Hummus: Back to the Basics

This is another recipe I got from my Arab Table Cookbook, which not only has fantastic, authentic (from what I can tell) middle eastern recipes, but amazing pictures as well.

I use to be quite the hummus connoisseur, going through most of the national brands before I finally got fed up with it. Too much of a good thing, especially if you have it everyday for lunch. 

But this recipe, which I first tried back in February, has drawn me back into the dish. It's a simple recipe, without any bells and whistles, and I kind of like that. My vegan friend Jim has also given it his seal of approval, saying it was one of the best he's tried (which I take as a huge compliment!)

Some Notes:

• It's heavy on the tahini, which makes it thicker than most, but feel free to cut it in half if you don't like that nutty flavor. 
• I've found while the first day is fine, you might need to add some olive oil in as the week goes by to keep its 'sour cream' like consistency.  
• A Food Processor makes this recipe SO MUCH EASIER. I wouldn't recommend making it without it (although I did get it to work once with my emulsion blender)
• For those who like bells and whistles, consider adding roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, or pine nuts to the mixture.

Hummus
2 15 oz. cans garbanzo beans
2-4 cloves garlic, mashed
1/2 t. salt, plus more to taste
1/2 c. tahini (or less)
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin Olive Oil (for drizzling on top)
1/2 t. smoked paprika

1. Drain all the water out of the garbanzo beans and rinse in cold water THREE times. Place them in water, covered by 1 inch of water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of liquid, then drain and set aside.
2. Place garlic and salt in the food process and pulse three times. Add chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, and pulse until the mixture is thick and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then process for 5 minutes, or until it has the consistency of sour cream. Add the cooking liquid in tablespoon quantities as needed (2-6 T.).  Season with paprika/salt/lemon juice as needed.
3. When you serve the hummus, create a bowl with a center indentation where you can add olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, or other garnishes.

Adding Some Heat: Jalapeno Poppers and Stuffed Chicken

Jalapeno poppers have got to me one of my guilty pleasures, right up there with crab rangoon. What can be better than cheese oozing out of a spicy shell? While the fried, freezer options can taste heavy and fattening, this recipe I discovered last week sounded both delicious, and relatively easy.

Be warned: these turned out pretty hot. Our theory is that grilling doesn't remove the chili fire like a fried popper will, so a less heat-intense option is to split them in half—reduce the chili heat-to-cheese ratio.

Anaheim Chili Popper, oven baked

Grilled Jalapeno Poppers

• 1/2 white onion, thinly diced
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 8 oz. queso fresco, crumbled
• 4 oz. Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
• 2 T. lime juice
• 1 t. cumin
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 15 jalapeno peppers (or milder peppers like green Anaheim Chilies, if you can't stand the heat)

1. Saute the white onions in olive oil on a medium-low heat until they start to sweat, around 10 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Let sit to cool.
2. If you have contacts on, make sure you wear gloves. Chop off the top of the jalapeno, and slice the peppers length-wise almost all the way down—leaving the end together. Remove the veins and seeds with a small spoon. Line up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3.  Mix together your cheeses, lime juice, cumin, and spices, and then add the onion/garlic mixture to it. Stuff the cheese mixture into the poppers.
4. Fire up the grill, leaving the poppers on the foil and on the top rack that is away from the heat. Close the grill and let cook until the cheese starts to ooze out. At this point, feel free to add your burgers/hotdogs/other items to the grill. Let the poppers continue to cook until the jalapeno skin has charred up and become soft. (We left ours on for another 10 minutes).
5. For indoor baking: Heat the oven to 350 degrees, place the chilies in for 15 minutes, or until cheese is oozing out. Then, place the oven on a high broil and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until the skin starts to burst.

If the heat from jalepeno poppers isn't your thing, I would recommend the following Stuffed Chicken recipe that I created from scratch on Day 2, made with the leftover cheese mixture. We served a jalapeno popper with the chicken, but the mild Anaheim was so great mixed with the chicken, I'm going to adjust the recipe below and have you add the pepper to the actual chicken recipe.

I forgot to saute the breast on the stove, and so the meat turned out white

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breast

• 1 chicken breast, butterflied
• Cheese Mixture from Above
• 1 Mild Anaheim Pepper
• Salt/Pepper/Cumin to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Butterfly the chicken breast (leave attached).  Season the inside with salt, pepper, and cumin.
3. Slice the top of the pepper, and half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and veins. Slice the chili into flat, thin squares.
4. Stuff your butterflied chicken by layering chili squares first, then a spoonful of cheese, then another layer of chili squares. Fold the top of the chicken breast over the mixture, and secure with toothpicks or string. Season outside with spices.
5. Heat up a cast iron (or oven safe) skillet with oil, and saute the breasts 1-2 minutes per side to brown the skin. Transfer pan to oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until chicken is done and cheese is oozing out.

Easy Picnic with Dip & Sangria

Here's my second post that appeared on Wolf Trap's Insider Blog:

*****

If you want to follow one rule to picnicking on the lawn, it should be to keep it simple. Don’t try to overdo anything, or stress out about what to bring. Some of the best picnics are the ones where you walk into Whole Foods or Trader Joes without a game plan, and just grab what sounds good. But for those who want more direction, I can start you out with one word: dips.

When it comes to a dip, there are a million options out there, from salsa and chips, pita and hummus, or potato chips and ranch dip. For something a little different, I offer up the following recipe for Pebre.

Pebre
prep time: 10-20 minutes
Similar to a salsa, without the heat, or bruschetta, without the balsamic, Pebre is one of many recipes that help bring me back to my South American roots. It's traditionally used as a topping for grilled meats, but is fantastic on its own, served with bread or chips for dipping.

• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 2 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 c. parsley, chopped
• 1 c. cilantro, chopped
• ¾ chopped onions
• 1 c. fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 T. garlic, diced
• OPTIONAL (if you can find it): 2 fresh aji peppers, or 1-2 T. aji amarillo paste. (The paste is easier to find in the DC area, and can be found at South American food marts)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

The recipe is simple. Mix it all together, and let it marinate. It's actually better on day two or three, so feel free to make this ahead of time.

I made this recipe for last Saturday's Bright Eyes show at Wolf Trap, and served it in a trio of dips that included a cream cheese and pickled zucchini mixture (4 oz. of cream cheese to one large spoonful of pickled veg), and a horseradish cheese dip that my friend Megan found. With a few assorted cheeses and meats, this was quite a feast.

Sangria! Sangria!
I did a little investigating this past week at a certain pavilion in Columbia, Maryland that shall remain nameless, and discovered they had taken down the best beverage sign ever created! But have no fear, Sangria! Sangria! lives on via Wolf Trap's blog.

This is another great recipe that you can make ahead of time. Add whatever fruit works for your taste—but the most important part is to give the concoction a few hours to marinate. This is my mother's tried-and-true recipe, and while its a fantastic red wine recipe--if you prefer rose or white, just adding some strawberry slices can do wonders for a $10 bottle snagged at Arrowine.

• 1 bottle red wine, chilled (Spanish rioja or tempranillo)
• 1/2 orange, in thin slices
• 1/2 lemon, in thin slices
• 4 large oranges, juiced or 1 qt orange juice
• 2 T. sugar
• 4 lemons, juiced
• 24 oz. soda water, chilled

Combine the wine, thin orange and lemon slices, and sugar into pitcher and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight. When you are ready to serve, add the rest of the fruit juice and soda water.

If you have your own tried-and-true recipes, feel free to add them in the comments section to share with the rest of us.

My '60s Style, Mad Men Finale Party

The Bar...right next to the door

Sunday night was the Mad Men finale, and as my entire department is addicted to the show, I wanted to host a '60s era party to let us all watch it together. Not only was it a chance to talk about my favorite show with my friends, but it also let me explore my Betty Draper-self and see how I did hosting a party. Thanks to everyone who brought a few supplies with them, I also managed to keep it fairly economical and only spent $50 on the party (not counting liquor). Here's what I made:

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Celery Stalks with Peanut Butter and Goat Cheese/Paprika

Cheese Fondue

Tomato and Mozzarella Tart

Pigs in a Blanket

Spinach Feta Wheels

Menu:

• Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Spinach Feta Wheels (Substitute Feta for cheese/onion blend)
• Pigs in a Blanket 
• Tomato and Mozzarella Tart
• Cheese Fondue with fixins
• Utz Chips with French Onion Dip (sour cream mixed with dry dip package)
• Bruchetta and Baguettes
• Homemade Chex Mix (Heavy on the Worcestershire)
• Chocolate Fondue 

I divided up the menu between things I knew would be good (The Cooking Light Spinach Artichoke Dip is by far the most popular dip I've ever made), things I wanted to try out (Pigs in the Blanket, and the Spinach Feta Wheels--two puff pastry recipes in one box!) and things I could assign out for others to bring (Utz, dips, the delicious Tomato Tart).

The homemade chex mix was made the day before with Chris and his mother. Although she used the original recipe on the back of the box, there was definitely some alterations based on how Chris liked his Chex Mix (more pretzels, cashews, and Worcestershire...no Brazilian nuts). I loved it because it was a lot less salty than the store-bough kind, and the flavors really grew by the time of the party to this fantastic flavor.

Because I wanted to serve everything hot, but didn't want to be slaving away in the kitchen, I spent the afternoon making everything else, and chilled them in the fridge until an hour before people were suppose to arrive. Sure enough, as I prepped my Joan hair and costume, the puff pastry items were in the oven and served hot as people started arriving around 8.

My Joan Look

Finally, what would a Mad Men party be without drinks? We served Old Fashioneds, Gimlets, and Gin Martinis, all listed below.

The Old Fashioned

1. Place a large sugar cube (or a spoonful) in a short tumbler glass with 2-3 dashes of Angostura Bitters. Add one orange slice and two maraschino cherries and muddle together until sugar is dissolved. 
2. Fill glass with 3-4 cubes of ice, and pour in 1-2 shots of Bourbon (until it reaches the ice).
3. Note: for virgin old fashioned drinkers, you can add in a shot of orange juice to cut the taste of the whiskey.

Gin Gimlets 

1. Add 3 parts gin and 1 part Roses' Lime Juice to a shaker with 2-3 cubes of ice. Shake vigorously until shaker is freezing, and pour into a martini glass. (Although it is said shaking bruises the gin)

 Gin Martini

1. Add a dash of Vermouth to a martini glass, coating the sides, and then discard.
2. Add 1-2 shots of Gin (or vodka) to shaker with ice, shake 2-3 times, then pour into the glass. Add olive, and as much olive juice as you like (if you like it dirty).