A to Z Challenge- F

F is for Fennel and Figs

I think I'm still going with the cocktail party theme...

Fennel
We only ever ate fennel one way when I was a kid. That is, you take a small bowl and fill it 1/2 way up with olive oil, then you add coarse salt and pepper. You chop up the core of the fennel bulb, removing most of the green stalks and leaves and dip the pieces in this mixture to eat it.
You can steep the green parts in boiling water for fennel tea which is supposed to be good for nursing moms...

 Fig Jam with cheese.
Take about 2 dozen ripe figs, cut or pull off the hard bit at the top. Slice the figs into quarters. In a small saucepan, combine the figs, 1/4 cup fresh orange juice and a tbsp honey. You can add some small pieces of orange zest here too, if you like it. Simmer until the figs begin to break down, if it looks too dry or like it might start to burn, add water or more oj about a tbsp at a time stirring it in to get a jammy consistency. Figs vary alot in how much juice they let off so you have to use your judgement.  Let cool in a jar and refrigerate.

Serve the fig jam with goat cheese over whole wheat crackers. (I especially like Carr's Whole Wheat crackers with this.)

  

More party food...

If you were a occasional reader of this blog you might get to thinking all we do around here is throw parties. Which is sorta true. Its just that if you are drunk in public you can go to jail. If you are in your car and get pulled over for drunk driving you go home or to jail (a law which I kind of applaud). Hotels here serve alcohol, but you aren't supposed to drink it and intoxication is a serious crime, while being sort of encouraged. Oh, and you can't posses alcohol without a license, which we do have but is unclear on weather or not it covers me too and if it is allowed to transport the alcohol (even from the store where you bought it).
It's all too much for me to figure out and I'm loathe to run afoul of the law here, so I'd prefer to entertain people in my home and not have to think too much about this stuff.
On Thursday, I am having a tiny party. Or possibly a big party, nobody in Dubai RSVP's, like EVAH, so it could go either way.
It also has another little wrinkle. We are supposed to go to the beach from 3 -6p and then return to my house for said party. My beloved is not here to help me with this so I need a mess of food I can make up in the morning and then just pull out of the fridge when I walk in the door... tricky business, that.
Here's what I've come up with so far: deviled eggs, a bunch of tiny tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, cheeses and French bread, vegetable platter with hummus and yogurt dips, and some tortillas with fresh salsa and guacemole.
But I'm feeling like this is very boring fare.
I thought about livening it up with caviar, something you dont see at parties that often and the lesser grades of which are really sort of reasonably priced.
What to do, what to do...

Green Slime

As part of the health-kick thing, we eat appetizers of vegetables and some kind of dip before each meal. So far we've made lots of hummus, hummus from peas (which is kinda gross), guacemole, white bean dips, and yogurt dips.

Green Slime is the favorite of the FAC's (Fussy American Children).
1 avocado
1/2 can white cannelini beans
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper
olive oil (2 tsp)
juice of a small lemon

into the food processor, grind it up, its good on crackers too...

Smooth....

Smooth, its an awful word really, can't even say what it makes me think of in a food blog.

I learned to make good smoothies while working at an ultra-cool vegetarian cafe in Austin TX. It was just when the low-carb thing was starting to take off, and emaciated and smelly people would order beet and ginger smoothies to detox their livers.

Smoothies kind of go well with the whole New Year's resolution thing. A way to eat a lot of fruit without chewing, I guess. They are featured on tons of magazine covers this month....

I usually base my smoothies on a frozen banana and I do not use ice (just makes them watery). The rest is kind of improvised, but here are some tasty smoothie recipes for normal eaters:

1 frozen banana
1/2 cup milk or soy milk
1tsp cocoa powder
drizzle of honey to taste

1 frozen banana
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
splash of milk or soymilk

4 dates
1/2 cup soymilk (blend together first)
2tbs. almond meal
1 frozen banana
drizzle of honey to taste

1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen mango slices
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup light coconut milk

Thanksgiving is incompatible with healthy eating...

Thanksgiving is coming! Must procure a turkey! Cranberry sauce already cooked and frozen. Just found a guest who will take charge of mashed potatoes. My probably BFF in Dubai is going to some length and expense to make pecan pie! I've got a jar of limoncello and big ideas about cheesecake! Anchovy crostini mix is fermenting in the fridge!

My DH and I are absolutely slathering in anticipation of Thursday. We pretty much agree we will give up on the whole Healthiest Way of Eating plan (combined total of 7+ kilos gone! so far...) for the day and just enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner. But can we?

The funny problem with this way of eating is that it grows on you. I actually ate a piece of prosciutto the other day and thought it was way too salty. I didn't like it at all. We shall have to see what happens with the feast we are planning.

Cranberry Sauce:

1lb cranberries

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 orange

1 thumb ginger

Combine cranberry, water and sugar in a heavy bottom saucepan. Simmer until berries are beginning to burst. Cut orange, removing all pith. Chop ginger very finely. Add to pan and simmer another 20 minutes or so until everything is well combined. Freezes very well.

Crostini:

1/2 lb ground beef

2 cloves garlic

1 small onion

pepper, salt to taste

1 can anchovy in oil

Coat the bottom of a 9" frying pan with oil. Chop and cook the onions until well browned. Add the beef and brown it. Add garlic, also finely chopped, salt and pepper. When beef is cooked through, add anchovy and the oil from the can. I usually make a little well in the middle and let the anchovy melt, then stir it into the beef.

Spoon on slices of toasted french bread (either buttered, plain or with mozzarella cheese, depending on how decadent you are feeling).

Birthday Party snacky bits...

Its my husband's birthday, so we're having a party. I knew I was in trouble when I was told that the guest list was being 'tabulated'. This party was supposed to be like a party we went to a couple of weeks ago which had 4! couples, but somehow 25 people have been invited to my house tonight! I don't have a maid anymore so what the h$&# am I supposed to do here....
Man's infinite capacity for clue-less-ness kinda blows my mind, really.


My goal with the food was to avoid having to do dishes so everything was either small enough that you could just pop it into your mouth or served on a skewer or slice of bread...

Hot Snacky bits-
Hot dogs- seared in a pan, rolled up in Lebanese Flat bread with some mustard and carmelized onions. Secure with toothpicks, slice. Everyone loves these.
Chicken skewers- Marinate chicken bits in yogurt, tandoori masala, chili powder, turmeric, salt and pepper. Skewer with tomato and onion, broil.
Cheese tarts- blend soft cheese, sundried tomato, herbs, salt and pepper with an egg, scoop into muffin cups lined with puff pastry, bake. Eat.

Cold Snacky bits-
Skewer tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves with a toothpick. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle salt & pepper.
Mix well drained tuna with way too much mayo, capers, chopped tomato salt and pepper. Serve on slices of French bread.
Shrimp cocktail. If you cant get horseradish for cocktail sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, salt and pepper makes an acceptable substitute.

Veggie and hummus platter
Fruit platter.

Plus some other stuff I cant remember right now...

For Birthday Cake we had a 15 layer Russian Honeycake. Spinney's sells these. They are the most delicious cake I've had, maybe ever. I decorated it with sugared currants and blackberries.
A friend who is Italian and therefore cannot go anywhere without too much food, brought a tiramisu and some Dunkin' Donuts for the children.

T'aint a party without buckets and buckets of hummus.

Hummus is not precisely a healthy food. Because it is generally a whole food, it seems very healthy. But the fact of the matter is that delicious hummus is delicious because it is absolutely loaded with olive oil, and sesame oil, and salt.

Healthy hummus
2 cans chick peas (rinsed)
1 tbsp sesame tahini
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Blend ingredients in food processor. Add water to correct consistency. Feel virtuous.

Actually Delicious Hummus
2 cans of chick peas, drain one- keep liquid from the other
4 tbsp of sesame tahini
1 large bottle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (boiled and peeled)
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Blend up your chick peas and sesame tahini with the lemon juice, it will be sort of chunky. Stand over food processor with bottle of olive oil and pour it into the hummus while it is running. Continue pouring until you feel like you have to look away because you are using so much oil.
When hummus is whipped and creamy, add salt and pepper to taste. Be smug as skinny people gorge on your hummus because 'hummus is healthy' teehee....

Wedding of the Century (cont.)- Cold Appetizers

Love the cold appetizers on a hot day, which mercifully, it was for only about an hour...

Deviled eggs
Boil and peel your eggs.
Mix the yolks with equal parts mayo and mustard. Add a splash of vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Fill your egg halves with mixture. Top with crispy bacon. Top with rolled fillets of anchovy. Top with chopped chives. Everyone (except the bride) loves deviled eggs...

Bean Bruschetta
Two cans of white beans (cannellini). Blend one in a blender with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Fold the remaining beans into the blended bean mix.
Set aside.
Chop some tomatoes and spread them on a baking sheet. Top with oil, red onion, salt and pepper. Bake until cooked and beginning to carmelize. Set aside.
Slice a baguette thinly. Spread bean mixture on rounds. Top with a fresh basil leaf and a dollop of the tomato jam.

The wedding of the century, only smaller....

Post hurricane Irene, we are gearing up to get my sister married. It appears that all caterers in my little town believe they are Escoffier and think it is therefore appropriate to charge thousands upon thousands of dollars for food and labor. One proposed paying the waiters a little less per hour than we pay our attorney! with a mandatory 18% gratuity tacked on. Who knew so many culinary movie stars could be packed in such a small place?
And getting slowly to the point of this post, I'm doing it myself...

First up- Two Hot Appetizers....
Sundried tomato and goat cheese tartlets.
2 large logs of goat cheese
2 packages of cream cheese
4 eggs
2 8oz jars of chopped sundried tomato in olive oil
fresh herbs (marjoram and thyme, in this case...)
pepper and garlic powder (tsp. each?? to taste)
Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer, spoon into prepared puff pastry cups (c'mon I'm not THAT good...) garnish with herb leaves. Bake at 350 for around 6min, longer if freezing first. (makes 120 bite size, or 60 muffin-cup size)

Broccoli Rabi Stuffed Mushrooms
2 large heads broccoli rabi
1/2 cup prepared roasted garlic (chopped)
salt & pepper, olive oil (a lot)
1/2lb ricotta cheese (season with salt and pepper)
camembert cheese (1.5lbs)
6 LARGE boxes of button mushrooms
Chop rabi finely. In a large sautee pan, fry the rabi and garlic in oil until well mixed, and rabi are beginning to soften. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon ricotta mixture into mushroom caps, top with rabi.
Coat the bottom of a baking sheet with olive oil and assemble the mushrooms. Bake at 375 or so for around 40 min or until mushrooms are tender. Top each with a dollop of camembert. Try to serve them before you gobble them all...

My camera seems to have disappeared in the festivities, so you'll have to imagine. I can tell you it all disappeared mighty quickly...

Engagement Chicken and food with which to snare a man.

Have you heard this business about Engagement Chicken? I gather if you make it, your boyfriend will propose to you because its so delicious he will want to be your husband so he can eat it forever... Its a lemon chicken, which is always nice, no doubt. But I do think if you are looking for something that might snare a man, you're going to want to put in a little more effort than roast chicken. Well, I guess it depends on the man.
This isn't the easiest recipe to assemble, unless you are in Rome in the spring, but if you can find everything, it will work on really serious, smart (MIT level genius type) men...

1 dozen zucchini flowers (go out and plant some zucchini right now and you can make this by mid-August)
1/2 cup freshest possible ricotta cheese
1/2 cup stale Italian bread (good bread, not supermarket Italian bread)
some chicken stock to wet the bread
a shake or two of garlic powder
black pepper
salt or an anchovy or two
savory
parsley
thyme
other fresh herbs
eggs and flour for dredging

Mix all your ingredients except the flowers in a bowl. Use around two or three tablespoons of herbs. The flowers have a pretty delicate flavor which you don't want to lose to the herbs... Spoon the filling into the flowers. Dredge the flowers in flour seasoned with a bit of pepper. Fry in about 1/4" of oil until coating is browned. Serve immediately with a crisp white wine (Orvieto). Watch smart man become slightly dazzled by you...

Cheese Weasels

The Cheese Weasel is the nerd Easter bunny who leaves a slice of American cheese under the keyboards of good IT geeks on April 3. I don't know how I got into the habit of calling these Cheese Weasels. I think I just never had a particular name for them and 'cheese buns' don't really give you a sense of the fabulousness awaiting you...

2 1/2 teaspoons regular instant yeast or active dry yeast*
1/2 tsp. honey
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
3 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
about 1 cup shredded best-quality cheddar

In a large bowl, combine yeast, honey, salt, and flour. Add the water, milk and butter, and mix until cohesive. Knead the dough on a lightly oiled surface till it's smooth and supple. Its ok if the dough is a bit sticky, your rolls will be more tender with a stickier dough.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a thick disc. Place the cheese in the center of each disc and pinch the dough closed around it.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Space the rolls in the pan (pinched side up), cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow them to rise for another hour or so, until they are puffy and touching one another.
Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, set them on a wire rack to cool, don't eat them right out of the oven, the cheese especially will be too hot and burn the top of your mouth...

New Year's Eve

We are very lame old people and cannot generally be relied upon to make it to midnight on New Year's Eve. So last night we had a cocktail party, at cocktail hour (4-7, although Dubai cocktail hour is more like 2 - 7...). Here's what we ate...

Corn muffins, with apricots cooked in. Just pop half an apricot into a jiffy corn muffin. If you live in Dubai you have to get Jiffy Corn Muffin mix in the pork section, its got lard. Its easy to make your own corn muffins if you are a veg. or non-swine eater...

Curried Turkey salad on nut bread. Turkey, mayo, sesame oil, soy sauce, cashews, green apple, turmeric and curry powder. Veg version, use crushed up chickpea for turkey.

Deviled eggs with asparagus. These are always good but not as much fun without a pastry bag...

French bread bruscetta, with buffalo mozzarella from Italy, basil from Holland, Syrian olive oil and at least local tomatoes.

Sister-in-law salsa and chips.

An interesting cheese the DH brought from Italy called Bastardo del Grappa along with some salami and a lot of nice Italian wine. (Does big giant international airline realize that their big giant company issued suitcases come back to this country stuffed full of pork and alcohol?- probably, they know all...)

Okonomiaki ADDICTION

About 3 weeks ago, before we left for Dubai, I stayed with my seester and the K-man (the soon to be Uncle K-man). We drove to Brooklyn and stayed overnight with them and they brought us to the airport.

K-man made us some Okonomiaki and I have been thinking about them ever since. My sister maintains that the sheer volume of MSG is what makes them so addictive, but I dont know because MSG usually makes me feel TEERRIIBBLLEE. These did not!
Its a savory pancake with cabbage (in my case no shrimp) topped with dried bonito (that writhe when you put them on the pancake - its a little scary-), seaweed, plum-sauce and cupie mayonnaise. Click on this for an insane mayonnaise ad.

Its about the best combination of weird and delicious I've ever eaten.

Super non-kosher Chicken Liver Pate

I made this for my husband not that long ago in Dubai. It was terrible. But now I know why. Most chicken liver pate recipes call for equal amounts of butter and or cream to chicken livers. Mine was mostly liver. So here's how you actually make it, if you want it to taste good...

1 pint chicken livers (some people soak them in milk, but I just find rinsing them in warm salted water does the trick...)
1 shallot & 1 clove garlic- very finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cook the chicken livers in the olive oil and savories until they are just browning on the outside
Add 1/2 cup sherry or madeira to the hot pan until the wine is simmering
Place the livers in a blender or food processor with
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 raw garlic clove
salt & pepper to taste
Whip it all up, refridgerate. You can garnish it with parsley or green onions. It wont look any better. Try not to think about how much butter you are eating as you slather this loveliness on crackers...

Crab cakes

My sister in law, the chef, was in town for a couple of weeks. Before they left, we decided to make a big happy Sunday luncheon for the fam. I kind of feel like everything this woman touches is culinary gold, so I'm thinking I'll work my way through the menu on this blog...

Not much to look at, are they?

First up- Crab cakes

One can of lump crabmeat. Obviously better if you can get fresh, but our budget was not so fancy.

one egg

a generous shake of breadcrumbs

one 1/4 cup corn (raw if sweet enough- not boiled if frozen...)

one shallot, finely chopped or green onions

one small red bell pepper, also finely chopped.

A generous amount of the herb of your choice (parsley, dill, basil)

tablespoon of mayonnaise

Form into patties and fry. Serve with fresh salsa, lemon wedges and avocado. Double if you are serving for a meal.

Sister-in-law Salsa

Everytime I go to my sister-in-law's house she whips up a big bowl of this deliciousness that I thought I'd share. So easy it doesnt really need a recipe, just a few pointers...

Take a container of fresh salsa. I personally like LaMexicana (check out their unfortunately named website...) which you can get at most supermarkets. Or go here to Salsa Central for a good, super-simple recipe. Add one can of drained and rinsed black beans, about 1/2 cup of defrosted, but not boiled, frozen sweet corn (maybe 2 ears of fresh) and one mashed avocado.

Serve with chips.

If you do serve these before dinner, expect everyone to gobble it and no-one to eat very much after. Which is possibly quite a cost-effective way of having a lot of people over to your house to eat...

Pool Party

We're headed to a pool party... All I really want to do is sleep, but that's another blog altogether...

I'm bringing my favorite kid party food. Fruit on a stick.

Take some fruit, cube it, put it on skewers... that's it. Pile on a platter. It looks lovely, everyone likes it, and its festive.

Be forewarned, this IS a dish that will get the paranoid parents really going. And admittedly, stabbing potential is kind of high, but just chase around after them as they eat and take away the sticks...

Smoothie

Its summer, officially, as of today. So in celebration, that and its 80 degrees out and I am stuck at home with my vacuum cleaner, I'm making smoothies.

The key is the blender. I dont mean to be a blender snob, but a glass canister is essential, that and a powerful motor. I have a cuisinart, which I like ok, it could be more macho in the motor department. Still, it was relatively inexpensive and it gets the job done. Here's a picture of the model I have, they're on sale too!

The smoothie I am drinking right now in celebration of the summer solstice is:

1 frozen banana

about 1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup fresh yogurt (THANKS SHARON!!!)

1 tsp. wheat germ

1/4 cup apple juice

Rum would be a nice addition if you ditch the yogurt and maybe the wheat germ.

That's it. Be sure to blend it until the blender is running smoothly with no chunky parts.

Drink up- happy summer!