Dominican Republic- Banana leaf baked Tilapia with Spicy stuffing

Baked Tilapia (or Snapper or Halibut) : serves 4

I doubled the recipe for the stuffing to serve 8. Take that into consideration, but be sure to have atleast 8 tilapia fillets (1 per person), thawed (if previously frozen), with lime juice squeezed over them (juice of 1 lime or about 1 T)

Stuffing:

• 5 T butter
• 2 strips bacon, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, seeded, finely chopped
• 1 Scotch bonnet (or ANY hot pepper-- I used a mix of hot banana, jalapeno, and habanero) pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tomato, cubed
• ½ t dried thyme
• ½ t dried marjoram
• 1 t salt
• 1 t freshly ground black pepper
• ½ C bread crumbs
• ¼ C pineapple juice with 1 teaspoon rum extract in it
• 1 large banana leaf (add to appearance and flavor-- can be purchased REALLY cheaply at your local Latin Mercado) or aluminum foil

Garnish:

• Tomato slices,
• Orange slices
• Sprigs of parsley

1. Rinse fish and pat dry inside and out. Squeeze lime juice all over and cover. Refrigerate til ready for use.

2. Saute bacon in ¼ C butter about 4 minutes. Add ingredients through hot peppers, sauté til tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Add tomato, herbs, wine, bread crumbs and stir to combine thoroughly. Simmer, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. Add pineapple juice/rum extract, stir, simmer another few minutes. Remove stuffing from stove and let cool.

4. preheat oven to 375 F

5. Place fish on top of banana leaf or foil. Stuff with filling and dot top with remaingin T of butter (alternatively, can just spray with butter flavored cooking spray). Fold over leaf or foil to seal the fish and bake 1 hour.

6. Transfer to serving platter along with leaf (discard foil) and garnish platter with whole sprigs surrounding fish and slices on top.

Ground lamb (or in this case elk) and feta Fatayer

This small Lebanese pastry is often stuffed with spinach, but almost anything can be used. One suggestion is fresh mackerel or red snapper. A suggested accompaniment is yogurt flavored with mint or sumac (which is a lemon-tasting red berry, dried and ground). I think they are also delicious hot and all on their own! The original recipe is from The World in Bite Size: Tapas, Mezze, and Other Tasty Morsels by Paul Gayler, but I altered a few things. Great source for international hor deurves, if you are ever looking.

• 4 T virgin olive oil
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4 in cubes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ripe firm tomatoes, cut into small cubes
• 1/3 C cooked spinach, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 t sumac (or use lemon juice if you don't want to buy exotic sumac)
• 2 T pine nuts
• 12 oz pie dough (You can save time and just buy this in the frozen foods section, or make your own for a fraction of the cost. I like the Crisco recipe.)
• a little beaten egg
• 3-5 oz package of feta cheese
• 1/2- 1 lb burger, browned on the stove.

1. preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
   
2. heat 3 T of oil in a large frying pan, add eggplant cubes and fry 8-10 min until golden. Add onion and cumin and cook for another 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool.
   
3. brown burger, if you haven't done it already. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
   
4. Heat the remaining oil in the pan and add the tomatoes, spinach, garlic, sumac (or lemon juice), and pine nuts. Cook until almost dry in texture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
   
5. Roll out the dough to 1/8 in thick and cut out 12 3-inch circles with a cookie cutter or glass. (I found that I could get more than 12 out of my dough. More power to ya. There is plenty of filling to go round, I promise. You could probably even fill 24 of these guys without having to double the filling ingredients, I think.) Brush the edges with beaten egg.
   
6. Place a heaped spoonful of eggplant mixture, then a spoonful of the spinach/tomato mixture, then a spoonful of meat, and a small amount of feta cheese in each one, working 1 at a time. Roll up the stuffed pastry, seal, then gently twist and press each end using your thumb and index finger. (I found they are easiest to fold and seal if you don't overfill them. Be especially light on the "wet" ingredients like the spinach/tomato mixture and the cheese).
   
7. Place the pies on a greased baking sheet and brush the exterior surfaces with more beaten egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
   

Enjoy!!!!