Roasted veggies papillon

Basically using parchment paper to roast veggies.

  
On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper , place the veggies of your choice, course cut and seasoned.

  
Didn’t get a lot of pictures, but gift wrap the parchment to enclose the veggies, ( not too good gift wrapping here, that it why they came up with those gift party bags ), but you can fold the paper together and roast in the oven.

Drizzle or use a olive oil spray on the veggies. 

That is all ! A good side or wrapped with some type of sauce.

Lamb and bulgar wheat

Some lamb breast , ribs from the supercenter . Goes good with bulgar wheat, that I order on line, as the supercenter does not stock bags of bulgar wheat , the closest you can get it a small box of couscous etc.

Brown the meat. The ribs were cut to four pieces. 

Salt and pepper and seasonings of your choice…. Yes a bit fatty… Trim if you please…

    

A cup of bulgar wheat….

Sautée the veggies and add the bulgar wheat to brown slightly and absorb some of the favours.  Coloured peppers and leeks are the main components.  
Nestle the lamb in a pan with the veggies  and bulgar as a base ….. Add vegetable stock..

   

Cook as you would bulgar , cover simmer etc. serve. The bulgar has the ability to absorb the flavourings and is an alternative to rice , potato, pasta , that is nourishing and filling.

Omelette

various diced veggies enclosed in an omelette

Sweet onion, Bok choy, mushroom,  red pepper , celery diced and sautéed.

  
Looks like a salad ! 

While the veggies are cooking, by the way , a pinch of hot pepper flakes also, slice your bread for toast, you have to have toast for breakfast !

Instead of waiting for the toaster oven to heat up, the broiler makes quick work of toast, just don’t leave it and flip it to toast both sides.

Looks like I have enough for  two omelettes , start the egg with a touch of heavy cream.

 
Add half the veggies, and fold . Not too good on omlette skills, perhaps  I should have used two eggs per omlette.

So we skip to the plated breakfast, ricotta garnish and some fresh sliced apricots. I debated on adding shredded cheese to the omlette but a dollop of ricotta is all I used.    

 
Happy? I managed to have fruit with my meal !

By the way want to get more fruit into your diet ? Display a fruit basket of fresh fruit from your shopping expedition, don’t hide fruit in the fridge, when the fruit gets softened ,you’ll be compelled  to eat it or utilise it in a recipe.  Did you ever hear that expression ” out of sight out of mind ” ?

 
 

I’ve finished my breakfast, and sipping coffee , I’ll finish this post…….. Ahh the weekend ……

breakfast Quesadilla

Similar to flat bread, a flour tortilla type of sandwich.

diced leeks, broccoli and 1/2 a jalapeno  pepper sauteed with tomato.

OK ! I didn’t measure here , a scoop of flour, a teaspoon of fat (bacon fat), mix and add water till you form a dough, divide and roll into thin circles. Use a bit of flour or cornmeal on the rolling surface.

cook in a hot skillet, of if you dare , right on a gas burner.

crispy over the open flame !

Actually, I used both the fry pan then the burner for crispness.

after you prepare the tortillas, fry up an egg, sorta omelet, scrambled type.

return one of the tortillas to the pan, add the egg, the diced veggies and shredded cheese.

top with another tortilla flip and heat till cheese is melted

serve !

you could add sausage or bacon, best though is to serve with a side of fresh fruit, juice and coffee!

Have a good holiday !

shopping

recent receipts

Lamb wraps

Some shredded lamb, sauteed veggies, leeks etc. served with leaf spinach rolled in a wrap.

Just a few pics.

wine biscuits

Have you used wine for cooking ? of course ! I probably use more wine for cooking than I drink since I’m a craft beer drinker and brewer. (I do ferment a fruit and honey mixture (mead, melomel) but that’s another story or blog.)

This recipe utilizes a Burgundy wine , something strong, of course the alcohol will bake off leaving you with a pleasant biscuit with a wine flavor finish.

The texture is a cross between a cookie and a biscuit, the raw dough is on the oily side , bake time about 30 minutes and a labor if you are not familiar working with dough, not mixing but forming the cookies. A brush of egg yolks makes them special gloss finish presentation.

The amounts  here are halved from the original  family hand written index card that  my uncle wrote as he made them. If you double it, prepare to set a block on time aside in the kitchen forming the cookies and shifting baking sheets to upper and lower racks of the oven. Some recipes , in order to get you attention mention that the end product is addicting. While I usually don’t resort to promoting my postings with false promises, these are biscuits that won’t go stale here. As I placed a bag aside for a person, and brought a bag  to a poker game, the bag that sat aside slowly emptied. I think it’s the texture more chew that a biscuit but not super sugary sweet that you would expect from a cookie. Oven at 350 degrees.

Lets get started ! the dough is super easy to make :

Mix the dry ingredients together :

4 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon Baking powder

Pinch of Salt

measure out separately :

1 cup Red Wine (Burgundy) (I used mead here)

1 cup Oil ( Mazola is specified,I used typical vegetable oil).

The mix is simple and can be done with just a spoon.

Alternate pouring the oil and wine into the dry ingredients in small amounts while stirring with a sturdy spoon. The dough comes together and is rather greasy, you can tweak the dough with more or less dry  or wet ingredients if necessary.

Now comes the fun part !  “Take a small amount of dough and roll between hands and make a little larger than a pencil in dia. (diameter) and a little shorter , around 6 or 7 inches long. Tie together  and bake for about 15 minutes on a low rack then 15 more minutes up higher in oven for browning.” Beat 3 eggs yolks  and brush on cookies before baking.

Her’s how mine came together.  Mistake ! Don’t add flour for ease of handling and rolling, the oily dough will break apart. Also a smooth counter top didn’t provide traction for rolling, the wooden cutting board was the answer. To me this was easier than rolling between hands..  I made a long rope and then subdivided it into smaller lengths The recipe calls for a knotted design.

Paint with egg yolks , bake at 350 15 minutes  low rack, 15 minutes upper rack. The cookies don’t actually brown till the last minutes on the top rack.

How ever fast you can form the cookies and if you have 2 baking sheets, you can shift the baking sheets in the oven, placing the next batch on the lower rack as the first tray goes to the upper level. The original recipe yields 8 doz, Halved, I didn’t get a count maybe 40 or 50 or so ?

Cool your cookies on a rack, they even seem to get a better texture after a day or two when they dry slightly.

Excellent for a party, get together or game night, pack with lunches. Maybe enjoyed with a glass of Burgundy ?

did a quick search this recipe mentions RI !

http://olives-n-okra.com/wine-biscuits/

Veggie pizza

Not a slump in cooking , just a slump in blogging !  Here’s one from a draft ….. April 26th… Cheers WP !
some slow roasted veggies top this pizza…

The amounts are dictated by the size of the pizza(s) 

White onion, anise (fennel), garlic, sweet peppers, diced , shredded carrot prepared with salt and pepper and toss end with olive oil. Place in a shallow pan and roast in a low oven at about 250 degrees while the dough  is being prepared. 

Prepare a portion of pizza/ bread dough for then amount needed for the pizza(s) required. When the crust is panned in a cast iron skillet and risen, add a layer fresh uncooked spinach, add the roasted veggies and shredded Romano cheese.

Bake in a hot oven 450 or bette for 13-15 minutes.  

               

We’re go to go ! Just add your fav libation !