Herbed, Spiced & Candied Nuts

Mixed nuts seem to have greatly increased in price over the last couple of years.  The brand name nuts cost a premium, and lower cost nuts seem bland.  In general, within the entire price range of cocktail nuts, they are too stale, soft, salty, flat, flavorless, oily, or just have far too many peanuts in the mix.

I looked up several recipes online for making home roasted nuts, and many were tasty, but not quite what I was looking for.  Often, the recipes were a bit too spiced, overpowering the taste of the nut mixture.  After a bit of playing with recipes, I came up with this mixture which is subtly herbed, spiced, and lightly candied.

Making your own toasted nuts, with raw ingredients, is not as expensive as buying premium brand prepared nuts, but is a bit more costly than buying the generic brands.  Raw nuts are available in bulk at most premium and specialty grocers, and the quality, crispness, and flavor of homemade roasted nuts are superior than any of the store bought brands.  These are fantastic with a glass of wine, and are a pleasant treat for entertaining.

Cooking tip: If you do not like peanuts, substitute raw pumpkin seeds.

Herbed, Spiced & Candied Nuts

Skill level:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Makes: 3 cups

Ingredients

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup of raw almonds

1 cup of raw cashews

1/2 cup of raw peanuts

1/2 cup of raw hazelnuts

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine the corn syrup, rosemary, thyme, cayenne, water, salt, and pepper.
   
   
3. Add the nuts to the candy spice mixture. Stir gently with a rubber scraper to coat all of the nuts.
   
   
   
   
4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
5. Spread the coated nuts in roughly a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
   
   
6. Place nuts into the preheated oven, and cook for 7 minutes.
7. Remove nuts from the oven.
8. Using a spatula, stir the nuts, as the nuts on the outside edges of the baking sheet tend to brown quickly.
   
   
9. Place the nuts back into the oven for another 8 to 13 minutes, until cashews have reached a deep golden brown color.
   
   
10. Remove nuts from the oven, and allow to cool completely.
11. When nuts are completely cooled, break nuts apart with your hands, and place in an air tight container.

Tabbouleh!

After some really heavy meals last week, I want to come into the holiday season eating healthy, and I will try to eat mainly vegan or vegetarian until Thanksgiving. While this may sound like a challenge, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines offer many flavorful vegetable dishes.  

I chop my parsley in a food processor. 

It only requires a few pulses to have

roughly chopped herbs.

Tonight I am serving Tabbouleh (Arabic: تبولة‎ tabūlah), which is a seasoned salad originating from the mountain regions of Syria, and Lebanon. It is popular throughout the Middle East, with countless regional variations. Traditionally, tabbouleh is made of herbs (usually parsley) and bulgar.  This variation uses barley.

Tabbouleh

Skill level: 

Ingredients

1/4 cup barley

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 Roma tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped cucumber

1 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

fresh ground pepper (10 turns, or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup finely chopped mint

juice from 1/2 lemon

Preparation

1. Boil water, and add barley.  Boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender.

2. Drain barley, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
3. combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine.

4. Chill for at least one hour to allow flavors to combine.

Tabbouleh, served with hummus garnished with olive oil and paprika, sliced and toasted pita bread, and olive orzo salad.

Biff Paj (Swedish Meat Pies)

Swedish meat pie, served with almond green beans.

Today was cold and dreary, and I was wanting to bake, and I was also craving comfort foods.  After thumbing through some recipes, as I was trying to figure out what to make, I stumbled across this favorite.  It hit the "want to bake craving," the "comfort food" criteria,  and also was a great dinner idea, so I decided to make Biff Paj (Swedish Meat Pies) for dinner.

Many years ago, I first had these at the Junction City Scandinavian Festival, and is one of my favorite treats from the festival. Swedish Meat Pies are rich, savory, and delicious! In the spirit of Paula Dean, I have to say that it's hard to go wrong with potatoes, cheese, butter and sour cream.

Swedish Meat Pies (Biff Paj)

Skill level: 

Adapted from: The Barest Hint of Sweetness 

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Baking Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 6 meat pies

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 pound ground beef (or turkey)

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 pinch Hungarian paprika (regular is fine, as well)

2 large red potatoes, grated

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter

1 cup sour cream

Preparation:

1. Melt the 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. 
2. Crumble in the ground beef and add parsley, allspice, dill, nutmeg, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and grated potatoes. Cook and stir until the meat is browned. 

3. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese and 1/2 cup sour cream until melted. 

4. Set aside to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
6. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and 1 teaspoon salt. 
7. Mix in the 1 1/4 cup cold butter with a fork or pastry cutter until only pea sized lumps remain OR pulse ingredients in a food processor to get pea sized lumps. 
8. Stir in 1/2 cup sour cream a little bit at a time until the dough holds together. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. 
9. Divide into six equal portions, and pat into balls.
   
10. Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness, about 8 inches across.  They do not have to be pretty at this point, as they will be trimmed in step 13.

11. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling onto each one.

12. Fold over into half circles, and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing together. 

13. Trim edges so that the pies have a nice half circle shape, and crimp edges. 

14. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

15. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

Easy Creamy Hummus

Hummus garnished with a dusting of paprika, olive oil, and black sesame seeds,

served with home made crostini crackers.

Hummus is an ancient dish, and variations have made, and consumed, in the Middle East for over a thousand years.  Early forms of hummus usually were usually ground chickpeas (or garbanzos) served with vinegar, pickled lemons, and a variety of herbs.  The modern incarnation of hummus, using tahini and garlic, does not appear until Byzantine times. 

Hummus is one of my favorite foods, and preparation is uncomplicated, and when eaten with bread, is a complete protein, and rich in amino acids, B6, folate, and dietary fiber.

The key to preparing a good hummus is the use of garlic, fresh lemons, and of course, plenty of tahini (a ground sesame paste, available at most specialty food stores, and Albertsons).  There are innumerable variations to hummus recipes, but I think this one has a nice flavor, and is very easy for beginning cooks to prepare.

Hummus

Skill level:

Ingredients

1 (15 to 16 oz.) can garbanzo beans 

1/3 cup tahini

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil

juice from 1/2 of a lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/3 cup water

Preparation

1. Open can of garbanzo beans, and pour contents into a colander.  Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

2. Peel the garlic, and chop into large chunks.
3. While sitting in storage, the oils and solids in tahini usually separate.  Stir or blend tahini until smooth and creamy.



Using a small hand blender, I recombine

separated tahini, until it is smooth and creamy.

4. Put rinsed garbanzos, tahini, chopped garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, paprika, and coriander in a small food processor.  (I usually just use my Cuisinart Mini Prep).

5. Alternating between the "chop" and "grind" cycles of the food processor, grind mixture into a rough paste.

6. Slowly add the water, using the "grind" cycle of the machine.  



I usually just pour the water though the "liquid port"
on the top of the machine's cover,
while running the processor.

7. After water is added, continue to run the food processor until mixture is smooth and creamy (this usually takes about 2 to 3 minutes).  Remove the food processor lid, and scrape the bowl twice during the process.

8. Transfer the hummus into an air tight container, and refrigerate mixture until completely cold (roughly two hours).  Flavors seem to blend better while chilling, and the hummus will set a bit while cooling.
9. Serve with flatbread, such pita, na'an, sangak, or crackers.  Optional:  Garnish with olive oil, paprika, sesame seeds, pine nuts, or chopped parsley.

Alternate Method:  If using a full sized food processor, combine steps 3 through 7; just put all ingredients in the food processor, using the blade attachment, and blend/grind for two to three minutes. (Scrape bowl twice during the cycle). 

Orzo Salad With Kalamata Olives & Goat Cheese

One of my favorite pasta salads is a simple orzo salad.  Orzo is Italian for "barley" and is a macaroni product, cut into short lengths, and shaped like long grains of rice.  Orzo is commonly used in Greek, Turkish, Italian, and Arab cooking.

My recipe is simple to prepare, and has a light and slightly rich flavor, reminiscent of foods commonly found around the Mediterranean.

Skill level:

Serves 4 to 6, as a side dish.

Ingredients

3 cups water
1 cup dry (uncooked) orzo
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 ounces goat cheese

corn starch

1/2 cup loosely packed parsley
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
8 turns of a pepper grinder (1/2 teaspoon of black pepper)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 of a Meyer lemon, juiced
1/4 cup pine nuts

Preparation

1. Bring water to a rapid boil.
2. Add orzo and salt, to the water, reduce heat to a rolling boil, and cook until minimum cook time of the orzo package.
3. While pasta cooks, crumble the goat cheese by sprinkling a small amount (less than 1 tablespoon) of corn starch on the cheese.  (The corn starch keeps the cheese from sticking together as it is crumbled). Spread around, and crumble to pea sized chunks. (Usually, a small log of goat cheese is 4 to 6 ounces, so I cut it the log in half, and keep the remaining for another day). 

4. Put the cheese in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or until frozen.
5. Put the olives, parsley, and paper in a food processor.  Pulse a few times until olives and parsley are roughly chopped.

6. When pasta is cooked, drain in using a colander or pasta strainer, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

7. Put drained pasta in a bowl.  Dump the Olive and parsley mixture on top.  Add the olive oil, lemon juice, sesame seeds, and pine nuts.  Stir until combined.

8. Remove cheese from freezer, and gentley fold into the pasta salad.  The reason I freeze the cheese is to keep it a bit chunky when folding into the salad.  Unfrozen cheese sometime combines, and breaks down while stirring....so the quick freeze maintains the chunky texture of the cheese.
   
   
9. Chill for orzo salad for at least one hour before serving.  The pasta will absorb most of the oil and lemon juice while chilling.
10. When ready to serve, fluff lightly with a fork, while transferring to a serving dish