BARBARI BREAD AND HUMMUS

Posted in Appetizers, Breads, Breakfast & Brunch by sallybr

A match made in heaven!

Barbari Bread originates in Iran, formerly known as Persia, a name that evokes beautiful things in my mind. Barbari is a flatbread with ridges and a dark golden color provided by a glaze that often contains baking soda. I share a recipe that makes one small flatbread, fitting in a quarter sheet pan.

BARBARI BREAD
(adapted from cookingorgeous)

160 ml water (lukewarm)
250 g all-purpose flour
4 g instant yeast
5 g salt
3 g sugar
10 ml olive oil

For the Topping (you won’t need the full amount)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup water
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoon Sesame seeds

In the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer combine the flour, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast. Add warm water gradually, stirring to form a sticky dough. Knead at low-speed for about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm spot for 2 hours.

Make the glaze: in a small saucepan, combine flour, water, olive oil, and baking soda.
Cook over low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens into a smooth paste. Set aside to cool.

Shape the Dough: Flatten the dough into an oval or rectangular shape on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If the dough resists too much, form into a ball and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. The dough should end as 12 inches long and 5 inches wide. Using your fingers, gently press lines into the dough from top to bottom to create the signature ridges of Barbari bread. Brush the glaze mixture over the surface, covering the dough evenly. This will help to keep the bread moist and create that golden crust during baking. Sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Second Rise and Baking the Bread: Cover the shaped and topped dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rise for one hour.

Heat the oven to 390F. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes or until it turns golden brown with a crisp crust.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

For the hummus, I used a fantastic recipe from Milk Street, which is available online (click here). I advise you to halve the recipe because it would feed an army. I am not too fond of freezing hummus, so half the recipe was perfect for us. Can you tell how luscious and creamy it is?

Comments: Barbari bread is definitely one to consider adding to your rotation, because it is super easy to make and absolutely delicious. As to the hummus, Milk Street recipe is pretty involved, but worth it. Thick, intensely flavored, a real hit of sesame with each bite.

I hope you try both this recipes, they were perfect together. Hummus is often a breakfast item in Israel, consumed warm with Kawarma (spiced ground meat) spooned all over it. We took the less authentic route by enjoying it as a dip. If you have The Milk Street Cookbook that goes along with the TV show, both recipes are there.

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17Aug2015

ROASTED RED PEPPER-WALNUT DIP WITH POMEGRANATE

Posted in Appetizers, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

Are you familiar with Muhammara, a flavorful Middle Eastern red pepper dip? This concoction is similar but not quite the same. The addition of dates gives it a sweeter note, and the use of pomegranate juice is also a departure from the classic. I made it for a dinner party we hosted not too long ago, and served it with Ka’kat bread. Perfect partner for the dip. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart, and contrary to my expectations, there were problems. In fact, it was almost a disaster, but my beloved husband saved the show and thanks to his advice, the dip did not metamorphose into soup. And guess what? This is Paleo-friendly, so if you are into it, feel free to dig in!

ROASTED RED PEPPER-WALNUT DIP WITH POMEGRANATE
(from Martha Stewart)

4 pitted dates
3 chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 cup pomegranate juice (use less: see my comments)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Pomegranate seeds (optional)

Soak dates in hot water until softened, about 10 minutes; drain. Pulse dates, red peppers, pomegranate juice, walnuts, and red-pepper flakes in food processor until smooth. With machine running, slowly add olive oil until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Dip can be stored in refrigerator in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Garnish with pomegranate seeds, if so desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Don’t let my almost disaster stop you from making this dip, it was delicious! However, I even left feedback on Martha Stewart’s website stating that there are problems with the recipe as published. No way 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice will work. I actually roasted more bell peppers than the recipe called for, and it was still pretty much a soup once I was done processing it.

In complete despair, I told Phil that we would have to settle for store-bought hummus for our dinner party because the dip was ruined, but he did not even blink: put it in a sieve to drain, it will be alright. He is simply the most optimistic human being ever, nothing brings him down. Take golf, for instance. He faces each shot, no matter how tough, with full composure. Moi? I start shaking uncontrollably when my golf ball goes into a bunker (the golf balls I play with have a mind of their own, did you know that?). In part because I know how many strokes it will take me to get said ball out of there. But, let’s get back to cooking, a nicer subject.

Following the advice of the resident scratch golfer, I placed the dip inside a small colander lined with a coffee filter, and within 30 minutes it had reached a perfect dip consistency. Tragedy averted! I struck gold in March 07th, 2000.

😉

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23Nov2013

PUMPKIN HUMMUS

Posted in Appetizers by sallybr

Starting around Halloween, the food blogosphere turns into a pumpkin-fiesta, matching the phenomenon so common in grocery stores too: everything that can be made with a pumpkin flavor will be. Dog food? Yes. Potato chips? Yes, siree. Candles for your bathroom? Of course! Pumpkin Pie Vodka? You bet! It can be a bit much. But, now that the pumpkin fever has subsided a little, I feel it’s safe to come out and play. Let me share with you a pumpkin hummus that we enjoyed recently. I’d love to give credit to the source, but I have no idea where I got it from. I wrote down the ingredients in a piece of paper and ended up modifying it a bit for my own taste. Actually, if you google pumpkin hummus, you’ll find many versions out there, including this one from Sue’s site. She blogged about it just a few days ago, proving that great minds hummus alike.. 😉

PUMPKIN HUMMUS
(a variation from internet sources)

1 can chickpeas, drained and peeled
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cayenne pepper
drizzle of olive oil

Place chickpeas, lemon juice, water and tahini in food processor. Process until really smooth, let the machine run for a couple of minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl, process again. Add the pumpkin puree’ and seasonings. Process. With the motor running drizzle a little olive oil. Taste and add more lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt if needed.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Hummus is a mandatory appetizer at our home. It doesn’t matter if we are having a dinner party for a few friends, or a departmental get-together to welcome a guest speaker, we always include this super versatile chickpea dip, either as the traditional type, or some fun variation. Making hummus from scratch is easy, and it adds a nice touch. This is a photo of the appetizer course of our first dinner party post-hellnovation. Everything ready, our friends were about to arrive, and we were in Kitchen Nirvana Land…

Apart from the pumpkin hummus, I made the batch of crackers you can see on the green plate: Cheddar and Fennel Seed Crackers, recipe to be featured soon in the Bewitching Kitchen. Think of a shortbread type concoction with a sharp, salty nature, and a very mild fennel taste.

Back to the hummus. My version has two modifications that deviate from most recipes around. First, it doesn’t take any garlic. Second, the amount of olive oil is minimal. When I savor hummus, I like the taste of chickpeas and tahini to be dominant, and that’s pretty hard to achieve if using raw garlic. So I omitted it. I suppose adding roasted garlic could be a nice alternative. In my handwritten note, I noticed that the original recipe called for 1/3 cup of olive oil. I added just a tablespoon, and still could detect the flavor of the oil, not too overpowering, but definitely present. One third of a cup would have ruined it for us. But, different folks, different strokes, you should modify this version as you see fit. Just don’t skip the pumpkin, ok? 😉

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13Jul2013

CILANTRO JALAPENO “HUMMUS”

Posted in Appetizers, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I haven’t yet met a “hummus” I did not like. This one is another example of a tahini-less version, with the garbanzo beans standing up to justify the name. 😉 The recipe is from a wonderful blog I recently stumbled upon: “Garnish with Lemon“. It called for peeling the chickpeas, and after reading a lot about the benefits of this extra-step, I went for it. You’ll need a considerable amount of Zen for the job, but I now believe it is totally worth the trouble. If I am making hummus just for the two of us, I might skip it. But, for special occasions you’ll find me standing by the sink, mindfully peeling pea by pea while wondering about the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, and the mechanism of iron uptake by Escherichia coli.

CILANTRO-JALAPENO HUMMUS
(adapted from Garnish with Lemon)

1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed and peeled

1 cup cilantro

1/2 cup Italian parsley

1 jalapeño, seeded

3/4 tsp salt

Juice of 1+ ½ limes

1/8 cup olive oil

2 Tbs non-fat yogurt (more or less according to consistency)

Place the beans, cilantro, parsley, jalapeño, salt and lime in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for at least two minutes, until well mixed and smooth, stopping to clean the sides of the bowl halfway through. Slowly add olive oil as the food processor is running.

Stop the processor, add one or two tablespoons of yogurt, depending on how thick or runny your dip seems. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place in a container and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

.
Comments: The composite picture above should help me convince the hummus-makers out there that peeling the chickpeas is a good move. See all those peels on the first photo? I had worked maybe half of the can at that point. The peels have a bit of a slimy texture. Getting rid of them can only improve your masterpiece.

This creamy dip is great with pita chips, Ak-mak crackers, carrot sticks, but trust me: it works tremendously well over grilled salmon, and it would certainly be great topping other grilled concoctions like chicken breasts, thick tuna steaks, pork tenderloin. Of course, being a lover of cilantro is mandatory to enjoy this versatile “hummus”.

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