Savory Stuffed Pastry and Basil Dijon Aioli

Like most chefs, I’ve often found myself in France. Not literally, I’m neither a chef nor frequenter of France. But my pursuit to explore and master the kitchen certainly led me to the techniques of french cuisine. What I’ve discovered is that learning a few key techniques provides a foundation for so many cuisines and they are a lot easier than one imagines. As a self-taught “chef”; I’m still learning, but I can say with confidence that I make one hell of an aioli, which is just fancy mayonnaise.

However, I don’t think cooking should be over complicated. It takes the joy out of it. I take shortcuts whenever it’s fitting. So, here I show you how to make a fancy savory stuffed pastry using canned biscuits. I made the sauce from scratch, but I’ll tell you how to take a shortcut to make it, too. Enjoy my Savory Stuffed Pastry and Basil Dijon Aioli. ♥

 

Preparation time: 20 minutes	Cook time: 30 minutes	Makes: 10
Technique: Baking	Taste: Salty, Savory	Intermediate

 

Ingredients

For Pastry

• 1 can buttermilk biscuits
• 6 slices bacon
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup chopped turkey (sandwich meat will work)
• ⅓ cup sliced white mushrooms
• 1 large egg white (separate and use yolk for aioli)
• ½ tbsp garlic pepper
• 2 tsps basil

For Aioli

• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp basil dijon mustard (If no basil dijon mustard available, use regular dijon mustard and add an additional ½ tsp basil and 1 tsp white wine)
• ½ tsp basil
• 1 ½ tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic salt

For garnish

• 1 cup chopped kale
• dash coarse salt

 

Directions

Heat oven to 350℉. Place bacon strips two inches apart on cookie sheet. Top with kale. Bake for 5-7 minutes until kale is crisp. Remove kale, set aside, sprinkle with salt. Replace bacon and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until crisp. Remove, cool and chop bacon. Slice mushrooms, shred cheese, chop turkey. Set aside.

To make sauce: separate egg yolk into small bowl or blender. An immersion blender with a tall cup works best. Reserve egg white for later use. Whisk or blend egg yolk and mustard. Add olive oil slowly while whisking or a few drops at a time while blending. Blend until oil is incorporated and emulsified (If mixture separates, stop adding oil and continue whisking until mixture comes together, then resume adding oil.) Add minced garlic, garlic salt and basil. Blend until smooth.

To stuff pastries: Heat oven to 400℉. Open can of biscuits and roll or stretch until twice the diameter. Fill with turkey, mushrooms, bacon and cheese. Carefully, pinch all sides together until it resembles a filled wonton. Place on cookie sheet with the bacon grease still on it. Make sure there is an even coating of bacon grease or pastries will stick. This also enhances the flavor.  In small bowl mix basil and garlic pepper. Brush with reserved egg white. Sprinkle with garlic pepper and basil mixture. Bake 10-13 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from oven. Serve with aioli sauce and garnish with kale.

Variations

1. Use chopped ham instead of turkey
2. Use thyme instead of basil
3. Use mozzarella instead of cheddar cheese

As promised here’s the aioli cheat: use 1/2 cup of mayonnaise in place of eggs and olive oil. Mix with dijon mustard and spices. No worries about emulsification.

I served this with The Noble Pig’s Dill Pickle Soup for a fabulous meal.

Tasty Lane Savory Pastry and Dill Pickle Soup

Download the Recipes HERE

Related articles

• Macaroni and Cheese Muffins
• Bacon Ranch Deviled Eggs
• Sweet & Savory: Chicken and Waffles Recipe by Two of a Kind
• Caesar’s Potato Salad

Kale and Cheese Omelet

I once made an omelet so good that it got me kicked out of the house. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the main reason, but it was the last straw. It happened a few months into dating this British Pro-Golfer. For whatever reason, I had broken up with him and found myself in his kitchen the day after. To offer consolation I thought I would do something nice. I rummaged through his sparse bachelor-pad refrigerator and found eggs, cheese and some kind of leftovers with a meat I can’t recall. So, I made omelets.

I didn’t understand his surprise when he entered the kitchen (he knew I was there). First, he asked, “Where did you find the ingredients to make this?” I pointed to his kitchen. After taking a bite, he half asked, half exclaimed, “You can cook, too?!” I smiled and waited for a compliment. What I got was a heavy english accent, saying, “Get out. Get out, now!” Wow, what an omelet.

Here is one version; my Kale & Cheese Omelet. Please, don’t run me off if it turns out too good.

---

Kale and Cheese Omelet Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes	Cook time: 5 minutes	Serves: 1
Technique: Sauteing	Taste: Savory	Advanced

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp butter
• ¼  cup milk
• ½ cup cut kale
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• ½ small chopped onion
• ⅓ cup mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mince garlic and chop onion. Beat eggs and milk together.  Heat 1 tbsp butter in small saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onions. Saute until translucent. Add kale. Saute kale until wilted, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Scoop kale from pan and set aside. Add the other tbsp of butter to pan, return to medium heat, melt butter and evenly distribute over bottom of pan. Add beaten eggs. Lift corners of egg mixture, allowing liquid eggs to run beneath and cook. Do this until most of egg is cooked, but leave enough uncooked egg on top for a glossy texture. Add salt, pepper, kale and most of cheese. Gently, fold mixture over until both sides meet. Add remaining cheese to top. Only cook for another minute or so. Remove from heat. Mixture will continue to cook. Allow to sit until cheese has mostly melted. Garnish and serve.

 

Variations

1. Add chopped ham or turkey
2. Use feta cheese instead of mozzarella
3. Add oregano, basil and thyme

Serve as part of a complete breakfast.

Download the Recipe HERE

Kale and Cheese Omelet; part of a balanced breakfast.

Related articles

• Baked egg and spinach
• Chef’s garden skillet

The Saga of the Chocolate Cherry Poke Cake

Oh cherries, how you vex me with your seductive sweetness and alluring glossy hue. A few days ago, I offered Chocolate Cherry Fudge as a solution to leftover maraschino cherries. Chocolate and cherries, chocolate and strawberries, chocolate and lingonberries;
chocolate and any red berry delights the tongue. But, my heart was set on Chocolate Cherry Fudge. Unfortunately, my fudge was not set on it. As in, my fudge did not set. As I am prone to do occasionally; I did not follow my own instructions. I mixed it over the heat too long making it more liquid than solid. So, even overnight refrigeration left it too soft.

What about Pie?

An unused graham cracker pie crust leftover from the holidays begged for attention. With otherwise limited ingredients; I blended a makeshift whipped cream with milk and eggs. I scraped the unset fudge into it, remixed it and hoped for the best. What I got was a sticky, syrupy mess. I wasn’t giving up yet. Next, I tried freezing it. Overnight the chocolate gooeyness chilled in the freezer. And that’s all it did; chill. I awoke to a still too syrupy, still too sticky mess. Still the chocolate and cherry combo tasted amazing. “I can’t give up. I won’t give up!”

Cake! Cake will Save the Day!

Refusing to give up I whipped together an almond butter cake and baked for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I scraped the pie, crust and all, into the food processor. I pulled the cake from the oven. The cake looked good. Dare I possibly ruin it with my sticky mess? Yes. It was a risk I was willing to take. Using a straw I poked holes in the golden cake and drenched it with fudgy goodness. Baking it fifteen to twenty more minutes I held my breath as I pulled it from the oven.

Finally, my perseverance paid off. I present you Chocolate Cherry Poke Cake. Even more delicious than fudge. It’s fudge and cake! Let me go down in the annals of history as a saver of sticky messes and a savourer of sweetness. No recipe to follow. You can make and correct your own messes.

Dare I possibly ruin it with my sticky mess? Yes. It was a risk I was willing to take.

Related articles

• Snickers Pie
• No Bake Peanut Butter Pie
• Recipe: The Best Pecan Pie Ever

Latkes with Spicy Beet Sauce

I’m not a jew, but I do love one (or two). I also love trying foods from different cultures.
Although, I find that most cultures share similar dishes; the latke for example. In Southern U.S., we have a version we call potato pancakes. The English have a similar dish–the potato croquette. In fact, many cultures learned to stretch a potato when crops failed. While each version has its own history, latkes have a very special history. Read more about them on PBS.org.

Here I present one version of the latke/potato pancake/croquette.

I paired mine with a Spicy Beet sauce that I will introduce further down.

---

Preparation time: 10 minutes	Cook time: 30 minutes	Serves: 6 to 8
Technique: Frying, Blender	Tastes: Savory, Spicy, Sweet	Easy, Everyday

Potato Cheese Latkes Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups peeled & shredded potatoes
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 envelope onion soup
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¼ cup canola oil

Peel and shred potatoes. Place in a clean towel, squeeze to remove excess water. In medium bowl beat eggs, add soup mix, spices and flour, stir to mix. Add shredded potatoes and cheese to mix. Using hands, mix thoroughly. Heat oil over medium heat in skillet. Scoop 2-3 tbsp of potato mix in heated oil. Press gently to 1 inch thickness. Let fry 5-8 minutes until edges are brown. Heat oven to 250℉. Place cooked latkes on cookie sheet in oven while preparing Spicy Beet Sauce.

---


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/142452760


Be Still my Beet-ing Heart

Now, about the beet. It’s no coincidence that I paired my latkes with a beet sauce. First, beets are a fascinating root. With their bold red coloring and silken texture; I dare say they are the sexiest of the root family. Yet, their flavor is perhaps the most delicate and therefore, most difficult to finesse. Which, I think makes them that much sexier, but then again, challenge excites me.

Narcissa, André Balazs and Michelin-starred chef John Fraser’s restaurant in the East Village, New York City.

So, it was that I had my most tantalizing beet dish at one of New York City’s sexiest restaurants with one of New York’s sexiest men. The restaurant: Narcissa. The man: I don’t kiss and tell. I will tell you that it was Narcissa’s treatment of the beet that solidified my opinion that it is one of the most interesting root vegetables. Cooked rotisserie style and served with a tangy horseradish sauce–I nearly slid off my seat it was so delightful. The beet had a charred, crispy exterior with a soft interior (much like my date). I dare not attempt to recreate this dish, but I offer instead a Spicy Beet Sauce, which can be paired with a number of dishes, but there’s something romantic about putting these two roots together. Enjoy. ♥

Spicy Beet Sauce Recipe

• 1 15 oz can sliced beets
• 2 tbsp horseradish sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ tsp salt

Drain all but a few teaspoons of liquid from beets. Blend all ingredients. Serve cold with warm latkes from oven.

Variations

1. Add different cheeses to latkes
2. Use ground horseradish instead of horseradish sauce in Spicy Beet Sauce
3. Add sour cream to sauce for a milder flavor




Download Recipes HERE

Related articles

• NY Contest Features Pork Latkes on Hanukkah
• 5 Winter Produce Recipes for Fresh and Frugal Eating During the Long Winter Months

Chocolate Cherry Fudge

There’s something about wasting food that bothers me. It’s not the thought of poor starving children in Africa. (Although that is something I’d like to help with but my food over here has little influence on the problems there.) No, wasting food for me has more to do with wasted potential and the unmet challenge to my creativity.

A macro photo of a Maraschino cherry, taken with my Fuji S7000 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So it was that after the holidays a jar of maraschino cherries kept calling out to me. “You only used a few of us on ham. What about the rest of us? Don’t leave us in here for another year.” Okay, cherries, I heard you. Let’s see how you do in chocolate fudge.

I give you Chocolate Cherry Fudge. ♥

[Note: I don’t actually hear cherries talking to me. I just have a vivid imagination. Oranges on the other hand…]

Chocolate Cherry Fudge Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes	Cook time: 30 minutes Refrigerate Overnight	Serves: 4 to 6
Technique: Double boiler	Taste: Sweet	Kids Cooking

Ingredients

• 3 cups water
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• ½ cup powdered baking cocoa
• 6 tbsp salted butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup drained maraschino cherries (reserve syrup)

Directions

Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Using double boiler method, add butter to heat-resistant bowl or top pot of double boiler. Allow butter to soften. Add sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt to bowl. Mix well until smooth. Remove from heat. Beat until mix loses gloss. Chop drained cherries. Add 2-3 tsp of cherry syrup and cherries to mix. (Allow kids to add cherries or use enough to leave whole and have them place them in the mixture on the pan) Line a pan with parchment paper. Pour mixture into pan. Refrigerate overnight. Cut and serve.

Variations

1. Add nuts
2. Add marshmallows
3. Mix  2 cups of cooled mixture with a tub of cool whip and add to a graham cracker crust to make a pie

Download the recipe HERE

Related articles

• Farm Recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
• White Chocolate & Bailey’s Fudge
• The Prettiest Fudge You’ll Ever Make: 10 White Chocolate Fudge Recipes