Nun's Farts, New Lambs and Royal Blue

White Chocolate, Sour Cherry and Cardamom Rolls. Need I say more? The only change I made to the recipe (click here) was substituting chopped Baker's white chocolate for the chips, which was not an improvement as it melted a bit too much.



I was smitten with the recipe as soon as I saw it on Marie's blog, The English Kitchen. It contains white chocolate and dried sour cherries, two of my favorite things, and I must confess that I ate more than I should have of these -they are irresistible. They are also super easy to make, and when covered with plastic wrap and left overnight, delicious the following morning.



New lambs in the barn Thursday! What a nice surprise -two ewe lambs, one colored and one white, and both are doing well so far.



And I am slowly spinning this royal blue fiber, hand quilting a bit now and then on a grandmother's flower garden quilt I pieced years ago, and starting a (royal blue yarn) sock knitting project. I am so glad to see the end of April this weekend and I'm hopeful for a bit less rain next month. Happy May Day to everyone!

Arabian Pizza

Arabesque -A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon by Claudia Roden is an absolutely gorgeous book I received as a gift from my youngest daughter a few years ago. Recipes, history, culture, and personal insight are all interwoven within its pages to create a delightful read for home cooks, like myself, who are interested in exploring the foods of these countries. Since we make homemade pizza almost every week, I was immediately intrigued by her recipe for Arabian 'Little Meat Pizzas.' I like to try different types of pizzas, and she offers several variations for these. Instead of making little ones as she suggests, I prefer to make regular-sized pizzas. I have made slight variations of this recipe several times now -and it always quickly disappears.



Last week when I made this pizza, I simply used half of the dough from a whole wheat farmhouse bread I was making (and crumbled on a bit of leftover feta we had in the fridge), but I've also made the traditional yogurt and olive oil dough very similar to the one in Arabesque for this pizza. It was good on both types of crust.

Pizza Dough
Mix:

1/4 c. warm water
1 T. yeast

Mix:
3 1/2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 c. olive oil

Add frothy yeast and 1 c. warmed yogurt. Mix and knead to make a smooth dough (10 minutes or so), adding more flour or water as needed. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to raise until doubled in size. Deflate, and flatten out onto an oiled pizza sheet, or make several smaller pizzas and place on oiled baking sheets.



Arabian Pizza

Mix:
1 lb. ground lamb or goat
1 onion, diced (Claudia Roden's instructions are to finely chop the onion in a food processor and then drain it of its juices. Being rather lazy, I simply diced and mixed it in, but this does result in a lot of excess moisture)
3 garlic cloves, minced
15 oz. can diced tomatoes, well-drained
2 T. pomegranate molasses
1/2 t. each allspice and salt
1/4 c. pine nuts or chopped slivered almonds

Spread meat mixture evenly onto pizza dough. Bake 400 degrees for 15-25 minutes (depending on size of pizzas), or until done.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

When I first heard of Monte Cristo Sandwiches a couple years ago, I wasn't at all sure it was a good thing. It seems an unlikely combination, but the flavors work and it is really good. The sandwich is put together, then the whole thing is dipped into an egg mixture, as for French toast, and then cooked on a griddle. I always imagine the sandwich falling apart in the dipping process and making a huge mess so instead, this is how I make a Monte Cristo Sandwich: For each sandwich (multiply as needed), beat together 1 egg, dash each salt and cinnamon, 1 t. sugar and 2 T. milk. Dip to coat -but don't soak- two slices of bread in the egg mix, and then cook on a medium hot griddle with a bit of butter until golden, then turn and brown the second side. Spread mayonnaise (or not) and Dijon mustard on one slice of bread, and currant jelly (or jelly-style cranberry sauce) on the other slice. I layered on slices of deli turkey and ham, and Swiss (or Havarti) cheese, then closed and cut the sandwiches. I forgot the dusting of powdered sugar on top, which was fine for us grown-ups, but if you are serving these to children, it's NOT optional.

Cinnamon-Orange Spice Meatballs

This charming little cookbook from the '90s has adorable illustrations and really great recipes using Celestial Teas -Cooking With Tea. I found a little note inside of it, written by my youngest daughter several years back, that, on one side, is a menu from this cookbook, and on the other side, a grocery list of the necessary ingredients. I don't remember if she made this, but it all sounds really good.

Menu
Harvest Spice Veggie Dip w/ Veggies
Raspberry Zinger Vinaigrette -Salad
Lemon Zinger Sea Bass with Zinger Salsa
Peppermint Chocolate Cake



With this week's meatball recipe in mind, my eye was caught by this. Doesn't it sound (and look) great!?! But then, everything in this book sounds and looks great!



Of course, yesterday when I made the meatballs (they will be thoroughly chilled tonight, and dinner will be a snap with them already made), I didn't actually follow this recipe.

Cinnamon-Orange Spice Meatballs

Heat 2-3 minutes in microwave:

1/2 c. white wine (I used homemade carrot wine. Honest, it's not bad!)
3 cinnamon-orange tea bags such as Seattle Pike Place Market Spice or Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice

Steep 10+ minutes and then discard bags.

Mix/Process in food processor:

1 lb. ground meat (beef, pork or half each. I used rabbit)

1 c. torn bread crumbs with half steeped wine-tea poured over to soften

1/4 - 1/2 diced onion

1/4 t. each salt and pepper

1 small egg

Form small balls. Chill or freeze.

Tonight I will:

Brown the meatballs in 2 T. oil. Remove meatballs, pour out excess grease and add:

remaining half wine-tea and mushroom broth to make 1/2 cup mixed with 1 T. cornstarch, and 1/2 c. orange marmalade. Stir until thickened and then add meatballs and simmer 10 minutes.

I think I will serve these with either chow mein and egg foo yung, or white rice and a vegetable. Either way, I know it's going to be great!

Lolita's Turkey Curry

Lolita, my mother-in-law would often make this easy curry the day after Thanksgiving when her house was filled to bursting with her six adult children, their significant others, friends, and various children. I first joined them for the Thanksgiving weekend as a girlfriend of one of her sons, and over the years since that first holiday, I've watched and helped her make this curry many times. Making Lolita's curry with leftover turkey became a holiday tradition I wholeheartedly embraced. The past few years though, I have been terribly disappointed to find that all our leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat has been completely devoured as turkey sandwiches, well before dinner time of the day after (our heritage breed turkeys are much smaller than the commercial behemoths). Turkey sandwiches are all well and good, but I really like this curry! I'm a bit slow to think things through, but it occurred to me last week, that instead of lamenting the absence of this curry in my life forever, I could make it happen easy enough, AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THANKSGIVING TURKEY LEFTOVERS! Lacking turkey in the freezer, I substituted some chicken breasts, which was every bit as good.



Lolita's Turkey Curry

Heat:
2-3 T. vegetable oil

Add:
1/2 chopped onion
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T. curry powder
Saute until onions brown a bit.

Add:
1/3 c. flour
Cook 1-2 minutes.

Whisk in:
2 c. milk or soy milk
1 c. leftover gravy (or roasting pan drippings)
15 oz. can lite coconut milk
dash Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t. salt, or to taste
Cook gently to thicken, 5 minutes or so.

Add:
2-4 c. chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
1/4 - 1/3 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. minced fresh cilantro
(lacking fresh mushrooms to add with the onions, add a can of sliced mushrooms here)
Serve over hot, cooked rice with crushed red peppers and mango chutney.

Chai Pie

Chai Pie. I just love saying it! Chai Pie, Chai Pie, Chai Pie! Aside from the catchy name, this is a scrumptious, non-traditional creamy dessert that's my non-dairy adaptation of my more classic Butterscotch Pie (click here) recipe.



First, prebake a pie pastry. I use Crisco vegetable shortening, lard, butter, or a combination of the three, depending on what's in our cupboards and who I'm serving the pie to -a frozen purchased pastry, or a graham cracker crust would also work here.



Chai Custard
Heat 4 minutes in microwave:
2 c. almond milk
4 slices fresh peeled ginger root
2 Chai tea bags
Allow to steep for 10-15 minutes, squeezing gently a few times to extract all the spicy essence from the bags.

Mix in top of double boiler:
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
Add chai-spiced almond milk, after removing tea bags and ginger root slices, and stir until it thickens a bit. Cover and cook 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, beat 4 egg yolks with 1/2 c. brown sugar. Lighten with chai custard and add to top of double boiler. Cook an additional 2 minutes.

Stir in 2 T. butter until melted. Remove from heat and add 1/2 t. vanilla.



Pour into the prebaked pastry shell. At this point, the pie can be topped with a meringue made by whipping the egg whites separated from the egg yolks, as I did with the Butterscotch Pie. Or as I did here, it can be topped with non-dairy whipped topping, or whipping cream.



For a cream pie, cool the hot custard a bit, cover with plastic cling wrap, and then chill until it's cooled completely. In the past, my impatience has resulted in more than one occasion where I have had the unfortunate experience of watching helplessly as the lovely fluffiness of the cream topping melted into an unappetizing pool atop the custard.



When the custard has thoroughly cooled, top with non-dairy whipped topping or whipped cream, and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon.

Kashmiri Meatballs

Kashmiri Meatballs Mix:
1 lb. ground lamb
1 T. (or more) grated ginger root
1 1/2 t. each cumin and coriander
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. each ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper and cayenne
1 small egg, beaten
2 T. yogurt
1/4 c. bread crumbs

Form 1 1/2 T. sized meatballs and chill one hour or longer. Heat large skillet. Add 2-3 T. ghee or oil, add meatballs and brown. Mix 2 T. yogurt and 1/3-1/2 c. water. Add/Pour over meatballs and cover and cook, turning occasionally, until moisture is absorbed (2o minutes or so).



While the meatballs were cooking, I made a pot of plain white basmati rice and the following red lentils -which turn yellow when cooked with the turmeric.



Red Lentils In pressure cooker, bring to high pressure over medium high heat:

1 c. red lentils
4 c. water
4 slices fresh ginger root
1-2 T. ghee
1/2 t. each salt, turmeric, cumin and coriander

Lower heat and cook 5 minutes. Shut off heat and allow pressure to drop naturally. Add 2 T. minced cilantro before serving.



Carrot and Onion Salad

Peel and grate 3 carrots. Halve a half of onion, and cut into thin lengthwise slices.

Mix together with:
1 t. grated ginger root
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne
4 t. lemon juice

Serve immediately or can be made several hours ahead. I made this salad before I started cooking anything else for this meal. In all honesty, I was a bit dubious about this recipe, but it is really quite good and we polished off every last bit. Do give it a try!