I had a craving for bruschetta, so we grabbed the ingredients to make it today. Really... basil, garlic and tomatoes are one of my most favourite flavour combos! They're so perfect together. I didn't realize we didn't have a recipe for bruschetta posted! You don't really need a recipe for bruschetta, you can make it any way you please. But if you need a base recipe, this is a great one. It's how I make it!
Fast and easy and a great way to use up tomatoes if you're one of those lucky people with a garden! Or if you've been gifted with a bagful from a friend that's lucky enough to have a garden.
I don't think we've had any Ten Foot Pole with our recipes. You might have known them in their previous incarnation of Scared Straight. We're getting our rock on with their "Final Hours". -jen
BRUSCHETTA Time: 15 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 12
1.5 pounds of tomatoes (about 4)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion (about 1/4 onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
1/4 cup julienned basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
10 cranks of fresh ground blacked pepper
dash of balsamic vinegar
fresh mozzarella sliced thinly
1 baguette loaf
Julienned basil
Cut tomatoes into quarters and using your thumb, scoop out the seeds and juice. (You can save this for a different recipe later or discard.) Small dice remaining tomato meat. In a mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Toss and set aside.
Turn your oven onto broil. Slice baguette on the bias to make large ovals. Brush both sides with olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Toast one side under the broiler until golden brown, watching closely (it only takes 1-2 minutes to brown). Flip and toast the second side until browned and remove. Top toast with a slice of mozzarella and the tomato salad and serve.
I've been making this salsa over and over and over again the last few weeks. We've just been plowing through it.
Ridiculously fast to make if you need something for guests or a party or late night munchies, which is generally our case. I'm having a hard time deciding if I like this salsa more? Or pico de gallo more? I think I must like them equally for different reasons.
I'm not sure why I didn't take better pictures of any of the batches I made. All I did was take a quick pick in a plastic storage container. We fancy. Next batch (which won't be long) I'll try for some better pics.
Here's a band from my home state, Illinois - Blue Meanies with "The Infidelity Song". -jen
RESTAURANT STYLE SALSA Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy Makes: 4 cups Need: Food processor or blender
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 onion, rough chopped
1 jalapeño, rough chopped*
5 medium-sized garlic cloves
1/2 cup packed cilantro
juice of 1 lime (about 1-1.5 tbsp)
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*For a medium spicy salsa, leave seeds in. For a mild salsa, remove seeds. For a hot salsa, add a second jalapeño.
No Cook Version: Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until desired consistency.
Cooked Version: I prefer to actually cook the canned tomatoes in a sauce pan over a medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes, then let them cool about 10 minutes before placing in a food processor or blender with all the other ingredients and pulsing until desired consistency. Cooking them takes away some of the "tinny" taste from the can. I've made it both ways and they're both good! This is just my preference.
I was feeling like making a hummus lately and Justin had grabbed ingredients to make our Pasta Puttanesca tonight, so I swiped some of his sun dried tomatoes and basil for my hummus. So good.
David Bowie died yesterday. He's all I've been playing today. I can't bring myself to choose some punk rock tunes for this recipe. -jen
SUN DRIED TOMATO AND BASIL HUMMUS Time: 10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 3 cups Need: Food Processor
1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium clove fresh garlic (2 if you like garlic a lot, which we do)
4 whole sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
1 medium green onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 a medium lemon (about 1.5 tbsp)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine garbanzo beans, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, green onion, salt, lemon, and sesame oil in your food processor. Process until vegetables are chopped fine. Add all remaining ingredients except the olive oil and turn processor to a medium. While processing, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until a smooth dip (most processors have a lid where you can drizzle through the top while it's processing).
Serve with pita or tortilla chips, fresh vegetables, or use as a sandwich spread.
Last year around the holidays, I made homemade cheese spreads for the first time - a basic Cheddar Cheese Spread and then a fantastic nutty cheese spread that was inspired by French Onion soup and the store bought Swiss Almond spreads - my Swiss-Almond Cheese Spread with Caramelized Onions. We ate the hell out of them.
This year, I was thinking about a southern classic, Pimiento Cheese Spread...but traditionally, the spread is simply made with cheese, mayo and pimientos. I really like using cream cheese because I wanted it more like a cracker dip than a sandwich spread. I also wanted to boost it up a little with flavour, so I added a lot more than what the traditional spread has - garlic, Worcestershire, jalapeño, wine, etc. It's not hot or spicy at all... so even if you shy away from jalapeños, I say add 'em to this recipe. It just adds a little depth to the spread - more layers of flavour.
So if you're trying to come up with some appetizers to make and/or take to a New Year's party, this is a pretty easy and great one!
I think the Descendents said what we were all thinking. -jen
*I recommend at least half of your shredded cheese being sharp cheddar, and the other half could be any combination of Monterey Jack, Havarti, Gruyere, Gouda, Parmesan, etc. I used what I had, which was some Gouda, Havarti Dill, and Pecorino Romano.
Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth and combined. Refrigerate (but I always have to eat some immediately. The flavours marry nicely if you give it a little time to refrigerate though.)
Serve with crackers or raw veggies, make a grilled cheese with some spread inside, use as a sandwich spread - eat it how you want! It'd probably be good mixed in with some pasta (though I've not tried that!)
Pozole... a Mexican soup with a history of human sacrifice. If that doesn't make you want to eat it, I don't know what will!
According to Wiki, "...pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions...on these special occasions, the meat used in the pozole was human.After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a
ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with maize.
The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious
communion. After the Conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became
the staple meat as it 'tasted very similar', according to a Spanish
priest."
Pozole garnish
Pozole is made with corn (maiz) that is treated in an alkaline solution, a process called nixtamalization. Wiki also says, "Maize subjected to the nixtamalization process has several benefits over unprocessed grain: it is more easily ground; its nutritional value is increased; flavor and aroma are improved; and mycotoxins are reduced.
Justin decided to go with pork instead of long pig for this recipe and it was delicious! Garnishes for pozole vary - we used cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime. I've also had it with salsa and/or sliced avocado.
Sticking with the theme of eating people, let's listen to this cover of a song I knew growing up - The Meteors covering "Little Red Riding Hood" (originally done by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, and I think it was titled "Li'l Red Riding Hood"?) Anyway, I dig this cover. Eat pork, not people. Unless you really want to - I'm not the boss of you. -jen
POZOLE VERDE DE PUERCO (GREEN HOMINY SOUP WITH PORK) Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: about an hour, including simmering Difficulty: Medium Makes: about 2.5 quarts
1 pound country-style pork ribs, cubed to bite size
Put cubed pork in a large Ziplock bag and add salt, black pepper, paprika and cinnamon. Massage bag to distribute seasonings evenly over meat.
In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium-high and add seasoned pork, browning on all sides. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, using the pork drippings, add onion, celery, tomatillos, jalapeños, green onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Once vegetables are cooked, add broth and hominy and the browned pork. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer about 40 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in 1/3 cup cilantro.
Serve hot with cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime juice on top of each serving, or serve on the side for folks to add their own.
My mother-in-law (Justin's mom) had shared a recipe she saw on Facebook for skillet potatoes. They reminded me of our Accordion Potatoes, only sliced all the way through and in a cast iron skillet. I really liked the concept and wanted to give it a try. Anything in a cast iron skillet is delicious! But I wanted to combine what I was doing with the Accordion Potatoes... so I decided to add shallots and lemon.
They came out delicious! Sort of pretty, as far as presentation goes... but the taste! Man! So delicious! The lemons were thin enough that they sort of candied and you could eat them, rind and all, a fantastic flavour along with the potato and shallots. The potatoes had so many different textures... some on the outside were as crispy as potato chips, the tops crisped up great, the bottoms were just tender, delicious, seasoned potatoes. I loved this dish, and I am not a lover of potatoes!
I chose some Off With Their Heads for this recipe - "Nightlife". I dig this band. I swore I had used them before on a recipe, but I can't find anything... so here we go. -jen
SKILLET POTATOES WITH SHALLOTS AND LEMON Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 75-90 minutes Serves: 6
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 large shallots
2 large lemons
4 medium garlic cloves
3 large baking potatoes, skin on (we used russet)
1 tablespoon Caldo de Pollo (dried bouillon - optional)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
2 tablespoons bacon fat (if you don't keep bacon fat, you can just use 2 more tbsp of butter)
1/2 a lemon, juiced
one-gallon-size Ziplock bag
12" cast iron skillet
Before baking
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use 1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat bottom and sides of cast iron skillet.
Using a mandolin, thinly slice shallots, lemons, garlic cloves and potatoes. (If you don't have a mandolin, just make sure you slice everything super thin... like a potato chip.) Place the sliced potatoes into the gallon-size Ziplock bag. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, Caldo de Pollo, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Seal bag and use your hands to move the potatoes around and really mix it all up, separating all the sliced pieces so everything gets coated.
Arrange one layer of potatoes around the outer most edge of the skillet. Once neatly arranged, carefully intersperse 1/3 of the lemon and shallot slices between the potatoes. Repeat with a second and third layer inside the first. Once the skillet is full, sprinkle the garlic slices over the top. Melt the butter and the bacon fat (about 30-45 seconds in the microwave). Pour all across the arranged potatoes. I sprinkled a little more salt and pepper over the top.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 75 minutes. Using a fork, test by piercing the center potatoes. The fork should easily pierce the potatoes when cooked through. If there's resistance, bake for another 15 minutes and fork-test again. Baking times may vary since potato sizes vary and how tightly you arrange them - if your potatoes were bigger than mine, it could take up to 90 minutes. Just keep fork testing every 15 minutes after the first 75 minutes.
When potatoes pass the fork-test and are golden brown, remove from oven and pour the lemon juice over the top while hot. Serve hot (we served it with homemade pesto over the top).
Justin and I aren't really breakfast eaters, but sometimes one of us will crave it, and then we'll go out somewhere and over pay for eggs and toast and poor service. This morning, I really wanted breakfast, and we almost went out for it, but in the end, I was like, "Screw that! I'll make us some eggs Benedict!" Topped 'em with Asiago cheese.
I've heard trained chefs scoff at hollandaise made in the blender... but we've done it the traditional way plenty of times, and we both agree that in the blender is just as tasty and super easy. My Benedicts were definitely not traditional. I used some pastrami that we had and decided that I wanted to use up the egg whites, so I scrambled them with a few whole eggs and basil (instead of the traditional poached eggs). So I decided to go with some basil hollandaise too, and it was great!
No idea why I was singing this in the kitchen this morning while making these, but I had a broken record in my head with this lyric, "...it's already better than last time I ruined another girl's life..." Lagwagon's "Dinner And A Movie". -jen
BLENDER BASIL HOLLANDAISE SAUCE Time: 3 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 3/4 cup
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
4 large egg yolks
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons
1 small garlic clove (about 1/8 teaspoon)
dash of Sriracha
3-4 large basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste
In a microwave safe container that you can pour easily out of (I use my glass measuring cup because it has a pour spout), melt butter for 30 seconds, then 15 additional seconds at a time as needed, until entirely melted.
In a blender combine egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, garlic and Sriracha. Roughly tear up basil leaves and add them. Begin blending on lowest speed. While blending, slowly drizzle in melted butter then blend for 5 seconds more. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. (If you use salted butter, you may not need to add additional salt.)
Tip: Wondering what to do with those egg whites? I add 2 whole eggs to them and scramble it up with some more torn up basil, which makes enough for 2-4 folks (depending on how much you can eat at breakfast, I guess! It makes enough to top 4 English muffin halves.)
Pastrami and basil scrambled eggs with basil hollandaise sauce on English muffins topped with Asiago cheese.
I've been having a serious craving for good Chinese food and unfortunately, there's no Chinese food
restaurants in our little town that we like. We had our wedding catered in '08 by a friend who owned the best Chinese restaurant in town, but the building burned down a few years later and she never reopened it. We've been without good Chinese food in town and the solution to that - make it ourselves.
While these are mildly time consuming, they're actually fairly easy to make. If two people can get together and make them, it makes it much faster. One person can be chopping vegetables while the other is adding them to the pork with the wet ingredients. Then during assembly time, one person can be scooping the mix onto the wraps while the other pinches and seals the dumplings. Team work!
We always have a ton of vegetables in our house, so we actually had a lot of the ingredients already and it didn't cost us much at all. If you have to buy all the vegetables and end up with leftovers, just chop it all up for a salad - we eat cabbage and vegetable salads all the time. Or soup would be another good option for the leftover cabbage, pepper, onion, carrot... man, you could make a killer soup!
I went old school for tunes with this recipe and pulled out X's "Nausea". I got to see them a few times in Chicago. I always think of John Doe (bass player) in the movie "Great Balls of Fire" as Winona Ryder's dad. I love that movie. It's so terrible and cheesy and awesome. -jen
PORK POT STICKERS (CHINESE DUMPLINGS) Prep Time: about 45 minutes Rest Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 6 minutes Difficulty: Medium Makes: about 80
1 pound ground pork
1 cup cabbage (Napa or green), finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
We've been buying poblano peppers instead of bell peppers because
they're significantly cheaper and similar in flavour!
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except the wonton wrappers, oil and water) until well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (but you can refrigerate longer).
Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with corn starch and set aside. Have a small bowl of water for your assembly. I worked with 9 at a time on a cutting board, keeping the unused ones covered with plastic wrap so they don't dry out. Place 1 teaspoon of filling into center of wrapper. Wet edge of wrapper and fold over, crimping/pinching edges together to seal. Place pot sticker on the corn starched baking sheet.
(If you don't want to cook all 80 pot stickers, you can freeze them uncooked on the baking sheet for about an hour, then put in a freezer bag and freeze for later.)
In a large skillet (that has a fitted lid), heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil over a medium high heat. Add pot stickers to pan, one at a time, in a single layer. (In our 11" skillet, we could fit 18-20 at once.) Do not over-crowd. Fry for 2 minutes until light golden-brown. Add 1/3 cup of water, cover and steam for 2 minutes. Remove lid and continue to fry for another 2 minutes. If you do a second batch, just add more oil to the pan and let it get hot before adding your second batch and repeat.
Serve hot with dipping sauce (see recipe below).
I like to put the veggies in,
then pour the wet ingredients over them
In a small bowl, add all ingredients. You can use immediately, but if you make it before you start assembling your pot stickers and stick it in the fridge to let the flavours marry, it tastes way better!
We don't eat a lot of pasta, but lately I've been craving a lighter pasta dish. Generally, I love marinara and bolognese sauces, but don't really dig putting them on pasta - I'd rather put them over some spaghetti squash. This time, I felt like pasta, but didn't want one of those heavy sauces, so I did my own version of Puttanesca. It's mostly traditional, but a little of my own preferences thrown in there. Came out really delicious. When I minced together the garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes and olives, it looked like a tapenade of the Gods! I just wanted to spread it on some garlic toast! Admittedly, I was spooning some of it onto the tomato halves, sprinkling some basil on top, and munching them that way as I was cutting them in half, heheh. The dish was really quick and easy to make!
I was reminded the other day that I hadn't used anything from Rancid's new album with one of our recipes. So here is another Rancid Recipe - the title track, "Honor Is All We Know". -jen
PASTA PUTTANESCA Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10-15 mimuntes Difficulty: Very easy Serves: 4-6, depending on serving size
6 large garlic cloves
6 anchovy filets (I'm inclined to use the whole 2oz can)
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (or green, or black, or D-all of the above)
12oz dried pasta (your choice: spaghetti, bow tie, rotini)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 large scallions, diced (about 1/2 a cup)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1/4 cup pasta water
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup basil, chopped or julienned
4oz Romano cheese, crumbled
Bring large stock pot of salted water to a boil while preparing the following steps.
Mince together garlic, anchovies, and sun dried tomatoes. Roughtly chop the kalamata olives right into the minced mix. Set aside.
Add pasta to boiling water, bring back to a boil, and then turn down to a low boil, cooking 6-8 minutes until al dente (still slightly under-cooked. Pasta will cook more in skillet.) Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep skillet. Saute scallions and red pepper flakes for 1 minute. Add white wine and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until wine has cooked down by half. Add grape tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, olives and the rinsed capers. Cook for 2 more minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened.
Add pasta to skillet mixture with 1/4 cup pasta water. Cook another 1-2 minutes (sauce will mostly absorb into pasta). Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and zest, basil, (a dash more of wine, if you like,) and crumbled Romano. Add salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt since the olives, capers and cheese will add a lot of salt). Serve immediately while hot, however, it is quite tasty left over cold, straight out of the fridge.
I'd like to take credit for this awesome dish, but I really feel like I need to give credit where it's due - Ina Garten's Scalloped Tomatoes. I went through and added what I wanted, subtracted what I didn't want and my methods were a little different. But I still wouldn't feel right if I didn't give Ina credit, as her recipe is great. Ours is just better. (Sorry, Ina! We love you!) Justin was baking us a loaf of boule the other day, but whether it was due to temperatures or humidity, it just didn't rise as much as he'd hoped, so it came out a little dense. I'd remembered seeing Ina make her Scalloped Tomatoes recipe and thought our dense bread would be perfect for this... and it was!
I wondered why this dish was called "scalloped"; it was my understanding that meant a dish was made with a cream sauce. So I did a little researching on the magic interweb and it seems there are a few different definitions of what "scalloped" means in the culinary world. While I didn't find a solid answer, I did find this article that summed up the variances nicely. Still, I didn't know if I really wanted to call this recipe Scalloped Tomatoes - I didn't know if it would really explain what the dish was to someone browsing recipe names. Now, the same website that broke down "scalloped" has this to say about "au gratin": "Au Gratin means garnished with crumbs (usually bread) and grated cheese, then baked or grilled (aka broiled.)" I think this definition fits the bill for my recipe more. Now, because I don't speak french, I don't know if it's grammatically correct to call the dish a "tomato gratin" or "tomatoes au gratin" and I couldn't find an answer on that.
I'm not sure how we've done all these recipes and not used a Black Flag song yet. What the hell is going on?! Rectified now... Black Flag (with a long-haired Rollins) doing "Nervous Breakdown". -jen
2.5 pounds (10-12) fresh Roma tomatoes, diced (1/2")
2 teaspoons salt
olive oil
2.5 cups cubed artisan bread (1/2")
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup rough-chopped green or kalamata olives
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped or julienned, packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a shallow 2-quart baking dish (8"x8") with non-stick cooking spray.
Place diced tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl. Toss with salt and set aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the bread cubes and toss in the olive oil to coat. Let cubes toast into croutons, stirring often, until dark golden-brown and crispy, 5-8 minutes. Add drained tomatoes, sugar, black pepper, olives, onion and garlic. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in basil.
Transfer mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle Parmesan over the top, and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Serve hot.
We've posted a couple of pickle recipes on here already: Refrigerated Dill Pickles and Refrigerated Rye Pickles. When we were at the farmer's market, we grabbed a bunch of pickling cucumbers and I decided to take our base recipe and twist it into a Bloody Mary pickle recipe. Man... these pickles... awesome! A little spicy, but not super hot. Lots of flavour. We had so many cucumbers that Justin decided to do his own twist on our base recipe and his sour pickles came out delicious. He added nasturtium leaves because he did some research and found that nasturtium leaves can help keep the pickles crispy longer. We have a big plant right off our front porch.
So here are two more refrigerated dill pickle recipes that are quick and easy. I don't know who this band is, but I stumbled on them because I saw their name pop up on some search and I had to check it out. Like... Tom Waits' rockabilly brother. The Hillbilly Moon Explosion doing "My Love Forevermore". -jen
JEN'S BLOODY MARY DILL PICKLES Time: less than 10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 quart
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried dill
2 teaspoons dried chives
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon pickling spice
1/2 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon whole celery seeds
3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
In a quart-sized jar, combine garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well. Arrange cucumbers in jar. (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered. For English cucumber, cut into long spears.) Add horseradish and remaining liquid ingredients. Fill to the top with water. Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
JUSTIN'S SOUR HERB DILL PICKLES Time: Less than 10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 quart
3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
In a quart-sized jar, combine basil, garlic and all of the dry ingredients and
shake jar to mix well. Arrange cucumbers in jar. (For pickling
cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered. For English cucumber, cut
into long spears.) Add vinegars.
Fill to the top with water. Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
Skordalia: A garlic lover's wet dream. I first had skordalia with my mother in a Greek restaurant when I lived in Chicago. The garlic in this dish hit us like a roundhouse kick to the face! It's a puree of potato, a massive amount of raw garlic and a bit of vinegar. At the restaurant, they served it with cold beets (probably boiled). The first time I made it, to introduce it to Justin, I opted for roasting the beets and that's how we've made it ever since.
It's got a mean garlic bite and is not for the garlic-whimps. This
is the stuff of nightmares for all city transit commuters! And it's
awesome.
The serving options are pretty limitless - it's a dip, a spread, a puree, a sauce. We put it on roasted veggies, we dip fresh veggies in it, we use it as a spread in sandwiches. We've eaten it with beef, pork, chicken. Traditionally it's served with fish. Tonight I toasted some baguette, spread the skordalia on it, sliced some tomato and fresh mozzarella real thin and laid it on top of the skordalia, then drizzled a basil-lemon vinaigrette over it all. 'Bout the best thing I've ever had!
I had The Queers' "Fuck This World" in my head the other day. And we haven't thrown any Queers up on the blog yet. -jen
ROASTED BEETS
Time: 40-45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 3-4 servings
4 cups beets (about 4 medium-sized beets), peeled and diced into 1/2"-3/4" cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss diced beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet (I always line mine with foil to save on clean-up). Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes until edges start to brown, tossing halfway through baking time.
SKORDALIA Time: 20 minutes
I used some purple hard-neck garlic we got at the Farmers Market!
Difficulty: Easy Makes: 2.5-3 cups *requires a food processor - or try a blender or beaters at your own risk, I've only used the food processor!
4 large baking potatoes (1.5-2 pounds), diced into 1" cubes
12 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
Place diced potatoes into a large stock pot. Put enough cold water in the pan to just cover the potatoes. Generously salt the water. Over a medium-high heat, bring the water and potatoes to a boil - once the boil is reached, cook for 6-7 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain.
Combine potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse together several times. Then turn onto a medium speed and drizzle in 1/3 of the olive oil, then 1/2 of the vinegar. Repeat and end with the last of the olive oil until combined. Serve hot or cold.
