Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Appetizer. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Hummus (Ottolenghi)


"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your little finger like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic" (Diane Setterfield) The other day I was talking with a friend about the first episode in the new season of "Homeland" and found myself getting weepy. The transformation of one of the main characters along with how I anticipated parts of the new season to evolve had struck an emotional chord. I tried to tell myself to get a grip, this was a television show. But it didn't matter. Because I am someone who can be deeply moved words. And particularly by those found in a well-written article or book or heard in a film, and yes, even a television series. I have always been in awe of those with the ability, the talent, the power, the gift, to draw our emotions, imaginations, and thoughts in with their words. There have been times when I have had to temporarily take pause or walk away from a book because it had evoked either a new or deeply buried thought. I feel this same way watching films, but unlike watching a film or a television show at home, I can hardly walk out of a movie theatre without missing something or be so bold as to ask them to please stop the reel while I finish processing my thoughts (that would be too much even for me to ask). I love equally those books validating things I hold dear or believe as well as those shifting my perspective. "Angela's Ashes" changed the way I looked at poverty, "Columbine" changed the way I looked at the challenges and heroism existing in schools, "A Little Life" validated there can be a destructive element to resiliency, and "The Kite Runner" gave me some early insights into a culture I may have pre-judged but knew very little. Being able to share your thoughts and, yes, even emotions about a book, movie or television show, regardless of what they are one of the ways to make great connections with others. In the same way as sharing a meal does.


Four years ago I posted a recipe for Gameday, Everyday Hummus on the blog. It was one inspired by the person I believe has significantly shifted the way we cook, the way we entertain. No, not Martha Stewart. But rather culinary goddess extraordinaire, Ina Garten. Not only was I incredibly effusive in my praise for her recipe, I genuinely believed it would be the 'one' I would be making forever. Call me what you will, but over the Christmas holidays I (gasp) made a different hummus recipe. One heavily based on the recipe appearing in "Jerusalem: A Cookbook" written by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.


In a single bite of the creamiest hummus I had ever tasted, I knew I would be (dare I say permanently?) switching my hummus loyalties. However, should Ottolenghi ever come across this blog (anything is possible, right?), he might say his original version is even creamier than the slightly modified one I made. So technically I may have yet to experience real hummus nirvana. Although for the moment, I am quite happy to be in this new state of hummus delirium.


So what was the change I made to this hummus recipe? Well, I used canned chickpeas instead of soaking dried chickpeas overnight and then cooking them the next day. It is quite possible that would have been less work than peeling the skins off of the canned chickpeas. But it isn't just the preparation of the chickpeas responsible for creating such a deeply flavorful, immensely addictive. The outrageous amount of tahini (one cup plus two tablespoons) is one of the genius aspects of this hummus.


Peeling the skins off of three and two-thirds cups of canned chickpeas may seem a tad tedious and time consuming. However, removing the skins completely transforms the texture of the hummus and takes it to a completely new hummus level. To keep yourself from going over the edge when peeling off the skins, replay the last episode of "This is Us" (because watching it once isn't enough); phone a friend who likes to talk or phone a friend who likes to listen; or just let let your thoughts wander for awhile. I didn't keep track of how much time I spent skinning the chickpeas, but I am pretty sure it didn't take a half hour. Maybe just 10 minutes. Trust me when I tell you the rewards you will reap from what sounds like a bit of insanity are inversely proportional to the investment of your time. And all you need to peel a chickpea is your thumb and the next two fingers. Put a chickpea between them and gently press and twist. How easy is that? Well much easier than and not nearly as dizzying as my summer college job of using my fingers to put the Cracker Jack prizes in the tiny slots of a conveyor belt. Yes, that really was my job one summer. And yes, peeling the chickpeas is critical.


Also key to the smoothness and creaminess of this hummus is how long it is processed in the food processor. After the chickpeas have been processed to a paste and the lemon juice, salt, garlic and tahini has been fully incorporated, the ice cold water is drizzled in. Set your timer for five minutes and let the food processor work its' magic.


Before transferring the hummus to your serving bowl, taste for seasoning. I added a tiny bit more salt and about a teaspoon of lemon juice. But having served some friends some over the top garlic-y hummus before the holidays, I dared not any more. So if you think your hummus doesn't seem to have a strong enough garlic presence, wait. In about an hour and definitely overnight, its' presence will be known to your palate. Would highly recommend the first time you make this hummus to use only four medium sized cloves of garlic. Depending on your affinity for garlic, make the adjustments the second time around.

Cover the surface of the hummus with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour or overnight before serving. When ready to surface, generously drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and top with pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts, caramelized onions, or chopped parsley and paprika. Serve with toasted pita chips or vegetables. Sliced carrots, strips of red pepper, or cauliflower are some options.

Sometimes you have to let go of what you believe to be your favorite, best recipe. Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith and try a new one, maybe even one pushing you outside of your comfort zone. Because sometimes you and everyone else around you will discover a new definition of best exists.

Recipe 
Hummus (Ottolenghi) (a slight adaptation to the Basic Hummus recipe shared by Yotom Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi in their cookbook Jerusalem)

Ingredients
3 2/3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and skins removed
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons tahini
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
4 to 7 Tablespoons ice cold water
Extra-virgin olive oil to finish
Optional garnishes: Pomegranate seeds; pine nuts; caramelized onions; or chopped parsley and paprika
Homemade or store-bought toasted pita bread, pita chips, fresh vegetables (carrots, red peppers, cauliflower)

Directions
1. Put chickpeas in the food processor. Process until a thick paste forms.
2. Add the tahini, garlic cloves, sea salt, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Process until ingredients are well blended.
3. Add the ice cold water and process for at least 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Note: Begin with 4 1/2 Tablespoons of ice cold water. If mixture isn't creamy, enough (and it might not be) slowly add the additional ice cold water to reach an ultra creamy consistency.
4. If necessary season to taste with additional lemon juice and/or sea salt.
5. Transfer hummus to serving dish cover its' surface with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or overnight.
6. When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving. Top with a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve as is or garnish with chick peas; pomegranate seeds; pine nuts; caramelized onions; chopped parsley; and /or paprika.

Note: (1) To make this hummus using dried chickpeas, put 1 /14 cups of chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak on the counter overnight. The next day, drain the chickpeas; place in a medium/large saucepan over high heat adding the drained chickpeas and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add 6 1/ 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook, skimming off any foam and any skins that float to the surface. The chickpeas need to cook for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on type and freshness, sometimes longer. Once done, they will be very tender, breaking up easily when pressed between your thumb and next two fingers (almost but not quite mushy). Drain the chickpeas. Measure out 3 2/3 cups. 

Sculptures at the Sydney and Walda Bestoff Scuplture Garden in New Orleans, Louisiana

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Hot Macadamia Dip


"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend." (Melody Beattie) More so than at any other time of the year, the Thanksgiving season encourages all of us to reflect on and openly share the things in life and people we are most thankful for. Many of us include on this list friends, family, and those guardian angels who have come into our lives for sometimes not immediately known reasons. Some of us extend our gratefulness out to those we may not know, but whom we value for their sacrifices, contributions, or heroic actions. Shifting to the 'things' in life, what comes to mind may be somewhat dependent on our age, perspective, values, and/or life experiences. Maybe our health, running water, access to education, our freedom, and open spaces make the list of those things we openly admit to being most grateful for. Secretly our list might include things like chocolate, ice cream, and Netflix.

For a myriad of reasons, I find focusing on the more substantial and thoughtful aspects of gratitude in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to be a bit challenging this year. As at the moment, my gratitude short list is nothing short of what might be considered somewhat superficial. And what might be on this ostensibly half-baked list? Well, movies, books and wine. More important than the 'things' on this list, are the reasons, or rather reason, why. Not only do they happen to be much needed distractions, albeit temporary, from all of the angry rhetoric expressed in the months prior to and days after the recent Presidential election, they are enabling me to keep my sanity as well as the ability to remember all the things I really do like about the people I call friends. My over the top immersion into books, movies and wine is not so much a means of escaping from reality or putting my head in the sand, but rather the means to enable me to regain some perspective on who and what matters to me, on who and what I am genuinely grateful for. By the time Thanksgiving gets here, I want to be in a place where it feels good to be able to count all of my blessings. Call me naive or call me Pollyanna, but I continue to have faith that sooner rather than later we all will give ourselves the opportunity to take a deep breath, to take pause, to decide how to contribute to the greater collective good, and to take some solace in remembering there are endless possibilities in life when we decide to live a life filled with hope. And maybe for some of us, it will only take a few bottles of wine for this to happen.


Rather than drink alone, I convinced some of my friends to be my partners in crime at a wine tasting event this past weekend. Being a 'good, not a completely bad influence' friend, I planned to make sure my potentially 'tipsy' friends had the opportunity to sober up with a yummy follow-up dinner at my house. Fortunately for me, this is a somewhat adventurous group of food and wine friends. So I always know I can try some new recipes. Of course in addition to food, there would be more wine. What kind of hostess would I be if I didn't keep the wine theme going? (Not a very good one.)


The first time I tasted this Hot Macadamia Dip was a lifetime ago (okay so it was a few decades back and that's as specific as I am going to be) at the home of a friend who taught me many things, including how to set a beautiful table. It immediately turned into one of those appetizer regulars. And then it became one of those recipes put on extended hiatus. A few weeks ago we had dinner at the home of some friends. And lo and behold the Hot Macadamia Dip reappeared like a divine intervention. There were only four of us but we devoured it. When planning the post wine tasting dinner I knew this dip had to make a reappearance.

They key to this dip's creaminess is starting with softened/room temperature cream cheese. I usually take the blocks of cream cheese out before going to bed to ensure it will be the right consistency for beating it with a hand held mixer.


Once all of the ingredients are blended together, the dip is spooned into an 8 inch ceramic dish or pie plate. This is one of those dips you can make the night before or early in the day making entertaining seem slightly effortless when guests arrive.


Macadamia nuts take the flavor of just about everything up a notch or two. It's definitely the icing on this cake.


A half cup of chopped macadamia nuts are mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and then spread evenly over the top of the dip. 


In a preheated 350 degree (F) oven, the Hot Macadamia Dip bakes for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling hot on the sides as well as hot through the center. Because this is one of those hot dips served in the container it is baked in, use a ceramic dish or pie plate you love. On my recent trip to Michigan I saw a piece of pottery at the Khnemu Studio of Fernwood Farm in the town of Fennville and immediately thought it was destined to be the container for this Hot Macadamia Dip.

Served hot/warm with buttery crackers or cocktail rye breads, it is one of those appetizers winning the 'most likely to disappear' award. It's the perfect hot appetizer to serve at any gathering. It's creamy yet has a bit of crunch from the green peppers, onions and macadamia nuts. Especially ones where there wine or cocktails or both wine and cocktails are being served.

Recipe
Hot Macadamia Dip

Ingredients
11-12 ounces cream cheese, softened/room temperature
2 Tablespoons milk
2 small packages (2 ounce size) of Buddig's beef (thinly sliced and cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow or sweet Vidalia onion
1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cocktail rye and/or pumpernickel bread and/or butter/Ritz crackers

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. In a medium sized bowl, blend the softened cream cheese and milk together until smooth using a hand held mixer.
3. Fold in black pepper, ground ginger, garlic, green pepper and onion. 
4. Mix in sliced, cut beef.
5. Fold in sour cream. Transfer mixture to an 8 inch ceramic dish or pie plate. Smooth top.
6. Mix together the chopped macadamia nuts and melted butter. Spread evenly over the top.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until completely heated through. Serve hot/warm with assorted crackers and/or small rye breads.

Notes: (1) The dip can be made the night before and/or hours before. Cover and chill in the refrigerator. To prevent the chilled ceramic dish and/or pie plate from breaking, put it in oven and then turn on oven temperature to 350 degrees (F). (2) Instead of the Buddig's beef can use the dried jarred beef. Rinse and dry before slicing and adding to the dip mixture.


Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois (November 2016)




Tuesday, November 8, 2016

English Oat Crackers


Last week's three day girl's getaway trip to southwestern Michigan was a much needed reprieve from all of the deafening political noise dominating every form of media for the past several months. From waking up and walking along the shore of Lake Michigan, to driving in landscapes rich with the deepest, most vibrant autumnal colors, to looking for treasures in antique stores, to enjoying some amazing food, to have some time to take photos of an iconic lighthouse, to staying up in the wee hours to watch the Cubs clinch the World Series, these busy from morning to night days were actually more relaxing than exhausting. More than likely this was due in large part to the graciousness of the friend who opened up her home to us and served as travel guide extraordinaire. Although I don't know whether to love or hate her for introducing me to Salt of the Earth, a restaurant in Fennville, Michigan, serving some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. Seriously, the food is so unbelievably incredible it is almost worth making a five hour round trip drive just to have a dinner there. Or maybe, worth spending the night to squeeze in stops at Virtue Cider and Crane's Pie Pantry after spending the day photographing the lake and woodland landscapes. I can hardly wait to go back.


One of the first recipes in Ina Garten's new cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey, to catch my eye were the English Oat Crackers. They reminded me of my favorite so hard to find crackers I don't even think I remember who made them. Before leaving for Michigan, I made them to go with some cheese and wine I had packed for us. If there were ever a cracker to create a best ever cheese platter, it would be these English Oat Crackers. Crisp and deeply flavored they are a cross between a cracker and cookie. We have all known that Ina Garten is a genius. But now we are further indebted to her for helping us realize we should be giving as much to the crackers on our cheese platters as we have been giving to the cheese.


Having given all but one of these English Oat Crackers away (well I had to make sure they were good), I made them again when I returned home. I could say it was all in the spirit of making sure they were as good the second time around. But I would be lying. These crackers are as beautiful as they are addictive. One of the more lethal combinations in the food world.


One of Ina Garten's most enduring qualities is creating 'simple' recipes using easy to find ingredients (albeit sometimes on the expensive side) as well as ones always delivering in taste and presentation. These English Oat Crackers more than deliver and just happen to be on the relatively inexpensive ingredient side. The only ingredient variable is the butter (unsalted of course). Because there are very few ingredients in these crackers using a high quality unsalted butter is even more critical. However, there is no need to splurge on high end oatmeal. The Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats work perfectly.


There were a few changes I made to this recipe (I know, who am I to mess with perfection). But these changes were due more to not paying close attention to the recipe (I was multi-tasking the first time I made them). Instead of using a half-cup of lightly packed light brown sugar, my brown sugar was more on the semi-firm packed side. And instead of baking them at 375 degrees (F), I baked them at 350 degrees (F). More on what I think the difference in these two temperatures might be later on. 


For some reason I had difficulty pressing down the cracker dough balls down by simply flouring the bottom of a drinking glass (the dough kept sticking to the glass, resulting in an unbakeable mess). Putting a small piece of parchment paper between the dough and glass worked perfectly when carefully peeling the paper away from the flattened cracker. And it wasn't necessary to add any more flour to the cracker.


Baking time for these English Oat Crackers ranged from 22-24 minutes. For the crispiest cracker, your baking time will be closer to 24 minutes.. However, the thickness of your cracker will also influence how long these crackers remain in the oven. My crackers may not have been flattened as much as Ina's. Mine were a little thicker. Personally, I liked the substantialness of them. The higher oven temperature (375 degrees F) would also contribute to the cracker's crispness. If you bake them at the higher temperature, begin checking them at 20 minutes.


Once removed from the oven, the crackers should be allowed to cool on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes before being transferred to a cooling rack.


They can be served either warm or at room temperature. If making them earlier in the day or day before, make certain they have completely cooled before being put in a tightly sealed container or placed in a tightly tied cellophane bag.


So now let's talk about the cheese. While there are many cheese pairing options to go along with these crackers, the French Triple Cream Cow's Milk cheese Delice de Bourgogne would be amongst my favorites. The combination of flavors is head-spinning.


If you were going to serve only one appetizer at a cocktail party or dinner party, then serve English Oat Crackers paired with a great cheese and some fruit. It's really all you need. And this is coming from someone who is finds it difficult to stop at making just one.


With the holiday entertaining season quickly approaching, consider making these English Oat Crackers your must-serve cracker. Additionally, they make for a great hostess gift. Just be sure to make some for yourself as it may be difficult to let them go.

Recipe
English Oat Crackers (an ever so slight adaptation of Ina Garten's English Oat Cracker recipe from her newest cookbook 'Cooking for Jeffrey')
Makes approximately 22-24 three inch sized crackers.

Ingredients
3 cups (8 1/2 oz/240g) old-fashioned oats (recommend Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats)
1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, semi-firmly packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz/226g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice (recommend Kerrygold's Unsalted Butter)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup lukewarm water
Sea salt or Fleur de sel  (recommend Maldon Sea Salt)
Serve with fruit (sliced Honey Crisp apples and cheese)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place oats, flour, brown sugar, and kosher salt into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for approximately 15-25 seconds or until oats are coarsely ground.
3. Add butter and pulse 15-20 times until the butter is pea-sized.
4. Dissolve baking soda in lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve. Add to food processor. Pulse until mixture is even moistened and can be easily pressed into balls that will hold together (Note: If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour or if too dry, add a little more water.)
5. Using a 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" inch ice cream scoop, form balls. Evenly space on baking sheet.
6. Flour the bottom of a flat bottomed 3 inch drinking glass and flatten each cracker so it is somewhere between 1/8" and 1/4" thick (mine were closer to 1/4"). Note: If the ball of dough is sticking to the glass, cut a 4" square piece of parchment paper, place on dough ball, then press with glass. The parchment paper should release easily leaving you with a perfectly flattened cracker.)
7. Sprinkle with sea salt. 
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven. Allow crackers to cool on pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store completely cooled cookies in a tightly sealed container or tightly tied cellophane bag for several days.

Notes: (1) Instead of lightly packing the brown sugar, I packed mine semi-firm. This may or may not have added to the moisture of cracker dough. As a result I added an additional tablespoon of flour. (2) The drinking glass method of flattening the crackers didn't work as it did not easily release from the cracker. However, placing a piece of parchment paper on top of the cracker ball and then pressing with the glass worked perfectly. (3) Use Old-Fashioned NOT quick cooking oats. (4) The original recipe recommends the crackers bake at 375 (F) degrees for 20-25 minutes. My baking temperature was 350 (F) degrees with a baking time of 22-24 minutes. (5) Highly recommend serving these crackers with the French Delice de Bourgogne, a triple creme cow's milk cheese.



Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Thanksgiving Round Up: The Sides


If there was ever a holiday dominated by traditions, Thanksgiving might be the one having this distinction. At least in my world. This is not to say that every Thanksgiving is the same. It isn't. Oh, there are elements of continuity from year to year (with one unforgettable exception), but it has become a tradition to be sightly non-traditional. Although there is one sacred part of the meal: the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. Mess with that part of the dinner and, well, I will not take responsibility for what could happen next or how far I will spiral downward. Yet changes to the appetizers, sides, desserts, or even the table setting would not even phase me at all. My Thanksgiving flexibility is clearly compartmentalized. 

This year will be a very different Thanksgiving. With the person who shall remain nameless not returning home from an out of the country work assignment until after this holiday, I am left with deciding how, where, and with whom I will honor and celebrate it. At the moment, my fiercely independent side is having an ongoing conversation with my traditional side, with both sides being egged on by a few other personality characters (aren't we all more or less multidimensional?). Fortunately I have some time before having to make a decision. But for those of you fortunate enough to have a Thanksgiving plan already in place, maybe this is your year to change it up a bit. Particularly the meal part of the day. To encourage you to add something new to your holiday table, I will be re-sharing some of my favorite 'perfect' for Thanksgiving dinner recipes over the course of the next few weeks. First up. Well, the sides, of course.

Each of the following seven sides have appeared on 'my' Thanksgiving table more than once. It would be safe to say there is at least one (Wendy's Mashed Potatoes) where everyone's day would be ruined if it wasn't served. And not just because it's 'tradition'. All but one of them can be made the day before and are easily transportable. Each vary in their levels of richness. None of them are what you might consider 'low calorie', although the Roasted Brussels Sprouts Gratin might object. There are no obscure, hard to find, or must go to the ends of earth to find ingredients in any of the recipes. However, I won't guarantee they will be available if you wait until the night before Thanksgiving to do your grocery shopping. All seven of them push the limits on what most would consider 'best ever', 'the most insanely delicious side ever', 'worth fighting over the last spoonful' and/or 'worthy of going on a last meal list'. A click on the link below each of the photos will take you immediately to the recipe. As Ina Garten might say 'How easy is that?'. But don't feel you have to wait for Thanksgiving to make any of them. These sides would make any Sunday dinner, dinner party, and/or Christmas/Hanukkah meal memorable. 






Roasted Brussels Sprouts Gratin


Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Bread Pudding


Cheesy Hasselback Potato Gratin


Sweet Potato Casserole


Boursin Spinach Gratin

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." (W.T. Purkiser)