What's for dinner?

Happy new year to everyone! We hope you all have enjoyed 2015 thus far. With the new year always comes resolutions: although I don't make "resolutions," per se, I have decided to start trying some new recipes this year since my Pinterest (and recipe books) is (/are) bursting with them! The recipe I'm coasting tonight is one I have been eyeing up for the past couple weeks. When out with Cindy this past weekend, I had to make sure that I made a stop at Wholey's in the Strip to pick up some fresh fish. This recipe calls for smoked salmon - an item on which I am not willing to skimp. 😉 Ladies and gents, behold: smoked salmon-dill-horseradish tartlets!

Smoked Salmon-Dill-Horseradish Tartlets 

Ingredients for pastry dough:

- 1 cup flour (plus more for preventing sticking)

- 5.5 Tbsp cold butter

- cold water (as much as seems needed)

- dried chives (about 2 spoonfuls)

Place butter slices, a pinch of salt, chives and flour in a food processor and use until mixture looks like crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add cold water (just enough to bring the dough together). Work with your floured hands into 6 balls.  Using a mini-roller, roll dough out, then cut dough out with a tartlet cutter (or small cookie cutter). Transfer cut out dough to your tartlet tray (or whatever deep-dished bakeware you're using, ie, mini muffin tins) and press in firmly. Bake at 400* for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile...

Ingredients for filling:

- 1/4 cup sour cream

- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream 

- 1 tsp horseradish 

- 1/2 tsp lemon juice 

- 2 tsp chopped capers 

- 3 egg yolks 

- 8 oz smoked salmon (I got the "smoked salmon nuggets" from Wholey's)** cut and flaked small

- 1 Tbsp dill (plus extra for garnish)

**note: if you can't find smoked salmon, use regular salmon with 2 tsp of smoked paprika or chipotle powder. 😁

Combine all filling ingredients and pour into tartlets. Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool on counter for an extra five minutes before trying to extract the tartlets from their pan. 

Voilà! The finished product!

What's for dinner?

Things are really picking up here on the farms now that the rain and warm weather have finally arrived; and with these, we get wonderful noms!

Here's what Steve and I had for dinner last night - just a recipe to consider using. You can buy some of the ingredients at our farmstand on Saturday if you feel adventurous and want to try it.

Kielbasa Pasta with Kale

Kielbasa Pasta with Kale 

Ingredients:

• one bunch of kale, stripped from the stems
• one turkey kielbasa sleeve, cut into coins
• one shoot of fresh cilantro, chopped finely
• one shoot of green onions, chopped roughly
• one Tbsp. chipotle oil (or regular oil with a tsp. of red pepper flakes)
• one can of diced tomatoes with chiles, drained
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic
• 1 box of organic wheat pasta (preferably angel hair)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

First, get your kale in the oven. Rinse your leaves and rip the greens from the long, bitter stem. Throw your greens on a cookie sheet and toss them in a bit (really, just a bit) of olive oil. Place in oven at 375* for 30 minutes or until lightly crisped. (Check on it periodically and push it around to get it evenly crisped.)

Once the kale is roasting, cut your kielbasa, cilantro, and onions up for some frying. Oil your skillet with the chipotle oil (or equivalent) and start browning your kielbasa coins. Toss in the cilantro and green onions once all of your meat is browned nicely. Next, add your drained can of tomatoes and chiles. After about a minute of steaming all the veggies together, add the butter, milk, lemon juice, and garlic. Stir and let simmer.

While your meat is simmering and haunting you with its zesty aroma, start your noodles. Boil the pasta in water as you normally would. Once you've cooked and drained your pasta, immediately take the kale from the oven if you haven't already.

Combine pasta, kale, and skillet contents into a large serving bowl - top with Parmesan and enjoy!

This is one of Steve's favorite ways to eat kale: let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it, too.