Cranberry Baklava

This recipe is amazing!  I had never tried to use phyllo dough before, but when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.  It is very straightforward although it does take a little time ... but it is so worth it!  You will be so impressed with the result, as will everyone who tastes it!

I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com but with my modifications it is perfect!!!  It is a great recipe for the holidays ... the cranberries really make it festive and special.

Cranberry Baklava

1 16-oz. pkg phyllo dough
1 cup butter, melted
1 12-oz. pkg cranberries, finely chopped
2 6-oz. pkgs pecans, finely chopped
3/4 c. white sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t nutmeg
1.5 c. honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 13"x9" baking dish.  
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cranberries, pecans, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg.
3. Trim phyllo dough to fit pan.  Layer 5 sheets of phyllo dough in dish, brushing each with melted butter.    [I find that phyllo dough is pretty forgiving ... if you rip a piece, simply use the melted butter to "paste" it together.  Since it is layered, a tear won't make much difference.  If the tear is in the same place on multiple sheets, try to move the ripped place by rotating the sheet on each layer so that the ripped spot doesn't go all the way through the layer.]
4. Spread 1.5 cups of cranberry mixture over the phyllo dough.  Repeat so that you have 4 layers of phyllo dough and 3 layers of cranberry mixture.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut halfway through the layers to make 24 pieces (triangular shaped pieces are the traditional way to cut baklava).  
6. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Heat honey until it is warm and thin.  Pour evenly over the warm baklava.  Cool on wire rack for one hour.  

Baklava after cutting but before baking.
It will turn golden brown in the oven.

Baklava tastes best when it has had time to really sit and absorb the honey, so it is a great candidate to make in advance of an event or holiday.

A note about the phyllo dough - the brand name that I buy is called Athens.  The original recipe called for 6 sheets per layer, but the Athens package did not come with enough sheets.  Rather than open another package, I have found that 5 sheets work fine.  However, if your brand has enough for 6 sheets per layer, then use that.

Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Cole Slaw

Got this recipe from my mother-in-law ... it is delicious!  A great variation on an old favorite.

For crisp slaw, first soak the shredded cabbage in ice water for an hour.  Then drain the cabbage, pat dry, and store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag until ready to use.

3T apple cider vinegar

2T finely chopped onion

1T sugar

¾ t celery seeds

¼ t salt

¼ t pepper

1/8 t dry mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 lb. cabbage, finely shredded

1 4-oz. pkg crumbled blue cheese

Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl add oil in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until mixture is blended.  Cover and chill at least 1 hour.  Combine cabbage and blue cheese; cover and chill 1 hour.  Drizzle vinegar mixture over cabbage mixture; toss gently, and serve immediately. 

Yield:  6 servings.

Who knew Swiss Chard tasted so good???

I kept reading about how healthy Swiss Chard was, but to be honest, chard is one of those vegetables that I walk past in the grocery store thinking "what do I do with THAT?" I bought seeds this year but didn't plant them until later in the season because of that same mentality. Finally, I planted them in some pots and they grew! Then every time I walked past the pots I would think, "guess I should do something with that ..." but never got around to it, until tonight.

I've already talked about this great book called The World's Healthiest Foods.  It is fantastic - for each food, the author discusses the healthiest way to prepare it. For Swiss Chard, 3 minutes of boiling is recommended to reduce the bitterness while preserving the vitamins. After boiling, combine with a simple Mediterranean dressing and it is really amazing! Tim loved it and even the kids ate every bite.

Three-Minute Mediterranean Swiss Chard

1 lb Swiss Chard
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t lemon juice
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
Sea salt and pepper to taste

1. To prepare the Swiss Chard:  Stack the leaves on top of each other.  Slice leaves into 1-inch slices and slice white stems into 1/2-inch slices.  Yellow and red stems are tougher and should be discarded.  
2. Prepare Mediterranean dressing:  combine olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt, and pepper.  (The author notes that garlic should be crushed 5-10 minutes before using to get the most health benefits from the garlic.  Read the book to find out why!)
3. Bring water to a rapid boil.  Boil the Swiss Chard for 3 minutes, then drain.
4. Toss the dressing with the chard and serve hot.

We were pleasantly surprised by how great this simple yet healthy recipe is.  Can't wait to plant a lot more of it next year!

Eggplant Rolletini

One last eggplant recipe!  We love eggplant parmesan but rolletini is the favorite.  Not as healthy of course, but so, so good!

1-2 medium eggplant
3 eggs (well beaten in large bowl)
2-3 cups of flour OR breadcrumbs
canola oil (for pan frying)
your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley, fresh or dried
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, shredded or grated

1. Peel the eggplant and slice very thin, lengthwise.  (the thinner the better!)
2. Bread the eggplant slices.  If using flour: first coat in flour, then dip completely in egg, and then dredge again in flour.  If using breadcrumbs:  dip first in egg, then in breadcrumbs.  [I believe that flour is healthier because the breadcrumbs soak up a lot of oil while frying; both are delicious!]
3. Heat the canola oil in large skillet on fairly high heat.  There should be enough oil to completely cover the skillet and it should be about 1/4" deep.
4. Fry each eggplant slice in the oil until lightly browned.  As you take them out to put in the next batch, blot them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
5. Make the cheese filling by combining the ricotta cheese, parsley, black pepper, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  This is a basic filling and you can vary the amounts to taste as you wish.
6. In a 9"x11" baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with tomato sauce.  Take one slice of eggplant, add a spoonful of filling and fold the slice over.  Continue with the rest of the slices.  Once they are all filled, spoon tomato sauce on each one, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and remaining parmesan cheese. 
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.  Bake for the first 20 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from getting overdone.  If you are freezing for future use, you don't need to bake it now - just tightly cover and freeze.  You can bake it later thawed out or frozen (just allow longer baking time if frozen, of course).

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan II

Wow!  I really can't believe how well my eggplant ended up doing this year.  They got off to such a slow start that I feared the cold weather would come before I got many vegetables.  However, I keep getting eggplant even in this not-too-hot but pretty humid weather so I'm very happy.  Two plants in particular that no kidding, I almost pulled them out of my vegetable bed because they weren't doing ANYTHING for so long, have been my best producers!  Those beds are on the south side of my barn which is brown, so I wonder if the location is beneficial - protection from winds coming from the northwest plus radiant heating coming off of the barn wall.

I posted an eggplant parmesan recipe earlier this summer that uses flour for the breading.  Below is a recipe that uses breadcrumbs.  The flour is healthier - I am basing this on the fact that much less oil is needed for frying.  The breadcrumbs really absorb the oil and refills are often needed as you're frying.

However - using breadcrumbs is very tasty!  So here is the recipe again, only with breadcrumbs.

1 medium eggplant
3 eggs (well beaten in large bowl)
2-3 cups of breadcrumbs
canola oil (for pan frying)
your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, shredded or grated

1. Peel the eggplant and slice very thin.  Usually I slice in "rounds".
2. Bread the eggplant slices by dipping in egg, and then coat completely in breadcrumbs.
3. Heat the canola oil in large skillet on fairly high heat.  There should be enough oil to completely cover the skillet and it should be about 1/4" deep.
4. Fry each eggplant slice in the oil until lightly browned.  As you take them out to put in the next batch, blot them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
5. In a 9"x11" baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with tomato sauce.  Add the eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the dish (only one layer).  Spoon tomato sauce on each one, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Add another layer and repeat until all the eggplant is used.  
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.  Bake for the first 20 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from getting overdone.  If you are freezing for future use, you don't need to bake it now - just tightly cover and freeze.  You can bake it later thawed out or frozen (just allow longer baking time if frozen, of course).

Enjoy!

Tim's "Famous" Apple Cobbler

We are blessed with a wonderful apple tree and it's that time of year!  My husband makes a great apple pie, but my favorite is his apple cobbler.  It's a little more work but very much worth the time!  I will post the recipe now and update later with a picture ... we ate the last one before I remembered to take a picture!

Tim and Una making apple cobbler - Una loves to
help in the kitchen (well, the cooking part,
not so much with the cleaning up!)

Apple Cobbler

4 cups sliced, peeled apples
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (this is the secret ingredient that makes it so YUMMY!)
6 T butter
1-1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place apples in a 1-1/2 quart baking dish.  Sprinkle apples with 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, and almond extract; dot with 2T butter.  Mix flour, baking powder, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt together in large bowl.  Cut in 4T butter until mixture is slightly coarser than cornmeal.  Combine egg and milk in separate bowl; pour into flour mixture.  Stir just enough to combine and spoon over apples in baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, until browned.  Serve alone or with whipped cream, sour cream, or ice cream.

(We call this Tim's Famous Apple Cobbler but it's from an old cookbook called Creative Cooking:  Desserts dated 1992.  It has some great recipes - simple and delicious!)

pickles, Pickles, PICKLES!!!

From talking with some of my friends, it's clear that this year is a good one for cucumbers!  This is my first year making pickles and I've tried a number of recipes.  I canned the batch I made today, but all the rest were "refrigerator pickles" - just put them in the fridge and they'll keep for a couple of months.

• First I tried the basic dill pickle seasoning from Ball.  It was very good.  Using a seasoning packet makes things easier - all you do is boil water and vinegar, add the seasoning, and pour into your jars of cucumbers.
• I made a Sweet Garlic Dill recipe from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving.  Honestly, I don't know why I made this one!  We don't like sweet pickles.  I guess I thought the garlic and dill would overpower the sweet, but they still tasted too much like bread and butter pickles to me. (blech!) Luckily, I found out that my neighbor loves sweet pickles so I gave her a couple of jars ... and then I made her a huge batch with cucumbers she had been given by another neighbor, so her sweet pickle craving has been fed!)  Making pickles from scratch as in this recipe is a bit more work but really quite simple.  You just have to measure out all of the individual spices.
• Next I tried a recipe from the same book called Favorite Dill Pickles.  This one is awesome!  These taste like authentic deli pickles.  When we first tried them (about a week after I made them) they were still a little bit sharp from the vinegar, but a couple of weeks later they are perfect!  Definitely worth the wait.
• Finally I tried another seasonings packet by a brand called Mrs. Wages.  It had gotten great reviews from a few websites, but honestly, we thought the Ball seasoning packet was better. 

This afternoon I made another batch of the Favorite Dill Pickles, plus a batch of Tangy Dill Pickle Relish.  Usually I don't like relish because it is too sweet, but this recipe uses lots of dill and garlic and is very good.  I can't wait to try some at our next barbeque!

Making these recipes was cool because not only were the cucumbers home-grown, so were the onions and the dill!  

We have had a great cucumber harvest this year.  We planted 6 pickling cucumber plants and 2 seedless cucumbers plants.  I love a basic tomato-cucumber-red onion salad, but THIS recipe is my new favorite for those seedless cucumbers.  Try it!  It is from www.allrecipes.com, with a few small modifications.

Creamed Cucumbers

Ingredients

• 5 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch green onions with tops, chopped
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup lemon juice or white vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 drops hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes (or 1-2 T fresh)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

1. Combine cucumbers and green onions in a large bowl. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over cucumber mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours.

Zucchini Pie

This recipe was a real find!  I have to admit that although zucchini is a staple in the vegetable garden, I have never been really crazy about it.  I don't like it cooked!  I don't mind it raw but it's hard to get through all that zucchini if you're just slicing it and eating it raw.

So I found a recipe for Zucchini Pie at allrecipes.com, one of my most favorite websites.  I have modified it to make it healthier and to use up more zucchini!  If you don't like zucchini (or have friends or family who don't), I guarantee that they will LOVE this pie!  I have served it to many people so far this summer, and almost every time I get asked for the recipe!  This recipe makes two pies, so eat one now and freeze the other for later!

2 9" unbaked pie crusts (ready-made graham cracker crust works great too)
4 c. zucchini (this is equivalent to one large or two smaller zucchini (peeled and cubed)
2 c. white sugar
3 eggs
3 T flour
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1T cinnamon

Topping (for two pies)
1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
6 T butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 9-inch pie dishes with pie crust.
2. Puree the zucchini and transfer to a bowl.  Whisk with eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.  Pour the mixture evenly into the two pie crusts.
3. In a separate bowl make the topping.  Cut the softened butter with the brown sugar and flour to make coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle evenly over the pie filling.
4. Bake until filling is set and topping is lightly browned, about 1 hour.  Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Eggplant Parmesan

Wow - we finally got our first eggplant!  My husband and I have been craving eggplant but they got off to a very slow start this year.  We finally got a span of hot, dry weather and the plants are thriving.  Last year was incredible - we were completely overrun and I had trouble keeping up with them.

Many people don't know what to do with eggplant, so here is my basic Eggplant Parmesan recipe:

1 medium eggplant
3 eggs (well beaten in large bowl)
2-3 cups of flour
canola oil (for pan frying)
your favorite tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, shredded or grated

1. Peel the eggplant and slice very thin.  Usually I slice in "rounds", but today I sliced lengthwise instead.
2. Bread the eggplant slices by coating first in flour, then dip completely in egg, and then dredge again in flour.
3. Heat the canola oil in large skillet on fairly high heat.  There should be enough oil to completely cover the skillet and it should be about 1/4" deep.
4. Fry each eggplant slice in the oil until lightly browned.  As you take them out to put in the next batch, blot them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
5. In a 9"x11" baking dish, lightly coat the bottom with tomato sauce.  Add the eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the dish (only one layer).  Spoon tomato sauce on each one, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Add another layer and repeat until all the eggplant is used.  
6. Variation to Step 5:  if you used lengthwise slices (instead of rounds), this is a fancier way to do it:  starting from one end of the dish, take one eggplant slice and gently fold in half.  Add some tomato sauce inside with a bit of mozzarella cheese, then do the same on the outside.  Take the next piece and do the same: fold it in half and layer against the first piece, adding tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese inside the fold and then again on top.  Repeat with all of the slices (you will probably need two rows of eggplant in the dish).  Sprinkle the whole thing with parmesan cheese.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.  Bake for the first 20 minutes with aluminum foil to prevent the cheese from getting overdone.  If you are freezing for future use, you don't need to bake it now - just tightly cover and freeze.  You can bake it later thawed out or frozen (just allow longer baking time if frozen, of course).

Enjoy!

Basil Pesto

Yum, I made my first batch of basil pesto for this year!

There's more where that came from!

"That's allotta basil!"
(in our best Italian accent)

Last year, I made lots of pesto all summer long.  Then at the end of the summer, we just pulled out the plants and brought them into the house.  There were only two of them but they were huge!  I enlisted my family to help me pick off all of the leaves ... it took over an hour with four of us working at it.  I froze all of the pesto and I am just now using up my last container, so this new batch is just in time!

Here is my basic recipe:
4 cups basil leaves
1 cup olive oil
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
4 large cloves garlic
freshly ground black pepper to taste

This is the general recipe and I kind of go from there.  When I go to use it, I add more olive oil.  Authentic Italian basil pesto has pine nuts, but I don't care for them so I leave them out.