Super Simple Guacamole — it’s the real deal this time!

At the cottage we like to sit back and relax, put up our feet, read a good novel, scan some trashy magazines and on occasion have been known to enjoy a cocktail or two ;-). Simple is usually what I lean toward because of the effort one needs to make to bring everything up for the weekend. I know I’ve posted a guacamole recipe before (here and here) and even got flak for calling this one mocamole, but I thought I’d share a super simple rustic version made with the ripest avocado for a light snack at the cottage. This recipe has only 5 ingredients and you need only one bowl, a fork and a knife to make it. See, I told you it was simple.

This dip comes together very quickly; I disappeared for less than five minutes to make it, our guests were surprised I made it from scratch so quickly!

Super Simple Guacamole

Makes about 3/4 to 1 cup of dip but it depends entirely how big your avocado is

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice
• 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 5 small grape tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro and a sprig or two for garnish

Directions:

1. Scoop out the flesh from the avocado, no need to be gentle as you will mash it with a fork.
2. Mash the avocado with a fork (I told you so).
3. Add the garlic and the lime juice and mix well.
4. Fold in the chopped tomatoes and cilantro.
5. Garnish with cilantro.
6. Serve with celery sticks, cucumber rings, or crackers.

I love that mashing with a fork still leaves you with some lovely, creamy chunks of avocado.

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Hungarian Korozot Revisited

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
We were invited to my cousin Lucy’s for a Hungarian Easter dinner way back and she had asked me to make Korozot so I thought I’d revisit this old favourite recipe from my October 2011 post. Here are some of the photos from that lovely evening.

Photographing the table just runs in the family. Photography credit: Cousin Lucy

The Easter Decor. Photography credit: Cousin Lucy

The Ladies. From left to right: Miss I, me, Cousin Lucy and Cousin Lucy’s MIL. Photography credit: Cousin Larry.

The Gentlemen. From left to right, Mr. V, JT, Cousin Larry and Cousin Lucy’s FIL. Photography credit: Cousin Lucy.

I’ve been making Korozot, a Hungarian soft cheese dip for more years than I can recall. It’s always been my ‘goto’ quick dip because I always have all the ingredients at home (I keep goats cheese in the freezer all the time). Although my version is smooth, many recipes on-line use Quark or cottage cheese as the base, but I prefer the smooth texture and sharp tang of goats cheese. My recipe has slowly changed over the years becoming a wee bit healthier each time; I believe my dear Mom used cream cheese in place of goats cheese and she may have even added some room temperature unsalted butter for flavour and richness. I usually serve this tasty dip with my very own home-made whole wheat crackers (recipe coming soon).

A silky, tangy dip

Hungarian Korozot

Makes about 1/2 cup dip

Ingredients:

• 113 g (4 oz) Goats Cheese (at room temperature).
• 2-4 tbsp non fat yogurt (for desired consistency)
• 2 tbsp Piros Arany Csemege Paprika (or csipos, your choice) OR 1 tbsp paprika powder – try with smoked paprika for a totally different flavour
• 1 tsp tomato paste (I usually use tomato paste in a tube for this)
• 1 Green onion, very finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Blend the goats cheese, the paprika paste (or powder) and tomato paste with a little yogurt in a food processor until well mixed, adding the yogurt a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Taste and add salt now, but be careful because the paprika and tomato paste are both extremely salty.
2. Remove from processor and fold in the finely chopped green onion.
3. Serve at room temperature with crackers.

Note:

• This dip is much better the next day when the flavours have had time to blend and mature.

Why don’t you grab a cocktail and eat some dip.

It’s delicious, particularly on my home-made crackers.

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Sweet Onion Confit Revisited

Years ago we were watching Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello and he and a friend had a pizza cook-off. I cannot recall who won, but I do know we came away with the best Onion Confit recipe EVER. I usually make up a couple of batches and freeze; they are perfect for a pizza base, sauce base, dip base, even on a salad with crumbled blue or goats cheese. And because I freeze small quantities, they defrost quite easily. Please click here for Chef Chiarello’s original recipe.

I posted my take on the original recipe here, but I never took a photo of it. Well, you’re in luck because I made some up on the weekend and I was smart enough (wink, wink) to remember to take a gorgeous daylight filled photo of it.

Incredibly sweet and tangy, these onions make an amazing topping to pizza, salads brioche...the possibilities are endless

For additional ideas on how to use these gorgeous sweet onions, please see:

• Replace the caramelized onion in LCBO’s Cheddar and Onion Dip
  
• Spread a layer of the onion confit on the bread before you add the topping in this Bruschetta recipe
• Use the onion confit as your base on any pizza, but this Fig and Goats Cheese Pizza would be deeeee-lish
• Add it to the Fajita Salad in this recipe
• And last but not least, replace the dates in this delicious Poached Pear with Stilton, Walnuts and Bacon Salad

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Dipping Sauces for the Wings and Ribs

I made two dipping sauces, one for the veggie sticks (which I didn’t bother listing on my menu, boring old veggie sticks) and one for the wings. Although both cheeses are full fat, I did reduce the fat by using non-fat Greek yogurt; President’s Choice makes a wonderful product that is quite reasonably priced.

Feta Dip

Feta Dip. Now where did I put those veggie sticks?

Ingredients:

• 100 g and 50 crumbled Greek Feta
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place 100 g of the Feta, yogurt and garlic into the container of your immersion blender. Blend until smooth, taste to see if it’s salty enough (you may wish to leave overnight and taste again when the flavours have had a chance to really come together).
2. Fold in the remaining crumbled Feta for a chunky dip.
3. Serve with vegetable sticks.

Blue Cheese Dip

Blue cheese dip. Grab a wing and start dipping!

Ingredients:

• 100 g and 50 crumbled Blue (I used Rosenborg Danish blue because I can buy it very inexpensively at Costco. I cut it into 100g portions and freeze in small zip lock bags).
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place 100 g of the blue cheese and yogurt into the container of your immersion blender. Blend until smooth, taste to see if it’s salty enough (you may wish to leave overnight and taste again when the flavours have had a chance to really come together).
2. Fold in the remaining crumbled blue for a chunky dip.
3. Serve with maple garlic wings!

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Hungarian Korozot and Nuit Blanche in Toronto, October 1

October first was Nuit Blanche all over the world and we are very fortunate to participate every year in Toronto. It is a wonderful festival of all kinds of performance and installation arts all over the city. It starts at sundown (around 7pm-ish) and goes until the wee hours of the morning, should you choose. JT and I usually start our expedition in the south part of the city, near City Hall and walk a meandering path north exploring as many exhibits and installations along the way to Bloor Street. It was a chilly night in Toronto, around 7°C so we visit ed a few indoor exhibits along the way. We had a small snack before we started out, so we weren’t starving by the time we had dinner around 10pm. We always take the subway down so we don’t need to worry that we left the care a 45 minute walk away! I’ll took a few photos to blog about, but it’s usually very dark. Charles, I hope you had a chance to venture into Paris for this momentous event (it takes place in many major cities all over the world) — we’ve always found it such a blast in TO. Not sure if anyone reading lives in New York, but it’s happening there too! Toronto is expecting over a million people out in the streets tonight – it’s so cool walking around Toronto in the night with thousands of other people – it makes the city come alive with energy. Woo hoo! Let the festivities begin!

If you know me, you will know that I never serve alcoholic beverages without some type of food. I inherited this from my dear Mother, and I love it. I am always looking out for small nibbles that are tasty, not too filling (don’t want to spoil dinner, do we?) and easy to serve, with a martini or two! This is a dip that is commonly served in Hungarian households, I have modified it to my taste (and health…my Mom used to put softened butter in it!).

Korozot (Hungarian Fresh Cheese Dip)

Hungarian Korozot Dip

This is a modified recipe to suit my taste and to be a little healthier.

Ingredients:

• 4-6oz Goats Cheese (at room temperature) (the real recipe would use a soft unripened fresh cheese called Quark)
• No fat yogurt (for desired consistency)
• 2 tablespoons paprika puré (hot or sweet, your choice) (this is a Hungarian product that comes in a tube) OR tbsp paprika powder – try with smoked paprika for a totally different flavour
• 1 Shallot, very finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic (minced on a fine grater)
• bunch of chives, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Blend the goats cheese, shallot and garlic in a food processor until well mixed, adding the yogurt a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
2. Remove from processor and fold in chives.
3. Serve at room temperature with crostinis. This is much better the next day when the flavours have had time to melt together.

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A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…Moroccan hors d’oeuvres: Bessara and Matlouh

I’ve been cruising the net trying to find the right combo of courses for our Moroccan themed dinner party on Saturday; it’s not as easy as it sounds, there are so many interesting recipes and flavours, it’s difficult to choose. We found the main course and side first, then the desserts. Then I thought OMG, we need a soup! And the temperatures in Toronto have plummeted to a chilly 7°C overnight – great soup weather! And, last but not least i went scouring the net for hors d’œuvres.
This post is all about the hors d’œuvres. I was enamored by this recipe because it sounded like hummus, and I adore hummus. The flat bread reminded me of something my Mom used to make with ‘leftover’ bread dough, Langos (pronounced langosh, it’s a traditional Hungarian pan-fried flat bread). Plus, it has so many names…I knew it was the one for us! I have linked the original recipes in their titles. It is rather odd to make this flat bread using a food processor, but it does seem to work, and the dough is not too heavy to bog down the processor’s motor. It’s a chewy, tasty bread, something like Naan. Of course, my alteration is the substitution of two to one all-purpose flour to whole wheat flour. (it had to be done).

Batbout or Matlouh or Mkhamer or Toghrift or Matlou with Bessara
aka Moroccan Flat Bread with Fava Bean Dip

Batbout or Matlouh or Mkhamer or Toghrift or Matlou (Moroccan Flat Bread)

Batbout and Bassara

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm (not hot) water
• 1 tablespoon herb (I did not add this)

Directions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in the food processor by giving them a whirl of the blades.
2. Stop the machine and add the water all at once. Close the machine and mix until the dough forms a ball of slighly sticky dough. Add more water by the tablespoon if you find your ball of dough is a bit tough. You want a very supple, soft dough.
3. Divide the dough in 4 balls. Oil them well with good quality, peppery olive oil and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
4. There are a complex number of rolling steps which my source describes wonderfully with photos. Here is my simplified version:
5. Flatten each ball to a rectangle about 1/2cm thick, fold in the long sides (like a business letter, she describes!) Flatten a bit more with your fingers and then roll it up like a small, tight jelly roll. Punch down the top and allow to rise another 30 minutes. I covered with EVOO and plastic wrap and put them in the fridge overnight (a trick to slow down the yeast so I can make the bread when I have more time tomorrow).
6. Pre heat your cast iron pan to very hot for about 15 minutes. We have natural gas, so it didn’t take as long.
7. Bring the rolled up dough balls to room temperature. Once at room temperature flatten to a large circle about a 1/2cm thick – this bread will thicken slightly in the pan. Oil generously (I would switch to an oil with a higher flash point, like peanut or grape seed). Fry both sides until cooked through and golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/saladsandsidedishes/r/Bessara_Recipe.htm

Bessara

This is a slightly soupier dip than hummus. You can even thin it down and serve it as a soup!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups canned fava beans (also known as Broad Beans)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/3 cup olive oil (I used chipotle oil oil for a bit of a kick!)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable stock, as required
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, lightly roasted
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika or cayenne pepper (I omitted since I used the chipotle olive oil).
• For garnish, mix a small amount of roasted cumin, paprika, chopped cilantro. Drizzle with EVOO.

Directions:

1. Put beans into a food processor, add garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of vegetable stock and spices.
2. Process on high speed until smooth, adding additional liquid if necessary to thin the Bessara. It should be thin enough to pour or spread out on a plate. Taste the Bessara and adjust the seasoning if desired.
3. To serve, heat until warm and serve with the flat bread above. Garnish the Bessera with any of the following: ground cumin, paprika, hot paprika, EVOO, or chopped parsley.

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Corn Pomegranate Guacamole

I found this recipe on my iPhone Epicurious ap and loved the flavours and look of it (the pomegranate are like little jewels, and you know how I love jewels!). The original recipe contains Mango instead of Corn but I may be allergic to Mango (puffy lips incident) so I altered the recipe and replaced the Mango with Corn and of course, I altered the recipe to my taste. The proportions don’t really matter, use what you have on hand – double or triple this works well. This is an iPhone photo, so it’s a little dark.

Corn Pomegranate Guacamole

• 1 ripe avocado (about a 1/2 cup)
• 2 finely chopped green onions
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 – 1 fresh green chile, finely chopped (remove seeds and veins to make the dish less hot!)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, or to taste
• finely zested lime
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (from 1 pomegranate)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn which have been thawed but not cooked
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Halve, pit, and peel avocado, chop into similar sized pieces as the corn and pomegranate seeds.
2. Add lime juice to avoid discolouration.
3. Stir in green onion, garlic, chili, lime rind, and salt, then fold in pomegranate seeds, corn, and cilantro.
4. Season with salt and additional lime juice.
5. May be made up to one day in advance. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, this will stink up your refrigerator.
6. Serve with blue corn nacho chips or flatbreads.
7. Enjoy!

Corn Pomegranate Guacamole

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