic and cumin to flavor beans. Repeat layers

Top layers with the grated cheese, lime juice and pimenton

Microwave until cheese melts.

Serve.

For the corn tortillas, you buy them at a Hispanic store or market.
Cut tortillas into quarters
Heat up some oil and fry them until they turn golden brown. Serve plain or with salt and lime.

Fish Tagine

Ingredients:

Fish (I used 2 tuna steaks but a white fish would be better)
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 bunch fresh parsley
2 large cloves garlic
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup water
3 red russet potatoes- peeled and sliced
1 green bell pepper- sliced
2 tomatoes- sliced
1/4 red onion sliced
1 hot green pepper -diced (jalapeno)
1 good handful of green Mediterranean olives*
a few slices cured/preserved lemon*
vegetable oil
S&P
olive oil

Directions:

Put some vegeable oil in the base of the tagine with some salt and pepper. Line the bottom with potato slices.

In a food processor, blend cilantro, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, and water.

Sprinkle some mixture on top of potatoes

Place fish on bed of potatoes and sprinkle some more of the cilantro-parsley mixture.

Arrange the bell pepper and tomato around the fish. Arrange the onions on top. Arrange olive among vegetables. Place cured lemon on top of onions. Sprinkle the hot pepper around your arrangement. Add the rest of the cilantro-parsley mixture. Add S&P.

Cover and cook on low heat for approx. 2 hours

Drizzle olive oil before serving

* I bought the olives and lemons at L Baraka market on Hillsborough St The owner may be Syrian but the guy behind the counter in Moroccan.

Mangoes and whipped cream

Recipe serves one; multiply as needed

Ingredients:
1 small, ripe, fresh, yellow mango
Fresh whipping cream
Splenda or sugar optional
Cinnamon

Directions:

Make whipped cream, using the whipping cream and a whisk or electric mixer. You can add sugar or splenda to the whipping cream.

Peel and cut the mango- I like to slice length wise in quarters but only skin deep and peel away the sections like a banana one section at a time. I peel the skin off one section, then I cut the fruit from that section before going to the next section and so on.

Cut the skinless sections in 3 or four.

Place mango chunks in a serving bowl, sprinkle on some cinnamon, and top with your whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Easy Quiche : )

Ingredients:
1 pie crust*
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt**
1 1/2 cup whole milk
green scallions
Cheese (smoked gouda or parmasean)
butter
tomatoes
garlic
red onions**
S&P
pimenton (the smokey kind)

Directions:
This is an easy vegetarian Quiche, that can be adapted to whatever leftover veggies you have.

Put eggs, yogurt, milk, 1-2 cloves garlic and 1-2 green scallions in a blender or food processor. If you want, you can add other vegetables.

Slice up the red onions and tomatoes. In a frying pan, melt butter and saute on low heat red onions and tomatoes together. Cover. (Again, you can saute something else)

Preheat oven to 350.

*Place pie crust in pie tin/dish, greasing the dish first. It might be a good idea to pre-bake the crust so the bottom stays crisp after baking the quiche, but this is up to you.

When the onions are browning, remove from heat. Put the tomatoes and onions in the pie crust first.

Then pour in the egg mixture.

Top the quiche with some cheese and pimenton. You can garnish with basil leaves or green scallions.

Bake for about 45 minutes; basically until the egg solidifies, and the crust and cheesy quiche top turn "golden brown".

*For mini-quiches, especially in Morocco, one can buy the mini-pizza molds
*Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil and set the mini-quiches on that. Cook for less time.

**Once I used onion dip; you can stay flexible making variations with different vegetables.