Leftovers #30 ~ Turkey Strudel

I can say that this is the last of the leftover turkey posts. I believe I have featured this recipe before however thought it was worth another post. Spicy and flavourful however the combination of curry and cheese work so well together. The vegetables may be substituted for others and the meat may also be substituted for tofu, chickpeas or chicken.  

Turkey Vegetable Strudel 
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1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, coarsely grated
1 cup of cauliflower florets, chopped into small pieces
1 medium potato, diced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 tablespoons mild curry paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2/3 cup of water
1 cup cooked or leftover turkey, diced
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons cream or light buttermilk
2 ounces (50g) Old Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 to 3 tablespoons butter
8 sheets of filo pastry
sesame seeds to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC/Gas 5 and prepare an baking tray lined parchment paper. 

In a bit of oil, sauté the onions, carrots, peas, cauliflower, and potato over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the thyme water and curry paste and continue to cook, uncovered, for about another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the turkey; stir to incorporate everything together.  

Allow the mixture to cool. Once cool, then mix in the egg, cream and cheese. Chill until ready to fill and roll.

Melt the butter and lay out four sheets of filo pastry, slightly overlapping them to form a large rectangle. Brush with butter and fit the other four sheets on top. Brush again.

Spoon the cooled filling along the long edge, then roll up the pastry. Tucking in the sides, the best you can, as you go. Transfer to the prepared baking tray and brush with the remaining butter and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden a crisp. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. 


Wednesday, the middle of the week, and I hope everyone is having a good one so far. 
- JD 

Apple Pear Filo Roll

I was getting quite tired of seeing the box of filo pastry make it's way around the refrigerator. So I decided to make a fruit roll. After all the Asian pear and three apples in the fruit bowl were just begging for attention. The recipe is super easy. This filo roll, I think, is fairly simple and a great way to use up any fruit that may be hanging around. For my recipe you will need the following:

Apple Pear Filo Roll 

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2 tea bags, any flavour, I used Twinings Cherry Cinnamon that I bought in England

1 Asian pear, peeled, cored and chopped

3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup of roughly chopped dried cranberries

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

9 filo pastry sheets

melted butter

1 baking pan, lined with parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare the baking pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Take a medium sized pot add about 1 1/2 cups of water. Place the two tea bags in the pot. Then place the pot on the stove and set to high heat. Bringing the pot to a boil.

In the meantime you can peel and chop all the apples and pears. Set aside. Then chop the dried cranberries. Set those aside too.   

When the water has boiled reduce heat and let simmer. Letting the tea steep. When all the flavours have come out and the water is a nice rich colour from the tea, remove the tea bags. Toss them out.

Add the apples and pears to the tea infused water and continue to simmer over medium high heat. Letting the fruit absorb the liquid. When the fruit is tender remove from heat. and let cool. If you find the fruit mixture is a bit runny take about 1 1/2 teaspoons of corn starch in a small bowl and mix with water until smooth. Pour into the fruit mixture and stir. This will help thicken the filling. 

Add the cinnamon and stir. Letting cool further.

Take the filo pastry sheets, unroll and lay one sheet on a flat work surface. Take the melted butter and brush the top of the sheet. Place another filo pastry sheet on top, brush again with the melted butter and repeat until all the nine filo pastry sheets are on top of one another. Then take your slightly cooled mixture and spoon it about an inch or two from the edge. Roll once and fold in the sides and continue to roll and fold in the sides until you have something that resembles a swiss roll.

Place the roll onto the prepared baking pan. Brush with melted butter and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with a side of vanilla ice cream.

This dessert is a simple way to finish any meal. - JW  

       

Potato and Veggie Cakes

Remember the veggie strudel I posted about the other day. The lovely filling of onions, potatoes, carrots, peas, cheddar cheese and curry powder. There was enough filling left over for me to make these potato and veggie cakes. In a blender I added the filling and some chicken stock. I added enough stock just to smooth the consistency a bit. Making sure not to add too much stock. Stopping the blender every now and again and with a spoon scrapping the sides of the blender. Not worrying if the filling wasn't completely smooth. I then transfered the blended filling into a large bowl. Added some cornmeal until the consistency thicken up and held well together. I didn't measure exactly how much cornmeal. I just eyeballed it. You want it so that the filling doesn't fall off a spoon. Then I fried in a pan with olive oil over medium high heat. Until they have browned on both sides.

This was a great way to use up leftovers. I dressed them with chives and sour cream and served them with sausages and steamed string green beans. -JW