Luci's Tasty Adventures

This soup is just delicious, I made it as the starter to my fabulous Christmas dinner feast.  You could easily freeze left overs of this soup for easy lunches.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 leeks, white part only, washed well and chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 2 small potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 (8-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp chopped chives, for garnish

Heat oil over medium heat in a large stock pot.  Add Leeks, garlic saute for two minutes.  Add the potatoes and saute for 7 minutes.   Add the artichokes, chicken stock, cream cheese, salt, and pepper; cook over medium low heat for about 40 minutes till every thing is nice and tender. 

Blend soup using a hand held immersion blender, or work in small batches in a blender.  Taste and season soup and add salt and pepper to taste.  Add lemon juice to the soup right before server, garnish bowls of soup with freshly chopped chives.  Enjoy
Serves 8

This dish is always a hit.  I made it for both Christmas Eve (double batch), and Christmas Day (single batch).  This goes well with Ham, Beef, and Turkey.  Enjoy. 

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 5 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/16 inch think slices
• 1 sweet white onion, cut in half and sliced into 1/16 inch think slices
• 5 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg in a large bowl.  Toss in sliced potatoes together using your hands.  Arrange onion slices at the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish; add potato mixture on top, make sure you distribute the potatoes and cream mixture evenly over the onions.  Cover with Gruyere cheese and parsley.  Cover backing dish with foil and bake for about an hour till tender, remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes to brown cheese.

These cookies are a favorite with my family at the holidays.  The first time I had them was on a trip to Chicago.  I remember how flaky they were and how I so wanted to master making them.  They are a little labor intensive but very worth it, trust me.  Enjoy!

• 1 lb Butter, softened
• 8 oz Cream cheese, softened
• 3 c Flour
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 Egg, beaten

Filling:

• 2 can Solo raspberry, apricot or poppy-seed

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• ½ tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together and set aside.

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbsp water
• Beat together and set aside.

Method for pastry:
Cream the butter and cream cheese together; once blended add egg and vanilla.  Mix in flour and chill in the refrigerator over night.

The trick to this dough is to work in small batches and always keep the dough you are not using refrigerated.  I work with about ½ cup of dough at a time.  Roll dough out to about 1/8 in on a heavily floured surface. 
Cut dough into 2 by 2 in squares. Place a row of your favorite filling, about 1 teaspoon.












Fold on edge of dough over the filling, dot with egg wash.  The egg wash is used as a glue, try not to get it on the outer portion of the pastry.















Seal pastry and place on a parchment lined backing sheet.










Back in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Let cool and dust them when powder sugar before serving.

Yields 80

The past few days have been so cold in the Bay Area.  Time for some more soup!  This recipe is pretty simple, and you can you chicken legs or thighs if you prefer them over breasts.  I used breasts cause they are a staple item in my freezer.  Enjoy!

• 
  
• 3 boneless skinless cooked chicken breast, cubed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 oz egg noodles
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• salt and fresh grated pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat, add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.  Saute till tender about 7 minutes. 

Add stock and bay leaf to pot and bring to a small boil.  Add egg noodles and cook for about 8 minutes.  Fold in chicken, remove bay leaf, add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve each bowl with fresh chopped parsley.

Serves 5

 

This recipe comes from my dear friend Noah Wright.  All I can tell you is I feel like a leaf in the wind when I bake.  If you have never made your own bread I suggest you give a try.  Enjoy

• 1 Cup warm water
• 2 packages of Yeast
• 2 tablespoons Sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/4 – 5 3/4 cups of flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon water
• Poppy seeds (optional)
  

Method

Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved, and active.  Add remaining water, sugar, butter, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well. Stir in 3 eggs, 1 egg white (reserve 1 yolk), and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.



















Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 - 8 minutes. place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.














Cover, let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.  It took me a good hour to get my dough to rise.  My apartment is so cold, and I think that is what did me in.  After a half hour I decided to heat two cups of water in the microwave.  I then removed the water and put my dough in the microwave to sit in the nice warm air... do not heat your dough.  I did this as a way to keep the air around it warm.













Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide remaining half into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3 of the dough. Divide larger piece into 3 equal pieces; roll to 12 inch ropes. Place ropes on greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal. Divide remaining piece into 3 equal pieces.













Roll to 10 inch ropes; braid. Place small braid on large braid. Pinch ends firmly to seal and secure to large braid. Repeat with remaining dough to make second loaf. Cover; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in size; about 30-45 minutes.

Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with poppy seed, if desired.












Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until done, switching positions of sheets in oven halfway through baking time. Remove from sheets; let cool on wire rack.













Makes 2 loaves

One of the not so nice things about living in an apartment is you can't use a barbeque on your balcony.  About a year ago I invested in a cast iron grill, and I find that you can grill up just about anything on it. I cook so many dishes on this grill, from salmon to chicken, and steak.  I highly recommend every pick one up.

• 2 Boneless Ribeye Steaks
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Black Pepper
• Granulated Garlic
• Olive oil
• Cast iron grill

Method

Heat your cast iron grill on high heat for 10 minutes, this step is most important.  Once grill is heated take steaks and drizzle olive oil over them, sprinkle garlic both sides along with salt and pepper.  Place steaks on grill and let cook 3-4 minutes a side.  The time depends on how think your steaks are and how you want them done.  Let steaks rest for 3 minutes before serving.  Enjoy

 I found myself with lots of turkey left over from thanksgiving and thought.. hmmm soup.. and then the soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld was on, so that sealed the deal!  This is my take on Mulligatawny soup, Enjoy!

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 boneless, skinless turkey breast half cut into cubes
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• ½ cup cream
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Method

Take a large stockpot over medium heat and melt down butter.  Add chopped turkey browning on all sides, after browned transfer to a bowl.













Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to stock pot saute for about 7 minutes.  Stir in curry powder and cayenne pepper, saute for another 2 minutes.














Add broth and browned turkey to stock pot, bring to a simmer.  Add the rice and cook for about 30 minutes.  Stir in yogurt and cream, and lemon juice.  Cook for another 10 minutes and serve with minced cilantro.



Servers 5