Deanna's Daughter

Doesn’t the name just want you to make them? it worked for me.  We had them for dinner tonight with Vegetarian Chili (more zucchini from our garden – it’s going to be a theme for a while), and the recipe is borrowed from an Everyday Food magazine.

I also attempted some pickled carrots today for the first time – we have so many carrots!, but I have to wait for a couple of weeks to see if they work and I’ll definitely post them if they do.

Last night was Winkler’s sausage (from Manitoba – very good!), banana bread (that I always seem to have in the freezer) and a Greek salad.  I don’t really use a recipe for my Greek salad, just chopped up red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, an orange or yellow pepper, kalamata olives if I’ve remembered them, and feta all doused with plain old balsamic vinegar – it’s how we’ve always made it, something that most likely started out of laziness and stuck – but it’s good!  I also made up a couple of lunch ready containers of salad – without the balsamic – for Brock and I for lunch today.  Lunch tomorrow will most likely be chili…

Make the turnovers!  Waverly thought they should be called ‘honey treats’ and both of the girls loved the fact that they were having dessert with dinner.

Honey Ricotta Turnovers

1 c. ricotta (ideally as dry as possible)

3 T. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

zest from 1 lemon (or orange)

1 egg

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter

3 T. honey

12 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment.  In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, sugar, vanilla, zest, egg and salt and set aside.  In a microwave proof bowl, melt the butter and honey, checking it and mixing it every 30 seconds or so.

I just used my counter and had everything ready so the phyllo didn’t really dry out at all.  Lay out one sheet and brush it with the butter and honey mixture, lay another over top the first and brush it as well and then repeat this a third time.  Cut the sheets crosswise into 4 rectangle sections and spoon about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture at one end of each rectangle.  Fold over like a flag until the entire strip of phyllo is used.  Repeat with all of the turnovers, using 3 layers of phyllo each time and cutting the whole into 4 sections, for as many as you’d like (I made 16) and place them on the parchment when complete.  These could also be made ahead and frozen and then cooked from frozen.

Use any remaining butter and honey mixture to brush the tops of each turnover and bake for about 20 minutes.  They’ll be beautifully puffed and brown when done and they are best served warm.

The day of my birthday was nice and low-key, just how I like it, but this wasn’t enough for the girls.  They tag teamed me with questions,  ‘When’s your party?’, ‘Are we going to a playground?’, ‘An indoor or outdoor one?’, ‘Ohhh, maybe that gymnastics place!’, ‘How many other kids will be there?’, ‘Are we going to have pizza?’.  Personally, I think that they are now a perfect excuse to throw myself a party next year – maybe I’ll even let them plan it…

This is from my Mom and it just may be my new favorite pie crust.  She found it in an old church cookbook from a small town in Saskatchewan and the official name is ‘Never Fail Pie Crust’, by P. Carson.  I found it very easy to work with and even made a second batch today to make sure it wasn’t a fluke – thankfully, pie season is upon us!

Brown Sugar Pastry

1 lb./454 g lard (Tenderflake)

5 c. flour

2 t. salt

3 T. vinegar

3 T. brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 c. water

Use a pastry cutter to combine the lard, flour and salt in a large bowl.  In a separate small bowl, measure out the vinegar, brown sugar and egg and beat with a fork, then add the water and mix again.

Add all of the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and combine as well as you can with a wooden spoon before using your hands.  Continue blending with your hands until it all comes together – I found it to be slightly sticky – and then separate it into 4 equal portions (I do mine into discs) and then either chill it for a couple of hours before using or freeze or refrigerate it until you wish to use it.

This makes 4 pie crusts or 2 large pies.

This is how Brock and I were awakened on January 1st, 2010, as sung (loudly!) by Waverly and Marlow – ‘WE FISH YOU A HAIRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HIPPO NEW YEAR!!!’.  I think we have preschool to thank for this one – and it was very cute.

Jamie Oliver is the king of comfort food ‘pies’.  I’ve tried a couple of his recipes but when I saw this on the Food Network in his Christmas Special, I knew I’d be making this for everyone on New Year’s Eve (doubled, and in my roasting pan).  The time eaters here are the leeks, which can be washed and chopped ahead and refrigerated still wet, and the turkey or chicken, which needs to be cooked.  If that’s done, this is actually quite quick, and as New Year’s proved, excellent for company.  I looked the recipe up on the internet, and basically just added more bacon.  Soooo good!!

Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie

1, 500 g. package of bacon, chopped into small bits

2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only

olive oil and 1 T. of butter

2 kg. leeks (about 9), washed carefully, trimmed, white ends chopped into chunks and the green ends finely sliced

1 t. each salt and freshly ground pepper

800 g. cooked turkey meat, cut into chunks  (or 4-5 baked or roasted chicken breasts, cut into chunks)

1/4 c. flour

1 L. chicken broth

2 T. creme fraiche

1, 500 g. package of puff pastry

12 roasted chestnuts, peeled and crumbled (you can find these in vacuum-packs)

2 sprigs of fresh sage, leaves only

1 egg, beaten

In a large pot or skillet (remember, it has to hold all of the leeks, but when they cook down they’re half the size), cook the bacon with the thyme leaves  for a few minutes until the bacon just starts to crisp up.  Add a ‘lug’ of olive oil and the butter and then all of the leeks and cook for a few minutes, stirring carefully, until they are well coated with the olive oil and butter.

Add the salt and pepper, put the lid on the pot and simmer for about a half hour, stirring occasionally so that they don’t stick.

When the leeks are nice and soft, add the turkey/chicken and stir, add the flour and stir until it disappears, pour in the broth, stir and then finally add the creme fraiche, stir and bring it to a boil, allowing it to thicken slightly.  Taste here for salt and pepper, but it should be fine.

Pour the mixture through a large sieve over a large empty pot or bowl and allow it to drain.  You’re draining off the gravy.

Grease a deep baking dish, like a 9 x 13 lasagna pan, and preheat the oven to 375.  Dust a clean surface with a good amount of flour and roll out the puff pastry until it’s about twice the size of the surface area of your chosen baking dish – roll it as evenly as you can, but it definitely doesn’t have to be perfect.

Scatter the crumbled chestnuts and sage leaves over half of the pastry, fold the other half over onto the chestnuts and sage, and give the whole thing a bit of a roll with the rolling pin to make it stick together.  You should now have a pastry sheet to cover your baking dish that’s like a chestnut and sage sandwich.

Pour the leek mixture from the sieve into your baking dish and spread around evenly.  Lay the pastry on top and tuck it in around all of the edges – again, rustic looking is just fine.  Score even lines with a sharp knife across the top of the pastry and then brush the whole surface with the beaten egg.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the crust is a lovely brown and puffed up and when it’s ready, reheat the gravy and serve.

We had large portions with peas, gravy spooned over top and fresh bread.  It was wonderful.  Happy New Year!