Mini Lasagna Cups

1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey

1 onion chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

Salt and fresh pepper to taste

½ tsp oregano ½ tsp red pepper flakes

3 cups béchamel sauce

24 wonton wrappers

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Béchamel Sauce

3 cups whole milk
¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup all-purpose unbleached flour

Salt Fresh pepper nutmeg


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sauté chopped onion then brown beef (or turkey) in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add tomato sauce, salt pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes to remaining meat mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a separate pan melt the unsalted butter with the flour over low heat. Stir rapidly with a Wisk. Cook this for 1 minute and then remove from the heat. Add the milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg, stirring until the mixture thickens. During this process, stir constantly until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, and arrange a wonton wrapper in each cup. Take meat sauce and layer with 1 tablespoon among the 12 cups. Top with another wonton wrapper, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Layer 1 tablespoons of béchamel sauce over and add another wonton wrapper over, and repeat the layers by adding the remaining meat sauce, béchamel, wonton and top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the wonton wrappers are golden. Cool in the muffin tin for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Also an idea to make with wontons, sauce béchamel with spinach and layered with cheeses.

Spinach and Rice with Yogurt (Spinach Fatte)

This is a meatless dinner that everyone I know enjoys. You can also make it with lamb or beef stew added to the spinach. The Fatte is assembled last minute and serve immediately otherwise the bread becomes soggy. Thanks for Tommy for taking a great picture!



Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh baby spinach rinsed

1 onion chopped

¼ cup oil

1 bunch of cilantro rinsed

1 tsp salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp red chili pepper (optional)

½ tsp cinnamon

1 juice of lemon

2 cups of long grain rice

Pita bread

½ cup Pine nuts fried with oil

1 pound yogurt



In a large pot sauté onion in oil till translucent. Add spinach and sauté add salt pepper and nutmeg until leaves are wilted. Chop cilantro and add to the spinach. Add ½ cup water and the lemon juice over cover and cook for 10 – 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the rice with three cups of water.

Cut pita into ½ inch squares toast in oven till gold in color. Put in a bowl and sprinkle olive oil and set aside. In a small pan sauté pine nuts in a bit of oil or butter, set aside.

Mix the yogurt together with ½ tsp salt and ½ cup water.

In a large serving bowl layer the rice then the spinach and the yogurt over. Add the toasted bread and pine nuts over, and sprinkle with red chili pepper and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Baked Chicken and Potatoes

Easy chicken in the oven prep time 10 -15 minutes, bake and ready in no time. You can change seasonings omit or add vegetables to make it your own. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canola oil

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic and salt made a paste.

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme or oregano leaves.

• 1 tablespoons grated lemon zest.

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon.

• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes.

• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

• 1 (3-pound) whole chicken, cut up into 4 pieces.

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

• Juice of 1 or 2 lemons freshly squeezed.

• 3 baking potatoes peeled and sliced into ½ inch slices

Whisk together the oil, 2 tablespoons of the garlic, 2 tablespoons of the thyme, 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest and salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon juice in a large baking dish. Add the chicken and turn to coat in the oil. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Pre-heat medium size pan and with 1 Tablespoon of oil and brown potatoes and layer in a baking dish, add pepper and salt. Brown chicken on both sides and place over potatoes along with the marinade. Bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is done. Serve.

Serves 4

Non Traditional Roast Turkey

Merry Christmas!
Christmas is nine days away and it’s time to get ready. If you’re preparing turkey like me, it is time to order your fresh turkey. With some organization you should be able to prepare a fantastic meal and enjoy it too! So here is my version hope you will like.



Preparation time: About 5 hours.

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

• 1 turkey, approx. 15 lbs( 6-7 kilos)

• Juice of a lemon

• Salt and pepper

• Olive oil or 1 stick melted butter

• 1 orange zest plus whole quartered

• Ginger ½ inch piece peeled and grated

• Sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme

• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur

• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 Tablespoon paprika

Method

To start, if the turkey has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before cooking. Keep it in its plastic wrapping until you are ready to cook. If you get a frozen turkey, you will need to defrost it in the refrigerator for several days first.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash out the turkey with water. Pull out any remaining feather stubs in the turkey skin. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Lather the outside and the inside of the cavity with the juice of half a lemon. Take a small handful of salt and rub all over the inside of the turkey.

For flavor, put inside the turkey the quartered orange. Close up the turkey cavity with either string or metal skewers. Make sure that the turkey's legs are tied together, held close to the body, and tie a string around the turkey body to hold the wings in close.

The neck cavity can be stuffed with thyme, rosemary and tied closed with thin skewers and string.

Rub either melted butter or olive oil all over the outside of the turkey. Continue with Grand Marnier, soy sauce then sprinkle salt generously all over the outside of the turkey. Add the pepper and orange zest, paprika, and grated ginger, rosemary thyme.

Place turkey on the bottom of a rack over a sturdy roasting pan big enough to catch all the drippings.

Put the turkey in the oven. The recommended cooking time is about 15 minutes for every pound (1/2 Kilo). For the 15 lb turkey, start the cooking at 400 F for the first 1/2 hour. Then reduce the heat to 350F for the next 2 hours. Then reduce the heat further to 225 F for the next hour to hour and a half.

Take the temperature readings with a meat thermometer, the dark meat in the thigh should be about 175°F. The white meat in the breast should be 160°F to 165°F. If you don't have a meat thermometer, spear the breast with a knife. The turkey juices should be clear, not pink.

Note when breast turn golden brown in color cover with foil to prevent from turning black

Once you remove the turkey from the oven, let it rest for 15 -20 minutes.

Gravy:

Scrape all the drippings off of the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour drippings into a smaller skillet. Ladle off excess fat with a gravy cup and discard. In a separate small bowl take a quarter cup of corn starch and add just enough water to dissolve the corn starch. Beat cornstarch with a whisk to remove lumps. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the drippings, stirring constantly. You may not end up using all of the cornstarch mixture. Only add as much as you need to get the desired thickness. Allow time for the cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Add salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or other seasonings to taste.

Note: you can substitute Grand Marnier and soy sauce for dry white wine and some bacon for a different flavor.

Chicken kebobs - Shish Taouk

April is here!! Weather is warmer and we are taking advantage of grilling outside. One of my daughter's favorite is shish taouk. I serve it with hummus pita bread and fattoush salad. So for her April birthday we celebrated it with her favorite food and some of her favorite friends! Thanks for coming !!! :)


Ingredients:


2 pounds boneless skinless chicken

1 tablespoon paprika

½ teaspoon rep pepper

1 tablespoon red pepper paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

5 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 onion cut into cubes

1. Cut the chicken into medium size cubes. In a bowl mix the paprika, lemon juice, olive oil, red pepper paste, cubed onion, salt and pepper.



2. Marinade the chicken cubes in the mixture for 1-2 hours or overnight.


3. When ready to cook, thread the chicken pieces on a skewer. Alternate with some vegetable like green pepper and mushroom and onion.


4. Simply grill until chicken begins to brown on all sides.


The chicken taouk can be served with hummus and pita bread.



Serves 4-6