One mixing bowl desserts and cakes... you gotta love that, right!? I came across a recipe via a Facebook ad thrown at my face that sounded sort of souffle-ish, sort of custard-ish, sort of cheesecake-ish... and I thought it sounded pretty good, but would be better with a few adjustments. Lo and behold, it came out great first time around! What I didn't know is that there is a name for these sort of dishes - the French call it clafoutis. This is my version with blueberries... not super sweet, which is the kind of desserts we prefer. You could most certainly sprinkle the top with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar if you wanted.
Had a cover of a Depeche Mode song come on the speakers while I was typing this recipe out and I was like, "Who is this?! I like this!" Turns out, it was No Use For A Name doing "Enjoy the Silence". Give it a go! -jen
BLUEBERRY CLAFOUTIS Prep Time: 10 minute Cook Time: 50-55 (with an additional 30 to rest) Difficulty: Easy Serves: 6-8
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1+1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1+1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray - bottom and up sides.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together until smooth. Add melted butter, ricotta, yogurt and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add flour, salt and baking powder - mix until combined.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle blueberries over the top. Bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes. Edges should turn golden brown and tester inserted in center should come out clean. Cool in pan on baking rack for 30 minutes. Serve room temp or chilled.
I've lived mostly without gyros for the last 12 years in California. In Chicago, there's a gyro joint on every corner. In Humboldt County, there's one place and it's in the next town over. It's the reason I wanted to figure out how to make falafel, which is one of my most favourite recipes... but these gyros are definitely going to rival the falafel.
Now gyros are traditionally made with beef and lamb, but we don't eat a ton of beef and I'm not a huge fan of lamb, so my initial gyro recipe I thought I'd try going outside that box and used pork and turkey. They were freaking amazing!!! Thinking that beef and lamb must be better, I took my exact recipe and followed it again with the beef and lamb. It was okay... but I gotta tell ya, I hands-down preferred the pork and turkey mix.
Don't want the carbs you get with pita bread? Gyro salads are also soooo delicious!
Listening to some No Motiv - "So What"... song is super catchy and keeps repeating in my head. -jen
HOMEMADE GYRO WITH TZATZIKI Time: 10 minutes to prep, 1 hour to rest, 1 hour to bake, couple hours to cool Difficulty: Medium Makes: A lot Equipment: Food Processor
Gyro Loaf Ingredients:
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped large
4 medium garlic cloves
1 pound ground pork, lean
1 pound ground turkey
4oz pancetta (cubed if you can find it)*
olive oil
tomatoes, onion, cabbage or lettuce, cucumber, pita bread to make sandwich
Tzatziki (Cucumber Yogurt Sauce) Ingredients:
1/2 a cucumber
1/4 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of cumin (optional)
*I used bacon the second time I tried the recipe, and it made everything taste smoked, not like gyro, so I would not substitute bacon. You can use sliced pancetta if that's all you can find, it's just going to get ground up anyway.
Slushed garlic and onion
Gyro Loaf:
In a small bowl combine salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, cumin and black pepper. Set aside. In the food processor add the chopped onion and garlic. Process until slushy. My food processor wouldn't process the two pounds of meat at once, so I added one of the meats to the onion and garlic, half of the salt and herb mix and processed until a paste. Remove and set in large mixing bowl. Then add the second pound of meat, the pancetta and remaining salt and herb mix to the food processor, process until a paste. Combine both batches in the mixing bowl and with your hands, mix until both meats are thoroughly blended. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. (Great time to start making the tzatziki and getting your cucumbers draining!)
Preheat oven to 325 Farenheit. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with a light coating of olive oil. Form meat into a loaf shape that's about 2" thick in center of foil - try to keep it uniformly thick so it cooks evenly. Make sure you've packed it firmly to eliminate holes when slicing. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. (A meat thermometer is a fantastic cooking tool!)
Remove loaf and let rest at least 20 minutes before slicing. Cut into thin, almost shaved slices. (If you can bare the wait, we recommend cooling the loaf completely, then refrigerating for a few hours. It helps in cutting the slices super thin.) Brown slices on both sides in a skillet over medium-high heat. Only takes a minute or two. Serve on a warmed pita with lettuce or cabbage, cucumber, tomato, onion and tzatziki!
Tzatziki (Cucumber Yogurt Sauce):
If using an English/seedless cucumber, leave skin on. If it's a regular, waxed cucumber, peel to remove waxy skin. Cut in half and reserve one half to slice or dice onto gyro. Cut the other half lengthwise and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard - you still need to do this if you're using a "seedless" cucumber, that's where a lot of the liquid is. Grate both deseeded cucumber quarters and set in a strainer over a bowl that will catch the liquid. Toss grated cucumber with 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the liquid drain out.
In a small mixing bowl, combine Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, fresh dill, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, cumin (optional), the drained cucumber (squeeze out remaining juice and discard) and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt.
Not only great on gyros but great in salads or as a dip for fresh or roasted vegetables, great with grilled meats.
I made some apple crisp the other day and I had just a little leftover. I was going to eat it, as is, but it would have been a pretty small serving. Looking in the fridge, I was inspired! I always have plain Greek yogurt because I like to make berry smoothies - I make a double batch, pour a glass for myself, then freeze the rest so I have some froyo later. I had that in mind when I decided to make these frozen yogurt pops!
Really, I think it'd be delicious with just about any kind of sweet pie (if you want to make yourself savoury, meat pie yogurt pops, you go right ahead!) and you can come up with a plethora of delicious liquors to put in them!
The punk rock stylings of Street Dogs with "I Got Drunk". -jen
LIQUORED UP LEFTOVER PIE POPS
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
I used a stick blender with mine
Makes: about 2 cups - I got 4 pops out of them
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup of leftover pie (about 1 slice)
1 shot of alcohol (or a 50ml bottle) - I recommend Piehole's Pecan Pie Whiskey
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar if desired
Using a blender, combine all of the ingredients. (I like to leave a little bit of chunky pie bits in there instead of blending it completely smooth.) Taste mixture. You may need to add some sugar, depending on how sweet your pie and/or liquor are.
Pour into pop molds and freeze for several hours. If you don't have pop molds, just use a cup and stick a straw in it for a handle. You can get all MacGyver if you need to!
I had this great plan to make gyros and tzatziki this weekend... and for a minute, it looked like it was a disaster. But as history has proven, necessity is the mother of invention and what I thought was a problem turned into awesomeness.
I grew up in the Chicago area where gyro stands are everywhere and I love them. Where we live now, in Humboldt, there's only one gyro place and it's a 15 minute drive each way. They don't load them up as much as they do in Chicago and so while they're decent, I always feel a little gypped. So I decided to make some gyros here at home. I hastily made the grocery list while I was at work; I couldn't check to see what we had on hand at home. When I went to make everything today, I realized the cucumbers I'd been counting on to use in the tzatziki had gone bad, so I had no cucs. We always have at least one onion on hand, but it seems this time was an exception. And I thought we had some leftover basil, but turns out we didn't. So a lot of my main ingredients were missing and Justin is gone for the weekend with our only car, so I had no way to get to the store.
Instead, I decided to try shredded apple in the tzatziki sauce and I was pretty much counting on not liking it as much as the classic cucumber. I was wrong. It came out awesome! Good crunch and just a slight sweetness at the end. Lacking fresh onion for my gyro loaf, I used some dried shallot, dried chive, and onion powder. And though I had no basil (fresh or dried), I did have fresh mint and decided to load the loaf up with a ton of herbs and spices! Sooooo good! I know there's like 25 ingredients in the gyros; we use what we have on hand. But I recognize most people don't have the spice and herb collection we do, so I made sure to add an alternative. Don't let it intimidate you!
While I typed this whole post out, I listened to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" a few times on repeat. I love this song so much. So rad. And the retro 70s detective theme isn't so bad either. -jen
2 teaspoons dried chives (or half an onion chopped fine in food processor in place of shallots and chives)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
*1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried dill
*1 teaspoon ground dried lemon grass
*1 teaspoon dried marjoram
*1 teaspoon dried oregano
*1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary
*1 teaspoon tarragon
*1 teaspoon ground dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
*If you don't have all of these herbs, you could replace the 7 teaspoons of herbs with 3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Or 7 teaspoons of whatever combination you may have on hand.
In a large food processor, pulse old fashioned oats until they're about half their size. Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor and process about one minute until meat mixture feels tacky.
Place meat into a large bowl and cover meat with plastic wrap (not top of bowl, but place the plastic
wrap on the meat itself) and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Pack meat mixture into a 7"x4" loaf pan, pressing it down well to eliminate any air bubbles. Place a damp kitchen towel in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the loaf pan on top of the damp towel and carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes 1/2 way up the sides of the loaf pan.
Bake until inner temperature reaches 160 degrees F, about an hour and fifteen minutes. Remove loaf pan from roasting pan and carefully pour off accumulated fat. Cool slightly before slicing thinly. Brown slices either in a non-stick skillet on medium-high or place in oven or toaster oven broiler until browned. Serve on a pita with lettuce or cabbage, onion, tomato and Apple Tzatziki sauce.
APPLE TZATZIKI Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: almost 3 cups
1 small red apple, peeled
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
2 and 3/4 cups plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Shred apple. Place shredded apple in a fine colander over an empty bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Once coated with lemon juice, toss again with teaspoon of the salt. Allow to drain for 30-60 minutes.
Place shredded apple in some cheese cloth or a clean tea towel and squeeze out remaining juice. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the shredded apple with the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Can be served immediately but the flavours merry better if you refrigerate for an hour or more.
We had our good friend Lua over for dinner tonight and wanted to do something that would be simple and fast, but still have a bit of a "wow factor". Justin and I had been talking about a yogurt marinade recently and having company seemed like a good reason to do it (not that we really needed a reason). So we went with a Mediterranean themed dinner.
What I really like about these three dishes is that I used lots of the same ingredients in everything, so everything just stayed on the counter and got used again and again. That's actually how I came up with the green hummus! I had the intention of just making my regular recipe... but then I had the 3 green onions leftover, the mint, and some parsley from when we did our Italian Chopped Salad. I was super stoked about how it came out all herby and delicious. J and I both decided that every recipe listed below was perfect... lots of times we make a recipe, like it, make it the next time, change it a little, make it again, change it a little. With these, we decided there wasn't room for improvement. We liked them all just as they are. (It was a pretty awesome compliment from Justin.)
The song playing right now in our kitchen, as I was typing this up and deciding what kind of music to post, is Bouncing Souls' "Letters From Iraq". I think it's technically "Fourth of July Weekend", since the 4th is this Wednesday. -jen
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients (except the chicken - that's hard to whisk). Combine chicken strips and yogurt marinade in a gallon Ziploc and marinate for at least an hour (longer is optimal!)
The chicken would probably be better grilled, but it's a lousy day so we're baking it. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet, then line up chicken strips on pan and pour remaining marinade over them. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the strips, check with meat thermometer or cook until juices run clear).
Serve on a toasted pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber. We like to spread some hummus on the pita and top the pita with tzatziki. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta cheese.
juice of 1/2 large lemon (use other half in chicken marinade)
zest of 1/4 large lemon (use remaining 3/4 in chicken marinade)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion, diced fine
1/2 teaspoon dill
2 teaspoons fresh mint, chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon Accent (optional)
ground black pepper to taste
Place diced cucumber in a strainer over a bowl. Toss evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and let drain for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Squeeze out excess juice. Discard juice and combine the cucumber with Greek yogurt. Add all remaining ingredients and mix. Serve on pita sandwiches, as a dip with toasted pita, or as a fresh vegetable dip.
GREEN HUMMUS Time: 5-10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 cup (maybe 1.5 cups) Need: Food processor or blender
1 can (14.5oz) garbanzo beans, drained
2 heaping tablespoons tahini
3 green onions, rough chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, rough chopped
1 tablespoon fresh mint, rough chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
few grinds of fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in the food processor. While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until desired consistency. Blend for 2 minutes on high until completely smooth. Same application as tzatziki - use in pita sandwiches, to dip toasted pita or tortilla chips in, or as a fresh veggie dip.
PITA CHIPS Time: 15 minutes
pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper
Zatar seasoning (optional, but awesome)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pita into 1/8 sections. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Brush tops with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Zatar. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and bake another 5 minutes, or until crisp. Can be eaten with both hummus and tzatziki.
