Maultaschen: If you can't see it it doesn't count

So the story goes that some German monks were missing their meat during their Lenten sacrifice and so they devised a sneaky plan to eat meat under the pretense of a veggie dumpling or "mouth pocket" as it is translated. They were not fooling around, there is bacon and beef in these delicious dumplings veiled under the cover of lots of spinach. Maultaschen is my sister-in law Heike's favorite dish and we made it together this year on the first day of Lent. My question is...how did they account for the missing cows and pigs? Maybe they just "got lost" until after Easter.

This recipe makes the pasta from scratch and you need a pasta roller to get it thin enough to make the ravioli like mouth pockets, but there is a shortcut for those of you (like me) who do not own a pasta machine and do not want to spend hours with a rolling pin. In the Asian food section of the grocery store is a marvelous little secret called Wonton Wrappers. These pre-cut squares are perfect for making dumplings, or ravioli of any kind. They can be boiled or fried and turn out very nicely.
So whichever method you choose...enjoy your meat, and the spinach too :)

Maultaschen

The filling:
½ onion diced
1/2 lb Bacon cooked medium
1 lb spinach: chopped and steamed
1 lb ground beef, raw
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cracker crumbs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
Mix all ingredients until incorporated, using your hands is the best.
The dough:
3 ½ cp flour
6 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
The dough can be made either by hand or with an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix together the flour and salt. Make a well in the flour mix and add the eggs. Incorporate by kneading or with the mixer. Knead until the dough is smooth. (a.k.a. bicep workout for the day)
Run small sections of the dough through a pasta roller. Starting with the widest setting, and stopping at 4.5. If you don't have a pasta maker you can roll it out with a rolling pin until it is VERY thin. It is best to work on a well-floured surface. Cut the dough into four inch squares (approximate). Place a round tablespoon full in the center of each pasta square. Brush the edges with a beaten egg. Fold over one half of the pasta square to make a small rectangle. Pinch the edges closed tightly and set aside on a floured cookie sheet.
While you are rolling out and stuffing the Maultaschen, start boiling the broth. You will need 6 cups of beef broth then add 1 tbsp parsley, ½ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp paprika, 1.2 tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp dried thyme.
When the broth is boiling, add the Maultaschen. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Serve Maultaschen in steaming broth. This recipe makes about 40 Maultaschen or 8-10 servings.

Home Made Soothing Face Mask

This is my first recipe post that I do not recommend you eat.(it would not kill you, but it won't taste that great) Last week the Boston Riddles went south to visit Keith's family for 10 days. While we were there I discovered that I had shingles!! Now how I was planning on spending my vacation. Shingles is the reincarnation of dormant chicken pox, (Joseph refers to them as "the chicken Pox Strikes Back")so I found myself frequently remembering what my life was like when I was seven. I got a rash in my scalp and neck and it attacks the nerve endings which is really painful. ANYWAY...there was no calamine lotion in the house, and I really could not bathe my head in an oatmeal bath, so I made my own face mask I could put on my itchy and painful bumps which turned out really great. You don't have to have a strange disease to use it, much thanks to my awesome sister-in-law Heike who tried it out with me. It leaves your skin feeling refreshed and smooth, and it kept well in the fridge in a sealed container for a few days. Thanks also to my father-in-law for letting me desecrate the milkshake blender to make cosmetics. They all love me a lot.

Soothing Face Mask
you will need:
1 cup cucumber peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup hot water
8 tbsp aloe

1. Mix the oatmeal and hot water together and let it sit for 5 min.
2. Combine the cucumber and oilive oil in the blender and pulse until the cucumber is evenly minced.
3. Add softened oatmeal and aloe to the blender and blend on high until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. You may need to stop it a few times and scrape down the sides.
4. Wipe it all over your face and enjoy for 5- 10 min (try not to scare your kids) then rinse off with a warm wash cloth.

here is a better picture of Heike and Me when we don't have goop all over our faces :)

Sweet and Sour Wheat Balls

This recipe turned out excellently. I think I will experiment more with grain mixes. Everyone ate these well, although they initially turned up their noses at the concept of "wheat balls" there were none left at the end of dinner.

Sweet and Sour Wheat Balls

1/2 cup uncooked Bulghur Wheat
1 1/4 cups bread crumbs
1/3 cup mayonaise
4 green onions with tops finely chopped
1 egg
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce (or sweet and sour sauce, the name depends entirely on the swank of your grocery store)
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper

Salad:
4 cups shredded nappa cabbage
1 red pepper thinly sliced
2 cups shelled edamame beans
1 english cucumber chopped
Sesame Ginger Dressing

1. Constructing the Wheat Balls: preheat the oven to 450. Combine 1 cup of water and Bulghur in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cook 10 min. In a medium bowl combine Bulghur, bread crumbs, onions, ginger, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. In a separate bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, egg, soy sauce, and chili sauce, add gradually to the dry mixture until it is evenly incorporated. Let the mix sit covered in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to set. Form wheat balls and place them on a lined baking sheet. I used a medium cookie scoop which was easy and they looked really nice. Bake for 25 minutes.
2. Constructing the Salad: Chop the cabbage and cucumbers and place them in your salad bowl. I added some red cabbage and pea shoots because I had some laying around. Heat one tbsp of veggie oil in a medium frying pan. Add bell pepper and edamame and cook through. When you are ready to eat top the salad with the hot peppers and edamame. Serve the wheat balls over the salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing. I bought my dressing at Trader Joes, but here is a recipe if you want to make it yourself.

Sesame Ginger Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Spaghetti Squash Cakes

So spaghetti squash is not a favorite of my boys but we get a lot of it. I found this recipe and thought it might be and option the boys would like. I thought they were great.....apparently the boys were not fans. Actually they are still sitting at the table while I write this trying to choke them down and using the "water trick" to eat them. The redeeming factor though is that Keith (who NEVER eats squash) actually ate them. So overall I think the recipe was good. Next time I would bake them in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes on parchment instead of frying them in a pan. I think they would get more evenly crunchy.

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

1 medium onion minced
1/3 Jalapeno minced
3 tbsp minced fresh ginger
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
salt and pepper
3 cups roasted spaghetti squash
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup flour

Preheat a large non-stick skillet add 1 tbsp veggie oil. Add onion, jalapeno, and ginger. Cook stirring constantly untill softened. Stir in cumin and coriander and cook until fragrant. Let cool
Transfer cooked mixture to a medium bowl. add spaghetti squash, cilantro, eggs and flour. Wipe out skillet. Lightly coat skillet with veggie oil or butter. Add batter in 1/4 cup fulls and cook until pancakes are golden, 6-8 min then flip. Transfer to the oven to keep warm.
Serve with plain yogurt mixed with cilantro, or we served them with cooked peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Stuffed Mini-Hubbard Squash

I got some mini-hibbard squash this week. I have never seen mini-hubbards before. Usually they are larger than a good sized pumpkin, grey-green and very wrinkly and knobbed. The only recognizable feature of these mini-versions was their color. Hubbards have a texture similar to an acorn squash but they are much sweeter. These were delicious stuffed with barley and turkey sausage.

This is an excellent picture of a fully grown hubbard squash. They are beastly large and the skins are so thick and hard you literally do need a saw or a hammer and chizzle to get through them.

Little Squash :)
(and my littlest squash in the background)

Stuffed Mini Hubbard Squash

2 mini-hubbard squash
1 medium onion diced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 medium carrots diced
2 celery stalks diced
2 roma tomatoes diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley
salt and pepper
2/3 cup white wine
1 cup barley
4 chicken sausages

1. Preheat oven to 350. Halve squash and scrape out seeds. Place halves face down in a shallow baking dish and bake until  skin can be easily pierced with a knife. (35-40 min)
2. Cook Barley: Bring 2 cups water and 1 tbsp butter to boil in a medium saucepan. Add barley and cook for 20 minutes or until water is evaporated and grains have swelled.
3. In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Add onion, garlic, carrots, and celery, season with salt and pepper. Saute until veggies are tender. Add tomatoes, wine and parsley bring to a simmer. Slice up chicken sausages and stir into the veggie mixture. Cover and simmer on low for 20 min.
4. When carrots are cooked through, mix the barley into the veggie mix then spoon the stuffing into the cooked squash halves and serve.

Sipcy Chutney Lentils With Couscous

Tonight was supposed to be a rice and beans night where we wrote to Anthony our sponsor child, but ::ghasp:: when I went to the cupboard there was no rice!!! So it became lentils and couscous night which still worked well and tasted great.

Spicy Chutney Lentils with Couscous
serves 4

1/2 medium onion diced
2 celery stalks diced
1/2 zucchini diced
4 plumb tomatoes diced
salt and pepper
1 cup brown lentils
2 cups water
10 oz. Spicy chutney (I used eggplant and apple chutney, but mango or another flavor would also work)
4 servings of cooked couscous

1. Heat 1 tbsp veggie oil over medium high heat in a large skillet that has a lid. Add onion, celery, and zucchini and saute until the veggies are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, lentils, water and chutney. Stir, cover and cook for 40-45 minutes until water is absorbed and lentils are split. Serve over couscous.