Foodista's Turkey Fasirky

What on earth are fasirky, you might ask? Although the name and its spelling might be unfamiliar to you, the actual food is quite complimentary with our culture, as it's essentially  mini burgers that are prepared a bit differently. 

Fasirky are a Slovak dish and they refer to ground meat patties that are combined with egg, breadcrumbs, sometimes scallions and anything else you can think of.  It's usually a quick, stand-by dish that a lot of Slovak people turn to when they want a home cooked meal that doesn't take long to prepare.  I grew up eating it at home and Dan quickly came to love them, to the point where he asks my mom if she can make them all the time.

I decided to try my own version last night - just by process of improvisation and from watching my mom, grandmother and uncle make them over the years.  Mine incorporate turkey meat, but you can also use ground beef, chicken, lamb or a mix of them.

Foodista's Turkey Fasirky:

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 lb of ground turkey meat
1 - 1 1/2 chopped scallions
1 egg
1/2 garlic clove, minced (optional)
Handful of breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable or canola oil

Directions:
Combine the meat with the scallions, egg, garlic, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Fully incorporate with your hands until you get a consistency that's firm enough to form a patty.  If you need to add more breadcrumbs, then do until you get the right consistency.

Form meat mixture into 3 inch oval patties and flatten them out a little.  Not as much as you'd flatten a burger but just so they don't resemble large meatballs.

Then prepare your sautee pan with a generous glug of oil on medium heat.  Give it some time to get super hot and then drop in your meat patties.  Turn over after about 4 minutes or until golden brown on the outside.  Repeat with the other side and make sure the sides are cooked too.  If you need more time for the sides, lower the heat and just leave the patties to cook several minutes longer.  If you're unsure about the doneness of your meat, cut one patty in half to make sure you're in the clear.

Enjoy with some cous-cous, mashed potatoes, a veggie salad - whatever you please.  For my side dish, I used round cous-cous and added chopped scallions and really tiny pieces of radish. It was good!

Seared Scallops with Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous

Since I was on vacation last week, my eating habits totally went down the drain - having French fries three days in a row is not exactly kind to your body.  So because of my over-indulgence, I wanted to cook up a healthy yet satisfying dinner this week that would put me back on the right track. 

I stopped off in Whole Foods after work the other day, and was delighted to see fresh sea scallops on special, so I got them.  I wanted to prepare them simply so I seared them in olive oil and seasoned them with basic spices.  A side of plain cous-cous with sauteed zucchini and white onions rounded out the dish and made it quite earthy.  Dan and I loved it and look forward to an encore soon.

Seared Scallops with Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous

Seared Scallops (serves 2)
1/2 lb of fresh sea scallops (patted dry)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Italian seasoning

Zucchini/Onion Cous-Cous (serves 2)
1/3 cup of cous-cous
1 medium zucchini, diced into 1/2" pieces
1/2 medium onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Directions:
Pat the scallops dry once again to ensure a completely dry exterior.  If the scallops are even slightly moist (as mine were unfortunately), they'll stick to the surface of your pan and will fall apart.  Season scallops with salt and freshly ground black pepper as well as Italian seasoning (oregano, parsley, basil, etc). Make sure to rub in the seasoning well.

Pour oil in a medium - large sized skillet and make sure it's really hot.  Place seasoned scallops into the skillet and sear until the exterior is crispy and golden brown (about 3 minutes on each side). Turn over and repeat on the other side and remove from skillet when done.

For the cous-cous, cook it according to the directions on the box.  Sautee the chopped onions in a medium skillet with olive oil for about 5 - 7 minutes or until the onions get translucent.  Add salt and pepper and then include the zucchini and sautee for another 7 minutes until they get soft. 

When plating this dish, put the scallops to one side of the plate and fill the rest of it with cous-cous and then top that with the zucchini/onion mixture. 

Yum...just thinking about this dish makes me happy. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Back to Cooking - Baked Cherry Chicken

After being on vacation for two weeks, it was hard to get back into cooking, but I'm glad to have it back in my life.  Eating out is fun, but there's nothing like making your food, and knowing that you're eating well and healthy at the same time.

The below recipe for baked cherry chicken coulndn't be simpler, and the beauty of it is that you can use different substitutes for the veggies or dried fruit.  It's a relatively quick dish too that's great for weeknight cooking--preparation and cooking time taking about an hour.  I hope that you enjoy it and that it inspires you to cook healthier and lighter.

Foodista's Baked Cherry Chicken (serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 lb of chicken tenders (white chicken breasts)

2 tbs of olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of grain mustard
1/3 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
Small handful of dried cherries, cut in half

Small handful of sliced almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare baking sheet and line with aluminum foil, and then gently grease with olive oil (about 1 tbs or less - just lightly brush the surface).

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper.  Make marinade by mixing together the remainder of the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, grain mustard, honey and salt and pepper.  Whisk until combined thoroughly. 

Place seasoned chicken tenders in a wide, shallow bowl and pour marinade over it.  Let rest for about 20-30 minutes. Take chicken out of marinade with tongs and place it on prepared baking sheet - leave excess marinade in the bowl and discard.

In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs with a small glug of olive oil, salt, pepper, cherries and sliced almonds and mix together with your fingers until incorporated.  Top chicken with breadcrumbs, place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

While the chicken is baking, make a side dish such as a mixed salad or cous cous with vegetables. Enjoy!