Chebureki - Чебуреки

Chebureki are a common Russian street food, they can be a great appetizer or main dish. We can snack on them all day long or you can serve them with a soup or salad for a full meal.

I take a shortcut and use store bought raw/uncooked tortillas, and they taste oh so good!

Ingredients

-12 uncooked tortillas ( usually found near the fresh salsa, and cheese at the grocery store)
-1 lb chicken (2 chicken breasts)
-1 lb beef
-1 egg
-1 small onion
-3 cloves of garlic
-2 tsp salt   (or to your taste preference)
-1/4 tsp of pepper  (or to your taste preference)

To seal tortilla:
 -1 egg white
-pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Grind 1 lb of chicken, 1 lb of beef, 1 small onion, garlic cloves into a medium sized bowl.
I have this attachment for my stand mixer, which I have had for 10 years and it still works great!

2. Add egg, pepper/salt to the meat mixture and mix well. (I use my stand mixer to mix it well)

3. Take tortillas and place about 2 tablespoons of the meat filling on one side of the tortillas, leaving a 1 inch space at the edges.

4. Whisk together egg white and a pinch of salt.

5. Brush the egg white mixture around the edges and fold the tortilla in half, sealing the filling inside.

6. Pinch the sides together by pressing a fork all around the edge, to seal the filling.

7. In a heavy skillet, cover the bottom with about 1 inch of oil and heat.

8. Fry 2 tortillas at a time, flipping when golden brown.

9. Drain on paper towels before serving.


Enjoy!

Click Here for the printable version 

Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Crust

This is one of our favorite comfort foods! I make it when ever I have leftover chicken or turkey, because I always have the rest of the ingredients in my fridge. 

It really is mouth watering, will lick your plate clean good. 

Ingredients:

-4 TB salted butter
-1 medium onion chopped
-4 stalks of celery chopped
-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
-1/2 sp salt
-2 TB flour
-2 1/2 cups of milk
-1/2 cup of heavy cream
-1 package of Trader Joe's savory chicken broth concentrate.
-3 cups of cooked chicken or turkey
-1 cup of frozen peas
-1/2 tsp thyme
-1 sheet of puff pastry
-salt pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.

Add onion, celery, carrot and salt and sauté until onions are translucent and vegetables start to get tender.

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and cook for 1 more minute.

Gradually whisk in the milk, heavy cream and TJ chicken concentrate and bring to a slow boil.

Simmer gently over medium heat until sauce begins to thicken. (3-5 minutes)

**** take out the puff pastry to thaw.

Add cooked chicken and peas to the sauce mixture, and bring to  slow boil again.

Add thyme, pepper and salt to taste. You can taste the creamy sauce and add enough for your taste (sometimes if your chicken isn't salted it effects yours sauce, so you want to taste and season after you add the chicken)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour chicken mixture into a casserole dish.

Cut puff pastry into strips with a pizza cutter and put in a criss cross pattern.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the puff pastry is a deep golden color.

Click HERE for printable version

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Creme Brûlée

This is now my favorite new dessert! Forget cakes, pass along the creme brûlée. I think this is a perfect dessert after a filling meal, you know when you want something sweet but to to heavy?

 It also makes a beautiful presentation and can be made a day or two before your dinner. It is surprisingly easy to make, you just need to invest in some ramekins (which I bought at Target) and a torch which I got on Amazon)

Just make sure you torch the sugar before serving and do not stick it back into the fridge. I learned my lesson after the sugar liquified.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup sugar (plus extra for caramelizing)
• 1 vanilla bean 

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F and set your ramekins into a large baking dish. 

• Add 2 cups of heavy cream into a small saucepan, split vanilla bean and scrape the beans into the cream, I also toss the bean into the cream to get as much flavor as possible. 
• Heat the cream in the sauce pan to a simmer, stirring frequently.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I started making these cookies a few weeks ago and ever since we are all hooked! 

They barely last two days and then they are all gone! This week I made 3 batches of them, one for our neighbor and two batches for us. If you want a big, fat chewy cookie that you would find at a bakery, then you will love these to!

This recipe makes 12 giant cookies. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup butterscotch chips Directions:

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets, line with parchment paper or use non stick mat like I do.
2.	In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate/butterscotch chips by on the lowest setting of your stand mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
3.	Bake for 13-15 in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy! Click HERE for printable version

William's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated William's first birthday this weekend. I still find it hard to believe that he is one
already. I think it's really fun to throw parties for our babies, I know they won't remember it, but its more about celebrating the fact that we have all survived this first year.

We chose an airplane theme and the colors red and blue. After that, things just kind of came together. We all had a great time, and I want to thank our family and friends for coming and joining us on this celebration. 

Tres Leche Cake

It has been a busy past few days, I think as soon as December hits it gets crazy for most people. On top of the holidays, we have two birthdays, my sister flying in and a trip planned. Ahh! The neat freak, organized part of me is starting to panic, but I know that will not do any good, so I will just take one day at a time. Deep breaths Rita, deep breaths. 

Since we keep the shabbat, it means I prep, bake and clean the house every Friday/Thursday. It is a lot of work but something I am used to. Both my husband and I have kept the shabbat, out parents, grandparents and so on. Anyways, I have been on a kick of trying out new cake recipes. Before this, I was never a fan of baking cakes. Not because I don't like cakes, oh I love cakes! Mostly because they are too time consuming and usually ended up being a flop. However, 10 years down the road I learned a few things here and there. 

This time I made a Layered Tres Leche Cake  from Natasha's Kitchen.  I love that all her recipes are so detailed and she has amazing detailed photos, and I love pictures :)

This cake is surprisingly easy to make and tastes amazing. Basically like licking some condensed milk. mmmm..... The Russian part of me can not live without condensed milk. A holy grail product in my pantry. 

Ingredients

Cake Layers

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

5 eggs (separated)

1 cup of sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk (I used whole)

Syrup

2/3 of a 12 oz can of evaporated milk

2/3 of a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Frosting

2 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream

2 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar

Fresh strawberries 

Instructions

How to Make the Cake Layers: 

Preheat Oven to 350F. oil and flour two 9" round cake pans (I also cup out a circle of parchment paper and place inside the pan to avoid any sticking)

1. Set up 3 mixing bowls: 1 medium and 2 large bowls. In the medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1½ tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp salt. Set aside.
2. Separate eggs into the other two large bowls. Egg yolks into one and egg whites into the other. Beat egg yolks with ¾ cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow (approx 2 min). Stir in ⅓ cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
3. Pour flour mixture over your egg yolk mixture and beat on low speed with the mixer until just combined.
4. With a clean, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form (1 minute). With the mixer on, pour in remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat on high speed until egg whites are stiff but not dry (1 minute).
5. Gently fold egg whites into the yolk/flour mixture until just combined. Divide evenly between two cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool to room temp.

Prep the 3-milk syrup:

1. In a large measuring cup with a pouring lip, stir together ⅔ of the evaporated milk, ⅔ of the sweetened condensed milk and ¼ cup heavy whipping cream.

Assembling the Cake:

1. Place one of the layers, flat side down, on a cake platter. Using a fork, poke the top all around, going all the way to the edges and poke through the depth of the cake. Use a spoon to pour on half of the 3-milk syrup. Let cake stand and absorb the syrup while you beat the frosting (see instructions below).
2. Generously frost the top of your first layer, then arrange sliced strawberries over the top of your frosting.
3. Your next cake layer will be placed with the flat side up; so before putting it over the strawberries, use a fork to poke the flat surface all around, going to the edges. Now place your poked cake top over the strawberries.
4. Spoon the remaining half of the 3-milk syrup evenly over your top layer. Let cake stand 10-15 minutes for the syrup to soak in for easier frosting.
5. Frost the top and sides of the cake and smooth out frosting with a cake spatula. I decorated the top with halved strawberries, placed at an angle around the top border of the cake. It was simple and just perfect.

How to Make the Frosting

1. For best results with whipping cream, freeze your mixing bowl and egg beaters or whisk attachment for 15 minutes. Make sure your whipping cream is very cold.
2. Beat 2½ cups heavy whipping cream and 2½ Tbsp sugar on high speed until thick and spreadable (about 1½ to 2 minutes). Don't overbeat or it will turn buttery. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Again, thank you Natasha for another amazing recipe!

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION