Chicken Shawarma Meatballs

Chicken sawarma is all about the spices and the paper thin cut chicken. I didn't feel like going through the process of cutting up chicken breast, the overnight marination, and trying to roast them correctly, so I decided to make this dish into meatballs and go from there. The process was quite simple and the great flavors of the dish come out in every bite.

1 lb Chicken, minced
1/2 Lemon, juice only
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Paprika
dash Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Salt
pepper

Pita Bread
Tzatziki Sauce (video on this site)
Lettuce
Onion
Tomato

Add the minced chicken to a large bowl. Squeeze in the lemon, and add the yogurt and spices. Mix everything together until well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in the firdge for at least an hour (a few hours would be better). With moist hands, take a heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture and roll into a ball (about the size of the golf ball). Place on a cooking sheet a few inches apart. Place the cooking sheet under the broiler for 10 minutes. Remove and turn the meatballs over and place under the broiler for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest under a foil tent for 10 minutes. To build your sandwich - put down the pita bread and spread on some tzatziki sauce, add 4/5 of your chicken shawarma meatballs, then lettuce, tomato, and onion. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

~Nikko

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I've been wanting to bake something with pumpkin since carving my little sisters Halloween pumpkin this year. I looked at a few different recipes and couldn't find anyting that really jumped out at me. I took a few different recipes and put them together to create this recipe. They came out really dang good - I hope you try them and like them as well as we did...

The Dry Stuff:
3 Cups Bread flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt, table
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Cloves

The Wet Stuff:
2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin, roasted and mashed, or 1 can
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Vege oil
1/4 Cup Butter, melted

The Optional Stuff (but highly recommended):
1 Cup Pecans, chopped

In a bowl add all the dry stuff and use a whisk to blend it all together - set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the wet stuff and mix for a minute or so until it is well mixed. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and combine until well incorporated. Stir in the nuts.

Cover the batter and allow to sit at room temp for 30 min to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F

Put muffin cups into the muffin tray and fill 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick (or knife) comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Eat & Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Nikko

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