Walnut and Bean Pate

I always enjoy reading about Naomi Duguid’s fearless travels all around the world. Her latest book is Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan, and I received a review copy. She ventures into areas the casual tourist might not consider and brings back insights about the people, the culture, and the food. Her interactions with people and descriptions of places bring new understanding about areas that aren’t well-traveled by Westerners. For this book, her goal was to highlight the connections of the Persian culinary region that extends across current borders. The similar elements of this cuisine include “richly flavored bean dishes, flatbreads of many kinds, generous use of herbs and greens, plenty of cheese and yogurt, walnuts, inventive soups and stews, savory dishes flavored with pomegranates and/or other fruits, and rice as a beloved staple.” Each chapter presents a type of dish such as salads, soups, stuffed vegetables, fish, meat and poultry, rice and other grains, etc. And, each chapter includes recipes from all the Persian foodways regions. The sauces and spice blends at the beginning of the book piqued my curiosity. The green and red pepper pastes called ajika both sound delicious. As you page through the recipes, you’ll find short anecdotes about where and when Duguid experienced the dishes or how she learned the recipes. Kebabs were expected in the meat and poultry chapter, but it was interesting to find Turkey Kebabs from Azerbaijan. She writes that she had never seen kebabs made with turkey prior to finding them in Azerbaijan, and they’re very popular there. The turkey is marinated in vinegar with grated onion and sumac before being skewered and grilled. I can’t wait to try it. I also got a bit distracted reading about the cookies and sweets. The Apricot-Walnut Pastry is similar to rugalach, but the entire piece of dough is rolled up all at once after being spread with a mixture of walnuts, chopped dried apricots, and cardamom. Pieces are then cut and baked. But first, I tried the Walnut and Bean Pate. It’s made with kidney beans, and I had some in the freezer that I had received from my CSA. 

The beans needed to be cooked first, and since mine were fresh, although frozen, they didn’t take long to cook. Next, walnuts were toasted and placed in a food processor along with chopped garlic and the drained beans. I added the olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs and pulsed again. The mixture was transferred to a bowl to serve. I baked some chips from leftover pita to go with the pate. 

This is a sturdy spread rather than a more dippable snack like hummus. So, it’s handy to serve this with a spreader. The flavor is surprisingly rich given the simplicity of the recipe. It would be great as a sandwich spread too with some crumbled feta and maybe some pickles. There’s so much more to explore in this book, and as usual, this travel-food book has made me want to plan a trip. 

Walnut and Bean Pate 
Excerpted from Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan by Naomi Duguid (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2016. Photographs by Gentl & Hyers.
 
This lobahashu, a dish from the Lori region of Armenia, which borders on southeastern Georgia, blends finely ground walnuts into cooked mashed kidney beans. The result is a creamy, garlicky pate tinted pale pink by the beans. If you can, make it a day or even two days before you wish to serve it (and keep it in the refrigerator). The flavors deepen and blend remarkably over time. I like spreading this on bread or scooping it up with crackers. Guests love it and can’t get enough of it. Serve as an appetizer or a snack. I also like to put this out as part of a meal, another hit of flavor available on the table.  

Makes about 4 cups 
2 cups walnuts or walnut pieces 
3 garlic cloves, minced 
4 cups cooked kidney beans (see Note) 
2 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil 
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt 
Generous grinding of black pepper 
About 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, tarragon, or coriander, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint 

Place the walnuts in a wide heavy skillet over medium heat and toast them, stirring them frequently so they don’t scorch, until aromatic, about 5 minutes. (The recipe I learned in Armenia did not include this toasting, but it assumed locally grown superb walnuts; the toasting helps bring out the flavor of the nuts.) Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a food processor and process to a fine texture. Add the garlic and beans and process to a smooth puree. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the beans are incorporated. 

Turn the mixture out into a bowl, add the oil, salt, and pepper, and stir thoroughly. 

Stir in the herbs. Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftover pâté in a well-sealed container for up to 5 days (though it is unlikely to last that long). 

Note: If you want to use canned beans instead of homemade, drain and rinse the beans, place in a pot with about 1⁄2 cup water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or so. Check to see that the beans are tender. Let cool to room temperature, in their liquid, before using. 

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Port Wine Prunes with Stilton and Walnuts

When I’m looking for recipes that I know will work without any issue, that I know will be crowd-pleasers, and that I know I’ll enjoy cooking, I go to my collection of Ina Garten cookbooks. I’m so happy to add one more book to that category. The latest is Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and I received a review copy. This one is similar to her other books with soups and salads, dinner entrees, vegetables, and desserts. But this time, there are a few more personal stories included throughout, and there’s a chapter just for the cheese course. Ina occasionally mentions serving a cheese course before or instead of dessert, and it works well for a dinner party since it’s mostly just assembled before serving with any prepped items made in advance. The recipes include a fig jam to serve on goat cheese bruschetta, a roasted plum chutney for serving with Mt. Tam which is one of my favorite cheeses, and English Oat Crackers to go with cheese and fruit. I was so interested in the cheese course chapter I had to make the Port Wine Prunes with Stilton and Walnuts before trying anything else. Some of the many other recipes I want to try soon are the Smoked Salmon Pizzas for cocktails, the “16 Bean” Pasta e Fagioli soup, the Crusty Baked Shells and Cauliflower, and the Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel. And, the Herb and Apple Bread Pudding and Pumpkin Flan with Maple Caramel have me pondering Thanksgiving menu possibilities. Getting back to the cheese course concept though, I like the idea of sometimes ending a meal with something not completely sweet or at least with a mix of sweet and savory. For the Port Wine Prunes, my only concern was that they would be messy to pick up and eat with your fingers. I imagined the wine would drip off the prunes and leave stains on the way to your mouth. 

To begin, the prunes were plumped by placing them in a single layer in a saucepan and adding Port wine. The wine was brought to a boil and them simmered for a few minutes before removing the pan from the heat, covering it, and leaving the prunes to steep for an hour. Stilton was crumbled and mashed together with some mascarpone. The cheese mixture was left in the refrigerator until serving time. Last, walnut halves were toasted. To assemble, the prunes were placed on a platter. Each prune was topped with a spoonful of the Stilton mixture and then a walnut half. 

I should have known that Ina would have had a solution if these were messy to eat. The prunes weren’t drippy or messy at all. These are one-bite items, and they were easy to pop into your mouth with no issues. The classic flavor pairing of Port with Stilton was lovely, and the toasted walnuts added nice crunch. These were a delicious, simple way to end a meal and would also make a great addition to a larger cheese board. 

Port Wine Prunes with Stilton and Walnuts 
Reprinted from Cooking for Jeffrey. Copyright © 2016 by Ina Garten. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. 

serves 6 to 8 

One of my favorite things to serve for a cheese course or dessert is English Stilton and a glass of Port wine. This recipe combines both of those flavors with sweet prunes, and they’re a really surprising addition to any cheese board. 

24 large pitted prunes 
2/3 cup ruby Port wine
2 1/2 ounces English Stilton, crumbled 
2 tablespoons Italian mascarpone cheese 
24 walnut halves, lightly toasted 

Place the prunes in a saucepan just large enough to hold them in a single layer and add the Port. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside for at least an hour for the prunes to become infused with the Port. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash the Stilton and mascarpone together with a fork. Cover and refrigerate. 

When ready to serve, place the slightly warm prunes on a serving platter, place a small mound of the cold Stilton mixture in the hollow of each prune, and top with a toasted walnut, pressing very lightly. Serve as part of a cheese platter. 

make ahead: Prepare the prunes and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Warm slightly, complete the recipe, and serve. 

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Crispy Haloumi Cheese with Dates, Walnuts, and Apples

Sometimes new cookbooks don’t draw me in right away. I might need to read a few pages to get a feel for the style of cooking in the book, and eventually I start getting excited about the dishes. That was not the case with Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking. My first look inside the review copy I received had me completely intrigued. The colorful, vibrant salads and vegetables dishes, the various rice dishes and pilafs, and skewers of grilled chicken and salmon with flavorful marinades left no doubts that I’d enjoy this book. Zahav, the restaurant, opened in Philadelphia in 2008, and this book presents the mix of dishes from the menus over the years. Chef Michael Solomonov writes that these dishes “make an impression of a cuisine that is evolving.” They reflect an idea of Israeli cooking, but at times, traditional approaches are changed to accommodate what’s available and in season at the restaurant. I like this thought of the food giving a sense of a culture and a place and not sticking too strictly to original versions. I learned that “tehina” is the same thing as “tahini,” and it’s invaluable in Israeli cooking. It’s used to add richness without the use of cream or butter for keeping kosher. It’s used in hummus, of course, but also in many other applications both sweet and savory. For instance, there’s a vegetable dish in which cooked green beans are mixed with sauteed mushrooms and tehina sauce and then topped with lentils and crispy garlic. I’m noting that for my Thanksgiving menu. One recipe I already tried was the Latke with Gravlax. It’s one big latke made in a skillet and turned in one solid piece. There’s no onion, flour, or egg, just grated potatoes cooked in oil. It was simple, crispy, and delicious. The vegetable-filled borekas are similar to turnovers and are made with a dough kind of like puff pastry, and I want to try them all. I also want to attempt making laffa flatbread. The recipes in the book quickly caught my attention, but so did the writing. Solomonov shares his stories about living in Isreal at different times and his training as a chef. There are interesting historical insights like the fact that Israeli couscous was first made as a wheat-based substitute for rice when there was a rice shortage. And, there are explanations about the mix of cultures that make up Israel and how the food represents many different origins. There’s so much to appreciate here from the Pumpkin Broth with Fideos soup to the Chocolate Babka served with cardamom-flavored Turkish Coffee Ice Cream. 

I’ve been making use of our fall fruits in salads like arugula with pears, gorgonzola, and pecans and mixed greens with apples, pecans, and goat cheese. I can’t get enough of the mix of sweet, tart, nutty, and salty. With these flavors already on my mind, I had to try the Crispy Haloumi Cheese with Dates, Walnuts, and Apples recipe. And, I can never resist a dish with haloumi. Pitted dates, toasted walnuts, olive oil, sherry vinegar, pinches of salt, and some hot water were combined in a food processor and pureed until smooth. This paste formed the base of the dish. Next, cubes of haloumi were sauteed in oil until golden on all sides. These were set on top of the date paste. Last, an apple was cut into matchsticks, and I used a Benriner, and those little sticks were perched on top of the haloumi. Dill and Urfa pepper were sprinkled on top to finish the dish. 

In the head note for this recipe, it’s mentioned that this dish cannot be taken off the menu at the restaurant because it is so well-loved. I can understand completely. This is such a good mix of textures and flavors, and haloumi works its magic when paired with something a little sweet like the dates here. And, crisp, fresh apple brightens the combination. Now, I need go shop for fideos to try that soup I mentioned, and I really want to attempt making Persian rice and about 20 other recipes as well. 

Crispy Haloumi Cheese with Dates, Walnuts, and Apples 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking. 

Serves 4 

1 cup roughly chopped dried dates 
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped 
1/3 cup olive oil 
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 
Kosher salt 
Canola oil 
8 ounces haloumi cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes 
1 apple, peeled and cut into matchsticks 
Chopped fresh dill 
1/2 teaspoon ground Urfa pepper 

Combine the dates, walnuts, olive oil, vinegar, a couple pinches of salt, and 1/2 cup hot water in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set the date paste aside. 

Film a skillet with canola oil and heat over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering but not smoking. Arrange the cheese cubes in a single layer in the skillet and cook, turning, until the exteriors are golden and crisp, about 2 minutes per side. 

Spread the date paste over the bottom of a serving plate and add the fried haloumi. Top with the apple, dill, and Urfa pepper, and serve immediately. 

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White Bean Walnut Spread with Roasted Tomato Tea Toast

I was immediately intrigued by the new book Steeped. I love tea. I drink tea often and have cooked and baked with tea as well, and now here was a book full of “Recipes Infused with Tea.” I received a review copy. What I quickly realized as I started reading the book is that not only is it full of clever uses of tea in all kinds of different dishes, it’s also full of just really delicious-sounding food. The Green Tea Noodles in Asparagus Sauce with Goat Cheese Pearls has a couple of genius things happening in the same recipe. The fresh pasta is made with matcha green tea powder mixed with the spelt and all-purpose flours. And, the dish is served with goat cheese pearls made by rolling little pieces of goat cheese between your palms. They make the prettiest garnish. The Iced Tea Sugar Cookies are made with five options for glazes, and each glaze is made with a different type of tea. For instance, the Mojito Glaze calls for Moroccan mint green tea and lime zest, and the Rooibos Carrot Glaze has rooibos tisane and finely grated carrot. I first learned about tea leaf salads when I read the book Burma, and this book includes a fabulous, big, composed, California-version of a tea leaf salad with chopped avocado, jalapeno, and sunflower seeds. There are also really lovely pairings like the Jasmine Tea Whipped Cream with Shortcakes topped with Canteloupe. I can already imagine how good sweet, ripe cantaloupe will be with the flavor of jasmine tea. This is definitely so much more than a darling, little book about tea. First, I had to try the Roasted Tomato Tea Toasts and experiment with the smoky flavor from lapsang souchong tea. 

You begin by grinding lapsang souchong tea with coarse salt in a spice grinder. It results in a smoky-flavored salt accented with the floral qualities of the tea. This salt was sprinkled on tomato slices before they were roasted. I had just received some tomatoes from our CSA, and I bought some extras at the farmers’ market. This happened two weeks ago, and at that point, our local tomatoes were of the greenhouse variety. They were good candidates for roasting to concentrate their flavors. While the tomato slices roasted, white beans, toasted walnuts, minced garlic, more ground lapsang souchong tea, and some of the tea salt were pureed together in the food processor. Olive oil was drizzled in until the puree was smooth. Last, olive bread was sliced and toasted. I cut the bread to about the size of each slice of tomato. The bread was topped with the white bean puree, then a slice of tomato, and chopped chives. 

These tea toasts were so simple to prepare, and the result was a delightful and unique flavor experience. The lapsang souchong salt is just smoky enough without being overbearing as some smoked salts can be. It combined perfectly with the white bean and walnut spread, and the roasted tomatoes on top. I love now having the idea of this tea and this salt for adding a hint of smokiness in my bag of tricks, and I look forward to using tea in even more new and different ways. 

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Beet Salad with Walnuts and Kumquat Marmalade

Back in the fall of 2010, the Blue Chair Jam Cookbook arrived full of inspiration for turning all sorts of fruits into jams and preserves. At the time, I made the Candied Orange Peel that I ended up using in everything from panettone to chocolate bark candy. Last fall, a new book from Rachel Saunders arrived, Blue Chair Cooks with Jam and Marmalade, and I received a review copy. This time, all those wonderful preserves are added to recipes both sweet and savory. They add flavor, sweetness, sometimes acidity, and texture incorporated as ingredients, paired with other items, and even in cocktails. For the most part, the recipes here are just for the dishes made with jams and marmalades, but there are instructions for making a few of the preserves as well. The book is divided into chapters by Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. There are breakfast dishes like Black Fig and Cacao Nib Belgian Waffles made with Black Mission Fig jam and Buckwheat Muffins with Pear and Chocolate made with Pear Jam. For Afternoon, you’ll find Beet Soup with Plums and Coriander Yogurt with sweetness from Plum Jam to balance the earthy beets. And, for Evening, the Black Beans and Pumpkin with Chiles and Orange that includes some Seville Orange Marmalade got my attention. I kept turning back to the Beet Salad with Walnuts and Kumquat Marmalade recipe because the yogurt dressing for grated beets sounded like a great match. 

This time of year, it’s easy to find gorgeous beets and kohlrabi at the farmers’ markets, and I also found the green onions for this recipe there. I used golden beets which blend better into a salad like since red beets would turn everything pink. The beets were roasted with whole cloves until cooked through but not too, too tender. Once cool, the peels were slipped off, and the beets were grated. Meanwhile, I peeled and grated some kohlrabi and tossed them with salt. The salted, grated kohlrabi was left to drain in a colander for about 20 minutes. The drained kohlrabi was combined with the grated beets, and toasted walnuts were added with chopped mint. The dressing was made by mixing together kumquat marmalade, champagne vinegar, yogurt, minced green onions, and salt. The recipe advises against Greek yogurt, but that was what I had on hand. The dressing was poured over the vegetables, tossed to combine, and I topped the finished salad with some reserved walnuts and chopped green onions. 

The sweet-savory-tangy flavor of the dressing was a hit. As I tasted the yogurt dressing while making it, I imagined stealing this combination to use for chicken salad with walnuts. And, the fruitiness paired perfectly with the beets and kohlrabi. The salad was like slaw but a special-occasion kind of slaw. As with the last book from Blue Chair Jam, there’s a lot of inspiration to be found here. My next use of beets might just be to turn them into a marmalade as seen in the book. 

Beet Salad with Walnuts and Kumquat Marmalade 
Recipe reprinted with permission from Blue Chair Cooks with Jam and Marmalade by Rachel Saunders, Andrews McMeel Publishing 2014. 

Serves 6 to 8 

This sweet salad celebrates everything beets have to offer: beautiful color, luscious rich flavor, and the ability to combine well with numerous different textures and ingredients. This extremely versatile salad is equally at home on the tea table or as part of a Middle Eastern meal, and handfuls of the leftovers are divine tossed into a green salad or piled into a sandwich. Use golden or dark red beets as you prefer. This salad keeps well for at least a week in the refrigerator. 

2 1/4 pounds beets 
1 tablespoon neutral-flavored olive oil, plus more for drizzling 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
Scant 1 tablespoon whole cloves 
1/2 pound Tokyo turnips or kohlrabi, peeled 
1/2 cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped 
12 leaves fresh lemon balm or spearmint (optional) 
1/2 cup Kumquat Marmalade 
1 1/2 teaspoons champagne vinegar 
2 tablespoons whole milk yogurt (not Greek) 
5 tablespoons minced spring shallots or spring onions 

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Scrub the beets and pat them dry. Line a baking sheet with a large sheet of aluminum foil and put the beets on the foil. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with ample salt and pepper. Toss well. Scatter the cloves over the beets. Cover the beets with a second large sheet of foil and pinch the edges of the 2 sheets together to seal. Place the beets in the oven to roast until almost but not quite tender, 30 to 60 minutes (the length of time needed will be determined by the size of the beets). Remove the beets from the oven, loosen the top sheet of foil so steam can escape, and let the beets cool to slightly warm. Trim and peel them and coarsely grate the beets into a large bowl. 

While the beets are baking, coarsely grate the turnips into a colander. Toss them with 1/4 teaspoon salt and place the colander over a bowl. Allow the turnips to drain for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Add the drained turnips to the grated beets and toss well, then add the walnuts and lemon balm, if using. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the marmalade, vinegar, yogurt, shallots, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour the dressing over the beet mixture and toss well. Adjust for seasonings, toss again, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. 

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Coffee Walnut Shortbread Cookies

I started off cookie baking season with a few completely new and different varieties. I wanted to bring some treats to a meeting, and I knew several of the people attending avoid eating gluten. Luckily, I had a review copy of Alice Medrich’s latest book, Flavor Flours, to use for inspiration. Medrich set out to experiment with flours like rice, oat, corn, sorghum, teff, buchwheat, coconut, and nut flours to discover new flavor combinations, and all of the recipes in the book are gluten-free. Unlike other gluten-free recipes that involve mixes of several flours and starches, these recipes mostly stay true to one type of flour at a time. There’s a chapter for each flour, and the recipes highlight the flavor, texture, and aroma of that flour. The New Classic Boston Cream Pie is made with layers of corn flour chiffon and a pastry cream that incorporates rice flour rather than wheat flour. I’ll definitely try this soon since Boston Cream Pie is Kurt’s most favorite dessert ever and also because the light corn flour chiffon and super silky pastry cream promise to be better than the original versions. The Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting with rice and oat flours is another updated classic I want to try. The Savory Corn Sticks that are sprinkled with smoky paprika would be great with a cocktail, and the Panforte Nero with buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, and spices sounds like an ideal addition to a cheese course. The Chestnut Jam Tart was the first recipe I tried since it was described as a “simpler-to-make linzer torte.” It’s a sturdy tart that can be cut into small servings that are easy to pick up and eat with your hands. The crust comes together in record time once you have chestnut flour of course. I was determined to locate it, and thankfully one of our newest Whole Foods Austin locations was able to special order it for me. The dough was pressed into a tart pan and was topped with strawberry jam and then sliced almonds and bits of reserved crust dough. The added flavor from the chestnut flour was lovely with the jam and nuts. I also made the Brown Sugar Pecan Nutty Thumbprints. The dough is a puree of pecans, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and an egg. It’s a very sticky dough, but once chilled it was easy to shape into balls to be baked. The balls flatten a bit as they bake. When removed from the oven, indentations were pressed into the cookies, and they were filled with jam. Pecans and brown sugar is a pretty perfect pairing. Last but certainly not least, I tried the sorghum flour shortbread cookies shown here. 

The Coffee and Walnut cookie is a variation on the Salted Peanut Shorties in the book. The dough was made by pulsing walnuts, finely ground coffee beans, and salt with sorghum flour, rice flour, and sugar in a food processor. Chunks of butter and cream cheese along with a splash of bourbon, vanilla, and one of water were added, and the mixture was processed until it formed a smooth dough. The dough was shaped into a log on parchment paper, and I added a step to the process here. I chopped some additional walnuts, added a little more finely ground coffee and some demerara sugar, and rolled the dough log in the nutty mixture. The dough was then wrapped and chilled overnight. The next day, one quarter-inch rounds were cut and baked until golden on the edges. 

It’s no secret that I love the flavor of coffee in sweets and that I love baking with various types of flour. This cookie was sure to be a hit with me. The shortbread is tender and crumbly in the best way, and the coffee balances the sweetness. It’s going to be fun to bring new additions to my bins of various flours and bake more treats with all their unique flavors. 

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Artichoke and White Bean Dip

Today, I have for you, a tale of two artichoke dips. At Christmastime, I tried a new-to-me recipe for a baked artichoke dip. Shallots, garlic, and artichoke hearts were sauteed in olive oil and then simmered in white wine until it reduced. Softened cream cheese was mixed with grated Gruyere, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and the vegetables were folded into that mixture. It went into a little baking dish and was sprinkled with panko and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. The dip was baked until bubbly, and then topped with crispy, fried shallots. It was spooned onto pieces of toasted bread while still steaming. This dip was deliciously savory and layered with flavors; it was gooey and rich. In fact, it was so rich that after one bite, I was done. From now on, I’ll think of it as the extra-decadent, wintertime artichoke dip. For spring, I wanted something different. And, after learning how good for you artichokes are, I wanted something that I could enjoy more often. While flipping through River Cottage Veg, I found it. It’s Artichoke and Bean Dip, and there’s no heavy cheese in it at all. It’s not entirely spartan since the vegetables are sauteed in olive oil before being added to the dip, and some thick yogurt helps bind the mixture. But, it’s made up of things you can feel good about eating without feeling stuffed after one bite. 

Step one should be to finely chop a few garlic cloves and let them sit for about ten minutes while prepping the other ingredients. (Chopped garlic should sit for ten minutes before being cooked to allow time for allicin to form which is a very good for you antioxidant.) Meanwhile, finely chop a small onion. I used a small amount of red onion, and some young shallots from my CSA as well. Seven ounces of artichoke hearts in brine should be drained. The onion and shallot were sauteed in a small amount of olive oil, and the garlic was added. Next, chopped fresh oregano leaves were added, and I was happy to get to use some from my herb garden where it’s growing like crazy. Rinsed and drained, canned cannellini beans were added next and just cooked until warm. The entire mixture was transferred to the food processor. I chose to hold back the artichoke hearts rather than add them with the bean mixture at this point. My thinking was that I wanted a somewhat smooth bean mixture with larger chunks of artichoke hearts. So, I pulsed the bean mixture until it looked almost smooth, and then added the artichokes for just a pulse or two. Lemon juice, chile flakes, and a couple of tablespoons of yogurt were added and folded into the dip. The vegetables should be seasoned while sauteing, but taste for seasoning after adding everything. In the serving bowl, the dip was topped with chopped, toasted walnuts. 

I baked some pita wedges for scooping up the dip and enjoyed a snack that lasted for more than one bite. It was a tasty mix of flavors while still warm, but it got even better after all those flavors mingled while it sat in the refrigerator for a few hours. It’s perfect for dipping pita wedges, tortilla chips, or vegetables, and this would make a great filling for a wrap or a spread for a sandwich. Now, I have a go-to artichoke dip for spring or anytime I want something a little lighter. 

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Beet Gnocchi with Walnut-Sage Butter

I’m playing with fire. With two posts in a row about beets, I could forever lose any blog readers who are serious beet haters. But, wait. Even if you’ve disliked the flavor of beets in the past, you won’t really taste their earthiness here. They’re transformed into lovely ricotta gnocchi with parmigiano reggiano in the dough as well. And, they’re sauced with browned butter and crispy sage leaves, and topped with toasted walnuts. Of course, I have to mention that color. That pretty reddish-purple alone could help convince anyone to give these a try. I still have a little fear of making potato gnocchi although I did try it once, but ricotta gnocchi are somehow less daunting. The dough was mixed easily enough, divided into pieces that were rolled into ropes, and gnocchi were cut from the lengths. The recipe is from last April’s issue of Food and Wine magazine, and it’s available online. I’m always trying to bring beet haters around to fandom, and these gnocchi could finally do it. 

The beets need to be roasted and allowed to cool before they can be pureed for the dough. I did that step a day in advance. The skin slips right off the beets after they’ve been roasted. Then, I trimmed the ends, chopped them into big chunks and refrigerated them until the next day. The beet chunks were pureed in a food processor until smooth. That puree was combined with ricotta, an egg, some salt, and grated parmigiano reggiano in a stand mixer. After mixing to combine, flour was added and incorporated. The dough was kneaded to smooth it a bit, and then it was wrapped in plastic and left to rest for about 30 minutes. The rested dough was divided into pieces that were each rolled into a rope. One half inch pieces were cut from the ropes of dough and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet that had been dusted with flour. A second baking sheet was drizzled with oil, and water was brought to a boil in a wide pot. I only cooked enough gnocchi for one meal and placed the rest in the freezer. To cook them, they’re placed in boiling water but not too many at a time. There should be plenty of room for them to move around in the water. They’ll rise to the surface and then should be cooked for another minute or so. They’re then transferred with a slotted spoon to the oiled baking sheet. The oil is important because without it, they would stick. The last step is to brown some butter and crisp some sage leaves in it. Lemon juice was added to the butter and sage before the cooked gnocchi were tossed with the sauce. The dish was plated with toasted walnuts and more parmesan on top. 

The brown butter, sage, walnuts, and hint of lemon were perfectly matched with the gnocchi. I crisped some extra sage leaves because I always want more of them. I would definitely serve the extra gnocchi from the freezer in the exact same way again, but I might try adding some gorgonzola crumbles too. I also might try inviting some friends over who think they don’t like beets. 

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Rugelach

I always like a theme especially when it comes to choosing cookies to bake for the holidays. One year, it was pretty sandwich cookies, and last year, it was swirl cookies. I think this year the theme became classic cookies I’d never baked before. It started with the Linzer Cookies, and then I really wanted to try making Rugelach for the first time. I’d seen the Barefoot Contessa episode in which Ina makes Rugelach several times, so I wanted to use her recipe. It’s in her book Barefoot Contessa Parties!, and it’s also available online. I knew rolling up the little cookies from the wide end of a wedge to the point, just like rolling croissants, would be fun. I went with a classic filling of apricot preserves, chopped toasted walnuts, and currants for half of the cookies. The other half were filled with raspberry preserves and walnuts. These are great cookies to bake as needed just before serving. I filled, cut, and rolled all of the cookies and stored several of them in the freezer. Then, I baked some for dessert for a dinner with Kurt's parents, some a few days later for a party, and more when a cookie craving hit. With the tender, golden pastry encasing fruity preserves and nuts, they’re like little bites of pie in cookie form. 

First, the dough should be made in advance and chilled. Softened cream cheese and butter were creamed with sugar and vanilla before flour was added. This makes a sticky dough, but it’s much easier to handle after it’s been chilled. It was divided into four pieces that were each wrapped in plastic, and I left them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, the dough was rolled out on a floured surface into a nine- or ten-inch circle. Apricot preserves were pulsed in the food processor until smooth. Some preserves were spread on the dough circle and topped with chopped, toasted walnuts, currants, and a mix of granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The filling was lightly pressed into the dough before the circle was cut into twelve wedges. Next came the fun part. Each wedge was rolled into a cute cookie with the point of the wedge neatly tucked under the bottom edge. For half of the dough, I used raspberry preserves, that had been strained to remove the seeds, and chopped walnuts. Before baking, the cookies were brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. 

I love finally attempting classic cookies like these. Now I know what a delight they are to make and how delicious they are warm from the oven. I have more holiday cooking that I can’t wait to tell you about, and I’m trying to decide what to make for New Year’s. I hope you’re having a great holiday season with lots of fabulous food! 

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Spelt Salad with Squash and Fennel

In a rare instance of Kurt noticing what’s been happening in the kitchen, he pointed out that I’ve been making a lot of salads lately. It’s true. There was the Crunchy Corn Tortilla Salad the other day, a sesame soba noodle salad with cucumbers that I haven’t posted yet, and we have a big lettuce salad with hard-boiled eggs for dinner about once a week. At least there’s been variety among all those salads. And, the one I have for you today might not even really be a salad. It could function as a whole grain, vegetarian main course or a side dish, and you can serve it at whatever temperature you prefer. So, I don’t think this counts in the nothing-but-salads-lately tally. Besides, we’re at that juncture at which we still have plenty of summer vegetables showing up at the markets, and the fall ones are just starting to appear. Why not use them in all kinds of salads and dishes that may or may not be salads? This Spelt Salad with Squash and Fennel is from River Cottage Veg, and it is a lovely way to move from one season to the next. I used two cute, little acorn squash from our CSA. Other than the spelt which is cooked on top of the stove, everything else is roasted in one pan. The ingredients are added to the pan in turn in order of needed cooking time starting with the squash. The cooked, chewy spelt was mixed with the roasted vegetables, toasted walnuts, lemon juice, and parmesan to finish the dish. 

The cooking time for the spelt will vary quite a bit depending on whether or not you’re using pearled spelt. I did not use pearled spelt, and so it needed to cook for a little over an hour. Pearled spelt will cook in about 20 minutes. While it was cooking, the vegetables were roasted in a 375 degree F oven. The acorn squash, tossed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, went into the oven first and roasted for about 15 minutes. Then, two fennel bulbs sliced into thin pieces and some chopped garlic was added to the roasting pan which went back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Last, walnuts were added to the pan for ten more minutes of roasting. The cooked spelt was drained and transferred to a large mixing bowl. The roasted vegetables and walnuts were added to the spelt with the olive oil remaining in the roasting pan. The juice of a lemon was added with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan. 

This was delicious with the vegetables still a little warm from the oven, but it was just as good served chilled from the refrigerator the next day. The spelt makes it hearty and filling, but the lemon and parsley keep the flavors bright. This recipe was just one of several that piqued my interest from the latest River Cottage book, and lucky for Kurt, they’re not all salads. 

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Espresso Cardamom Crumb Cakes

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the big bake sale that was being planned to raise funds for recovery efforts in West, Texas. I’m thrilled to report that it was a huge success, and we’re all so thankful to everyone who came out for the sale and made donations online. The total raised was over $19,000! As planned, I baked more of the Chocolate Chip and Cherry Scones, and I wanted to bring a second option to the sale as well. I was in a crumb cake kind of mood, and really, I’m always in the mood for a crumb topping. I found a great recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours for a Cardamom Crumb Cake that has orange zest and espresso powder in the cake itself and in the crumb topping. I had to try it. Since I was baking for a bake sale, I made individual, small cakes in paper molds that are actually made for crumb cakes or so says the label. The little cakes were easy to slip into cellophane bags. I doubled the recipe in the book, lined up the paper cups on a baking sheet, and started filling them until the batter was gone. I ended up with ten little cakes. These paper molds are sturdier than a regular cupcake liner, but they didn’t hold their shape perfectly. What was perfect was the aroma of cardamom, espresso, and orange zest as the cakes baked. 

You start with the most important part—the crumbs. Flour, chopped toasted walnuts, sugar, orange zest, instant espresso powder and I always add a little extra, and cardamom were combined in a bowl. Butter was then worked into the flour mixture but not overworked. Big pieces of crumb topping are always a good thing. For the cake, flour, baking powder, and salt were combined with more cardamom and espresso powder. More orange zest was mixed with sugar, and Dorie suggests rubbing the sugar and orange zest together with your hands. It releases the oil from the zest and ensures the zest will be well-distributed in the batter. The wet ingredients included melted and cooled butter, eggs, whole milk, brewed coffee, and vanilla extract, and they were whisked together and then stirred into the dry ingredients. I scooped the batter into the crumb cake cups and topped each cup with crumb mixture. My little cakes baked for about 20 minutes. 

I only kept one cake at home to taste and soon wished I kept at least two. But, luckily, it’ll be quick and easy to mix up the batter and crumbs again. In the book, Dorie includes a tip about baking extra crumbs on a baking sheet and using them to top pots de creme or ice cream. That’s one more reason I’ll be making this again soon. 

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Walnut Spice Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

The birthday cake conversation has changed over the years. There was a time when I would ask Kurt what kind of cake he’d like for his birthday, and the answer was chocolate. No pondering, no pause, no prompts for suggestions. Just chocolate. In recent years, the answer hasn’t come quite so quickly. He still likes chocolate but wants to hear other ideas too. This year, I presented three options that I thought he’d like, and he chose this lovely, layered creation with white cake and spice cake topped with chocolate fudge frosting and chopped walnuts. It’s from Saveur, and the recipe is online. It’s simpler to make than it appears because you only mix one cake batter rather than two. After making the white batter and pouring half of it into a pan, you add spices to the remaining half before pouring that into a second cake pan. I liked that approach. And, the frosting was something new and different to me. It’s cooked on the stove and brought up to just below soft ball stage before being mixed briefly to fluff it up a bit. Then, you have to work quickly to top each layer and cover the cake before the frosting sets. Next time I make it I’ll know just how quickly it sets up and once it does, there’s no moving it. My only regret with this cake was that I didn’t really get the walnuts pressed into the sides of the cake because the frosting set so quickly. The fine powder of the walnuts stuck to the frosting on the cake sides but not the bigger pieces of nuts. In the end, I placed the nuts around the edge on top of the cake and around the bottom edge which was good enough. Kurt was happy with his choice, and I was thrilled with the spice cake flavors mingling with the chocolate fudge frosting. 

Although the recipe suggests using vegetable shortening, I never use it. I used butter instead which worked perfectly well and gave the cakes better flavor. Before mixing the cake batter, dry ingredients were combined, and wet ingredients were combined separately. Also, the spices including cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and I added nutmeg were mixed in a small bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer, butter and sugar were creamed before egg whites were added. I had a laugh at the recipe which states “add egg whites one at a time.” Of course, I had already separated all six egg whites into one bowl. I just slowly added them a little at a time while mixing. Have you ever separated egg whites into separate bowls? The dry ingredients were then added in three batches with the wet ingredients being added alternately in two batches. Half the batter was poured into a nine-inch prepared pan, and the spice mix was stirred into the remaining batter before it was poured into a second cake pan. After the cakes baked and cooled, each layer was cut in half horizontally. You’ll want to have the layers sliced and ready for the frosting. To make the frosting, sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa powder were brought to a boil and cooked while stirring until the temperature reached 232 degrees F which took about 30 minutes. Then, off the heat, vanilla and baking soda were added. With a hand mixer, the frosting was mixed for only about one minute. And, then you have to work very quickly. A spice cake layer was placed on a cake stand, and it was topped with frosting. A white cake layer was added followed by more frosting. You’ll feel as you spread the frosting that as soon as it’s spread thinly, it cools and sets. Quickly, quickly, the next two cake layers were added, and the top and sides were frosted. I spent too much time making swirls on top of the cake and didn’t realize the frosting on the sides was meanwhile setting up too much for the walnuts to stick. Lesson learned. 

Who knows where the birthday cake conversation will lead next year. Maybe we’ll circle back to plain chocolate. I do know that Kurt will pick his cake more quickly than I ever pick my own birthday cake. I can never easily decide what kind of cake I want, and my birthday is only a little over a month away. I should probably start thinking about this now. 

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