Apple Turnovers

My garden at home has a large, bountiful green apple tree and every year we get tons of fruit. We try to spread the wealth as much as possible but realistically some fruit goes to waste. Being the resourceful person I am, I decided to take the leftover fruit and cook em! This is the first in my series of apple desserts :)

I love tart apples so I didn't use too much sugar when I baked my turnovers.  The cinnamon sugar on top makes the perfect balance between tart and sweet! I also made my turnovers rectangular simply because it was easier to roll out. Thinly slice your apples because if the apples are too chunky they will not fully cook through. My final suggestion is to serve the turnovers warm with ice cream :D Cause honestly, every warm apple dessert tastes a million times better with a classic vanilla ice cream.

Apple Turnovers

Serving Size: 8 turnovers

1 package (17.3 ounces) puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled green apples

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Water & Flour

TOPPING:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, apples, walnuts, and cinnamon. Toss well so the apples are evenly coated.

2. On a lightly floured surface roll out eat pastry sheet to half of the original thickness. Cut each individual sheet into four squares for a total of 8 turnovers. 

3. Spoon the apple mixture  into the center of each rectangle. Dip your fingers in water and with your wet fingers trace the border of the puff pastry sheet. (The water helps seal the pastry sheet!)
4.  Fold the rectangle in half and press edges to seal. To make the edges pretty, you can use a fork to crimp corners of the pastry.
5. In a small bowl, stir the ground cinnamon and sugar. Brush the pastries with the melted butter and liberally sprinkle the sugar cinnamon mixture. Place turnovers on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (approx. 12-15 minutes).

Oven Baked Garlic Sweet Potato Fries with Feta Yogurt Dip

I have been experimenting all summer long to perfect oven baked sweet potato fries. And I think I might have finally come close with this recipe. The dip was inspired by my favorite food blogger and you can find her take on these fries here, but I personally like my tweaks better. Then again I may be a little biased but you really  won't go wrong with these perfectly crispy fries accompanied by the creaminess of the feta yogurt dip.

Through my experimentation I discovered several things: 

1) I'm not a huge fan of using butter on my fries and prefer to use vegetable oil to coat the potatoes. I find the butter to be a little heavier and I like to think these fries of a healthy snack. But honestly, butter does make your potatoes richer so feel free to sub in butter instead of oil!

2) Stick your cookie sheet in the oven while it's preheating. That way you will hear a nice sizzle when you put the potatoes in and you will get an awesome sear on the outside.

3) Having too little or too much oil is a bad thing when it comes to baking fries. With too little oil your fries don't get crispy, but too buttery and your fries get greasy.

4) I like to steam my potatoes so they are al dente when I stick them in the oven. Steaming them with Ziploc steam bags takes two minutes and that way you don't have to stick them in the oven for a long time.

In my opinion, my go-to college midnight snack!

Garlic Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled (if desired) and sliced into thin 1/2-inch (thick) strips
2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Feta Yogurt Dip

3 ounces crumbled feta
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and place a cookie sheet in the oven while it is preheating.

2. Take the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch think strips. In a large bowl toss well with olive oil, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Make sure the sweet potatoes are evenly coated with oil.

3. Once oven is preheated, spread sweet potatoes out in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, remove and flip, and bake for another 5 minute. Depending on how well you cooked the potatoes before baking, you may have to cook for a longer or shorter amount of time. Essentially pull the fries out when they are fully cooked through.

4. Once cooked, remove the fries and add parsley tossing to coat. Serve with the creamy feta dip!

For the dip:
1. Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Ta-da!!

Hot Chocolate Brownie S'mores Pie

Extraordinary. That's what a friend told me when he took a big bite out of this pie. He showed all the symptoms of a foodgasm: his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he became weak in the knees.  Believe me, I couldn't have asked for a better reaction. 

This weekend was also apparently national s'mores week so  I decided to celebrate with brownies, hot chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers all bundled up into one. I'm not entirely sure who declares these "national holidays" but I'm not complaining. And neither should you if you decide to eat my interpretation of the classic s'more. 

I also am really, really, really sad to say that I don't have pictures of my final product. Just as I was taking my brownie s'mores pie out of the broiler till the marshmallows got nice and toasty, it fell. I stood there horrified for a good ten seconds staring at my beautiful, broken pie. But I ate it anyways because seriously, this pie was too good to just throw away. #clumsyhungrygirlprobs 

Also I feel like I should mention that it fell on my countertop, before you imagine that I'm a terrible friend for letting others eat it off the floor. 

Summary of this story: EAT SOME HOT CHOCOLATE BROWNIE S'MORES PIE. 

Hot Chocolate Brownie S'mores Pie

1 graham cookie pie crust 
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons hot chocolate
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup marshmallows


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2.  In a large bowl add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, hot chocolate, baking powder, and salt. Sift the ingredients if needed to remove any large lumps. 
3. To the dry ingredients beat in the eggs one at a time and add the melted butter and vanilla. 
4. Pour brownie mixture into pre-made graham cracker crust. 
4. Bake approximately 25-30 minutes(check with a toothpick or fork). 
5. Once the brownie is fully cooked through, take out of the oven and top with the marshmallows. Bake in the oven for an additional 3 minutes until marshmallows are gooey. If the marshmallows aren't toasted, stick the pie under the broiler for another minute to get the desired brown color. 

Tip:

The next time I make this pie in college, I'm not going to bother making the brownies from scratch. I plan on using a pre-packaged brownie mix and just adding in my favorite hot chocolate powder!

Homemade Baked Falafel

This whole Middle-Eastern trend is inspired by a visit I made to to a local bakery.  You know how fresh bread smell is irresistible? Well I was lured by the smell of this freshly made pita and couldn't resist picking up a pack. 

And then I thought to myself, this pita is world-class. It needs to be treated right. Which is why I decided to make falafel to accompany my scrumptious, fluffy, pita bread.

Traditionally falafel is deep-fried but to cut a lot of calories I wanted to bake them! I knew I could get a nice crust in the oven finished with a seared brown color under the broiler. I then got a bit carried away and made both tzatziki AND tahini from scratch. Check out my tzatziki and tahini recipe HERE! Seriously, a superhero is as important as his/her sidekicks. AKA you have to try one or more of these sauces when you make falafel. 

I made this recipe harder for myself because I soaked my garbanzo beans overnight, pressure cooked them, and then mashed them. I should have taken the easy way out and used canned beans. There's always next time I guess.  

Here's a three step summary of how to make falafel: 

1. Mash chickpeas

2. Mix spices and seasonings.

3. Bake.

Super college-friendly, and if you make bigger patties you can eat them in burgers! I doubled the recipe because I'm saving some falafel to eat on top of my salad. Falafels cook fast, are effortless, and versatile! And I'm totally digging my sauces. 

Homemade Baked Falafel

1 15-19 oz can chickpeas, drained
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. In a large bowl mash drained chickpeas by hand with a fork, spoon, potato masher. Using a blender will make the mixture very thin, as opposed to a chunky but paste-like consistency.

3. Add remaining ingredients and combine well. At this point you should be able to form into two-inch patties. If the mixture is too dry add a a tablespoon of water, and if it's too runny and falls apart, add additional flour.

4. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until lightly browned, flip the falafel, and bake for another 5 minutes. To get desired brown color on top, broil each side for 2 minutes.

Tips:

Best served with tahini, tzatziki, or hummus in pita bread with fresh veggies. Check out my recipes for tzatziki and tahini HERE!

Tahini + Tzatziki

To educate some of ya'll, tzatzki is essentially a tangy, cucumber yogurt dip. Tahini is a paste of sesame seeds and olive oil and is used as a base for many Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus, baba ghanoush, etc. I served both of these sauces together with my baked falafel and they were the BOMB. 

Tzatziki

1 cup plain yogurt 

1/2 english cucumber
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and blend thoroughly. Serve chilled. 

Tahini Sauce

Yields approximately 1/2 cup

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup water

1. Toast sesame seeds in pan until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and grind with remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. 

Tips:
Tzatziki usually calls for fresh dill, so add a tablespoon in your dip if you have some! I unfortunately had an abundance of mint, so I chopped up five leaves and added that to my tzatziki. Fresh herbs make a difference so use them if you have em!

Back in Hotlanta

So I know it's been a week since I've posted on my food blog, but I promise I haven't forgotten! It's just been super hectic because I left for college on Saturday and have been traveling, moving in, or going to training every since. Sometimes it really sucks to be out-of-state and having to move in, but on the bright side, my room is now fully furnished! I still have to put up all my wall decorations and lights but here's a sneak peek at the before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

Okay DO YOU SEE HOW BIG MY ROOM IS?! I even have two beds :) And to make up for my lack of posts, here's a double post for tonight.