Fataya...What?

   This post is might have some errors in it since I am currently typing this with one hand. The other hand is occupied with a 16 pound dog that is being held like a little baby. He is doing fine now and is off on all meds.

   Today's post I will be sharing a more time consuming recipe that happens to be of my mom's favorite food and is something we have to have for the holidays. It is a Lebanese dish called "Fataya", think hand meat pies that are loaded with lemon juice, olive oil and spices like cinnamon and all spice.

Ingredients for dough:
8 c. flour
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. salt
3 c. water heated to 110 degrees
1 package of yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

Ingredients for filling:
2 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. all spice
2 large onions, chopped
3 lbs. ground meat (I use ground turkey)

Directions:
1.Pour water in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve yeast and salt. Let it get foamy about 5 minutes.
2. Mix in oil. Add the flour and mix until it starts climbing the dough hook on the mixer.
3. Let it rest in a warm draft-free spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Divide the dough into 36 rolls. Place on greased cookie sheets, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. While the dough rest cook the meat.
6. Once the meat is done add in the seasonings, onions and lemon juice. Cook for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid is gone.
7. Stir in olive oil.
8. Take one roll and flatten it out on a floured surface. Take 2 tablespoons of feeling place in center of dough, then pinch half of one side together, and then pulled the center of the open flap up to the triangle tip and sealed up the two new sides, to form these lovely little triangles. Place on a greased cookie sheet that has sides. Bake in a 400 Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes.

Tip:
To make it simpler and skip the dough making. Just use the Rhodes rolls frozen roll dough.

Thanksgiving Prep

   Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Like many people this day involves a lot of cooking. This week I decided to do some of the things that would make my life easier since I have a birthday already to do on Monday. Today's foodie post is going to be about how I have been prepping for Thanksgiving and give you some of the recipes that I have did this week for it.

   On Tuesday, I made the bread for stuffing. My favorite recipe for bread making is found in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer manual. You can find it here on page 49. 

   On Thursday if was time to do the crusts for the cheesecake and pumpkin pie. This is the first year of making these ahead. First, I made a graham cracker dough (recipe can be found here). Cut the recipe in half for one cheesecake or do like I did and make half of it into crackers. I make my own crust because I always burn the crust if I use all ready made crackers. To remedy that problem I just roll the dough out on some wax paper to the size of the pie plate. When it is do the desired thickness and size I just roll the paper and crust jelly roll style, wrap the roll in foil and place in a freezer bag.
For the pumpkin pie crust I just used my favorite crust recipe that has never failed me. Can be found here. I rolled, wrapped and froze it the same way as the cheesecake crust. Now I just have to take them out of the freezer Tuesday night so I can make the desserts. With either of these crusts I don't pre-bake them before adding the filling.


   The only thing I can do before I do a lot of the cooking on Wednesday is do a deep cleaning of the stove and oven. Luckily, my brother helps me on this.

Spaghetti Squash Mac & Cheese Style

  I know it has been a couple of weeks since I posted a recipe. I came up with this run during my break. The photo I am sharing is something more soupier since I added too much milk when I did it. I am sharing the ingredient measurements for one that is more like a mac & cheese are suppose to be. 

A few weeks ago, I bought a spaghetti squash at the Farmer's Market and I knew I wanted to try to make a mac & cheese style since my brother loves my homemade macaroni and cheese. 

First, you need to prepare the squash and I used this recipe here to cook it. 

Ingredients: 

1 small spaghetti squash

1 c. milk

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

1/2  tsp. salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp basil, dry

3 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

 Directions:

1 First cook the squash.

2. In a small saucepan cook the butter and flour to make a rue. 

3. Add in seasonings and milk. Cook and stir until it thickens. 

4. Once that is hot stir in cheese until it is melted.

5. Toss over squash . Pour into a greased baking dish and cook at 400 for 15 minutes or just until top is golden. 

Hope you enjoy this recipe. 

Stuffed

   That is what you would be after eating these tasty things. This recipe is a family favorite and also is the newest one added to my recipe book. Last Saturday, was the first time I ever made these and I was not sure how my mom would like these since she always said she didn't care for stuffed peppers. Just to be on the safe side I ended up stuffing a couple of zucchinis for her. I am happy to say I made my a stuffed pepper lover.
Here is what you need to.
Ingredients:
3 hot peppers, chopped finely
1 c. onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
2 c. water
1 c. chicken stock, no salt
1 1/2 - 2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2c. quinoa
5 large tomatoes, 2 left as is and the remaining 3 squeezed for their juice
1/3 c. salsa
5 bell peppers, halved from top to bottom
2 zucchini, scooped out to create little boats
2 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
2 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, add the first 8 ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add quinoa, cover and reduce to a shimmer, medium low heat. Shimmer for 15 minutes.
3. In the food processor, chop two of the tomatoes until smooth. Pour into a large shallow baking dish (I used a 15" x 10" glass dish). Mix in the salsa and juice of the three tomatoes.
4.  Chop up the zucchini that was scooped out and the squeezed tomatoes. Stir into quinoa. If the filling seems soupy cook out some of the extra moisture by cooking over high heat with no lid for about five minutes, make sure you stir it often so it doesn't burn.
5. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).
6. Spoon a 1/3 cup of filling  in each pepper half and a 1/4 cup in the zucchini boats. If there is any filling left just go back and add more filling. Place in baking dish, filled side up.
7. Top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 - 40 minutes. The peppers and zucchini should be tender.

Pie Time

   I have decided to start sharing some of my recipes here every Saturday. The reason behind branching out from the paper crafts posts is because I also have the love of cooking/baking. It is something I do everyday and find it just as relaxing as sitting in my studio playing with pretty papers.
 I figure today's one would be perfect for this holiday weekend. It is a mixed berry pie with a nice bright citrus note that makes this pie pop even more. Like all my pies, this is packed with tons of fruit and hardly any sugar. Plus, cleanup is fast, that is always a good thing.

Ingredients for crust:
1 c. flour
1/3 c. cold butter
pinch of salt
1 - 3 Tbsp. cold water

Directions:
1. In a food processor pulse flour, salt and butter until the mixture has a coarse consistency.
2. While the processor is running add a tablespoon water at a time. Add enough water to form a dough.
3. Chill while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients for pie filling:
2 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 c. blueberries
3 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 organic lemon, zested and juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
2. On a lightly floured surface roll dough out large enough to fit into a 9 inch glass pie plate.
3. In a large bowl, mix berries, flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, lemon zest and juice.
4. Pour filling into crust top with the remaining sugar.
5. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden.

Cocoa Zucchini Apple Cookies

  This time a year I find myself with loads of yummy fresh produce from the organic farmers at my local farmers market. That means I have been super busy in the kitchen making and processing things to freeze for the winter. If only you could see my freezer now. It is jam packed with mason jars full of zucchini, bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatillo salsa, tomato, sauce apple sauce and berries. So you can imagine I have been a busy bee preparing for the winter when it is impossible to find organic and USA grown items. 

   Anyway, I have been wanting to make a zucchini cookie but add cocoa powder and apple to it but my dad thought otherwise. I took that as a challenge. So this is what came out. A brownie like cookie that is moist from the grated zucchini and apples. I don't like my desserts super sweet so it only has a 1/2 c. of sugar which normally should be a 1c. Plus, the added apple adds a little sweetness. 

   My family loves these and my mom says it is her favorite cookie. She took some of them and made them into ice cream sandwiches. I haven't tried them yet but I am sure they are great.

Makes 2 dozen cookies
I used all organic ingredients. 

Ingredients:
1/3 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 medium zucchini

3 firm apples ( I used zesters), shredded, or it you want little apple chunks throughout, chop up one of the apples finely. 

1 egg

1/2 c. cocoa powder ( I used 100% raw cocoa powder) 

2 1/4 c. flour, I used white spelt flour but have done it with whole wheat

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Mix in the baking soda, salt, egg and the grated zucchini and apple.
4. Stir in cocoa and flour.
5. If, you are adding apple chunks this is when they should be folded in.
6. Place a tablespoon of batter onto a greased cookie sheet. Placing each cookie 2" apart.
7. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. The edges should be firm and the center soft. Let the cookies rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing.

Tip: If the batter seems too thin mix in a 1/4 c. of flour. The batter should be loose but not like a pancake batter.

Envelope Recipe Keeper

   Over at Canvas Corp Brands blog the entire creative crew were issued a challenge to create a way to save recipes. For this I knew I didn't want to create a normal recipe box but I didn't know what to create until I go the mail a couple of weeks ago. In the mail were some cards from a pet rescue. I always keep the cards to make gift tags but this time I also kept the envelopes. I left the envelopes on my desk when I started to start this challenge. When I made the cards I ws like these fit perfectly in them so I just went with it. In the end, I had something like this. 

Supplies from Canvas Corp Brands:

Paper Tape: Postale (3 rolls)

Santa's Journey 8x8 Paper Pad (48 sheets)

Gypsy Moments 8x8 Paper Pad (48 Sheets)

Recipe Card Farmhouse Kitchen Tags (10pc)

Farmhouse Kitchen Pots & Pans on Ivory

Printed Tags - Gourmet

Jute Cord Balls Natural 225'

Waxed Cotton Cord Black Hank 45'

80lb Kraft Cardstock

Cup Cake - Glimmer Glam 1.35oz

Rich Brown- Plain Jane Simply Sheer 2oz

Other items:

Sewing machine

Black thread

Doilies (Doodlebug and Sunny-side Bakery)

 Bias ribbon

Corner punch (Fiskars)

Ivory envelopes

Directions:

1. Cut cardstock to 4" x 6" and pattern papers to 3 3/4" x 5 3/4". Adhere and punch corners.

2. Fussy cut cooking pots from pattern paper. Adhere and paint with the glimmer glam. 

3. Tie cord to tag and attach to recipe card.

4. Decorate the fronts of envelopes with doilies tags and mist. 

5. Stack envelopes and stitched along what would have been the bottoms

6. Glue ribbon on the back. Let dry and braid the loose ends.

7. When done add the tape to the front and tie close.

 

The finish project. 

 

Here is what each page looks like.