Pierogies Yay!

I don't know about you but to me, sour cream and potatoes are major comfort food. Wrap those yummy potatoes in dough and wow what a tasty meal. I've always loved pierogies, a traditional polish dish, and I thought to myself why not make them. As you can already guess I like to simplify things. So instead of making the dough from scratch, I decided to use ready made puff pastry squares. This will cut the time on your recipe and give you a crispy, flaky, outside versus a gummy one cooked in boiling water. The addition of caramelized onions is the longest part but well worth the flavor.

Ingredients

1 package puffed pastry squares
2 onions sliced into thin rings
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 potatoes boiled tender
1 tbsp butter softened
2 tbsp light cream

Sour cream for serving.

Caramelize your onions first. This will take around 20 minutes. Heat the olive oil first then add the sliced onion rings using your spatula separate the rings and stir occasionally. When onions begin to get translucent hit them with paprika, and salt. The onions will turn a reddish color. push them to one side of the frying pan and let them cook till they start to turn light brown. Once they are light brown, hit them with some balsamic or wine vinegar to de-glaze the pan. Add another hit of salt, stir for two or three minutes, then turn off the flame. Set aside for later.

Preheat your woven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile take your potatoes which, should be room temperature. Mix in the butter and cream and mash them up nice and smooth. Gently fold in the onions that you previously caramelized. Spray a cookie sheet or two with non-stick cooking spray. Using a teaspoon add one or two rounded teaspoonfuls into each dough square. Have a little dish of water next to you, and when you finish filling the squares, use your finger tip to spread the water on the edges. Fold them into triangles and crimp with the tines of a fork.

Bake 30 minutes till flaky and golden. Serve with sour cream and enjoy!

B'tai Avon

Dani's Single Serve Eggplant Parmesan

Usually in my house I do all the cooking and recipe creating but this past Shavuos, my husband Dani insisted on helping me. I wasn't feeling so well since it was the beginning of my pregnancy so his help was a welcome respite. I had planned to make eggplant parmesan for lunch and since it was just the two of us Dani came up with a single serve version that's great for one or two people or for a small amount of company. Since it's the 9 days and we're all looking for easy delicious dairy dinners I thought I'd share this great recipe with you.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 eggplants (depending on how many people you will be serving) cut into rounds
Bread crumbs
1 or 2 eggs beaten
Jarred marinara sauce of your choice
shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1-2 tbsps olive oil
Non-stick cooking spray

Take you eggplant rounds and dip them in the egg and then the bread crumbs. fry the eggplant slices until golden and brown drain on paper towels. Once cool enough to handle take two or three slices and on each slice place 1 tbsp marinara and a sprinkle of mozzarella then layer another slice on top and repeat and repeat again for a triple. Assemble as many stacks of these as you can. Using the same frying pan, spray it with non stick cooking spray add the eggplant stacks in and cover till the cheese melts.

Serve with some parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top, a good crusty loaf of Italian bread, and a garden salad.

Btai Avon!

An easy meal from entree to dessert for the 9 days.

The 9 days is one of those times when one must be resourceful. Due to the limit of dairy only it makes most home cooks creative and allows for more flexibility in terms of side dishes and desserts that frequently have to be manipulated to accompany a meat meal. Tonight I had my parents over for dinner. Due to the heat and wanting to make something quickly I whipped up a simple pasta dish with a garden salad and a summer fruit cobbler for dessert. The pasta is really simple and takes max a half hour to make. The cobbler is simple to make but takes about 40 minutes to prep and bake so do that slightly earlier in the day.
Whole Wheat Penne Rigate with Olives and Tomatoes in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 to 1 box whole wheat penne rigate
2 plum tomatoes diced
1/2 can of black pitted olives rough chopped.
1 t0 1 1/4 cups of jarred tomato basil marinara sauce ( I personally like gefen funny huh? but you can use any brand you want)
1/4 to 1/2 cup light cream
fresh grated parmesan or Romano cheese
2 to 3 basil leaves chopped chiffonade ( optional)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. In a small separate sauce pan add the olives, tomatoes, jar sauce and light cream. stir and let simmer on a very low flame while the pasta cooks. when the pasta is done shut the flame of the sauce. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl. Pour the sauce over and toss to coat. Using a microplane or cheese grater take your block of cheese and lightly grate it over the top of the pasta. Toss the basil on the top, serve and enjoy!

I like to serve pasta with a light simple salad. I take spring greens and add 1 persian cucumber, 1 plum tomato and the rest of the olives from the can rough chopped. I toss it with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a drizzle of honey, and a little garlic powder. easy and tasty.

Summer Fruit Cobbler

Filling
3 nectarines sliced in thin slices
1/2 container strawberries sliced in thin slices
1/2 container of blueberries left whole
1 tsp sugar
1/2 a lemon

Topping

1 stick margarine at room temperature(I use earth balance it's trans fat free and works great for baking)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour

preheat you oven to 375 degrees.
Take any pan can be round, square , whatever you have and place two of the sliced nectarines in the bottom of the pan. the pour the blueberries on top of that and then layer the strawberries. Take the third nectarine and layer that on top. Sprinkle the tsp of sugar on top and squeeze the lemon half over all the fruit. Watch that you don't get any pits in.

In a medium bowl add the margarine, flour and sugar. Using your hands ( take that diamond off first) scrunch and mix everything together till you have a crumbly mixture and all the flour and sugar is mixed in. You don't want any lumps mixed in so make sure you really break the margarine down. Sprinkle the streusel over the fruit and make sure you cover all the fruit. Cook for 30-35 minutes until the fruit juices bubble through and the crust is very lightly browned.
serve hot with vanilla ice cream or on it's own warm or at room temperature.

Btai Avon!