Tahini Sauce

We often have bagels for breakfast.   There's nothing wrong with plain ol' cream cheese on a bagel, of course, but sometimes I like something a bit different than that.   I am very fond of hummus on bagels, for example.   My latest favorite bagel topping is Tahini Sauce.

I first made Tahini Sauce to go with the falafel I made for a weekend lunch recently (more about the falafel in another post), but once I tried it, I realized it would work excellently as a bagel topping.  So I made up another batch and have been using it for just that purpose.   Juli isn't fond of it as a bagel topping - she thinks the savory, garlic flavor is too much for a breakfast food - but I'm loving it.

Tahini Sauce

yield = not quite 1 cup of sauce

1/2               cup tahini
3                  large garlic cloves, chopped
2                  tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4               teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4               teaspoon table salt
1/4               cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2                  tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Add tanihi, garlic, parsley, pepper and salt to a food processor and pulse until blended and smooth.  Transfer to a small mixing bowl. 

Stir in olive oil, lemon juice and sesame seeds.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes, or preferably refrigerate overnight, for the flavors to blend, then serve as a bagel topping or sandwich condiment.

Cooking Tip:
Roasting sesame seeds is pretty easy.  Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the seeds and cook, stirring frequently, until most of them have started to brown.   This takes about 5 minutes.  Toward the end, you will need to be stirring them almost constantly to avoid burning.

Quick Strawberry Sauce

When Juli recently made crepes, I decided we should have some strawberry crepes for dessert.   The filling for the strawberry crepes was pretty simple - fresh, sliced strawberries mixed with a bit of cream cheese - but I also tossed together a quick strawberry sauce to top the crepes.  

It's easy to make and quite good, and it makes an ample amount of sauce.  

We had more than enough to top the crepes, so I used some of the leftover sauce as an ice cream topping over the next couple days.  It was really good either cold or when warmed in the microwave for a minute or so.

Quick Strawberry Sauce

yield = approximately 2 cups of sauce

1              pound fresh strawberries, hulled and finely diced
1/2           cup granulated sugar
1              tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Combine the diced strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes or until the strawberry bits have partially broken down and the strawberry juice, lemon juice and sugar have formed a thick syrup.   Serve. 

Sunday Dinner: Roast Turkey Breast, Potatoes and Gravy, Stuffing.

Juli and I both love turkey.  We love this time of year because it's easy to find good turkeys, and because it's cool enough that roasting a turkey results in a warm kitchen, not a too-hot-to-stand house.  So, as autumn has arrived, we've been looking forward to making our first turkey of the season.  On Sunday, that time came.  I suppose one might regard it as sort of a pre-Thanksgiving, because we sure were thankful for the bountiful meal.

Instead of a full turkey, I prepared a turkey breast.  I mixed together fresh rosemary, orange zest and some other seasonings with softened butter and applesauce, loosened the skin over the breast meat, spooned the butter mixture under the skin, and then pressed on the skin to spread the butter mixture around.   After spreading a bit more of the seasoned butter over the skin, I pierced an orange several times and stuck it into the breast cavity.   Next I cut up some onions, apples, celery and carrots and put them in the roaster, then put a V-rack in the roaster and the turkey in the rack.   After not quite two hours in the oven, the turkey breast was ready.

It turned out great.  The skin was perfectly crisped, the meat was flavorful and moist, and the butter, seasonings and fruit and vegetable juices combined with the drippings from the turkey to make the base of a really tasty gravy.  I should note that Juli made the gravy.   She's got a knack for making gravy that I haven't yet been able to match.  She doesn't think she does anything special with it; all I know is that she does a consistently great job with gravy.  The results are almost invariably rich, flavorful and smooth, with exactly the right texture.

Along with the turkey, I made up a batch of cranberry sauce and some stuffing, as well as heating up some frozen peas and dinner rolls and reheating the Mashed Potato Casserole we'd made to go along with Saturday's steak dinner.   I must say, the casserole was much more impressive the second night, warmed up and topped with Juli's turkey gravy. 

The cranberry sauce came from one of our favorite blogs, Closet Cooking.  Kevin lives in Toronto, and his blog features lots of great recipes and beautiful food photography.  You can check it out here.  As I was planning this meal, I recalled one of the recipes I'd seen on Kevin's blog recently:  Gingered Cranberry Sauce.  Fresh cranberries are cooked up with grated ginger, orange juice and sugar.   Given my love of ginger and that I'd already planned to include a citrus element in the turkey seasonings, I couldn't pass it up... and I'm glad I didn't!  It was delicious.   I think we'll be making this one as part of our contribution to Thanksgiving at Juli's folks' place this year, though I think I'll probably dial down the ginger a bit, as not everyone likes it quite as much as we do. 

You can see Kevin's recipe here.  And if you aren't a regular to the blog, check out the rest of the recipes while you're there.  You'll be glad you did.

I hadn't originally planned to make stuffing with Sunday's dinner, but Juli requiested it, and it wasn't too difficult to add it to the table.  All I did was make up  two boxes of store-bought turkey stovetop stuffing mix, tossing in a cup of fresh, chopped cranberries, a half-cup of applesauce and two tablespoons of crushed pecans.  It turned out great, and really helped make the meal.  Plus, it made for great leftovers.  I prepared six servings of sliced turkey topped with cranberry sauce, stuffing topped with turkey gravy and some peas.  Juli and I had that for lunch on Monday, and I froze the rest so we can revisit the meal down the road when we're in the mood for a hearty lunch.

For bread, I turned to our go-to brand of toss-in-the-oven dinner rolls, Sister Schubert's Dinner Yeast Rolls.  You can pick them up in the frozen section of Wal-Mart.  They're fast and tasty, and highly recommended.

Below is the recipe I used in preparing the turkey breast.  Sunday was my first time preparing turkey this way, but since it turned out great, I don't think it will be the last.

Roasted Turkey Breast with Apple, Orange and Rosemary

yield = approx. 8 servings

1       Orange
4       tablespoons of butter, softened
1       tablespoon applesauce
1       tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2    teaspoon paprika
1/2    teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2    teaspoon salt
1       bone-in whole turkey breast (thawed, if frozen)
2       tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2       carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
2       stalks celery, halved
2       large onions, peeled and cut into thick slices

Pan Gravy:

chicken broth (as needed)
chicken soup base (as needed)
cornstarch (as needed)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Grate 1 teaspoon of zest off the orange.  Set the orange aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix butter, applesauce, rosemary, garlic, orange zest, paprika, black pepper and salt in a small bowl. 

Loosen the skin on both sides of the turkey breast by sliding your hands between the skin and the meat, being careful to not tear the skin.   Set aside 1 teaspoon of the butter mixture.  Use a spoon to push half of the rest of the butter mixture under the skin on each side of the turkey breast.  Using your hands, rub the turkey skin around to spread the butter mixture evenly over the turkey breast meat.  Spread the reseved teaspoon of butter mixture over the skin of the turkey.

Pierce the partly-zested orange several times with a fork and place it within the breast cavity.

Place the sliced apples, carrots, celery and onions in a roasting pan.  Spray a V-rack with nonstick cooking spray and place it in the roaster, then place the turkey breast on the rack.

Roast the turkey in the oven until a meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast reads 160 degrees.   Remove the roaster from the oven, lift out the V-rack to set the turkey aside atop some foil and loosely cover it with more foil.  Let the turkey rest for about 20 minutes before slicing. 

Meanwhile, strain the liquid in the roaster into a large measuring cup.  If you have less than 3 cups of juice, add enough chicken broth to bring the amount of liquid to about 3 cups.   If you end up adding more than 1/2 cup of broth, add 1 tbsp of chicken soup base per cup of broth. 

Heat the juices and broth in a large saucepan or small skillet over medium heat.  Heat until simmering, stirring often. 

Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch in an equal amount of cold water.  Stir in a bit of the cornstarch mixture (about 1 tsp at a time) until the gravy thickens to the desired texture.  Make sure to keep stirring the gravy almost constantly in order to avoid lumps.   Cook until bubbling.

Taste the gravy, add salt and/or pepper if desired, and serve. 

This gravy is great atop the turkey, potatoes or stuffing.

Lamb Kabobs and Other Grilled Goodness

Sunday Dinner:
Lamb Kabobs with Mediterranean Spices, Gilled Tomato Slices,
Yogurt-Dill Sauce, Orange Hummus and Pita Bread



I was very, very pleased with our Sunday night dinner.  We'd both had long days at work, and I was looking forward to a leisurely time doing some grilling on a fine autumn afternoon.   Thanks to having done most of the work the night before and that morning, I got that leisurely grilling time, and the result was that we both got an excellent meal.

Sunday's main dish was small chunks of lamb that had spent almost twelve hours in a flavorful marinade before being threaded onto skewers and grilled.  The marinade represents a recipe I developed by combining elements of several recipes I've made and seen.   The mix of spices gave the lamb a rich flavor, and having it marinate for several hours resulted in juicy, tender bits of seared lamb. I got the lamb marinating on Sunday morning, right after I got up.

While flipping through cookbooks as I planned the weekend's menu, I noticed a mouth-watering picture of thick tomato slices seared with grill marks and knew I wanted to make something like that.  They were simple to prepare, and absolutely delicious, as the grilling intensified their flavor.

Since lamb and tomatoes puts one close to gyros territory, I decided to go with that, so I picked up some fresh pita bread during our shopping earlier during the week and made up a batch of Yogurt-Dill Sauce last night.  I've used this sauce with other lamb recipes and knew it would go great with the bits of lamb and the tomatoes.  Once I'd finished the grilling and Juli had warmed up the pita bread, the table was rounded out with some Orange Hummus (which I'll write more about in another post) and a bowl of cherry tomatoes picked fresh from our garden.

Hot chunks of spicy, grilled lamb, thick, steaming tomato slices almost literally bursting with flavor, and cool, zesty sauce, all stuffed into warm, soft pita pockets... food really doesn't get much better than that.  As always, though, I urge you to not take my word for it.  Make a batch for yourself and let us know what you think.

Lamb Kabobs with Mediterranean Spices

2 lbs    lamb, cut into small pieces (1-inch cubes would be ideal)
1/4      cup beef broth
1/4      cup olive oil
2         tablespoons tomato paste
2         tablespoons grated onion
1         teaspoon cinnamon
1         teaspoon kosher salt
1         teaspoon paprika
1         teaspoon sugar
1/2      teaspoon ground allspice
1/2      teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2      teaspoon ground cumin
1/2      teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4      teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4      teaspoon powdered coriander

Mix all ingredients together in a large plastic ziploc bag.  Mix thoroughly, refrigerate at least 2 hours, and preferably 6 or more.

1/2 hour before projected cooking time, remove from refrigerator and thread the lamb onto skewers.  Smaller chunks of lamb can be pressed together for even cooking, but do not pack the lamb too densely onto the skewers.

Grill lamb skewers over direct, medium heat for 10-11 minutes, turning after about 5 minutes.  Remove skewers onto a serving plate and cover with foil for five minutes, then serve.

Yogurt-Dill Sauce

This sauce is excellent with lamb, pork or salmon. 
1        cup plain yogurt
1 1/2  tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2     teaspoon lemon juice
1/2     teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4     teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate at least three hours before serving.

Grilled Tomato Slices

3     Large, firm, ripe tomatoes
Non-stick cooking spray
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste.

Cut each tomato horizontally into three slices of equal thickness.  Spray the skin sides of the top and bottom slices with cooking spray.  Sprinkle both sides of the tomato slices with salt and pepper.

Grill the tomato slices over direct, low heat for approximately 5 minutes per side.  Serve immediately