Kind of a messy and drippy platter, huh? Yes, it was! However, the sauce it’s sitting in it scrumptious, and you can make the sauce ahead a few hours, then all you have to do is broil the shrimp and you have an appetizer all ready! You could also serve this – I think – on pasta. There was ample of the salsa verde (see the plate is almost swimming in it) so it could easy baste a nice mound of linguine. For sure, once you serve this, save all that goop on the plate and use it with the leftovers.

It used to be that “pesto” had only one meaning. Basil. But really the word doesn’t have to mean basil. It can be nuts, or almost any kind of a paste/sauce. Although we think of pesto as purely Italian in origin, it actually originated in India. The Italians adopted it as their own, and once they mixed it with garlic, pine nuts and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, well, a match made in heaven. BUT, this is not about that kind of pesto. Salsa Verde and pesto have many similarities.

Salsa Verde (green sauce) could be a combo of so many things – herbs or even greens like kale. The phrase, salsa verde, can be French, Italian or Spanish. Here in Southern California, even English-speaking people know salsa and verde. In this recipe the green part comes from parsley, basil and cilantro in a combination, with parsley predominating. Then this one has toasted blanched almonds in it (not pine nuts, as in pesto), some garlic and red chili flakes, a jot of white wine vinegar to give it some zip, and then oil to hold it all together. Easy to make, and it surely will keep in the refrigerator for a day – but don’t add the vinegar until just before serving – it will dull all the lovely green in the sauce. After a day the cilantro will start to disintegrate, so I’d use it up fairly quick-like.

The shrimp – use any size you want, really – are tossed with a spice mix. You can use your own combination or you can buy such mixtures at most grocery stores. Paul Prudhomme has one in the spice aisle. See my notes down below in the directions about a spice combo you can make up yourself. The raw shrimp is then coated with some oil and broiled. You could serve these warm – I think I’d like them warm – but do let them cool a bit right out of the broiler because shrimp can burn your mouth if you really served it immediately. This came from a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter a couple of months ago.

What’s GOOD: it’s all about the sauce. The salsa verde. It’s really, really delicious. Easy to make – just make sure you have blanched almonds. I don’t stock those in my pantry, but Trader Joe’s usually has them. The blanched part means they have no skins on them at all. And they’ve been cooked (and normally salted). Each shrimp made one really tasty bite, I’ll tell you! And remember to save the left over sauce and use it on pasta or rice.

What’s NOT: not a thing – loved this one.

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Having never heard of Dukka before, I was intrigued. Even when we visited Egypt in 1997, I don’t recall anyone talking about Dukka, nor did I see it on any menus. Unfortunately I didn’t get to the spice market there, either. In the picture above you can’t actually see the Dukka because it’s on the biscuits.

Dukka is a spice mix. That’s all. It doesn’t contain anything all that unusual. But it’s as varied as saying “Italian seasoning,” which can contain a whole variety of herbs.  Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

Dakka (also Dukka, or Duqqa) (Egyptian Arabic): is an Egyptian condiment consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts (usually hazelnut), and spices.  It is typically used as a dip with bread or fresh vegetables for an hors d’œuvre.  Pre-made versions of dakka can be bought in the spice markets of Cairo, with the simplest version being crushed mint, salt and pepper which are sold in paper cones.  The packaged variety is found in markets that is composed of parched wheat flour mixed with cumin and caraway. [It may also contain things like]  sesame, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. Reference to a 19th-century text lists marjoram, mint, zaatar and chickpeas as further ingredients that can be used in the mixture. A report from 1978 indicates that even further ingredients can be used, such as nigella, millet flour and dried cheese. Some commercial variants include pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

Most versions contain some kind of nuts such as cashews, pistachios, almonds or hazelnuts, with hazelnuts being a common one, also cashews. It sounds like every household cook has his/her own version of it, or maybe varies depending on which nuts and seeds are in the house at the moment. I found one other good-sounding recipe for dukka at Food & Wine.

The bacon-tomato jam is pretty straight-forward. Cook the bacon, drain, add everything else and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it’s cooked down to a jam-like consistency. You can make this ahead, just reheat it before serving.

The biscuits are all quite simple too – it’s a buttermilk biscuit, plain and simple. They’re dipped in dukka, though, before baking, and the tops are brushed with buttermilk and more dukka is added there. Cool the biscuits, split them, spread with the jam, and serve. Done.

What’s GOOD: I absolutely LOVED these appetizers. For me, it was the bacon that did it. The Dukka wasn’t all that prominent in the flavors, but then I didn’t do a taste test of just the biscuits and Dukka. I think Dukka, in Egypt for sure, is probably a next-to-the-stove condiment that’s probably made up in quantity and used on just about everything. Like we have salt and pepper – they have Dukka.
What’s NOT: a bit of preparation here – both the jam and the Dukka. The biscuits need to be made fresh – don’t make them the day before. Make maybe half an hour before you need to serve them. They’d be particularly nice served warm.

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Want an easy-easy smoked salmon appetizer? This is it. Mix it up a day or so ahead of time, even, and serve with toasted baguette slices, or crackers, or little pieces of cucumber. It’s not overwhelming with salmon – as in “ooh, that’s too smoky or salty.” It’s just right.

Okay Kelli, this one’s for you! **

You’re going to be getting a whole bunch of new recipes.  My friend Cherrie went to a whopper of a cooking class a couple of weeks ago – 2 teachers, teaching together in tandem with 2 full menus, one a brunch, the other one a dinner. We went equipped with a few little plastic boxes and plastic baggies because there was no way we could eat all the food they prepared! Just about every single recipe we acquired at this class was good. And this one was really delicious. II made this a few days ago, and it WAS really easy. I put it in a cute little Christmasy container and served it with ciabatta slices that I toasted with a spray of olive oil on them.

Diane Phillips made this at the class. About the only important thing to know is selecting RIGHT kind of smoked salmon. Do NOT buy brined style, but do get dry smoked. Otherwise, making this is pretty cinchy easy.

**The other night I had a big group of book club friends to my home – annually we do a potluck – and it’s been at my house for at least 10 years. Anyway, one of my friends (Kelli, noted above) said she reads my blog (I didn’t know she did), but she said, “now, Carolyn, you really need to put some simple recipes up on your blog.”

Actually, this recipe does have 9 ingredients, so I suppose it doesn’t qualify as 5 ingredients or less, but some of them are pretty easy – capers, hot sauce, horseradish, so you can throw this together in no time at all. It needs refrigerating for awhile to meld the flavors. Do watch the sodium content on the salmon – the one I bought was quite high (well, they all are, but some more than others). You don’t add any (additional) salt to this recipe, so you don’t want the salmon to be over the top.

What’s GOOD: easy to make, very tasty, can make ahead, will keep for a few days, and can be frozen up to a month. See? Easy.
What’s NOT: maybe finding dry smoked salmon – just read the labels. Trader Joe’s has several. Sometimes dill is hard to find, and it doesn’t keep long.

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Oh gosh, are these ever tasty. Think savory cookie, because that’s what they are. They’re almost like shortbread cookies, but loaded with savory seasonings and perfect for evening cocktails.

As I write this post, it’s ahead of time. I like having a few posts “in the bank,” so if I go through a dry spell of cooking, I’ve got something up my sleeve. And I’m thinking that because I’m going away on a trip (I’ll be back by the time this posts) this recipe would be a good one to have up so I can get back into the swing of cooking again. Hopefully I will have posted a travel story about the trip I’m taking with one of my granddaughters to NYC and DC. And my son Powell will be there for part of it as well. I’ll explain later.

But what I’m going to mention is that today is my birthday – the day this posts. I don’t know if I’m going to feel blue on August 4th, without my DH beside me, kidding me, laughing with me about my advancing age, or if it will be a good day. His birthday was last month and it happened (will have happened) while I’m on this trip, so I’m hoping to be exceedingly busy that day and won’t think about it too much. Sabrina and I will be in Washington, D.C. that day, doing tourist things. Like maybe the Smithsonian, or the National Gallery. We have a lot more things to do than we’ll have time for, that’s for sure.

This grieving thing is so darned unpredictable. I had a really bad day not too long ago. No good reason – I mean no specific reason, really – other than the house felt terribly empty, quiet. I called Sara, my daughter, and bless her heart, the next day she came up and visited overnight. I fixed dinner, we talked, cried a little, watched Pride and Prejudice on DVD, went to church the next morning, then had lunch at our local Mexican restaurant we like so much, along with her brother Powell and his family.

Anyway, back to these delicious crackers/cookies. They’re an Ina Garten recipe and I believe the recipe is in her most recent cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust. I found it online at the Food Network because she prepared them on her show recently.

They’re incredibly easy to make – like a refrigerator cookie. The extra sharp cheese was really nice, and the spices – well, they were just perfect. The jalapeno, of course, gives these a kick – reduce the amount if you’re sensitive to spicy heat. The dough gets chilled in a log, then you slice them and bake. See, I said they’re easy!

What’s GOOD: the flavor, first and foremost. Just ever so tasty and special for guests. Don’t put anything on them or with them (other than a glass of wine or a cocktail) because you want to taste the seasonings in the cracker/cookie. This recipe is a keeper, okay?
What’s NOT: not a single thing! Keep a log of these in the freezer (or only bake half) so you’ll have something really, really special when unexpected guests drop by.

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Think condiment. Think Italian chutney maybe? Here it’s a fruity spread for crackers (or, a condiment for grilled pork). By definition, a mostarda is an Italian condiment made of fruit and a mustard-flavored syrup. That’s not exactly what this is (it does contain mustard seeds, but that’s the only relationship is has with “mustard”), but I didn’t name it. Whatever you choose to call it, this stuff is off the charts delicious.

If you’ve been reading my blog in the last couple of weeks, you know that I went camping with some of my family. Maybe I kinda went glamping, because I stayed in the lodge/motel just down the road. And I use the word lodge loosely. The room contained 2 beds and a bathroom. There was no TV, no internet, no cell service, period. There was no lobby, no place for guests to sit around except on an outdoor deck – if you could tolerate the heat. The clock radio was plugged in but didn’t work. The room was dark with minimal lighting available. But, that A/C unit was used every single afternoon and night and I was ever so grateful. And the mattress was actually pretty good. What they did have was a small sort of fast-food counter with minimal eating options and a gift shop. The ice was the big seller there, along with the ice cream bars.

One of the down sides to me being down the road from the campground where the family was, was that my ice chest full of goodies had to be in the hotel room with me up on the 2nd floor (and no, no elevator). The campground had bear boxes (i.e., sturdy thick-gauge stainless steel boxes that mostly elude bears from ripping into them), but all their campsite bear boxes were chock full.  It could not stay in the car for 2 reasons: (1) it was too darned hot – the ice wouldn’t have lasted more than a few hours at the temps we had up there; and (2) they have bears, and everyone is strongly told in no uncertain terms to leave absolutely nothing in the car in the way of food. Bears can break windows and will claw trunk lids if they think they might be able to get into food. As I awkwardly carried this full and very  heavy ice chest toward the lodge, a kind gentleman took pity on me (it wasn’t the kind that rolls on wheels – big mistake on my part) and at least carried it up the one flight of stairs for me. I was extremely grateful. The lodge did provide about a gallon of ice a couple of times a day (they kept track).

The family stayed in tents and slept on cots or air mattresses – in the heat. I had A/C. I was in charge of bringing appetizers for the 3 evenings I’d be with everyone. As I planned what I’d take along on this trip (a 6-hour drive from home) I knew I wanted to make some things ahead of time. And to make it as easy on myself as I could. No, I really couldn’t toast the bread. No, there was no ideal way to heat up anything. Yes, they had camp stoves, but it was highly recommended that I choose cold appetizers to not waste precious propane. SO. I looked for new recipes to try. You’ll read about the Brussels sprout appetizer in a few days.

In order to maximize my time with the family at the campground, I drove 3/4 of the way there and stayed overnight in Tulare (too-LARE-ee) at a very nice, comfortable Hampton Inn. That was the first time in a whole lot of years I’ve stayed by myself in a hotel. It felt strange without my hubby beside me. Be proud of me – I didn’t cry. I felt like it a couple of times but I didn’t. And going into a restaurant that night to eat alone was hard. Very hard. It wasn’t an upscale restaurant – more like a diner – so I didn’t feel uncomfortable exactly. I just missed my DH, big time.

That hotel did have an elevator, so it made carrying the full ice chest to the room a bit easier. For sure, if I ever do this again, I’ll take the much larger on-wheels ice chest. The next morning I got on the road early and made it to the campground by about 11 am. My daughter-in-law, Karen, and her extended family (all there camping too) are foodies. Powell (my son, my step-son actually but I never use the phrase) is too. All the dinner items were brought in vacuum sealed packages, prepared at home. We had coq au vin one night, and Bolognese another night. Carnitas tacos with all the trimmings was on the menu the other night I was there. No desserts, other than s’mores for the 2 children, although Karen had purchased monstrous square marshmallows, which were big enough you could divide them into about 4 portions of s’mores. I didn’t have any – my only indulgence was a dark chocolate kiss (or 2 or 3) I kept chilled in my ice chest and shared with everybody mid-day. And I left them with another package of milk chocolate ones.

Happy hour started each night about 5, so I would bring from the hotel my chilled stash of food for the evening. This mostarda was on the menu my first night because I’d stopped at a market along the way there that day and bought a still-warm baguette. Of the 4 appetizers I took, this was, by far, the standout. Here at right is my gin and tonic (I’ve taken a recent liking to them – good Bombay gin, Schweppes tonic, and a squeeze from a generous slice of lime – very refreshing in extreme heat!). Do note the uber-colorful plastic tablecloth, the super lightweight trivet I added in for color and a prop for the bread, and the picnic table laden with “stuff.” Wine is generally the beverage of choice with this family, and there was no shortage of it. I should have taken some, but brought the gin instead. A few others shared one with me, and my son Powell, and his brother-in-law Julian made it for me each night I was there.

One of my appetizers won’t grace these pages – nobody liked it much, including me. It was a spiced carrot thing (pureed) with Moroccan flavorings including preserved lemon. I thought it looked good (and had no fat in it at all) but it wasn’t.  Most of it got dumped into the toilet in my lodge room.

Now, after all that lengthy monologue, we’ll get to the mostarda, finally. Pretty much, this is like making jam. You do need to bloom the spices first in the water, vinegar and sugar, then the minced fennel is added, and lastly carefully chopped flesh of the orange. You cook it and cook it. And cook it some more if you prefer the texture to be more like marmalade. I did, so it probably simmered on the stovetop for about 35-45 minutes or so (photo at left). I tasted it here and there. My only difficulty was that fennel bulbs and oranges are all different sizes, so the ratio of fruit/fennel to vinegar/sugar was just a touch off (too much vinegar) so I have altered the recipe just slightly. It’s far easier to add more vinegar later if it’s needed (and continue to cook it a bit more too, if you do so) than to have to add more sugar as I did. The orange zest is added at the very last. If you’d prefer, go to the original at Food52  and use Elizabeth Rex’s recipe, although her recipe just says use a small fennel bulb and an orange, so those sizes are certainly open to interpretation. Elizabeth is a line cook in Chicago. She’s a genius with this recipe. Truly. I loved it.

Most of the double batch went camping with me, but I kept back about 1/2 cup and I’m definitely going to use it – Karen and I talked about it at the camp that the mostarda would be delish with a grilled pork chop, or a pork roast. Since this mixture keeps well, and until I have a dinner guest, I’m going to keep it in the frig for doing just that.

What’s GOOD: the flavor of the orange is the most prominent, but then you get the savory part (the fennel and the mustard, fennel and coriander seeds) but overall the jam is sweet. Truly, you could eat it on toast for breakfast, but it’s far too lofty for that, I assure you. It would likely be delish piled on top of a block of cream cheese too. I wouldn’t use any kind of a flavored cracker – you want the mostarda flavors to come through, not onion, caraway or Ranch flavorings in a cracker, if you understand my meaning. Use a plain cracker or slice of a baguette. Toasted would be lovely. Altogether delicious. It keeps for awhile too.
What’s NOT: other than the time it takes to mince the fennel, chop up the oranges correctly and simmer it, nothing at all. This is a keeper-recipe for sure.

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So what makes this bruchetta Sicilian? All I can determine is it’s the cheese – a thin slather of cheese put on the toasted bread before you spoon on the tomato mixture. But whatever it is, this combo makes for some really good tasting bruschetta.

Daughter Sara asked me if I’d make bruschetta for a family gathering at their house. Everybody brought something. Sara made Bolognese sauce, other family members brought fresh pasta, another a salad, another some additional appetizers.

You really can’t make bruschetta ahead of time. You just can’t. Even toasting the bread I thought might make the bread more crisp. And there is a fine line (in my opinion anyway) between having a piece of toasted bread that is golden brown crispy on the outside but still retains softness inside (as this was made) and broil-toasting bread in the oven and the bread becomes little discs of hard crunch (which was not what I wanted). So I took along my handy-dandy stovetop toaster. In Italy it’s called a brustolina. A couple of  years ago Joanne Weir mentioned it on her website, said she had a shipment of them, while they lasted, etc. I bought one and have used it often. In Italy cooks use them for toasting bread (as I did in this case), but also for toasting polenta, and roasting peppers. It’s lightweight and really thin.

The metal underside (perforated) absorbs the heat from the flames, distributes it around that square thing. Then on the top there’s a wire mesh that keeps the food barely above the metal plate and it takes no time to toast things on it. I’ve only used it for toast so far. In case you’re interested, you can buy them from a Philadelphia store for $14.99 plus shipping. As I write this, they say it’s out of stock, but expected in a couple of months.

So anyway, my daughter kindly did the toasting for me while I made the tomato mixture. That part was easy, although you do need to remove all the seeds from the tomatoes (otherwise it gets too messy, oozy) and chop the tomato flesh (with skin is fine) into small dice. I added some fresh minced green onion, dried oregano, salt and pepper and just before ready to spoon it onto the toasts, I added fresh slivers of basil. And don’t even think about doing this unless you have good tasting RIPE tomatoes. I used Kumato – I do love those things. Trader Joe’s carries them and some regular grocery stores do too. They’re a dark brownish-greenish tomato, sort of, and the flesh inside is darker than usual, but it’s a really tasty, juicy tomato.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a cookbook I own called The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper, from NPR. She calls her version Sicilian Farmer’s Bruschetta, and I’m assuming the farmer’s part of the name comes from the addition of some kind of country cheese (she calls for sheep’s or cow’s milk ricotta, mozzarella, fresh goat cheese or medium-aged sheep cheese). I had some regular goat cheese, but I grabbed a little tub of Boursin (flavored with garlic and herbs) and I didn’t end up needing the soft goat cheese at all. Her version uses thick-sliced bread, a lot of EVOO, red onion, red pepper flakes and oven roasted canned tomatoes. I just switched several things – I used thinner sliced bread (this was an appetizer, not the meal) – I used the green onion, none of the red pepper (we had kids eating this and didn’t think they’d like it much)very little oil, did scrape a couple of garlic halves across the hot slices of bread (actually Sara did that part), then I spread the cheese on top of the warm toasts and spooned some tomato on top. Done. Served. Do check for seasoning (we ended up adding more salt than I thought it would need, but it did). I used a fresh loaf of sourdough bread that was about 4” in diameter at its widest.

What’s GOOD: the addition of cheese to bruschetta was wonderful, but note, it’s not Parmesan. Certainly using Boursin cheese doesn’t give it an Italian flair, but I improvised and really liked the results. Use ample fresh basil, and very ripe tomatoes. Altogether delish.

What’s NOT: probably the only thing is this must be made at the moment. You could try toasting the bread an hour or so ahead and keeping it in a plastic bag, but then you’d lose the crisp part. The tomato mixture could be made ahead an hour or so – just don’t add the basil until the last.
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Need an easy artichoke heart mixture to serve to guests that’s tasty and very quick to put together? And has no mayo or sour cream in it?

This recipe has been in my arsenal for years, from a decades-ago class I took from Joanne Weir. I’d forgotten all about it, but noticed that it didn’t have a photo attached to it (this in my MasterCook software program I use for all my recipes). That’s an automatic signal that I took the class long before I began taking a quick pix of the food when I attended the class. It also meant I’d not written it up here on my blog either! Since it’s an easy recipe to make, I chose to include it for a dinner party we were having recently.

Making it the day before is no problem – in fact it helped me to get at least one dish done ahead of time. This topping/dip keeps for about a week or so. In the class Joanne just chopped up the ingredients on a cutting board. It calls for canned or defrosted artichoke hearts, not marinated type, a few brined grape leaves, garlic, green olives –  Joanne called for picholine but I couldn’t find that type the day I went shopping so I used a plain green olive – some Parmigiano cheese, lemon juice and just a little bit of EVOO to smooth it out. That’s IT. Easy, huh? Changing the type of olive in this would likely change the flavor profile a little bit. Don’t use kalamata – they would overpower the mixture. Don’t use ripe olives, and don’t use the green stuffed olives either.

When I made this I used the food processor – I was into “easy” that day. If you’d prefer a bit more texture to the spread, then definitely do the mince and chop version. Do allow the mixture to refrigerate for a few hours – so the garlic isn’t so harsh and it has time to permeate it all.

What’s GOOD: how easy it is to make, plus it keeps for awhile. Make it 2 days ahead – that’s fine too. Very tasty – you definitely know it’s artichoke hearts but you can’t exactly pick out the grape leaves (it adds just a little bit of sharpness) along with the lemon juice. Very delish appetizer that I’ve made over and over.
What’s NOT: you might not have brined/jarred grape leaves on hand (I didn’t) but I found them easily enough at my local upscale market. And you might not have the right olives – but I substituted some other small green olives instead.

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Remember, I mentioned the other day how I was blown away by the flavor of buffalo mozzarella? Well, I had another 8-ounce tub with a soon to expire date on it. I hadn’t decided what to do with it . . . ah, this is heaven on a slice of bread.

We went shopping the other day and I bought a big loaf (a boule) of country bread (see it in the photo down below). I left it out on the kitchen counter that day and planned to saw off a slice each for us to eat with dinner, and I had the idea that maybe I could use that buffalo mozzarella (Trader Joe’s little tub, 8 ounces at right). I did get the idea from a recipe on the Food Network and after reading comments and suggestions from several people, I incorporated those into the tomato mixture and a new recipe was born.

It started with thinking about bruschetta – an antipasto that dates back to the 15th century and usually incorporates tomatoes, herbs, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper on small pieces of bread or toast. And I would suppose any Italian would say that this version above is a bruschetta too – just a different one. And if Italians do cook with mozzarella, it’s most likely the fresh stuff, not that processed tasteless mozzarella we buy in vacuum sealed balls that require grating. And I think in Italy, all the fresh mozzarella is made with buffalo milk.

First I made the tomato mixture – and I did it in the food processor. With the machine running I dropped in a couple cloves of fresh garlic, then added the fresh tomatoes all at once and only pulsed it until the tomatoes were chopped. You don’t want mush. I drained them – actually I scooped them out to a bowl and I added some olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh basil AND a little bit of balsamic vinegar. I left it to sit on the kitchen counter while I prepared everything else.  With most of the juice discarded,I was left with just tomatoes and all the seasonings.

Next, I sliced up the 8-ounce ball of buffalo mozzarella. I used my tomato knife to do that (serrated) and it was relatively easy to do. The 8-ounce ball made enough to cover 3 long slices of the country loaf of bread, FYI. The bread was sliced, then I toasted them (one side only) in the oven at 425°F for just a few minutes. The cheese was laid on top and I turned the oven on to broil and watched the toasts very carefully so they wouldn’t burn. Didn’t take long at all!

Once out of the oven I just drizzled the tomato mixture on top and we ate them immediately. Well, within about a minute. They cool off quickly and they’re best eaten when the cheese is hot. Some of the juices soaked down into the bread, but not much (if you drizzle much juice on top the bread will be totally soggy).

What’s GOOD: what can I tell you, other than that buffalo mozzarella has such wonderful flavor. It’s just different. It has flavor depth. Something. And the fresh tomatoes were wonderful; fresh basil on it adds a perfect brightness. Then the little bit of balsamic? Oh, delicious. Do use good bread, okay?
What’s NOT: not one thing. It was sensational.

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Surely there will be some of you reading this who will scoff at beets, mashed up at that, standing in as an appetizer. I’m telling you it’s good. Very good, in fact. But then, I like beets! It’s cooked beets with yogurt mixed in, some garlic and spicy heat, a jot of oil and maple syrup, then decorated with toasted chopped hazelnuts, green onions and goat cheese.

Have you ever looked for something new and different to take as an appetizer to someone’s house? This might just be the one, providing the group is adventuresome. Some might be put off by the color, let alone the smooth creamy texture, but according to the cookbook, Jerusalem: A Cookbook this is a frequent visitor in a mezze meal. It could also be served as a vegetable, but I think it worked so very well as an appetizer. We had 2 appetizers the night we did this Israeli meal, and the 8 of us just didn’t dig into either of them much – not that both weren’t delicious – they were – but we got to talking and drinking our glasses of wine, and gosh, suddenly dinner was ready. I ate a couple of pieces of sangak bread with the beet appetizer and thought it tasted wonderful. I liked the crunch of the hazelnuts on top. A few days later I had some more, and I served it as a side vegetable, in a bowl, when we ate the left overs.

The beets are cooked (or buy the already cooked ones in the vacuum sealed pouches at Trader Joe’s and some other markets). They are mashed up with some yogurt, some garlic, a bit of red chile, some maple syrup (original recipe calls for date syrup, but who has that, I wonder?), olive oil and then some za’atar. If you don’t have za’atar, it’s probably no biggie. Za’atar, or Zatar is a spice mixture. Some American versions don’t contain herbs from the plant of the Middle East (in Lebanon, for instance, they grow a plant that they call a za’atar plant, related to the oregano) – the little jar I had (see photo at left) contains sumac, thyme leaves, white sesame seeds and salt. Other mixtures might contain marjoram and some oregano.

My friend Dianne, who made this, said the beet mixture was quite thin when she got done, so the recipe indicated to add some mashed potato (cooked, obviously). She did and that gave it a better consistency. Alternately, perhaps adding a bit less yogurt would do the trick too.

What’s GOOD: the taste – it’s slightly sweet, actually. But beets are sweet to begin with. The consistency is smooth and I particularly liked the toppings (green onions, crumbled goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts). It’s a very unusual appetizer – the color alone is startling!
What’s NOT: Nothing at all.

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Whew, that’s a long-winded title for a recipe. You could eat this as an appetizer, cut up into wedges, or a whole one as a stand-alone lunch or vegetarian dinner. Or you could do what I did when I made it for a group: pile the hummus on a serving platter, then pile everything (except the arugula) on top of it. I used Feta cheese as the decoration, and I served sangak bread on the side with a knife so people could spread some of the mixture on individual pieces – this was an appetizer (see other picture below). As an appetizer I didn’t think the arugula would be easy to eat, so I left it off.

With the left overs a day later I served it with pita chips (Trader Joe’s). What you see in the photo at top is the flatbread on the bottom (from Trader Joe’s), and there’s a schmear of white bean hummus underneath there – sorry you can’t see it – then some sun dried tomatoes, caramelized onions (hmm, can’t see those, either), some Kalamata olives, then the arugula and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The most time-consuming thing to do is caramelize the onions. While you’re at it, make more than you need because you’ll use them in something else within a few days. Or you could eat them plain right out of the pan. Love caramelized onions!

My DH just walked past me as I’m sitting here at my computer in the kitchen, looked at the photo and said OH, that was so good. Make that again, will you? The recipe came from a Phillis Carey cooking class, and the 40+ people all oohed and aahed over it. I got the same when I made it as a plated appetizer. Great recipe.
What’s GOOD: everything about it – my favorite flavors in this are the caramelized onions and the sun-dried tomatoes – probably because the mixture of the savory (hummus) and sweet (onions and sun-dried tomatoes) offer such a taste contrast.
What’s NOT: nothing. Loved it a lot.

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