Tourtiere

A favorite recipe from my mother-in-law, Margaret Guthrie.  Traditionally served at Christmas-time.  I love the blend of spices and the way the house smells when it is cooking.  For years I thought this was an old family recipe -- and I guess now it is, but I learned many years later that it was not, and I think, originally from Bon Apetit magazine.   Anyway, it is so good, and has been a Guthrie tradition for longer than I have been in the family!

Filling Ingredients:

2 cups chopped onion

1-1/2 ground sirloin

1- 14 oz. can whole tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped celery leaves

1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp each nutmeg, mace, ground pepper, ground cloves

2 tsp cornstarch

1 chicken bouillon dissolved in 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Filling Directions:

Brown meat, onion, garlic.  Add tomatoes and break up.  Add celery, salt, thyme, nutmeg, mace, cloves, ground pepper.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 30 minutes (**) until most of moisture has evaporated and mixture is quite dry.  Dissolve cornstarch in bouillon and stir into meat.  Cook until mixture thickens (about 2 minutes). Add chopped parsley. Set aside and roll out cough for crust. 

**  Make Dough while the meat cooks (there is a top and bottom crust).  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  

Dough Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter (original ingredients said chilled oleo)

6 Tbsp. cold shortening

1/3 cup ice water

1 egg beaten (for brushing on the crust before baking)

Dough Directions:

Mix together flour and salt.  Cut shortening and butter into flour mixture until butter is pea-sized.  Add ice water slowly and mix with fork until dough holds mostly together.  Gather dough into plastic wrap and refrigerate until the meat mixture is cooked and ready to be used as filling.  When ready, divide the dough in half.  On a floured surface, roll out the dough for the bottom crust.  Gently line the pie plate with the rolled out dough.  Roll out the other half of the dough.  Fill the the bottom crust in the pie plate with all of the meat mixture.  Cover with the rolled out top half of dough.  Trim excess dough around edges, press the top edge of the dough to the bottom  dough,  I roll the edges of the dough under first, then crimp decoratively.  Brush crust with 1 beaten egg. Cut slits in the top decoratively to vent.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  

Serves 8.

Rouldaden

Recipe from Margaret Guthrie -- Good served with warm German potato salad.     Serves 4

Ingredients:

Sirloin tip cut 1/4" thick

large dill pickle cut in 1/4

1/2 lb. diced bacon

1 or 2 chopped onion

1 cup red wine

mustard

beef bouillon

salt

Directions:

Spread each cutlet with mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt, onion, bacon and pickle.  Roll and secure (with toothpicks or string).  Brown in butter.  Add 1 cup bouillon and wine.  Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Remove toothpicks before serving.

Pad Thai (for Shellfish Allergies)

A vegetarian version which is also shellfish-free with the substitution of  soy sauce (I used Kikoman's brand) for fish sauce.  Fish sauce is made with anchovies which, although not shellfish, is to be avoided by those allergic to shellfish.  Also, since I did not have tamarind pulp on hand (which adds a nice, authentic flavor), I substituted The Wizard's Organic Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (an anchovy-free Worcestershire sauce that is available at Whole Foods stores).  Worcestershire sauce contains tamarind, and I keep this brand on hand since the original Lea and Perrins brand Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. This recipe is also Gluten-free.  Serve with cooked rice.  Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Pad Thai Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lime juice (approximately1 large lime)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Kikoman's -- regular, not reduced sodium)

3 tsp. anchovy-free Worcestershire sauce (such as The Wizard's Organic Vegan Worcestershire Sauce)

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1 12-14 oz. package of rice noodles (linguini-style, such as Thai Kitchen Stir-Fry Rice Noodles) OR Cellophane (mung bean thread) noodles (such as Ty Ling)

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Spice Mixture -- In a small dish, mix together the following:

Additional 1 1/2  Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2  tsp. salt 

1 tsp. chili powder

3 dashes cayenne pepper

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1/2 cup peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs, beaten

1 14 oz package extra-firm tofu, sliced into thin 1/2 inch julienne strips

1 1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts

2 medium shallots, very thinly sliced

2 cups fresh bean sprouts (traditional, but optional)

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Directions:

(1) Prepare rice noodles by soaking according to package directions.

(2)  Prepare Pat Thai sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together sauce ingredients -- sugar, lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce, stirring occasionally.  Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat to simmer 5 minutes; remove from heat.

(3) In a large skillet on medium heat, add oil and heat.  Add minced garlic, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add beaten eggs, stirring until cooked though.  Add tofu strips, stirring to mix well, and cook another 2-3 minutes.  Add Pad Thai Sauce and additional Spice Mixture; stir well.  Add the cooked, drained noodles, stirring to mix well. Add chopped peanuts, sliced shallots and bean sprouts, if used, stirring to mix thoroughly until sauce mixture is absorbed and the Pad Thai is heated through.  Serve.

Chicken Livers

One of Brian's favorites, I make this a few times a year. It is pretty rich, definitely not low fat. Buy the freshest chicken livers you can find as this does make a difference in taste and texture. I buy them at Whole Foods. I usually serve the chicken livers with cooked rice.

Ingredients:

Container very fresh chicken livers (see above)

4 Slices of raw bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 Large sweet or white onion, chopped

1/4 Cup brandy

1/2 Can chicken broth

Fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:

1. Open container of chicken livers and transfer to a colander in the sink. Rinse gently. Using kitchen scissors, trim off and discard any fat and connective tissue. Cut the livers into about 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces, trying to preserve as much of the livers as possible; set aside.

2. In a large cast iron skillet, over med-low heat, cook the bacon pieces until they are crispy and done. Remove from the pan and set aside on a small plate or bowl.

3. Add the butter to the bacon grease in the pan and turn up the heat a little bit (heat can be adjusted down later if cooking too fast or spattering). Add the chicken livers and cook until nicely browned.

4. Add the chopped onion, and lower the heat a bit so the onions cook slowly and do not get browned. You want them to get soft and golden and blend in a bit with the livers. This may take 10 minutes or so.

5. When the onions are done, add the cooked bacon back to the pan and stir.

6. Turn the heat up to sizzling, then add the brandy, stirring to coat and deglaze the pan.

7. Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook gently until broth is mostly gone, about 15-20 minutes. Serve.

Serves about 4.

Lemon Caper Tilapia

For many years, this was Cameron's birthday dinner. It is still a favorite of ours. I usually make it with tilapia, but it would also work well with flounder, sole, or any other mild, white fish. Serve with parsley red potatoes and a salad of mixed greens with tomatoes. This recipe serves 4, but can easily be doubled, just use 2 large pans to cook the fish in, or do in batches and keep the cooked fish warm in the oven (275-300 degrees) while other fish is cooking. If doing multiple batches, pour the sauce over all the fish just before serving.

Ingredients:

3-4 whole tilapia pieces (about 2 pounds)
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp. Olive oil

Juice from 1 good size lemon
3 Tbsp. capers (the small nonpareil size)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces

Directions:

Juice the lemon into a small ramekin. Measure capers into the lemon juice, and set aside.
On piece of waxed paper, place fish. Salt and pepper both sides. In a large frying pan over med-high heat, heat olive oil until hot. Carefully add fish and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the edges start to look browned and crisp. Carefully turn the fish using 2 spatulas. Cook for another 3 minutes or so until the fish is done and flakes easily. Remove fish to serving platter. In pan with heat still on, add lemon juice and capers, scraping the pan to deglaze. Then add the butter, stirring and gently shaking the pan , cooking until mixture thickens a bit and makes a nice sauce. Pour sauce over the fish on the serving plate. Ready to serve, or if needed, can be kept warm in the oven for a few minutes. In general the sauce should be put on the fish right before serving.

Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

1 to 1-1/2 lb. sirloin strips, dried on paper towels
1/2 cup cornstarch for coating beef
1/2 cup peanut oil for frying beef
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. Mirin (Japanese sweetened saki -- get in aisle near soy sauce)

additional 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp. water
additional ground pepper, to taste
additional red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl or ramekin, mix together the soy sauce and Mirin with the cornstarch and water; set aside. Salt and pepper the beef, then coat with 1/2 cup cornstarch. In a large frying pan, heat oil on med-high heat until hot. Add red pepper flakes and cook for a few seconds. Add beef and cook on each side until well browned and crispy. Remove from pan to serving dish and set aside. Add a few more red pepper flakes and then green pepper and onion slices to pan. Stir fry for a few minutes until cooked, but still a bit crisp. Add beef back to pan and stir. Add more fresh ground black pepper, to taste. Turn down heat to med-low. Stir the soy sauce mixture again, and add to the pan, stirring to coat the beef and vegetables as the sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

(Serves 4)

Curried Chicken

This recipe works well for any chicken pieces, although I usually make it with frozen boneless chicken tenderloins. Serve with cooked jasmine or basmati rice and dipping bread.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
4 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground sage
pinch ground ginger

4 Tbsp. peanut oil

chicken pieces (fresh or frozen), to serve 4-6

1-14 oz. can coconut milk (regular or lite)

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the spice ingredients. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat oil and then add chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is browned and mostly cooked through, turning often.

When the chicken is well browned on all sides, sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of the spice mixture over the top of the chicken (it helps to use a small sieve to get a thorough even coating). Continue to cook for a minute or so, then turn the chicken so the curry coating is on the bottom. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of spice mixture over the chicken again and continue to cook for a couple of minutes, or at least until the part of the chicken touching the pan gets a nice crust with the curry spices. Turn the chicken again now so that the new spices on top are now on the bottom of the pan and cook another couple of minutes, or until this side of the chicken gets a nice golden curried crust. Remove the chicken from the pan when it is thoroughly cooked through and keep warm on a serving platter.

Add the coconut milk and the remaining spice mixture to the pan. Stir to mix and adjust with a little more salt, if necessary. Cook until heated through and thickened a little. Pour into a small pitcher or gravy boat to serve on top or alongside the chicken and rice.

Orange Beef

Ingredients:

2 Florida juice oranges (or 3 Florida tangerines)
1-1/2 inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. peanut oil for sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch for sauce
2 Tbsp. water

1-1/2 lb. sirloin strips, cut into bite-size pieces, and dried on paper towels
Additional 1/2 cup cornstarch for coating beef
Additional 1/2 cup peanut oil for frying beef
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

(1) Using a peeler, zest the 2 oranges and set zest aside.
(2) In a small bowl, then squeeze the juice from the 2 oranges and set juice aside.
(3) In large bowl, toss beef pieces in 1/2 cup cornstarch and set aside.
(4) In a small pot, mix fresh orange juice, ginger, garlic, sugar, soy sauce and 1 Tbsp. peanut oil. Bring to a boil. In a small measuring cup, mix 1 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. water and add slowly to the boiling orange mixture, stirring until mixture is thickened, then turn off heat.
(5) In a large frying pan, add 1/2 cup peanut oil. Cooking on medium-high heat, add red pepper flakes and stir for about a minute, until pepper flakes are browned. Then add pieces of orange zest, stirring constantly until zest just begins to turn brown around edges. Remove zest pieces and set aside. Add cornstarch coated beef to the frying pan and cook turning occasionally until beef is well browned and very crispy.
(6) Add the cooked orange zest pieces back to the beef in the pan and stir.
(7) Add the cooked and thickened orange mixture to the beef in the pan and stir quickly to distribute the sauce evenly. Remove from heat.

Serve immediately with steamed Jasmine rice (cook with a Tbsp. minced ginger) and steamed broccoli.

(Serves 4)

Chicken and Dumplings

(Servings: 6-8)

Ingredients:

5-7 lb. Roasting chicken, rinsed inside and out
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, quartered
1 celery stalk, quartered
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (optional)

for dumplings:

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried savory (not ground)
1-1/3 cups milk
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil (corn or canola)

Directions:

Early in the day: In a large 7-8 quart pot, place chicken and vegetables. Cover with cold water, adding just enough water to cover, or almost cover, the chicken (about 8-10 cups, depending on size on chicken). Add the 2 tsp. salt (you can adjust later, to taste). Cover pot with lid and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 3 hours. Remove from heat.

Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pot (the chicken should be very tender at this point and most will fall from the bones). Carefully remove the chicken meat (breast, thigh, drumstick and wing) from the bones, discarding the bones. Set aside.

Pour the broth from the pot into another pot that has a colander or strainer set in it to remove any small bones. Then remove the colander or strainer, discarding the contents, as necessary. Pour the strained broth back into the original pot. Bring back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Using 2 forks, or a fork and a knife, pull the chicken apart, breaking into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken back to the simmering broth. You can also add back some of the cooked carrot bits, chopped, and/or some fresh or frozen peas at this point. Also adjust the salt to taste, if needed now.

Make the dumplings:

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and dried savory. In a measuring cup, combine milk with vegetable oil; slowly stir into flour mixture, stirring as little as possible, just until a soft dough is formed.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto the chicken meat and simmering broth. There is a lot of dough and the top of the pan will be covered with tablespoons of dough.

Cook dumplings 10 minutes, uncovered; then cover and cook 10 minutes longer. I usually separate the dumplings a little at this point, very gently, so that the broth will thicken a bit and the dumplings will absorb more of the liquid. Cover and cook 5 more minutes or so, until the dumplings are thoroughly cooked, and the broth is somewhat thickened.

Dumplings can be served with a slotted spoon and then the chicken and thickened broth ladled over the dumplings. Serve in a bowl and spoon as it can be somewhat soupy.