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SWEET POTATO PIE!!!!!!





I hope that your preparations for Thanksgiving are going well. I wish you safe travels and regardless of if you are with people or not, a day of reflection on the greatness in your lives and this is what you should indeed be thankful for. I am thankful for your following!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Smoked Salmon Surprise Pockets

What do you do when you have some empanada dough leftover and you just don't know what to do with it? Make a Surprise Pocket! Okay, I'll admit it, I had no idea what I was going to do with the leftover dough I had in the fridge, but what is cooking, but experimenting in the kitchen? Sometimes you end up with a great invention like these, Smoked Salmon Surprise Pockets!

Ingredients:

-100g Smoked Salmon (OR sliced sandwich ham/turkey)
-4 tbsp. fine cheese for pasta
-1/2 stick butter
-3/4 cup of milk
-3-4 onions
-1 egg
-3-4 spoons of brown sugar
-1/4 cup of vinegar
-olive oil
-pre-made dough
-pinch of all spice
-salt

This is such an easy recipe! The hardest part is caramelizing the onions. To caramelize the onions, cut an onion julienne. Pour abundant olive oil in a pan, add the onions and saute on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the juice in the onions evaporate. Add 3-4 spoons of sugar and stir. Continue sauteing on low until the sugar caramelizes. Add 1/4 cup of vinegar and continue sauteing and stirring until the vinegar evaporates. Once the onions are greatly reduced and take on a brown colour, refer to the picture if you aren't sure how they should look, they are done.

Next, prepare the bechamel sauce. First melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and saute for a few minutes to cook the flour. Add the milk little by little whisking. You don't want to add it all at once because you want to get the right consistency. So add a little milk, whisk and if it's too thick, add more milk. Continue whisking and adding milk until you get the thickness that you want. Then add a pint of salt and all spice, mix it in and set the bechamel to the side to cool a bit.

Preheat the oven on high. Now you are ready to set up the Surprise Pockets. Place the dough on a plate, add a spoon of cooled bechamel to the center of the dough, spread out leaving some room around the edges so it's easy to fold the pockets later. Next, add some previously cut up smoked salmon (or sandwich meat. I actually ran out of smoked salmon so made the last 3 with slice ham and my husband couldn't decide which he preferred!), and then top with some caramelized onions. There are various ways that you can fold the dough to make the pockets. Brush egg around the outside and either fold all the sides into the center,trying to overlap the ends so that they seal. You can also bring two ends together and then the fold last end to the center to make a triangular pocket. Experiment. It doesn't really matter how you fold these because it'll taste the same!

Place the finished pockets on a tray that is lined with parchment paper. Brush the pockets with egg yolk so that they shine when done and place the tray in the pre-heated oven, turning the temperature down to around 180C/350F. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the pockets look brown. Midway through the baking process you can open up the oven and brush one more layer of egg yolk for extra shine!
When done place on a pretty plate and serve! You can eat these on their own or with a side salad or vegetable.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen. It's the biggest party place in my house!

Cous Cous Salad

Cous Cous is semolina (wheat), although different grains can be used to produce it depending on the region. It is a very quick and easy to prepare and versatile. I used to experiment eating it with curry dishes, but then one day I tried my friend Andi's amazing cous cous salad and HAD to get her recipe! She said easy, replace water with orange juice and/or stock. It makes such a difference in the flavor! Try it!
















What you'll need:
-a box of cous cous
-equal parts orange juice as cous cous
-a red pepper
-mint or spearmint
-a bag of mixed greens
-6 sun dried tomatoes
-a handful of pistachios
-a half an apple
-a lemon
-a spoon of curry powder
-olive oil
-salt
















First, cut up the peppers, apple and sun dried tomatoes and put in a bowl. Squeeze a lemon and add the juice to the bowl and mix. Let sit.

In the meantime, mash the pistachios in a mortar and press. Wash two handfuls of mint/spearmint and dice up finely.

In a pan bring the OJ* (orange juice) with a spoon full of curry powder and salt to a boil. Shut off the heat and pour in equal parts cous cous and cover for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, open the lid and break up the cous cous with a fork, pouring some olive oil or butter on top. Allow to cool to room temperature. In the meantime, put your mixed greens in a bowl, add the apples, sun dried tomatoes and red pepper mixture. When the cous cous is cooled, add it to the greens and add the pistachios and mint/spearmint and mix. Dress with olive oil and if need be vinegar for added flavor.

*Note, you can use lemonade, vegetable/meat/fish stock, or even water to make cous cous. Just remember, whatever you use, is how the cous cous will taste. Also, don't forget to use the same amount of cous cous as liquid. So if you are making 2 cups of cous cous, you need to bring 2 cups of liquid to a boil.




Serve and enjoy!