Roasted Vegetable Ragu

This is DELISH and chock full of good vegetables.  Chop up the veggies as small as you like, personally I liked the big chunks.  It's a confusing recipe a little bit with the adding the liquid to the roasting pan; I just transferred to a baking dish at that point.  I'd suggest getting the veggies really roasted before adding the liquid but it's a matter of preference.  Served over polenta (using the recipe from the pear and gorgonzola recipe), this is really a winner and a stunning dish to serve.

Saucetime

Individual Flourless Chocolate Cheesecakes

Similar in concept to a cheesecake brownie, but the base is intense flourless chocolate cake--yes please.  Halved this and it made 9 cupcake-sized individual guys.  Delish, and perfect to satisfy the intense chocolate craving I was having!  The recipe is for a cake but really the muffin size was great.

Notes: The chocolate batter is really a mousse, and it starts to set fairly quickly after mixing, so if you want it to be swirled with the cheesecake you have to work fast (especially if doing this cupcake version).  But really I preferred the ones with the cheesecake just dropped in the middle, no swirling--the layers are more distinct, and you get a bigger bite of cheesecake with it.  Baked about 22 minutes, then cooled and chilled.  Make sure to butter (and probably flour/dust with cocoa) the muffin cups if you want them to come out perfectly.  I wouldn't use cupcake wrappers because I have a feeling these would stick to them pretty hardcore.

NOM

Chai-Spiced Pancakes

Num!  If you're going to make pancakes from scratch might as well make them exciting, am I right?  These are meh by themselves but when buttered and maple syruped they are marvelous--warm and nutty in your mouth, just like a good chai latte.

Notes: make the tea strong, let it steep for a while.  Mine could have used more chai flavor.  Otherwise pretty standard.

Griddle me

Lemon Loaf Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Finally--a success with a lemon cake!  Light and fluffy and moist, and importantly, not too sweet..  Had lent out my loaf pan so used a pie plate instead, worked fine although I did want to eat thick bread slices of it.  Cream cheese glaze = YES.  Just mixed it up according to what looked good; equal butter and cream cheese, a little vanilla, a little sugar.

Notes: none!  This is a super easy, super standard recipe.  Nothing to see here, move along, to cake, preferably.

tumtime

Blood Oranges in Syrup with Toasted Almonds

Served as dessert with my meze dinner party--a big success.  Light and refreshing at the end of a meal, and a lovely combination of flavors.  I also whipped up some lightly sweetened whipped cream to go on top, and added a dash of orange water to that too--very nice.  You don't really need that much syrup since the oranges are so lovely on their own; I used six oranges and probably need the amount of syrup called for, which is for 4 oranges.

ahhh.

Falafel

As a former member of Testimony would say, OHMYGERD.  These are awesome.  It's hard to believe you can make them at home, and when you put that sandwich together--pita pocket stuffed with tomatoes, Napa cabbage, falafel and tzatziki, you are just so proud of your dang self you could die right there and then.  They are crispy and spicy and flavorful and warm and just plain DELICIOUS.

Notes:  Do use dried chickpeas, not canned.  Use on the upper end of the cayenne for a great kick.  I processed everything but the chickpeas down first, since I wanted those bits smaller, then added the chickpeas and pulsed till it was a nice smallishly chunky texture.  Then add the baking soda and flour.  I liked that these were chunky in the end but they could be processed further to be less crunchy.  Refrigeration for a day or two was not a problem.

When frying, proper temperature is key; it really is best right at 375, though it's tricky to maintain.  Canola oil worked great.  They don't require much prodding but do give them a stir, and they're done quickly.  When done to perfection they will not be as brown as you think they should be; light brown with darker brown crispy bits.  YUM.

MUNCH

Pita Bread

So here was the true success in pitaland.  Somehow Deb's recipes always come out just right.  When directions are carefully followed, these are light and fluffy, puff beautifully, and store well in a plastic bag in the fridge (and hopefully the freezer too, with wax paper in between--we'll see)!  I was scared because of the hardness of the previous pita recipe I made, so I stuck with white flour only here, and although they were good I missed that wheat flavor so I'd sub in some wheat flour next time.  It's also nice that there's no kneading required after the first round, which I did in the mixer anyways, so it's a lot easier and less time-consuming.  Heat them up in a hot oven for less than a minute, and keep a warm plate ready to put them on.

Notes: Used about 2.5 tsp dry active yeast as a sub for instant, worked great.  Did this in the stand mixer, with KA flour you only need 14 oz, plus I added more as I went along so it wasn't too sticky.  But don't overdo it, the second batch where I restrained myself on the flour so the dough was scarily sticky was much puffier.  Knead for 10 minutes on speed 2.  Rising in the fridge for between 8 and 12 hours worked just fine, and didn't overpuff.

Pita-shaping technique: this is important.  Do small ones, I made 12 with this recipe and that was a good amount, otherwise it's difficult to get them thin enough without being too big to transfer to the baking sheet easily and effectively.  Dust each hunk with flour, shape into a ball, then on a floured surface with floured hands push down into a disk, rotating so it doesn't stick.  Let sit for 20 min under oiled plastic, then roll out on a floured surface with floured pin, rotating so it doesn't stick, until it's very thin, perhaps 1/8".  Let sit for 10 min.  Gently lift pita onto a cutting board.  I'm not sure what she's on about with the moisture level and spritzing, my spastic experiments (sans true spritzing bottle, caveat) indicated that this was not a big factor.  I think just don't use too much flour when making the dough and you're good to go.

Oven temp and regulation: this is also important!  When I didn't follow these instructions my pita didn't puff.  They were good but not the pockety goodness I have come to know and love.  Heat oven to 475 early on, and keep baking sheet in there on the lowest rack while it's heating.  When ready to bake pita, quickly open the oven, pull out the baking sheet, flip two pita at a time onto the sheet from the cutting board, and close the oven.  It shouldn't take more than 5 seconds if you've got it down.  Bake for no more than 3 minutes, and don't open the oven door before that.  Quickly wrap warm pita in kitchen towel and then into paper bag.  Then LET THE OVEN REHEAT for AT LEAST 5 minutes between batches.

pitapitapita

Meze Dinner Party

Last night had the old Testimony freshmen (minus Grace) over for dinner and went full throttle on the Mediterranean theme.  Falafel and accompaniments, so Israeli/Lebanese, but also a little Greek--not totally authentic but who cares because it was TOTALLY DELICIOUS.  The spread:

Pita
Pita chips
Falafel
Hummus
Pureed Beet Salad
Baba Ganoush
Tzatziki
Yogurt Cheese
Roasted Red Peppers with Feta
Home-cured Olives

Napa cabbage
Tomatoes
Cucumbers

Blood Oranges in syrup with Slivered Almonds

Pureed Beet Salad

Not sure why this is called a salad; it's like a beet version of hummus.  Um, yes please.  This is really very pleasant, sort of unexpectedly given the weird ingredients.  It's substantial and sweet and a little vinegary and just basically super nummy.  This was the only item to be absolutely devoured by everyone; there was hardly any left, and everyone commented on how good it was.

Notes: I pretty much followed the directions exactly, except I had a little under the requested amount of beets.  I'd go full throttle on the beets next time as their flavor is not the primary one.  Hold back a little on the vinegar and use at least 1 tb less oil than called for.  1 small slice of stale crusty bread.

TO FIND: "World Vegetarian", by Madhur Jaffrey, pg. 140

Hummus

Made this twice now, from two different recipes; the basic ingredients are always the same, it's just a question of ratios.  I like the Moosewood Cookbook version, but it needed a bit of olive oil to smooth things out.  Just keep running that food processor until you have serious puree.  Hummus is NOM in my mouth.

Notes: personal preference is to go light on the tahini and heavy on the lemon juice and garlic.  Also cumin is a definite yes, and cayenne depending on the spice level of the rest of the meal.  Fresh parsley is definitely worth it, and scallions are really nice.  When done right, this just tastes creamy and light and good and perfect for a snack or combining with other deliciousness.

TO FIND: "Moosewood Cookbook", by Mollie Katzen, pg. 100
To try: Roasted Garlic Hummus, roasted red pepper version!, this lovely smooth-looking version.

Hummus

Made this twice now, from two different recipes; the basic ingredients are always the same, it's just a question of ratios.  I like the Moosewood Cookbook version, but it needed a bit of olive oil to smooth things out.  Just keep running that food processor until you have serious puree.  Hummus is NOM in my mouth.

Notes: personal preference is to go light on the tahini and heavy on the lemon juice and garlic.  Also cumin is a definite yes, and cayenne depending on the spice level of the rest of the meal.  Fresh parsley is definitely worth it, and scallions are really nice.  When done right, this just tastes creamy and light and good and perfect for a snack or combining with other deliciousness.

TO FIND: "Moosewood Cookbook", by Mollie Katzen, pg. 100
To try: roasted garlic version, roasted red pepper version!

Pita Chips

UPDATE: Yeah so these were actually really hard.  I think the long cooking time was the killer.  BUT!  I cut up the less-hard ones and brushed olive oil on them and sprinkled with salt and baked at 375 for about 10 minutes (longer if pita is soft, presumably) and they came out crispy and delicious!  People enjoyed them.  Very crunchy.  Not sure it's worth it to make fresh pita just to turn it into chips, but as a saving grace for hard pita they were great!

Num!  This recipe is real good.  Used 1 cup of whole wheat and they were very nice indeed.  Not sure why they're supposed to be baked so long; other sites recommend a baking time of ~3 minutes, and these were certainly a little hard, more pita chip-y than put-falafel-in-me soft and pillowy.  But they puffed up beautifully!  Such a marvelous mystery.  And tasty too :)

TO FIND: "Moosewood Cookbook," by Mollie Katzen, pg. 113