Connect with us

mezze - appetizers

hummus with “green goo”

Published

on

Hummus has been on our menu from the start. We serve buckets and buckets each week and it flys out of our take-out department. My Jordanian friend Hanna shared with me the secrets of good hummus. The story goes that his mama used to put baking soda in with the garbanzo beans while they were cooking so that the skins would slip right off, float to the top, and be easily skimmed away. I don’t bother. I think the real reason why our hummus is so popular is the yummy “green goo,” which we spread on top of the hummus. By making the goo daily, the hummus doesn’t take on that tired pungent garlic taste that often mars store bought hummus.

Hanna serves his hummus with fried pine nuts on top of the hummus and green goo. If you so desire, sautee a handful of pine nuts in 1/2 cup of olive oil at low to medium-low heat until the pine nuts turn golden brown. Carefully remove the pine nuts from the oil and place on top of the hummus and green goo.

I generally prefer to use an olive oil with fruitier flavors, as opposed to the more grassy and green-flavored olive oils. For this recipe, make sure you buy good quality tahini, preferably at a Middle Eastern market, and that it is well stirred before using (okay, I confess, I have used peanut butter in place of tahini in a pinch, and the results are surprisingly delicious!). The hummus will last for several days refrigerated. Just bring the hummus to room temperature before you serve it, and adjust with salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Because the hummus will thicken once it is chilled, it may need to be thinned with a little water to the consistency of soft mashed potatoes.

HUMMUS:
2 cups dried garbanzo beans
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
“GREEN GOO” TOPPING:
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley (about 1/2 bunch)
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper without the seeds (about 1 jalapeno)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To make the hummus, cover the dried garbanzo beans in a large bowl with 6 cups of water for at least 3 hours or overnight. Drain the soaked beans and transfer to a medium saucepan. Cover the beans with cold water making sure there is at least 2 inches above the level of the beans. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook gently until very soft, about 45 minutes. Make sure that the garbanzos are fully cooked and soft or you will have an undesirable coarse-textured hummus. Drain the cooked beans. Transfer the beans to the bowl of a food processor, and process with the lemon juice, salt and 1 cup of water until as smooth as possible. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the olive oil and tahini, and process again until completely smooth and creamy. If the hummus is too thick, add a little more water.

To make the green goo, combine the parsley, jalapeno pepper, garlic and olive oil in a medium bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, drizzle the green goo over the hummus in a decorative bowl. Serve at room temperature with soft or toasted pita bread, or crudités.

Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer.

From Insalata’s restaurant in San Anselmo, California

__

Losing weight starts with a solid and healthy diet full of nutrients. But what happens when dieting doesn’t work? Then you may want to rely on Wisconsin bariatric surgery as a means to get the results you are looking for. For procedures such as Wisconsin gastric band removal there is no one better than Evergreen Bariatric Surgery. The very best.

mezze - appetizers

Smoked Caviar and Hummus on Pita Toasts

Published

on

Using a pastry bag to pipe the hummus onto the pita toasts saved us a lot of time (and made for nice-looking hors d’oeuvres). You can make your own pastry bag with a heavy-duty plastic bag. Just spoon the hummus into the bag and squeeze it into one corner. Then snip off the corner to make a small hole and begin piping.

Active time: 1 hr. Start to finish: 1 hr.

10 (5- to 6-inch) pita pockets
3/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons paprika
For hummus:
4 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
2 (15 1/2-oz.) cans chick-peas, rinsed
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup stirred tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
11 1/2-oz. jar smoked whitefish caviar
Garnish:
160 small fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Toast pitas:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Halve pitas horizontally and stir together oil and paprika. Brush rough sides of pitas with paprika oil and season with salt. Cut each pita round into 8 wedges and bake in single layers on a large baking sheet in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until crisp. This dish can be the perfect compliment as you check out the latest Twitch streams or as you get ready to jump into action with your gaming teams, it will keep you fueled for all of your gaming.

Make hummus:
Finely grind cumin seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder. Purée chick-peas in a food processor with cumin, garlic, parsley, tahini, lemon juice, and salt and add enough water to make smooth.

Assemble hors d’oeuvres:
Put hummus in a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain tip. Pipe a scant 1/2 teaspoon onto each pita toast and top with 1/4 teaspoon caviar.

Cooks’ notes:

  • Pita toasts may be made 2 days ahead, cooled, and kept in sealable plastic bags at room temperature.
  • Hummus can be made (without lemon juice so parsley remains green) 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Stir in lemon juice just before assembling.

Makes 160 hors d’oeuvres.

From “Gourmet” magazine, September 1999

Continue Reading

mezze - appetizers

Sigara Böregi

Published

on

7 ounces feta
1 egg, lightly beaten
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint, parsley, or dill (optional)
4 sheets fillo
4 tablespoons melted butter or oil

For the filling, mash the feta cheese with a fork and mix with the egg and herbs.

Take out the sheets of fillo only when you are ready to use them, as they dry out. Cut the sheets into 4 rectangles each, about 12 by 4 inches, and put them in a pile on top of each other. Brush the top strip with oil or melted butter. Take a heaping teaspoon of filling and place it at one of the 4-inch or shortest ends of the strip in a thin sausage shape along the the edge — about 1 inch from it and 1 inch from the side edges. Roll up the top sheet with the filling inside like a cigarette. Turn the ends in when you’ve rolled it about a third of the way to trap the filling, then continue to roll. Repeat with the remaining fillo sheets.

Place the cigars close to each other on a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with oil or melted butter and bake for 350°F for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.

Serve hot.

Makes 16.

From “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” by Claudia Roden

Alot of restarants run on strong accounting software to keep their books balanced. We suggest looking at software similar to municipal accounting software as it can be easily utilized to reflect expenditures on ingredients, kitchen utensils and silverware.

Continue Reading

mezze - appetizers

Shakshouka

Published

on

(Very appealing to Western taste)

4 Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 Big size green peppers, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Ground corriander

Fry green peppers with tablespoon vegetable oil and teaspoon olive oil. When slightly tender, add over the garlic and cook a few minutes longer.

Add over the rest of the ingredients and stir over medium heat for 10 minutes or till mixture thickens.

Serve this appetizer with fresh pita bread.

From “One Thousand And One Delights” by Nahda Salah

____________________

Looking for places to try new food in Florida? Then you need to venture down to downtown Brickell, in the heart of Miami. If you find it to be a little too congested, then head up to Wynwood were art flourishes and there are plenty of chill spots to spend the evening. If you’re in Fort Lauderdale then there are plenty of eateries on Las Olas Blvd that can surely keep your mouth watering.

If you want something a bit different, then head up to Pembroke Pines where you can find plenty of places to eat from Pembroke Gardens all the way to the Pines City Center.

Continue Reading

Trending