Thirsty Thursday: Sweet Heat Juice

Back to detoxing with Irena from Zen Blendz for this Thirsty Thursday post. Irena says this sweet treat is a good way to ease into juicing, without feeling like you're drinking a salad! (Sign me up!)

The sweet pineapple (please use a ripe one) is cut with tart apple. The lemon (or in my case lime - because I ran out of lemons!) balances these flavors. Romaine lettuce is hardly noticeable in juicing but has lots of benefits & makes your juice last longer with added water! (This is true this recipe makes a bunch of juice).

The cayenne pepper rounds out this juice by giving your tastebuds some heat, a great sweet treat for the summer an equally as warming for winter months when juicing may be difficult.

Give it a try & let us know what you think! I really enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving Appetizers

Clockwise from top left: A Simple Cheese Plate; Apple Parmesan Basil Bites; Whipped Feta Crostini; Simple Mushroom Crostini

My sister & I were talking about how we usually don't eat much the day of Thanksgiving - until we get to "the Thanksgiving" portion of the day.  If you're the same way you probably think the appetizers  (or antipasto at my Grandma's house) portion of the night is key since it might be one of the first things you're eating that day (besides all the tasting while cooking, of course).  These were some of my favorite simple, light appetizers from previous posts that I think would be great for Thanksgiving this year.

What are you making for appetizers?

Apple Galette with Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, & Almond Topping

In my early twenties I waitressed at a small cafe in Little Italy that served lunch but mostly coffee & desserts. One of the desserts on the menu was apple galette. By process of elimination I figured out that this mean the apple pie-like dessert in the glass case besides the fact that I didn't know what a galette was & I never really asked.  Flash forward & I'm watching the Food Network (shocking I know) & Giada was making this apple galette. I still didn't really know what a galette was but I knew I wanted to make it. So I did with a slight variation of the ingredients using what I had on hand.  I honestly am not sure how it made it to the table at my girl friend's wine club since I nearly killed it twice - once before I even baked it (there are photos so click through to see how I nearly lost it!)

Nearly 24 hours after I made this tasty apple-goat-cheese-cherry-almond concoction I was explaining the trials and tribulation of how it almost didn't make it to my coworker and another woman in the elevator. At one point I said "I don't even know what a galette is" to which the stranger/friend in the elevator responded, "It means the apples are arranged in a circle."  My elevator stranger/friend was kind of right. So after years of not finding out the true meaning of a galette I found the answer here. 

In a nutshell, it's a flaky free-formed pastry filled with either a savory or sweet filling. Regardless it's delish. As Giada explained this galette - it's like a dessert and cheese plate all in one - making it a great app or dessert or both!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We'll be celebrating the marriage of two great people - Congrats Adrian & Aileen!




Apple Galette with Goat Cheese, Sour Cherry, and Almond Topping adapted from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe.

Tart

• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
• 3 Braeburn apples (1 ½ pounds), peeled, halved, cored, halves cut into 6 ½-inch wedges
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  ½ teaspoon cornstargch
  1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 frozen puff pastry sheet (try Trader Joe's!), thawed
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend in small bowl + 1 tablespoon water
• sugar for sprinkling

Topping

• 1 4-ounce package chilled soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled into ⅓- to ½-inch chunks
• ⅓ cup tart dried cherries (such as Montmorency from Trader Joe’s)
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Make it!

Tart

1. Position rack in center and preheat oven to 375°F. 
2. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. 
3. Add apples; sprinkle with salt. 
4. Sauté until almost tender, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes. 
5. Remove skillet from the heat. 
6. Whisk sugar, spices, and cornstarch in a small bowl until no cornstarch lumps remain. 
7. Sprinkle spiced sugar and lemon juice over apples in skillet; toss to blend. Cool to lukewarm.
8. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on work surface. Unfold pastry sheet on parchment; sprinkle both sides lightly with flour. 
9. Roll out pastry to 12-inch square, lifting, turning, and sprinkling with more flour to keep from sticking. 
10. Using a fork prick the dough so that it releases some of the air pockets that may form.
11. Make egg wash by beating the egg together with water.
12. Brush pastry all over with some beaten egg. 
13. TRANSFER YOUR PARCHMENT PAPER & PASTRY TO THE BAKING SHEET NOW. (see what happens in the photo below if you don't).
14. Starting 2-inches in from edge (to leave wide border), arrange apple wedges close together in a circle on the pastry. Arrange remaining apples in a smaller circle in center (ends may overlap first ring of apples).
15. Fold pastry border partially over filling, pleating pastry in loose folds. Brush folded up pastry border with some beaten egg. 
16. Sprinkle the crust with some sugar.
17. Scrape juices from skillet over apples. 
18. Bake galette until pastry edge is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

Topping

1. In a dry (no oil or butter) skillet toast almond slices for about 3 minutes or until golden brown over low-medium heat. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Toss goat cheese, cherries and almonds in a medium bowl until evenly distributed (cheese should remain in distinct pieces). Chill until ready to use.
3. Remove tart from oven. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. 
4. Return galette to oven. Bake 10 minutes until the topping begins to brown. 
5. Cool 20 minutes to serve warm or up to 2 hours to serve at room temperature.

Don't forget to use your garbage bowl!

This is why I strongly advise to build your galette on your sheet pan. I did not and when I went to transfer it I nearly lost the whole thing. Luckily it landed pretty gracefully on the floor and I only lost a few apples. I can laugh about it now but I was closer to some sad tears when it happened. Don't do this mistake at home folks!

Apple Parmesan Basil Bites

I love salty & sweet snacks. Sometimes I just can't choose between the two so to have the best of both worlds in one bite is ideal for my tastebuds. These apple parmesan basil bites are the perfect solution, not to mention super easy to make & they look pretty chic too.  I think they'd be great for a cheese plat at wine club too. You can make them with just three simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• Paremesan cheese block
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil

Make it:

1. Wash & thinly slice an apple.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to shave a block of Parmesan cheese. Make equal amounts of shavings per apple slices.
3. Tightly roll about 3 fresh basil leaves & slice thinly.
4. Arrange all components delicately on a plate, alternating apple, cheese, basil.

Chipotle & Apple Turkey Burgers

If you follow me on instagram, twitter or just visit me here, you know that I've been digging into some scrumptious cookbooks, like the Sprouted Kitchen.

I wish I was organized enough to make a list every time I go to the super market so that I can make recipes exactly as I see them in cookbooks.  This past weekend I really thought I had everything on the list to make Sprouted Kitchen's chipotle & apple turkey burgers, I even brought the book in the car with me.  Per usual I was missing some items, so I had to get creative. 

Click through for my rendition of Sara Forte's recipe with what I had on hand in my fridge.