Tag Archives: Pastry

Lemon Cheese Pastry Squares

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Lemon Sweet Cheese Pastry Squares

She hikes along the path, entreating the universe, “please let me find an arrowhead, please let me find an arrowhead.”  She even makes ridiculous pledges like, “I swear if I find one, I won’t keep it…I just want to see if I can wish it into existence.  I’ll bury it once I find it.”

Many years ago, she found another arrowhead, quite by accident, near an abandoned homestead on a cattle ranch outside Galconda, NV.  She placed it in the back pocket of her Levi’s for safekeeping.  After a long, dusty and bumpy ride back to the ranch in the bed of a pickup, she was astonished to find her pockets empty.  While disappointed, she decided her possessing it wasn’t meant to be.

Now, for a reason that she doesn’t understand, she’s on the hunt to locate one again.  For four days, she’s hiked with her eyes fixed on the trails in front of her.  She’s picked up a dozen of pieces of flint for closer inspection. Nothing.

She’s driving out of town today, on her way back home, leaving a little early to fit in one last brief 45-minute hike on a hill she’s never hiked before.  The day is hot, 93 degrees, under a blue and cloudless sky; time slips by quickly.  As she heads back to her car, she spots it on the path, dusty and damaged, most likely from being stepped on by hikers – a black flint arrowhead.

Decisions, decisions. She promised the universe not to keep it, but now it’s in her hand and the location and timing of her discovery convince her this was predestined.  This town is her magical place, after all.  She stops to consider her choices.  After a few minutes, she slips the arrowhead in her back pocket, concluding, if it’s still in her pocket when she arrives home, she was intended to keep it, at least for a while.


Lemon Cheese Pastry Squares

These use the same dough as the Almond Pockets, substituting a cream cheese and lemon filling. Of the two pastries, these were the crowd favorite in the office.

Ingredients

  • Danish Pastry Dough
  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 Tablespoons raw sugar

Directions

  1. Follow the instructions for making the dough.
  2. Make the Cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, yolk and zest together until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  3. Make the squares: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough into 20” x 20” square. Divide into 16 squares approximately 5”x5”. Place the cheese filling in the middle of each square, Brush 2 all corners with egg, fold each corner over the center, pressing down firmly to seal. Proof for 15 minutes.
  4. Egg wash the outside of the pastries and sprinkle liberally with raw sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

arrowhead

Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf

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Turkey Meat Loaf

Today’s Musings:

This kitchen has been turning out a plethora of pastries and desserts lately.  I attended culinary school to become a better chef, not a pastry chef.  I’ve always been more comfortable around flour and sugar recipes than meat, vegetable and starches.  My recipe books are chock full of recipe clippings that have languished for years without being tested.  I’ve decided for the next two months to make at least two new non-pastry dishes per week.  These aren’t necessarily ground-breaking meals – I won’t be testing  my sous vide skills in the near future, but my goal is to reduce the number of recipe clippings in the “to try” pocket of my recipe book while adding a few new staples to my repertoire.

Today’s Recipe:

Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf

  • Servings: 6-8 people
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The resulting meatloaf is moist and flavorful with less calories than the standard meatloaf. I inhaled three slices for dinner and warmed up another two for lunch today. It would also make a delightful sandwich.


Ingredients

  • ½ onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for top
  • 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
  • ½ cup Italian parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 ½ lbs. ground turkey

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Combine all ingredients (except turkey) in a medium bowl until well blended. Add turkey and gently mix with your hands until combined, but do not overmix.
  2. Shape into an 8-inch loaf and place in a baking dish (do not use a loaf pan). Bake until internal temp registers 165 F, about 45 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven, sprinkle additional Parmesan across top and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.