Another Great Dinner with Chicken and Hummus

I started this blog yesterday, and somehow it vanished overnight, so here it goes again! 

I had decided to cook a pound of chickpeas with the intent of making hummus. It took about 2.5 to 3 hours to cook them. It seems it shouldn't have taken that long for them to get soft after being soaked overnight, but maybe they were older than they should have been. Who knows? Eventually they did get soft, and I made hummus with all but a cup of them. 

To Make Hummus with freshly cooked Chickpeas

Hummus (click for my original recipe)! Yum! With a whole pound of cooked chickpeas, it takes more of the other hummus ingredients than what is stated in my recipe, which uses just one can of chickpeas. While a whole pound of dried chickpeas cooks up to a lot more than two cans worth (double the original recipe), I have gotten by with using double the amount of the tahini, lime/lemon juice, garlic and olive oil from my recipe. I do not cook my chickpeas with any salt at all, as salt is said to toughen the beans, making them harder to get cooked through properly. More salt will be needed, but as an individual preference, it's best to add a teaspoon, taste and adjust as needed.

Hummus from Scratch

Freshly Made Hummus

Makes a large amount, possibly 8 cups!

1 pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
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drained cooked chickpeas, cooking water reserved
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons tahini
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1/2 to 2/3 cup good quality olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, more if needed

To cook the chickpeas: Drain off the soaking water, place the chickpeas in a large pot, cover with water by about 1 inch and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook them until soft, anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, depending. This time they took a full three hours, possibly the chickpeas were old  Once cooked through, pour the chickpeas into a colander set over a bowl to catch the cooking water. Keep this water aside.

Pour the cooked, drained, cooled chickpeas into a food processor. Add in the tahini, lime juice, garlic and a cup of the cooking water and process until very smooth. Add in the olive oil in a thin stream, while processor is running, to incorporate. If the mixture seems soft, you may not need all the olive oil. If you've used all the olive oil and the mixture is too stiff, add more of the cooking water, until you have a good consistency. Check for salt, adding more if needed. Will keep in the fridge, well-covered, for a couple of weeks.

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Okay, I had the hummus made, and it was delicious! Then I started thinking about dinner, and had absolutely nothing planned. Nothing was coming to mind. I started thinking about chicken, mainly as it cooks quickly. And that was as far as I got. So I wondered if there was anything to do for dinner that would incorporate hummus and chicken? I went online.

Veggies to Roast

What came up that interested me was hummus bowls. The first site I came across was one from No Spoon Necessary, and the recipe is called Easy Chicken Hummus Bowls. I was enchanted by the photos, with everything arranged so prettily and all the things in there that I love: tomatoes, cucumber, Feta, olives. Mmmmm-mmmm! However, two problems: 1) I was at the tail end of my groceries. Almost no fresh anything left in the house, though by some fluke I still had some Feta!! 2) My husband wouldn't touch, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers or olives with a 10-foot pole anyway. 

Okay, so how to get around that issue? I thought I would oven roast some veggies that I did still have: yellow beet, shallots, green pepper, parsnip and carrot. Hubby's not keen on parsnips or carrots, and "hates" beets. This beet was yellow, so he didn't realize it was in there, and he does seem to eat mixtures like this if they are well flavored. Okay. Check.

That recipe idea in No Spoon Necessary called for cooked chicken and then a dressing is poured onto it for flavor. I was more of a mind to either pan saute or roast the chicken breasts I had gotten out. So, I went on searching to see what else was out there, so the next place I came to was called Plays Well with Butter, and her recipe is called Grilled Chicken Shawarma Hummus Bowls. I loved the idea of all the spices on the chicken marinade, and the chicken is grilled in that recipe. It was still in the high 90s outside and I just had no desire to stand out in that heat over the grill. I opted to roast the chicken and the veggies. 

Shawarma Chicken and Vegetables with Hummus

All I can say is, tail end of groceries notwithstanding, this dinner was just fabulous! I did add olives to my bowl. My husband ate his without. But it was a dinner full of sighs and moans of pleasure. So, thanks to those out there with great ideas.

Shawarma Chicken & Vegetables with Hummus

Serves 4

Shawarma Chicken & Vegetables with Hummus

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

MARINADE:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 - 4 cloves fresh garlic, minces
2 teaspoons honey, optional
1+ tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sumac, optional
1 teaspoon zah'tar, optional
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
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VEGETABLES: (or substitute others - root vegetables are great)
1 medium yellow beet (or red if preferred), peeled, 1/2" cubes
2 large shallots, in 1/2" chunks
1 green pepper, cut in 1/2" pieces
1 large parsnip, peeled, cut in small cubes
1 large carrot, peeled, cut in small chunks
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For SERVING:

• hummus, whatever kind preferred
• Feta cheese
• olives of choice, optional
• Fresh tomato and cucumber, if desired
• Shawarma Chicken and Vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Make the marinade by whisking together all the marinade ingredients. Set aside. Slice the chicken breasts in half across the width, so you have two, much thinner, filets. Slice across the thin pieces, making 1/2-inch-wide strips. Place the chicken strips in a bowl and pour on half the marinade mixture and mix well. Cover and let stand.

Set the prepared vegetables into the remaining marinade and toss well. Pour the vegetables into the prepared baking dish and bake the vegetables for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through. At the end of 30 minutes, remove the baking dish from the oven, pour on the chicken pieces with the marinade, arranging the pieces into a single layer over top. Return to oven and bake for about 20 minutes more, until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through.

To serve - per bowl: Place a good-sized dollop of hummus into a bowl, smearing to one side. Spoon on 1/4 of the chicken and vegetables per bowl. Sprinkle on Feta cheese, crumbled. Optionally, add in olives, fresh chopped tomatoes, cucumber slices, to taste.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Interesting Middle Eastern Flavors

The Night Counter
by Alia Yunis

In my last post, I wrote about making Baba Ghanoush for the first time. I was surprised to like it a whole lot, since eggplant is not necessarily the first vegetable I go for. Since that post, I happened to be reading a book (on my Kindle) called "The Night Counter," by Alia Yunis. The book was a fascinating journey through the life of an elderly Lebanese woman, Fatima, and told in "stories" to "Sheherezade" over 1,001 days. The book was absolutely fascinating on many levels. The characters were interesting and engaging and became very "real" over the course of the book. Another point of interest for me was Fatima's discussion of Lebanese foods.

I was telling my husband about the story as it progressed, and I made the comment that Middle Eastern cuisine is one I know very little about, but that some of the things Fatima described sounded interesting, such as Ma'amoul and Kibbe.

Cookbooks on the Middle East

Apparently this is all it took. My husband took this upon himself as a challenge, I guess, because a couple of days ago he brought home SEVEN different cookbooks. Six of them are on Middle Eastern cuisines. One is by Maureen Abood, a Michigan based Lebanese blogger I have been following for some time. Her blog "Rose Water and Orange Blossoms," is listed at right, below, in my list of blogs. Another book is about breads (Hot Bread Kitchen) and other foods made by immigrant women in New York, because I like making bread. And he claims he has yet a few more books on the way.

I told him it gets very confusing with all these books. One or two would have been a good start. But he only knows one way to do things, and that is big and over the top! So I have been poring over all these books, reading the stories, the recipes and the spice mixtures. The latest spice mixture to catch my attention is called Bahārāt. I have no recipe just yet, as I am still in the process of reading about it, the variances in the recipe in varying Middle Eastern countries. I've looked at at least 15 different recipes for this spice, so far. I will create one that sounds good to me very soon. But meanwhile, I found some variations on recipes for Baba Ghanoush.
 

Baba Ghanoush II

I love walnuts. They are, arguably, one of my most favorite nuts, along with almonds and pistachios. Oh! And cashews. My husband does not like walnuts. If they are very apparent in a dish, he will either pick them out, or just not eat the food. I can sometimes get away with grinding them very finely into a cake or cookie batter. But he claims they are very bitter, so if he tastes "bitter," that's the end of that food for him. I found a couple of recipes in this stack of books that mention using walnuts in Baba Ghanoush, instead of sesame tahini. Since my husband only took one tiny taste of my first attempt at Baba Ghanoush, I figured I may as well just go ahead and make this variation with walnuts, because the likelihood of him actually wanting to eat it is exceedingly slim. I roasted the eggplant yesterday. While I was roasting the eggplant, I took the opportunity to roast a head of garlic, as well. I wanted to try using roasted garlic in the Baba Ghanoush, instead of fresh garlic.

I made the new version, Baba Ghanoush II, this morning, and I love it. I actually love it using either recipe. So, I am sharing this new version here.

Baba Ghanoush II

Baba Ghanoush II

Makes about 2 cups

1 medium eggplant (about 12 ounces)
3 cloves garlic, roasted or raw
1 cup shelled walnuts
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
3 - 4 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil

Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a smaller baking sheet with foil. Set the eggplant on the foil and bake it for about 45 to 55 minutes, or until completely soft and skin is slightly charred. 

If you are roasting the garlic, cut off the top ¼ of the whole head of garlic. Set the head of garlic on a square of foil. If there are any larger garlic bits left in the parts cut off, take them out of their husks and set them on top of the head. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil over top of the garlic, then fold the foil up over the garlic, making a tight little packet. Set it into a small ramekin and place in the oven alongside the eggplant, for about 45 minutes.

Once roasted, remove the eggplant and let it cool. At this point, removing the skin is very easy. Discard skin. Remove excess sections of seeds inside, if preferred. Separately, squeeze out all the garlic cloves from the roasted head of garlic and store them in a small glass jar with tight fitting lid, refrigerated. If being kept for more than a few days, pour olive oil over the garlic to cover and maintain freshness.

Heat a skillet over medium heat until very hot and pour in the walnuts. Use a wooden spoon and toss and stir the nuts constantly. Do not turn away for even a second, as they can, and will, burn. It will take about 4 to 5 minutes for the nuts to toast gently, evidenced by both the color and the toasty nut aroma. Pour them immediately out onto a plate to cool.

To make the Baba Ghanoush II: Once cooled, place the walnuts into a food processor and process to a very fine texture, almost a paste. Add in the parsley and pulse until well broken down in the nut paste. Add the peeled eggplant, the garlic and about 3 tablespoons of the lemon or lime juice. Add in the salt and pepper and process briefly to blend. Taste and adjust salt or add more lemon or lime juice as needed. Pour out the Baba Ghanoush to a container and stir in the olive oil. To serve, swirl the top of the dip and drizzle on more olive oil and garnish with pine nuts, if desired.

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I also made a couple of other dishes two nights ago, and one was a side dish. I wanted a vegetable to go with a lamb entree. I used asparagus, which I have not seen suggested in any of these books yet. But I did use other flavors to make the asparagus taste of the Middle East. Olive oil, garlic, saffron, pistachios, Feta cheese and Zah'tar. Zah'tar is a spice mixture (sumac, sesame, oregano, thyme & salt) I made a few years back, and while I have used it, I certainly haven't given it a really good go. In this particular application, the Zah'tar really perked up the flavors of the asparagus. Understand that this method can be used on many kinds of vegetables. I believe carrots, or squash or zucchini or various other veggies would benefit by using these flavors. Simply cook the vegetables, then drain and proceed with the recipe.

Asparagus with Feta, Pistachios & Zah'tar

Serves 2 or 3

Asparagus with Feta Pistachios & Zahtar

1 bunch asparagus
½ teaspoon salt
----------------------
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced finely
small pinch saffron 
----------------------
1 ounce Feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup shelled pistachios
½ to 1 teaspoon Zah'tar

Set the olive oil in a small pan over the lowest heat possible. Add in the garlic and the saffron, rubbed between the palms to break up. Stir, then allow this mixture to "steep", without ever boiling, for about 15 to 20 minutes, minimum.

Snap off the ends of the asparagus, then cut the spears on the bias, about 4 or 5 slices per spear. Set them into a saucepan with a small amount of water, about 1 inch deep in the bottom. Sprinkle with the salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until just tender but still bright green.  Drain the asparagus and return the pan to the heat to dry slightly. Pour in the garlic oil and stir. Add in the pistachios and stir. Pour into a serving bowl and add the Feta over top, then sprinkle with the Zah'tar, to taste. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Supper Strudel with Kale and Feta

Hmmmm....you might say, scratching your chin. 

I had seen a recipe many long years ago for a Spinach and Feta Strudel, but never got around to it. Apparently, I'd had this idea more than once, because as I was cleaning out a cupboard to make room for some new Tupperware containers (for all my new Indian lentils!), I came across another scribbled note to myself of a concept recipe for the same kind of thing. I do this; write down the idea of what flavors I'd like to include and how to assemble. Later on, sometimes I actually get to it and make it happen. So again, this one was apparently a long while coming, as I hardly recognized my own scribbled handwriting!

Kale & Feta Strudel

Kale & Feta Strudel straight from the oven

So, okay, I found this little scrap of paper with a concept. And I thought to myself, "I have everything here already except for the spinach. But I do have kale. Hmmm." I set about assembling all the ingredients, first getting the fillo dough from the freezer so it had time to thaw. The box had been opened and one of the rolls of fillo used, but the other remained there, unopened. I had no idea how many sheets are in the little packages, nor how much the filling would make. In order to make a good recipe, experimentation is needed.

As I said, my concept was to use spinach. If I'd had spinach, I would have used a 10-ounce box of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry. After removing that much liquid, and spinach really lets out a lot of liquid, I would estimate that half the weight is gone. Which is good, because I had exactly 5 ounces of fresh kale, and kale does not let out water that way. If you should find this recipe interesting, but prefer spinach, just thaw a 10-ounce package of chopped spinach and squeeze the heck out of it. You do not want a wet, soggy strudel!

From Fine Cooking - Athens Fillo packets

In the scribbled not to myself, I noted all the things I thought interesting to include in the recipe, but with no amounts. I had 4 ounces of Feta leftover in the fridge. This seemed scant, so I also got out a 4-ounce log of Chevre. I'd written "sun-dried tomatoes," but instead opted to use the "Roasted Tomato Pickle" I had made some months back. Sun-dried tomatoes would work just fine. Your choice to use oil packed or just dried. I'd also written to include red bell pepper, onion, garlic and pine nuts, and as I was assembling, also added some fresh dill weed.


I got going, but when I got down to actually assembling, all my concentration went to quickly working with the Fillo, melted butter, filling and rolling. So, I have no photos of how scant the filling needs to be in this strudel. One of the few things I can recall about my Grandma making her strudels is that she scattered the fillings very scantily. I thought, "That's not enough!" even at 8 or 9 years old. But it is more than enough, because you do want all the layers of the fillo to be able to hold the fillings, and you really want those layers to be crisp when you bite into the strudel. Too much filling and you will not have the layers. 

Scatter filling sparsely

As it turned out, the amount of filling I made was the perfect amount for the one package of fillo (there are 2 sealed pouches in Athens Fillo Dough boxes, shown above from Fine Cooking website). I used 4 sheets of fillo per piece of strudel (as shown above right): I set two sheets down, in "landscape" mode (long side towards you), brushed with melted butter, set two more sheets, overlapping by about 2 to 3 inches, long sides to long sides, making one larger sheet. Brushing with more melted butter and scattering one-fourth of the filling mixture over these sheets (as shown left), gently begin to roll up from the long edge closest to you, loosely forming a very soft log. Remove this to a baking sheet and brush with more melted butter. This is repeated 3 more times, using the remaining ¾ of the filling. This used up the one entire packet of the fillo dough.

Initially, I tried to set another group of 4 sheets next to these first two sheets, but it became too unwieldy to lift and transfer to the baking sheet. It was not difficult using just the initial 4 sheets, so I continued each segment separately. When it came out of the oven, the smell was heavenly. We ate the strudel with a green salad for a meatless dinner. It was just marvelous.

Kale & Feta Strudel

Makes 4 strudels, serving size depending on how hungry you are 😉

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion, chopped finely

Strudel is served

2 fresh cloves garlic, minced
½ red bell pepper, chopped
5 ounces fresh kale leaves, minced finely, OR one 10 ounce box frozen, chopped spinach
½ teaspoon salt
4 ounces Feta cheese
4 ounces Chevre cheese
3 pieces sun-dried tomato, minced
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh dill weed, minced
1 packet (of 2 in box) Athens Fillo Dough
½ stick unsalted butter, melted

Heat a large skillet and add in the oil. Add the onion to the skillet and cook until golden, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add in the red bell pepper and the kale. Cook, stirring often until the kale wilts a bit and is softened. Sprinkle the salt over and stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and spray a large rimmed baking sheet with oil or cooking spray.

Shred the Feta cheese into a mixing bowl using a large-holed grater, then crumble in the Chevre cheese. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, dill weed and pine nuts. When the kale mixture cools to room temperature, mix this into the cheeses in the bowl.

Working with fillo requires you to work quickly, and to keep all the fillo not in immediate use covered with a damp towel. Open the package of fillo and unroll. Remove two sheets and set them on a large surface with their long sides towards you. Quickly cover the remaining fillo. Brush the stack of two sheets of fillo with some of the butter. Remove another two sheets from the fillo stack and set these above and slightly overlapping the first two sheets. Cover the remaining fillo, then brush this new stack of two sheets with more melted butter.

Take ¼ of the filling mixture and scatter very loosely across the fillo sheets. Begin rolling the strudel by gently lifting the edge of the fillo closest to you and gently pushing it into a roll. Once reaching the end of the dough, lift the roll to the baking sheet, then brush the outside of the roll with more melted butter.

Repeat this process three more times, making 4 strudels. They can be placed close together on the baking sheet, but not touching. Set the baking sheet in the oven on a middle rack and bake for 14 to 18 minutes. Mine baked perfectly in 16 minutes.

Remove from oven and let set for 1 to 2 minutes, then slice into pieces for serving.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Another Appetizer for the Renaissance Festival

As I wrote in my previous blog, this year the fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Aberdeen is called Renaissance Festival. I find the title odd, to say the least, but it was necessary to change it, and so it is. . .

I have been continuing to work on things that can be done from this remove. The event itself is on April 8th, at the Ward Hotel, from 6:30 to 10 PM. I wrote about making the little tamales, and they are mightily good, but I had yet to finish making the amount needed. That was finally done 2 days ago. They are all safely frozen, needing only to be reheated before the event.

Lamb Burgers with Feta and Tapenade

Another of the items I wanted to make were a version of my lamb burgers, on tiny buns. Due to the fact that these burgers are so divinely flavorful, each time I have made them, which has been very often, they have been totally devoured before I ever think to get a photo. In making the mini versions last week, while I didn't eat them all, they were made and frozen. Since I didn't have the buns made yet, I really couldn't assemble one to shoot photos. So, once again, I am talking about these heavenly burgers with no true photos to speak of. I did take a few photos at table. I had just enough of the mixture left after making the amount of tiny slider patties, and I made two normal sized burgers for my husband and me for supper, shown above.  

Simulated Mini Greek Lamb Slider on bun

The recipe (made as the regular recipe size) makes enormous burgers, far larger than my usual, and no one ever leaves a single bite behind. The one thing I did differently this time was instead of grilling the Feta cheese, which I would never have time for just before the fundraising event, was to grate the cheese and add it to the burger mixture. I fried all the tiny mini slider patties, each one just between 21 to 23 grams apiece. Each one was measured and weighed. I wanted these little sliders to stay together, making it easier for people to grasp the little sandwich without having it slip and slide and fall apart in their hand. Trying to have a slice of Feta on the little slider would make these way to hazardous to walk around and eat, so grating the cheese into the meat seemed ideal. And it was.

While the cheese is not immediately noticeable, you can detect a few bits in the photo above. And it all tastes just the same. I made the same Greek olive tapenade as I have made for these Greek Lamb Burgers before, and I plan to put a dab on each of the little sliders at the event. In case you, like me, are leery of making tapenade, I have to say this: I love Greek olives, yet avoided going the extra step for the tapenade. Finally I did give it a try and I have to say, the tapenade really and truly makes that ultimate OMG moment even better. That first bite into these heavenly burgers is amazing anyway, but the tapenade just takes them totally over the top. MAKE it! You won't regret it!

I started with just a bit over 6 pounds of ground lamb, and with all the additions, including the Feta, I got 162 tiny, bitty little slider patties, at 21 to 23 grams each. I tried frying up one patty at the very start, to see how they looked size-wise, and as it fried, the patty shrunk up to a very teensy diameter, but very high. This was not what I had in mind, so I stood there in the kitchen looking around, trying to come up with a "press" of some sort. As it happens, I have some plastic water glasses with a totally flat bottom, about 3-inches in diameter. I used this to press down each round ball of the meat mixture, making the initial patty very thin. As they fried, they shrunk to about 2-inches diameter, which was just perfect. This took me all afternoon, but they are now done and frozen, so one more item off my to-do list. 

The next thing was to make the little slider buns. I wanted a very simply flavored bun, something that would not interfere or detract from the slider flavor, which is plentiful. I had a recipe for Potato Rolls or Buns, but if you click that link you will see that they have both honey and egg in them. I wanted something even simpler. I played with the recipe, keeping the potato flour and switching to a much smaller amount of sugar in the recipe, and no honey at all. Potato flour, even in a small amount, makes for a very tender dough, making these buns soft and pillowy. This should suit the Greek Lamb Sliders perfectly. This is my updated recipe for the little buns, which could also make the same larger sized buns or rolls as my previous recipe.

Potato Mini Buns

Makes 20 regular sized buns or about 80 tiny slider buns

Potato Mini Buns, just baked

3½ cups (28 fl. oz.) lukewarm water
1 tablespoon (13 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (11 grams) salt
½ cup (4 fl. oz.) olive oil
6½ cups (904 grams) bread flour, divided
1 packet instant rise yeast (about 7 - 8 grams)
1 cup (164 grams) potato flour (NOT potato starch) 
¼ cup (32 grams) dry milk powder

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients. Add in about half of the bread flour, the yeast, potato flour and milk powder. Using a dough hook (or stir with a wooden spoon) on low speed, mix to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet. Add in the remaining bread flour, a bit at a time, kneading until it is all incorporated. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, 12 if by hand. If it remains too sticky, add up to 2 tablespoons more flour. 

The mixing process when using potato flour (or even fresh baked potato) in a recipe is a bit different. The potato makes a more tender crumb to the bread, but also seems like the dough is way too dry at first. Have faith and keep beating or kneading. Soon it will begin to puddle back into the bowl, leaving a far more wet and "difficult" dough, if a little more flour is not added. I did use the extra 2 tablespoons of flour, which left the dough manageable; not too sticky.

Once kneaded, cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise to about double is size. Once risen, if making regular buns, turn the entire mass out and divide the dough into 20 to 24 buns or rolls. If making tiny slider buns, I used 20 gram sized balls (0.65 ounce), yielding about 80. These are very tiny. Once baked they are just about 2-inches in diameter. Flatten each ball as much as possible and set them about an inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Allow them to rise to almost doubled in size and then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Mine did not even color on top, but were above 85 degrees internal temp, so they were perfectly baked. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Grain Salad with Barley using Ferments

Last week I used up some leftover wild rice to make a side "salad" dish for a really wonderful Kalbi Flank Steak; both recipes were posted 3 days ago. I love grain "salads" though I don't make them terribly often. I had gone for labs last week also, and found my cholesterol is a bit high. In researching foods that help with the LDL side of things, barley was mentioned in many different sites, because of its soluble fiber. While my husband will not go straight for a grain salad, he will eat them. Yesterday when I made this salad he ate other things he preferred, so it was my side dish. Tonight it will be my main dish as he will not be home for dinner and I often go meatless.

Barley Salad with Fermented Red Onion

I initially set some barley to cook without any true idea of what I was going to do with it. As it cooked, I started thinking of how good the Wild Rice and Corn Salad turned out and realized I still had the other half of the red and green bell peppers I had used in the Wild Rice and Corn Salad, so obviously I would use those in this Barley Salad. The other thing I thought of, after the fact, was that I had a jar of fermented Red Onion Relish in the fridge and had yet to use it. I am sure it would have made an excellent addition to the Wild Rice and Corn Salad, had I remembered it. I also have a jar of Fermented Jalapeno Slices in the fridge and I love a little bit of piquant heat in my foods. 

With these two fermented foods in mind, I decided that this time I was going to use them in this new salad, so these items went into my list. Since I am making fermented foods all the time, I have a lot of them to eat so I may as well use them in recipes. Please understand, if you have not

Pickled Red Onions

jumped onto the fermented Foods Bandwagon, it is no big deal. Another relish of choice would also work, as well as chopped up Pickled Red Onions, which are much quicker to make. If neither of these is available, they can be left out completely. 

A few of the ingredients in the Wild Rice and Corn Salad went into this new Barley Salad, though with small variations the flavors went in a completely different direction. I eliminated the corn completely, kept the Feta cheese, scallions and cilantro. I substituted the pine nuts with pumpkin seeds and added in some dried cranberries (craisins). The dressing started out basically the same, using olive oil and lime or lemon juice. I also used the Sichuan peppercorns, just because I have them. These can easily be left out. 

One other ingredient that occurred to me at the last moment was probably one that just absolutely "made" this dish: Kalamata Olive Tapenade. I posted this recipe in April of this year, but will post it here again, because if you like olives, you really must try this out. It is so good, and so very easy to make. And, what an amazing thing to add to this vinaigrette-type dressing!

Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Kalamata Olive Tapenade

7 - 8 ounces pitted Calamata/Kalamata olives, drained
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup olive oil (more, or less, as desired)

Place the olives, parsley and garlic in a food processor to finely chop. With processor running, add in olive oil until the mixture is at the consistency you prefer. 


Here is the recipe I made last evening for Barley Salad with Fermented Red Onion:

Barley Salad with Fermented Red Onion

Serves 8 or more

Barley Salad with Fermented Red Onion

1 cup pearl barley (long-cooking kind)
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
½ green bell pepper (about ¾ cup), chopped
½ red bell pepper (about ¾ cup), chopped
½ cup Fermented Red Onion Relish
½ cup crumbled Feta cheese
½ cup cilantro, chopped (or as desired)
¼ cup Fermented Jalapeno Peppers, minced
¼ cup dried cranberries (craisins)
¼ cup green pumpkin seeds
¼ cup finely chopped fresh ginger root
4 scallions, chopped
½ teaspoon more salt, if needed


DRESSING:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Sichuan Peppercorns, crushed, optional
1 tablespoon Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Set the barley to cook in a saucepan with the water and the teaspoon of salt. Lower heat and cover. Cook for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the barley is cooked to your taste.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.


In a large mixing bowl, combine the bell peppers, Red Onion Relish, Feta cheese, cilantro, Jalapeno peppers, craisins, pumpkin seeds, ginger and scallions. Once the barley is cooked through, drain any excess water and allow the barley to cool slightly. Once cooled, combine the barley with the ingredients in the bowl and toss. Pour in the Dressing and toss well to coat. Taste for salt, adding more only if needed. The salad is best served at room temperature.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Easy and Elegant Pork Dish

Whether you are looking for an elegantly easy recipe for a nice dinner with friends, or just something for any night, these Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke and Capers are just perfect. The idea for these pork rolls came when watching The Chew one day last week. Often there will be a segment where Michael Symon pairs off with Daphne Oz. Michael will make a certain dish in his normal fashion, with no skimping on either flavor or calories. Daphne will make a version of something similar, where she will use ingredients that really amp up the flavor, but tone down calories or excessive fats. It so happens in this particular episode, both the dishes sounded amazing. In particular, Daphne (using chicken breast meat instead of Michael's use of fattier chicken thigh meat) made a wonderful filling with Castelvetrano olives, capers and a few other things. 

Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke Caper Filling

I had some boneless pork loin chops in the fridge, and wanted to try using them this way, pounded thin and stuffed, then rolled. I really liked the sound of Daphne's olive-caper filling. The only difficulty fell in that my husband won't eat olives.

I love olives. Maybe the simple black olives in a can are not my favorite flavor profile, but I will eat them anyway, if they are in a dish. Possibly my favorite olives are Nicoise. I love stuffed green olives, Kalamatas and so many others. I believe I have tried Castelvetrano olives once some years ago, but cannot be absolutely positive at this remove. After researching a bit, I confirmed what Daphne said about Castelvetrano olives being milder in flavor, and less salty. I would have loved to try them in this dish, but I figured that whether mild or not, it still might be too much for my husband's taste. 

So, What Substitutes for Olives in a Recipe?

Browning the Pork Rolls

I spent a while looking online for suggestions to replace olives in a recipe. In most cases, capers were the suggestion. Since capers were already a part of the ingredients, more capers would not be useful. Since most olives are rather salty, some suggested meats such as prosciutto. I know that meats are used as ingredients in a stuffing for another meat, but I didn't want to go with that much meat in this case (the recipe called for a cup of Castelvetrano olives, so a cup of whatever ingredient to sub). Another ingredient in the filling was Feta cheese, and as that is also salty, it seemed to me using too much salty prosciutto would be less palatable. 

And then I found a suggestion for using artichoke hearts! This seemed the perfect solution for the dilemma. Artichoke hearts are mild flavored, enough so to make the bulk of the filling without going crazy on the salt level. Hurrah!


Daphne's recipe for the filling (found here), was used to fill chicken breast cutlets pounded thin. I had pork loin chops. The one thing I really would have added to the recipe I was adapting from Daphne's was fresh rosemary. She was going for Mediterranean flavors, and I liked that profile. Rosemary is also Mediterranean flavor. However, the rosemary I had in the fridge had gone all black, and it was too late to run to the store. The recipe would have to do without, at least this time. Both Michael and Daphne's recipes used cheese in the filling. Michael used goat cheese, which I love, but I wanted to keep Daphne's use of Feta in this recipe. The mixture just sounded so good. For now, the results were marvelous. A little rosemary would have really taken the flavors even more the direction I wanted, but for now, this worked very well.

The last thing I altered was browning the rolls before popping them into the oven to finish cooking. Michael did this with the chicken thighs, but Daphne's version went straight to the oven. I chose the fry first and oven finish method, because I wanted the pork to look golden and appetizing. Twenty minutes in the oven will not brown as nicely as a quick frying will!

Quite on its own, this recipe is also completely gluten free! Michael Symon's recipe used bread crumbs, though bread crumbs can also be made easily from gluten free bread.

Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke and Capers

Makes 4 servings

Pork Roll with Feta, Artichoke and Capers

4 boneless pork loin chops
salt and pepper for seasoning
4 ounces grated/crumbled Feta cheese
1 (7-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
¼ cup chopped dates
2 tablespoons small capers, drained
2 cloves garlic
1½ cups loosely packed flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (dried is fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
more olive oil for browning

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chops, one at a time, between plastic wrap and pound them very thin, until they are about 5 x 6-inches. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside. If using a block of Feta, grate it on a large holed grater, or chop or crumble finely. Set aside.

Place the drained artichoke hearts, dates, capers, garlic parsley, orange juice concentrate and orange zest into the bowl of a food processor. Process, while adding in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Scrape down as necessary to process evenly. Pour out into a bowl and stir in the Feta cheese until combined. Divide this mixture between the 4 pounded pork cutlets. Pat to evenly distribute, leaving the end farthest from you free for about 1-inch. Roll the pork, starting at the end closest to you, without smashing the filling out. Secure the rolls with a toothpick if necessary.

Heat a skillet to high and add a little olive oil. Brown the rolls quickly on all sides, about 5 minutes, total. Set them on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees. Remove from oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Lamb Burgers to Die For

Birthday Cake with Blackberry Mascarpone Filling 

Hello! I have had guests for the past weeks, coming and going. It's been wonderful having our friend Rich visiting, as well as his significant other, Heidi, and always a stupendous lot of fun when my son Kenneth and his wife come to visit. Because of the amount of guests, and amount of food prep and other things attendant on having guests in the house, I hadn't managed to get to a blog for about 11 days now. It is good to have the house quiet again, no matter how I love them all. So here I am, back at my blog, and a year older, too!

I just had my 65th birthday yesterday, though we celebrated with our guests last weekend. Yesterday was totally normal day with work to be done, though my friend Deb took me out to lunch, which was excellent.

My Calamata Tapenade

When my son and his wife visit, I try to make some favorite things. I have used a recipe for lamb burgers found on the internet quite a few years ago. This was long before I had any idea about writing a blog, maintaining a website or any such thing. This year I got out the recipe and taking a good look, realized I probably never actually used the recipe except as a guideline. For example, the original recipe calls for 2 ½ pounds of ground lamb and only 2 cloves of garlic, for starters. I love garlic, and so does almost everyone I cook for. I used 6 large cloves of garlic when making these burgers last week. And, so it went with a lot of the recipe.

The recipe called also for making a tapenade to go on the burgers and while I like tapenade (or what passes for tapenade in jars in the grocery), I had never made it myself. My husband wouldn't eat it anyway, so if it is just the two of us, I wouldn't bother. But in talking to friend Rich, along with Ken and Julia - they all love tapenade, or at least olives, so that was the one totally new and different thing I did this time. Julia made a run to the nearby grocery and brought back some marinated Calamata/Kalamata olives. If I made this tapenade again (and I most certainly will!), I would look for these same olives, because the flavor was so excellent. I had only 4 remaining ("orphan") Kalamata Olives in a jar in the fridge, so I added these to the ones Julia brought home in making the tapenade.

My son, Kenneth

I pride myself on grilling things pretty well, but I have to hand it to my son - he just has a knack. My grill racks get scraped down when I grill and all, but I have not cleaned the pan below. The lamb was quite fatty also, and all this contributed to a total conflagration. On my own, I would likely have burnt the burgers. Ken came out to tend them and managed to bring in perfectly done burgers, with perfectly soft Feta on top. I was way amazed at his grilling prowess. Yea, Kenneth!

We came to the table to eat and such was the excitement that I absolutely and completely forgot to take photos of these amazing burgers. Good grief! All I got was one photo of the two remaining burgers on the serving plate and the dregs of the remaining tapenade. Not the best or prettiest photos, for sure, though one can certainly see the perfection of the grilled burgers. While great photos are sadly lacking here, I pray that anyone who loves lamb might try these recipes out, because oh, MAN are they ever just to-die-for-good!

Perfectly Grilled Lamb Burgers

Lamb Burgers with Grilled Feta and Tapenade

Makes 6 large burgers

BURGERS:
2¼ - 2½ pounds ground lamb
6 cloves garlic, finely minced, or through a garlic press
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, minced
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Garrigue Seasoning, optional

8 ounces Feta Cheese, cut into approximately 6 slices

Mix all the burger ingredients well and form patties of approximately 1/4 pound apiece. Grill the burgers to desired doneness. Use a grill pan for the Feta, to soften. Feta does not really melt, but will warm nicely. Set one slice of Feta atop each burger. Serve with Tapenade on buns. A heftier, larger type of bun is needed for these large burgers than the cheaper types of bun available!

 

 

Olives I used for Tapenade

TAPENADE: Enough for 6 burgers
7 - 8 ounces pitted Calamata/Kalamata olives, drained
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup olive oil (more, or less, as desired)

Place the olives, parsley and garlic in a food processor to finely chop. With processor running, add in olive oil until the mixture is at the consistency you prefer.

Serve the tapenade on the side, to spread onto the buns when serving.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.