Five Minute Artisan Bread and Naan

At the archery gathering yesterday Diane told me about Five Minute Artisan Bread. So I found the recipe here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx. She also said she has some sourdough starter that has been around since making it to the west in a covered wagon, and she promised to share some at our next meeting. The Artisan bread info also tells how to make Naan, one of my favorite breads that you can even make on a camp-out. So I can't wait to try that too.

The photo is of Diane beading a necklace. She's camera shy.

Tostadas for a Quick Dinner

When I want a meal in a hurry I go with Tostadas.

Ingredients: Flour or Corn Tortillas
1 small can of refried beans
1/2 C grated cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
1 C of lettuce mix
1 small diced tomato
Season salt

Serves 1 or 2 adults

First grate the cheese and dice the tomato. Put the beans in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water and heat up slowly, stirring from time to time so they don't burn to the bottom.

Fry the tortillas flat in a bit of cooking oil. Drain on paper towels. I like mine crispy.

Assemble:
Smooth the beans over the tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese so that it melts a bit over the hot beans. Add some lettuce mix and the tomatoes. Serve while warm. Salt to taste.

Optional: Salsa and/or Cilantro and/or sour cream
Optional: Pre-cooked ground beef

Sourdough Starter

I decided it was about time I made some sourdough starter. I'm going to use these excellent directions for sourdough. My boyfriend made some a few years back but we lost it when we moved. So now it's my turn to give it a go. I'm excited.

Day 2: So far my starter seems to be doing what it's supposed to be doing...expanding, bubbly, and so forth. This photo was from last night right before I moved it to a bigger jar.

Apple Turnovers

For today I wanted to use up my leftover Fillo Dough and my Gaia apples so I found this recipe on Cooks.com for Apple Turnovers.
Since I was using already cut sheets of dough I had to approximate the way they said to fold it, but it came out fine. The recipe calls for Granny Smith Apples, so if you are making a trip to the store get those instead.
After I cut the apples, I asked my boyfriend if I could use one of the lemons he bought last time we went to the market and he said no. He was just about to use it for some Stuffed Grape Leaves (which turned out wonderful). So I had to walk to the store to get a lemon. Actually, I got a tablespoon of lemon out of just half the lemon. But I was also able to get some milk to go with the apple turnovers. So Yay!

The one thing that is not in that recipe is the Powdered Sugar Glaze. Put about 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar in a small bowl, and add literally a few drops of water at a time and stir, until you get the consistancy you want. Let the apple turnovers cool for 10 minutes before drizzling the glaze over them. Also, I sprayed the pan with ordinary cooking spray, but used melted butter brushed on with a pastry brush between the layers and also on top.

Falafels

About a month ago, I wanted to make pita pockets with falafel for my boyfriend. But much to my surprise the markets I go to no longer carry either one, much less Tahini sauce. Then tonight my boyfriend wanted to go to a market we've never been to called Super King. He wanted to get supplies to make pickles and we hadn't found pickling cucumbers anywhere either. Well, happily, they had his cucumbers, and while we were wandering about, I spotted some powdered falafel mix. It had no directions on it though. But later I turned around and saw not just one brand of falafel mix, but several. Yes! Of course then I had to go back to the very front corner of the store again to look for pita pocket bread. Well, they had that too. And I was trying to remember what goes into a falafel when I remembered the Tahini sauce. So I told my boyfriend, "Where would I look for Tahini sauce." And he said, "Right behind you."

He's a little nervous though. He's not a fan of beans and falafels are made from garbonzo beans and seasoning. I hope he will give it a fair chance.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

We had leftover roasted chicken so I decided to try out the Foreman grill someone gave us by making a sandwich. So I took some wheat bread and buttered the outsides. For the filling I used breast meat, tomato slices from my garden, mozerella and feta cheese, and a bit of cilantro. I wanted cranberry sauce on it but was afraid that wouldn't work in the grill so I put the cranberry sauce on the side. It was yummy but next time I'll put some mayo on it before grilling.

Fayme's Super Easy Cherry Tarts

Ingredients:
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 Package of fillo dough
1/3 cube of butter (melted)
2 Tbsp water
1/4 C powdered sugar
Makes 24 tarts

To make these I sprayed a cupcake pan with cooking spray. Then I cut some Fillo dough into squares and tucked about 6-9 squares into each cup. I carefully brushed each 'cup' with melted butter to keep it from shifting. Then I added a spoonful of canned cherries like you put in pies into each cup. Then I added a few more layers to cover and brushed with butter again. I baked for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  I took a little bowl and while they were baking I stirred about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp. of water to make a glaze.  After I took the tarts out, I let them cool a minute then drizzled glaze on each one. I popped them out with a fork and we ate them while they were still warm. One can will make 24 tarts. I only made half today. I'll make the other half in a day or two.

Cherry Tarts

For lunch I made a really cool sandwich in the George Foreman grill someone gave us. And now I'm going to make cherry tarts with the Filo pastry. I was going to make them earlier today but I forgot the Filo takes 5 hours to thaw. I wish I hadn't put it in the freezer when we got home from the market on Sunday.