turkey apple pot pie

turkey apple pot pie
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

Turkey and Apple pot pie

1 onion
2 golden delicious apples
2 medium size yams
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 lb ground turkey
1 ½ teaspoons caraway seeds optional
2 teaspoons chicken base or bullion
2/3 cups dry sherry
1 cup apple juice
1/3 cup water
Or any combination of liquid ingredients up to two cups
3 tablespoon corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste
1 puff pastry sheet, thawed

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Peel and thinly slice yams. Peel and chop onion.
Heat oil in large skillet. Add crumbled ground turkey. Cook ground turkey until brown and not pink. Add onion, apple, yams, and caraway seed. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minute stirring occasionally. Uncover pan. Turn heat up to high. This is to cook off some of the moisture to brown the onion. In a measuring cup combine the liquid ingredients, sherry, apple juice and water. Stir in the corn starch until smooth. Add liquid mixture to pan. Stir quickly to make smooth sauce. Take off heat and let cool a little. Prepare baking dishes. Either two 8 x 8 inch or one 13 x 9 inch. Spray baking dishes with cooking oil. Pour filling into baking dishes. Cut puff pastry into strips weave a lattice over the top of filling. Bake at 400 F until pastry browns and puffs about 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Let set for about 5 minutes. Serves 8. I bake it in two casseroles and freeze one.

This is a nice casserole for fall. Like all casseroles it works well for potlucks, picnics and tail gate parties.

Taco Picnic

We have a lot of fun bringing all the ingredients for making tacos to picnics. Yesterday I brought and set up a taco bar picnic at the waterfront. I made up taco meat, this time I used ground turkey. I buy my taco seasoning at Costco. I cooked the ground turkey until it wasn’t pink any more then added the taco seasoning and water according to the package directions. I put the hot meat in a plastic container with a screw on top lid. I put the hot ingredients in one cooler and the cold ingredients in another cooler. I use a gel pack warmed in the microwave to keep the food hot. The other ingredients that I brought were Tillamook Mexican grated cheese, olives, salsa, lettuce and taco shells. I put everything in its own container. At the picnic I handed out plates and taco shells and passed everything around. Everyone built their own tacos.

Dry Sautéed Green Beans

green beans
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

When cooked the green beans will be blacken on the outside. Do not over cook. Dried up charred bits are hard to eat. It takes a little practice but is fairly fun and easy to learn how to cook dry sauté beans. Adding purple beans to the beans makes it easy to tell when the beans are cooked. Purple beans turn green when cooked.

1 pound green beans, washed trimmed and cut into two inch pieces.

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Alternative seasoning:

1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil

OR use any combination that you like.

Currently I am using sesame oil, sesame seeds and garlic powder.

Heat oil in sauté pan to very hot. Add green beans. Stir. Listen to the beans sizzle. After the beans have started to cook add seasonings. Sprinkle sesame seeds on when adding seasoning. Watch sesame seeds dance in pan. Last ingredient to add before serving is sesame oil. Sesame oil doesn’t like heat. The beans take only a few minutes to cook. Serves four.

This is a fun quick recipe to make.

Portland Farmers Market Thursdays at Ecotrust Building

Last night I wandered through the farmers market at Ecotrust. It had an impressive number of berry sellers. There were many types of yummy berries to choose from. I tasted a nice cold white wine poured by Twist Wine Company. I drank a sample of Hot Lips soda pop. I would like to get a mixed case of Hot Lips Soda pop. It is a nice Farmers market with plenty of food items to make a summer picnic out of.

Ecotrust NW 10 and Irving 3:30 to 7:30 pm on the street car line.

www.portlandfarmersmarket.org

The Barn

The Barn
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

The Barn
Farm Fresh Produce
I stopped in the Barn today to purchase my produce. I enjoy having berries on my cereal for breakfast. They have raspberries, blueberries and several kinds of blackberries. The local corn, beans and tomatoes are ripe and available. Call them if you want large quantities for canning. They have fresh herbs like dill and basil. I am going to go outside, heat up the gas BBQ and roast the corn and the red pepper that I got at the Barn. Bing Cherries from the Barn will round out our dinner.
Seasonal Fruit and vegetables, Canning supplies and they accept food stamps.
Trapold Farms Inc. 5211 NE 148th off Airport Way, Portland, OR 97230 503 253 5103 Open June to November Monday thru Saturday closed Sundays

pizza roll

finished
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

I like to roll up pizzas to bring to picnics. A pizza roll keeps all the goodies inside and is easy to pack. The pictures of the technique are on flicker. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryannethygesen/sets/72157606467657488/

This pizza roll used the ingredients that I had on hand. As long as it isn’t too thick you can use any of your favorite pizza toppings. If the topping are too thick the pizza will not roll up and the topping will gush out the sides.

1 first make pizza dough. I make mine in the bread machine. Sometimes I put dried basil in the dough.

2 Roll out the dough it should be shaped like a long oblong or rectangle.

3 Spread olive oil on the top of the rolled out dough. Oiling the top keeps the pizza from getting soggy.

4 Spread pizza or pasta sauce on top. Keep the sauce thin.

5 Top with toppings

6 Roll up pizza starting at shorter side and rolling up the long side.

7 Let rise about 45 minutes. Brush olive oil on top.

8 Bake at 400F 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool a little before serving.

Dysphagia

Excerpts from Nutrition, Diet Modifications and Meal Plans by Ruby P. Puckett and Sherryl E. Danks 1996. Peter loaned me this book to cook for my Mom.

The Dysphagia diet is indicated for patients who have difficulty in swallowing liquid or solid foods.

Mashed solids: These foods do not require mastication. The mashed solids contain more bulk than liquids, but they are controlled by the tongue. Examples include plain or flavored yogurt without solids, pureed meats, pureed fruit, applesauce, thinned mashed potatoes, cream of wheat or rice, custard or pudding.

Semi-solids: These foods require some mastication. The semi-solid foods form a very soft mass that can be held and controlled by the tongue. Examples of these include plain or flavored yogurt without solids, cottage cheese, minced meat, soft scrambled eggs, soft mashed fruit, soft mashed vegetables, cooked cereals, custard or pudding.

Soft chunks: These foods require mastication, but do not lead to early fatigue. Soft chunk foods will not adhere to the palate or teeth and are easy for the tongue to control. Examples of these include yogurt, soft and semi soft cheese, minced meat, scrambled, poached or hard boiled eggs, canned fruit without skins or seeds, mashable vegetables, bread, toast, pasta, rice, noodles, smooth peanut butter and plain soft cookies.

After reading this book this is what I served my Mom this weekend. I thought that it sounded a lot like how you feed toddlers to prevent choking. I served meatloaf, mashed potatoes and canned peaches for one dinner. I cooked tortellini and cooked carrots for lunch. We had a yogurt smoothie for a snack. Spaghetti and cooked beets for another dinner. Raspberries, cheese stick and toast for breakfast. Adding too this was zucchini bread and blue berry muffins. Mom was well fed when she went home.