Showing posts with label Main Course. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Main Course. Show all posts
Chicken and Date Pastilla
NextGen Cars Manis
Chicken and Date Pastilla

 I have been wanting to try making a pastilla for a while now and when I saw a recipe for a chicken and date pastilla in this months Food & Drink magazine it was like fate as I still had a bunch of fresh medjool dates! A pastilla (aka bastilla, bisteeya, b'steeya, bstilla and b'stilla) is a sweet and savoury Moroccan meat pie that is wrapped in light and flaky phyllo dough. The pastilla contains a lot of my favorite things from a good tagine including a really nice combination of Moroccan spices, tender meat, sweet dates and raisins, slivered almonds and fresh parsley and cilantro. After the pie is baked until the phyllo is nice and golden brown, light and flaky it is dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon adding another nice layer of sweet to weave into the already complex dish. This pie takes a bit of effort to make but it is well worth the trouble! The pastilla is a perfect combination of sweet and savoury and the flavours, textures and the spicy aroma will just make you swoon. I am certainly looking forward to enjoying the leftovers!

Chicken and Date Pastilla

(makes 6+ servings)


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds chicken breast (about 4 chicken breasts)
2 onions (sliced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon cumin (toasted and ground)
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 pinch saffron
2 cups chicken stock
3 eggs
1 cup dates (pitted and chopped coarsely)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup parsley
1/2 cup slivered almonds (toasted)
salt and pepper to taste
8 sheets phyllo dough
1/2 cup olive oil
icing sugar and cinnamon

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the chicken, skin down, brown and set aside.
3. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 7-12 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, cumin, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, chili flakes, turmeric and saffron and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
5. Put the chicken back in the pan along with the stock, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes.
6. Remove the chicken, let it cool and shred it.
7. Put the chicken back in the pan along with the eggs, dates, raisins, cilantro and almonds, mix and season with salt and pepper.
8. Place a sheet of phyllo on your working surface and brush with the olive oil.
9. Place a sheet of phyllo on top forming a plus sign and brush with olive oil and repeat until all sheets are done.
10. Place the phyllo into a 9 inch spring form pan, fill with the chicken mixture and fold the overhanging phyllo over the top sealing the pie.
11. Brush the top with olive oil.
12. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes.
13. Let cool and dust with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Chicken and Date Pastilla
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Honey Walnut Shrimp
NextGen Cars Manis
Honey Walnut Shrimp

Honey Walnut Shrimp


Shrimp has to be one of my all time favorite foods and I am constantly on the lookout for tasty new shrimp dishes. A while ago I came across a really interesting one for honey and walnut shrimp on Rasa Malaysia. The name drew me in at first as I like both honey and walnuts in addition to the shrimp and then I saw that it also included mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk. I would never have thought about a honey, mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk combo for shrimp and I was really intrigued. The fun does not stop there though as the shrimp are deep fried with a crispy cornstarch coatinhttp://world-supper-recipes.blogspot.com/g and the walnuts are candied! There was no way that I could pass up on trying this dish even if it did not sound all that healthy. The honey and walnut shrimp were pretty easy to make with the only challenge being the deep frying. I was not really sure what to expect from this flavor combination but it worked out surprisingly well. The savory mayonnaise and the tart lemon juice balance the sweet honey and condensed milk and they tasted great together. The crispy coating on the prawns added a nice texture and provided a great surface for the sauce to cling to. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Honey Walnut Shrimp

(makes 4 servings)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnut halves
oil for frying
1 pound shrimp (peeled and deviened)
1 egg white
1/2 cup corn starch
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
1. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the sugar.
2. When the sugar water turns golden add the walnuts and boil for 2 minutes.
3. Strain the walnuts and set them on parchment paper to cool.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Dip the shrimp into the egg and then into the corn starch.
6. Fry the shrimp in the oil until golden brown
7. Mix the mayonnaise, honey, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice in a bowl.
8. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.
9. Serve the shrimp garnished with the walnuts.
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Tomato Tart
NextGen Cars Manis
Tomato Tart

Tomato Tart

This tomato tart made its way around the food blogging sphere not too long ago and while I did not get the chance to make it I did bookmark it. Now that the locally grown field tomatoes are looking nice and ripe it was the perfect time to make it. This tart is made with layered phyllo dough though you could easily use puff pastry dough. The tart is topped with some onions, mozzarella cheese and of course fresh tomatoes. Parmigiano reggiano is spread between the layers of phyllo dough for even more cheesy goodness. The tart is finished with a fresh herb and I went with some fresh thyme. I cut the size of the recipe down to half by folding or cutting the phyllo sheets in half. The phyllo tomato tarts were pretty easy to make. The phyllo dough came out nice and golden brown and crispy and buttery and good. The thinly sliced tomatoes on top roasted a bit concentrating their amazing flavour. The thyme added a really nice aroma to each bite of the tart.

Ingredients:
3 sheets phyllo dough (thawed and cut in half lengthwise)
3 tablespoons butter (melted)
3 tablespoon parmigiano reggiano (grated)
1/2 cup red onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup mozzarella (grated)
2 tomatoes (thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon thyme (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper.
2. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough on the parchment paper and brush the top with butter.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of the parmigiana reggiano on top.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the rest of the phyllo dough.
5. Spread the onions slices on top followed by the mozzarella.
6. Place the sliced tomatoes on in a single layer.
7. Sprinkle the thyme on top along with the salt and pepper.
8. Bake in a preheated 375F oven until the phyllo dough is golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
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Parmesan and Sage Roasted Turkey Breast
NextGen Cars Manis
Parmesan and Sage Roasted Turkey Breast

Parmesan and Sage Roasted Turkey Breast

This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone that is celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving!!

It had been a long time since I last had roast turkey so there was no doubt at all that that would be on the menu this Thanksgiving. The only question was; What kind of roast turkey? I was all set to do a simple herbed roast turkey when I came across this recipe for a parmesan and sage roasted turkey on myrecipes that sounded really good. Of course sage would go great with the turkey but I was interested to see how the parmigiano reggiano would work on a roasted turkey. One of the things that I liked about this recipe is the attention that is paid to the gravy from the start including adding vegetables to the roasting pan simply to flavour the turkey drippings for the gravy.

Since I am not cooking for a large family I prefer to go with a single large turkey breast rather than doing a full turkey. (I have to admit that my favorite part of the roast turkey dinner is the leftover turkey sandwiches and the breast is what is required for those sandwiches.) Given the number of steps in this recipe, it took a bit longer to make than a more simple roast turkey but it was definitely worth it. The parmesan and sage roast turkey was nice and moist and tender and full of flavour. For the most part the parmigiano reggiano melted and disappeared into the sauce to add flavour to it but before it left it imparted the turkey with its flavour which worked well with the sage. The gravy was every bit as tasty as it prommised to be and I had a hard time trying to decided what to smother the turkey in; the gravy or the cranberry sauce or just to have it plain. I guess that's what seconds and thirds are for.

Parmesan and Sage Roasted Turkey Breast

(makes 4 servings)


Ingredients:
1 onion (roughly chopped)
1 stalk celery (roughly chopped)
1 carrot (roughly chopped)
4 cloves garlic (smashed and peeled)
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
2 tablespoons sage (chopped)
1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)
1/2 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
1 turkey breast (rinsed and pat dry)
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup shallots (chopped)
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon sage (chopped)
* chicken stock
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place the onion, celery, carrots and garlic in the bottom of the roasting pan.
2. Mix the parmigiano reggiano, sage, butter, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Rub the parmigiano reggiano mixture under the skin of the turkey and place the turkey in the roast pan breast side up.
4. Sprinkle the turkey with a bit of lemon juice and pour the chicken stock into the pan.
5. Roast the turkey in a preheated 425F oven until the skin is nice and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
6. Reduce the heat to 325F, cover the turkey with foil and roast until a thermometer pushed into the thickest part of the turkey reads 180F.
7. Remove from oven, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
8. Melt the butter in a pan.
9. Add the shallots and saute for 1 minute.
10. Add the sherry and sage and simmer to reduce by half, about 5-10 minutes.
11. Pour the drippings into a plastic bag straining the solids and discards them.
12. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the bag and pour the drippings until the layer of fat is about to come out and discard the fat.
13. Add chicken stock to the drippings to get 1 1/2 cups.
14. Add the drippings to the shallots and sherry.
15. Mix the flour into the water and add it to the gravy along with some salt and pepper and simmer to until it thickens, about 2 minutes.


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Roasted Turkey Breast Dinner
NextGen Cars Manis
Roasted Turkey Breast Dinner

This last weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada and it was a busy weekend. I had been looking forward to a traditional type of holiday dinner with the roasted turkey, the cranberry sauce, the green bean casserole, the sweet potato casserole, etc. I wanted to have the turkey dinner but as I am cooking for one I did not want to cook a full turkey so I decided to go with just a turkey breast (still on the bone with the skin). Roasting a turkey breast is relatively easy; I just rubbed it with some olive oil and pushed some sage up under the skin. I had a two pound turkey breast so I only needed to roast it for about an hour and a half until it reached the desired temperature of 160F internally. One of the good things about this dinner was that I could prepare the casseroles while the turkey was roasting and just slip them into the oven as needed so that they would be done at the same time as the turkey. The turkey breast turned out really well! The skin was nice and crispy and golden brown and the meat was moist and tender and good. All in all it was a great holiday dinner! I will be writing more about the rest of the dinner over the coming week
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