Moroccan chicken pastry AKA B'Stilla

• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 bag (about 2 lbs) boneless skinless chicken meat
• 1 onion diced

Summer these ingredients together on medium-low for about 1 hour. Then remove the chicken and shred it and put it back in the pan with the broth. 

• 1 bunch cilantro
• 4-6 oz slivered almond

Use a food processor to blend these to a fine dice almost to a paste. Add in to the chicken mixture. 

• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ginger

Add in these seasonings and simmer until the liquid is almost gone

• 4 eggs-beaten lightly

Mix in the egg and cook for about 3 minutes to make sure the egg cooks through. Stir constantly for these few minutes. Then place the mixture in the fridge to cool slightly. 

• 1/2 package phyllo dough
• 4 tbsp. melted butter

Take individual sheets of the phyllo dough and place around a springform pan with butter in between layers and the tops hanging over the edge of the pan. Once you have a layer about 5-8 thick at the most in all places, fill it with your chicken mixture and then slowly fold a few layers over the top at a time, still buttering in between layers. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes or until the top is browned. 

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamin

Mix these together and sprinkle over the top. I know it sound weird, a spiced chicken dish topped with sugar, but it works. Don't skip this step.

Double layer pumpkin cheesecake pie

We originally came across this recipe here but over the years a few changed and tips have been added.

This is a no-bake pie and it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie with whipped cream built in.

Start by placing a pre-made (or make it yourself) graham cracker crust in the fridge to chill.

• 6 oz cream cheese-softened
• 1 Tbs. Milk or half and half
• 1 tbs. sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whipped topping or thick whipped cream-sweetened

Mix first three ingredients together on low speed till smooth. Fold in the whipped topping and spread the mixture over the bottom of the pie crust. Chill for at least 2 hours. 

• 1 cup milk
• 2 (3.5 oz) packages of vanilla pudding mix
• 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spices (or 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1.2 tsp clove, 1.2 tsp ginger)

Mix the milk and pudding mix together thoroughly and then add in the pumpkin and spices. Mix well and spread over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Chill for at least 4 hours. 

Fried Chicken

There are two types of fried chicken we make in our family. Growing up we would make a breaded fried chicken and we have added a more traditional style buttermilk fried chicken in recent years.

Breaded Fried Chicken:

• 6 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• season with salt and pepper
• 1- 2.5 lb bag of chicken thigh strips

Start by mixing all these ingredients (except chicken) together in a large bowl.

Get a large pan on the stove with at lease 2.5-2 inched of oil heating over medium. 

Dredge the chicken in the mixture and drop into the hot oil. Cook till medium brown on each side and then place on a paper towel to dry. Make sure that the chicken is cooked all the way through. If it isn't yet, turn down the heat a little bit. 

If you have any batter left over you can cook the batter plain and make what we refer to as crunchies. They are a nice fluffy bread like snack that is great with a bit of salt. 

Optional: for a more exotic version, add some curry powder to the batter.

Buttermilk fried chicken. 

Start by soaking the chicken in buttermilk for a few hours in the fridge before cooking. 

Season some flour with season salt and onion powder and put it on a plate or shallow bowl. 

Beat about 4 eggs  in a large bowl. 

Take the chicken pieces from the buttermilk and put it in the flour then move it into the egg and back to the flour. Coat evenly and fry like the above recipe. Repeat with the rest of the chicken pieces. 

If you use larger pieces or bone in pieces of chicken it will take longer to cook so you will have to be more careful about oil temperatures. Using chicken breast meat also tend to result in drier meat. I suggest the chicken thigh strips to avoid these problems.

Lavender panna cotta

• 4 cups cream
• 2 cup milk
• 4 tbs lavender blossom
• 1 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup milk
• 2-.5 ounce packages of plain gelatin

Start by putting the cream, milk and lavender in a pot a heat over medium for 15-20 minutes. Don't let it boil. 

At this point Mix the gelatin into the 1/3 cup milk and let sit for 5 minutes. 

Then add in the sugar to the cream mixture and whisk till dissolved. Strain out the blossoms. Then add in the gelatin mixture and whisk until everything is dissolved. Put the mixture into ramekins or a large shallow baking dish and chill for a minimum of 6 hours. 

Homemade Tomato Soup

•  3 fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• oil
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 cup cream

This is a pretty simple dish. Start by dicing up the tomatoes and onion and seasoning with salt and pepper and sugar. Saute with the garlic in oil (about 1 tbs) for 5-7 minutes. Put them in a blender with the cream and blend till smooth. Put it back in a pot to heat up. 

OPTIONAL: add in a 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella when you blend to make a cheesy tomato soup.

The acid level of this dish will depend entirely on which type of tomato you choose. Experiment with different types to find your favorite. 

Meringue Cookies

4 egg whites

1 cup of fine white sugar (use what you have and pulse in a food processor for 30 seconds)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp flavoring (vanilla, orange extract, peppermint, rose water... you choose)

3-6 drops food coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper) or a silicone baking mat. If you don't have wither, just well grease a pan and be prepared to scrub a bit afterwards. 

Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixer and beat at medium speed until soft peaks (holds it shape when you pull the mixer out but the tips droop over). Increase the speed to high and slowly add in the sugar and flavoring (and color if you want) until well incorporated. 

Spoon the batter into a pastry bad and use a star tip pipe it onto the prepared cookie sheet. They should be between quarter and half-dollar sized dollops. Bake for 75 minutes then turn the oven off without opening the door and let them sit in the warm oven for another 90 minutes.

Stuffed Mushrooms and Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed peppers.

These stuffed mushrooms are a traditional accompaniment to our Christmas Eve meal but they make a great appetizer. 

• 
  
• 1 lbs sage sausage
• 1 package cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1-2 lbs button mushrooms

First, wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Keep the whole mushroom to the side and mince the stems and the green onion. Cook up the sausage in a pan and add in the cream cheese and minced onion and mushroom stem and stir as the cream cheese melts everything together. Stuff the mushroom caps with the filling and bake at 350 for 15-20 minute. 

Alternative: 

Sausage and quinoa stuffed peppers

Get fewer mushrooms and dice them all up for the filling. Cook some quinoa and add it to the filling just after the cream cheese melts. Then either slice some peppers in half and remove the seeds or cut the top off and remove the seeds and ribs from the inside. Pre-bake the peppers at 350 for about 5-7 minutes and then stuff them with the filling and bake another 10 minutes  

Pork and apples in a ginger cream sauce

Pork

• 4 country style pork ribs
• 2 tbs buttermilk 
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• butter

Sauce:

• 1 cup apple juice that has chilled overnight with pieces of ginger root in it-remove the ginger root
• 1 tbs grated ginger
• 1 tsp stone ground mustard
• juice of 1 orange
• 1 apple-diced
• 1/4 cup cream

Start by simmering all the ingredients except the cream over medium heat in a small saucepan. Then begin working on breading the pork. Start by mixing the breadcrumbs, thyme, salt and pepper. Then coat the pork in buttermilk and dredge it in the brad crumb mixture. Melt some butter in a pan over medium heat and when it starts to sizzle, add the breaded pork. Sear on each side then reduce the heat a bit and put a lid on. Cook till the pork is done (about 5-7 minutes). 

The sauce should have reduced my at least half by now. Make sure it doesn't go much past this. Add in the cream and make sure it is heated through.  

Serve over rice or quinoa with the sauce, meat, and a green vegetable like roasted asparagus or steamed green beans. 

Trifle

Growing up, we always spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s family and that night we would feast and when the grown-ups were finally done eating we got to open presents. We got one from a cousin and one from the grandparents. After a frantic clean up the family would scatter to their respective homes for Christmas morning. We spent that with my mom’s mom. This month I will be sharing recipes from our traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner meals.

First up: Trifle

This is a dish we would have on Christmas Eve. It was one of my mom’s contributions to the feast. She spent a significant chunk of her childhood visiting her grandparents in England and this is her version of English Trifle.

·         1 angel food cake

·         1 large package red jello

·         1 large can sliced peaches

·         1 large package vanilla pudding-prepared

·         1 tub whipped topping

The night before, break the angel food cake into chunks and let it sit overnight to get stale. In the morning, prepare the jello according to directions. When it is about half set, pour it over the angel food cake and put it back in the fridge to finish setting.

Then place the sliced peaches on top,

cover with pudding

then top with whipped cream. Yumm.