Turkey Potato Galette

I have been participating in Secret Recipe Club since June 2011.  Between the blogs I have been assigned and those I visit on reveal day I have checked out a lot of blogs, yet there are always new ones to discover.  And that was the case with this month's assignment.  I am not sure how I haven't come across Camilla's blog before, but I will definitely be going back there on a regular basis.

Just as the name implies, Culinary Adventures with Camilla is filled with great recipes and great adventures.  Food isn't just enjoyed at home, but experienced in many places and ways.  She talks about picking cherries and olallieberries (a fruit I'm not familiar with) with her kids,  food is incorporated into movies and she has a great collection Cooking Around the World recipes.  But what I love most is that she is passing her love of cooking and food on to her kids.  I love her goal to "grow conscientious, creative kids with fearless palates." and would say it seems she is definitely achieving it.

When it came time to actually making something I had trouble narrowing it down, so I combined a couple of different recipes.  My first choice was the Herb Potato Onion Galette.  It had been a long time since I  made a Galette.  It is one of those foods that I forget about and then become obsessed with,  I love dishes that can be either sweet or savory and can easily substitute or swap ingredients, plus I had a lot of potatoes that needed to be used.  I also wanted to try Camilla's Kale Garlic Turkey Meatballs, again I had some kale that needed to be used up. So, instead of deciding between the two I made both, resulting in a delicious Turkey Potato Galette.

When I made this the first time, I cooked everything separately, but found that to time consuming.  I made a second batch this time cooking the potatoes and onions together and cooking the turkey and kale together.  Not only is this faster, but it also helps bring all the flavors together.

Turkey Potato Galette (Printer Ready)

Ingredients:

5-6 yellow potatoes, thinly sliced

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

½ lb. ground Turkey

1 bunch kale, washed and roughly chopped

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon paprika

3-4 cloves roasted garlic

1 disc pate brisse

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Place potatoes and onion in a single layer on large baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender to the touch.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Place saute pan over medium high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil.  Once pan and oil are warm add turkey, cumin and paprika.  Cook until turkey becomes light brown, add kale and continue cooking until kale is wilted.  Remove from heat.

On a piece of parchment paper roll brisse dough into a large circle. Move parchment paper and dough onto a baking sheet, it is ok of the dough hangs over the sides of the baking sheet.  Smash roasted garlic into a paste, rub onto dough.  Place turkey, kale, potatoes and onions in center of the dough, leaving about 2 inches of dough to fold over.  Fold dough over leaving some of the filling exposed.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly golden.

Savory Pate Brisee (Printer Ready)

(modified from a Roland Messier recipe)

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup water

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 egg

3 egg yolks

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine salt and 1 tablespoon of the water, stir to dissolve the salt.  Add the flour, garlic, basil, parsley and butter.  Using the paddle attachment mix on low speed until the mixture feels like sand.  With the mixer still on low add the egg and yolks one at a time.  Add remaining water, mix until the dough just comes together.  

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, divide into 2 equal size pieces.  Shape each into a ball and then pat into a disc.  Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least one hour before using.  Can be kept in refrigerator for up to 3 days or in freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, for up to 2 months.  

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

I'm not sure where the past month went.  The end of school craziness have made the days fly by in a blur.  Resulting in complete neglect of many things, including things here at Everyday Mom.  I have a pile of yummy recipes I want to share, but haven't found the time to sit down and get them written up.  I would like to think that I will get caught up once school is out, but based on past experience I am guessing having the three monkeys home all day will make getting caught even more difficult.

One thing I couldn't let slide was this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I got to check out Dancing Veggies.  Amanda focuses on cooking healthy vegetarian food on a budget.  Amanda participates in numerous food blog challenges and as a result has a lot of great recipes to choose from.

I had decided at the beginning of the month to make something from Secret Recipe to bring to my book club group.  It is one of those book clubs that is more focused on food and drink than actual book discussion.  I knew this audience would appreciate the idea behind the Secret Recipe Club and the wonderful dishes that come from it.  I had found a lot of great recipes I wanted to try, yet when it came time to actually making something I was short on time.  I needed a dish that would be quick to fix,  serve as a main dish, it had to be served at room temperature and it needed to be portable.  So despite the numerous choices, I went for a classic recipe Sun Dried Tomato Pesto over pasta.

This pesto gives a wonderful burst of flavor and can be served in many ways.  I served it over pasta, but it would be great with chicken, veggies or just smeared on bread.  I altered Amanda's recipe slightly by adding some pine nuts and a fire roasted pepper.  I like the texture the pine nuts provided and the pepper provided a little heat.  Either way you make it, this is a great recipe. It is super easy to make, which is perfect for those nights when time is at a premium.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

1 jar Sun Dried tomatoes in oil
1 fire roasted pepper
2 Tbsp. Pine nuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (about 6-10 leaves)
3 cloves garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place all ingredients in food processor.  Blend until mixture forms a thick paste.  With processor running slowly pour in olive oil until paste thins out to desired consistency.

SRC - Wonderful Winter Soup

Like many I crave simple easy foods at the start of the year.  After a month of indulgence all I want are simple nutritious foods and nothing fits this desire more than soup.  Soups can be made in 30 minutes or can simmer all day.  They can be a simple broth or chocked full of meats, vegetables, beans or pasta.  Being in a soup frame of mind I was thrilled when I came across Lesa's White Bean Sausage Kale Soup for this month's Secret Recipe Club.

Lesa's site, Edesia's Notebook, is filled with wonderful recipes that she shares with her husband and two adorable daughters.  Her holiday treats were mouth watering and the number of challenges and cooking groups she belongs to is definitely inspiring.  I was definitely tempted by many of her recipes, but stuck with the soup.

I made a few changes to Lesa's soup based on what was available in my kitchen, but that is one of the wonderful things about soup is that they are so versatile.  The two main changes I made were using spinach instead of kale and using a chorizo beef sausage and a chicken sausage in place of the Italian sausage Leasa used. We have become big fans of Cacique Beef chorizo it is wonderfully spicy and adds great flavor.  It almost disappears when cooking, so don't look to it if you want to add flavor and texture to the dish.

In my recipe I also added half a bottle of beer to help cut the spiciness of the chorizo and to add a little more flavor.  The addition of the beer is completely optional the soup is yummy either way.  I often add half a bottle or so because I like the hoppy flavor it provides and sometimes I add half a bottle just because it has been one of those afternoons.  It is completely up to you and the soup won't suffer either way.

Spinach White Bean Sausage Soup
5 oz. Cacique Beef Chorizo
2 links chicken sausage, cut into 1/2" slices
4 oz chicken broth
1/2 bottle beer (dark or light whichever flavor you prefer)
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen chopped spinach (or a bunch fresh spinach, chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, heat large soup pot.  Once pan is hot add chorizo, cook for about 5-7 minutes  add sausage cook until sausage is lightly browned.  Add broth and beer cook for 10 minutes or until liquids are warm. Stir in beans and spinach, add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer over medium low heat  for 10 minutes.

Please visit Lesa over at Edesia's Notebook and be sure to check out all of the wonderful recipes in this month's SRC reveal.


 

Chicken and Kale Soup

With the cold weather upon us, our consumption of soup has increased greatly.  Lots of squash, vegetable and chicken soups and stews have been making an appearance on our dinner table and then again the next day for lunch.

The most recent soup was a wonderfully simple Chicken and Kale soup.  As I have said before I struggle with greens.  I primarily use them in soups because that is the easiest for me and one way I know my kids will eat them.  They become completely oblivious to the tiny shrived piece of green in their soup and don't stick their noses up at like they do when it appears in a sauteed pile on their dinner plate.

While I like soups that simmer on the stove all day filling my house with a wonderful aroma I like 30 minute soups even better.  Soups that can be made at 9:00 in the morning, thrown in the fridge then reheated at 7:00 pm after practices are over are even better, and this is a soup that falls into both of those last two categories.

Chicken Kale Soup

2 chicken breast, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 onion, diced
1 Tbsp taco seasoning (see below)
2 cans dice tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 bunch kale, stems removed roughly chopped

Directions:
In large soup pan, over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add chicken cook until light brown.  Add garlic, onion and taco seasoning, cook for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and broth, cook for 20 minutes stir in kale, cook for another 10 minutes or until kale is soft.

*Chicken breast can be replaced with sausage of chicken sausage, adjust amount of taco seasoning if using a spicy sausage.

 Taco Seasoning

4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons paprika

6 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

4 teaspoons black pepper

Directions:

Mix together ingredients in an airtight container. Shake to combine.

Add 2-3 tablespoons for every 1 pound of ground beef, turkey or chicken. Use to replace store-bought taco seasoning in any recipe

Garden Sitting

We have been garden sitting for the past week 

and it has had many tasty rewards - tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, chard and even some blackberries.

We have been enjoying many wonderful meals, but the yellow squash has really challenged me.  I usually just grill or saute squash, but you can only have that so often before there is some rebellion.  Plus there were some really large squash which wouldn't be very tasty just grilled, so I decided to try some stuffed squash and I am happy to say it was very well received.

It is one of my favorite types of recipes - very easy and very versatile.  Simply choose a grain and a protein and you have a meal.   I opted for rice and beef, because that is what was in the fridge.  I kept it simple, but the recipe can be enhanced with some veggies.  The options are endless!

Since we still have lots of squash I am definitely going to continue experimenting with this dish.  I think next I am going to try a lighter filling.  Maybe a cold quinoa or couscous salad and add the filling to squash that has already been cooked.  I will keep you posted.

Stuffed Squash

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 cup rice

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp finely chopped oregano

1 tsp finely chopped basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmigiana cheese

4 large yellow squash, halved lengthwise seeds remove

Preheat oven to 375.

Over medium high, heat large saute pan.  Add ground beef, cook until brown.  Pour out excess fat, add onions.  Cook until onions are soft, then add tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add rice and vegetable broth.  Cover and cook until rice is soft.  Stir in ricotta and seasonings.  Evenly divide filling between squash halves, sprinkle with parmigiana cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes or until squash is tender.  

Texas Caviar

I am not sure when I will learn that procastination is not a good thing.  Every month I get my SRC assignment choose 2 or 3 recipes that look really good and am determined to make them right away.  Yet every month it seems as if I am scrambling to make something a few days before the posting deadline.

This month I knew I had to make something early in the month because of travel plans.  I gave myself a deadline of June 28th, but did I have anything made by then - no.  I was still ok though, I had a few days before we left on vacation and I had all the ingredients to make one of Noelle's Green Monster Smoothies, in Popsicle form.  I knew we had some super hot days coming up and couldn't wait to have a Cherry Bom Bom waiting in the freezer.

Then the power went out for two days, making our refrigerator look like this.

One good thing about an outage is that your fridge gets a really good cleaning.

 I knew the produce wouldn't last while we were gone so I passed it on to neighbors and decided to get back to An Opera Singer in the Kitchen when I returned from vacation.  I knew there were a lot of great recipes I could choose from and would definitely be able to find something to make, even if I only had a day to do it.

Since our weather was still unbearably hot I decided to go for something light and easy - Texas Caviar Salad.

This was the perfect dish for a hot summer night.  We made a meal out of it by serving it with some tortilla chips and avocado slices, but it also makes a great side dish.  I made it early in the morning, allowing all the flavors to meld together. I didn't need to turn the stove on during the heat of the day and we came home to a delicious and belly filling meal after an afternoon at the pool.  

I modified Noelle's recipe slightly - using canned beans instead of dry and reducing proportions.  Be sure to go visit An Opera Singer in the Kitchen. she has a lot of great vegan recipes on her site, so be sure to go check them out.

Texas Caviar


1 can black eyed-peas, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn (canned, frozen or fresh)
2 cups tomatoes, diced
1 cup cilantro, finely diced
1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup Italian dressing

Combine all ingredients, mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Enjoy!

Chicken Parm Burrittos

I saw this recipe on last month's Secret Recipe Club and as soon as I saw the title I had one of those duh moments.  Such a simple, obvious and brilliant idea, yet it never occurred to me.  

I thought we had stuffed tortillas with everything imaginable, yet for some reason I never imagined turning tortillas Italian.  Two of my favorite foods combined.  

Like many of my other favorite recipes that use tortillas, these are great at the end of the week when you have some leftovers to use up, or if you just need a super quick meal.  You can make everything from scratch or you can stop by the grocery store and pick-up a jar of sauce and a rotisserie chicken.

The recipe is from The Yummy Life, who got it from Connor's Cooking.





Chicken Parmesan Tortillas

4 cups cooked chicken, shredded
2 cups Marinara sauce
8 tortillas/wraps, warmed slightly
2 cups Mozzarella cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl combine the chicken, 1 cup of sauce, ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese and ½ cup of Mozzarella cheese, stir until combined.  Spoon ½ cup of mixture along one side of tortilla.  Roll tortilla lengthwise, folding in ends as you roll.  Place in a lightly oiled baking dish, seam side down.  Repeat with each tortilla.  Spoon remaining cup of sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and light golden brown.

Serve with remaining parmesan cheese.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Quesadilla

My family loves quesadillas, I make them for dinner a few times a month and pack them for lunches at least once a week.  We usually keep the fillings pretty basic - chicken, beef, black beans, cheese - and serve them with sour cream, salsa and avocado.  They are always tasty and filling, we enjoy them, but having the same thing over and over can get a little tiresome, so this week I decided to mix things up.

Black bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas.

These aren't a crazy flavor change, the base flavoring are basically the same as our typical quesadillas, but the sweet potato flavor is a nice change.  Plus we love cooking with sweet potatoes because it gives us a chance to sing the Sweet Potato song from this fun book - if you don't know it you have to go read it.  

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadilla

printer ready

Sweet Potato filling
2 large sweet potato
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven 375°
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into thin rounds.  Place in bowl drizzle with olive oil and add seasoning.  Toss until thoroughly coated.  Arrange potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet.   Bake for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft and slightly brown.  

Black Bean Filling
1 large can black beans
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix
½ cup salsa

Drain and rinse beans.  In a skillet add a drizzle of olive oil and warm pan over medium heat, add garlic cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add beans, seasoning mix and salsa cook until warm.

Quesadilla assembly
Tortillas
Sweet potato filling
Black bean filling
Salsa
Monterey cheese, shredded

Over a medium heat, in a skillet lightly coated with oil, warm both sides of one tortilla, just until light golden brown.  Remove from pan and add second tortilla, again lightly browning both sides.  When browning second side add a spoonful of each filling, salsa and a handful of cheese.  Top with the first tortilla, cover with a lid that will press the tortilla down.   Cook until cheese begins to melt.

Keep warm in 200° oven, while assembling additional quesadillas.  

Serve with salsa, avocado or sour cream

Pesto

I am not a huge fan of cooking with greens.  I use them in soup, but other than that I don't know what to do with them and therefore end up not cooking with them very often.  Usually if I have some in the fridge chances are pretty good that a portion of them will end up in the garbage, and I thought that was the fate of the half bunch of Collard Greens I had leftover from our New Years Day celebration.  Then I saw Sunny Anderson making a collard green pesto and  I now have one more way of  using up those greens.

This is a wonderfully  garlicky and nutty pesto.  Without any bitterness that is sometimes found in greens.  The recipe by Sunny Anderson uses kalamata olives.  I didn't include them because I thought the brine flavor of the olives would be too much for the kids, but after reading reviews of similar recipes I am definitely going to add the olives next time I make this pesto.

Besides the wonderful flavor and numerous ways this pesto can be used, it is a a great recipe to make with kids.  There is something kids of all ages can do.  Older kids can do all of the steps, with the exception of cooking the greens.  Younger ones they can get lots of practice cutting by rough cutting the greens and garlic before adding them to the food processor.  And the really little ones always love pressing the buttons and watching the food go around in the food processor.

I got two meals out of this recipes.  I used it one night on pasta and another night used it as a sauce for turkey meatball subs.  Both dishes were simple, super flavorful and enjoyed by the big and little people of the house, which recently hasn't been happening very often.  

Collard Green Pesto
Printer Ready

1 lb Collard greens (stems removed)
½ cup Almonds lightly toasted
2 cloves Garlic
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup Olive Oil

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add greens and blanch for about 1 minute, or until bright green.  Drain and shock in ice water bath.  Remove from ice water and pat dry with paper towels.  Roughly chop greens

Add greens, almonds, garlic and cheese to food processor.  Process until ingredients become finely chopped, with processor running begin adding olive oil until a paste is formed and pesto comes together.