Tuna Dip With Dukkah

Here's a fishy dip for Christmas entertaining.  It includes tuna and anchovies but don't worry, it's not all that "fishy" in taste.  I found it fairly mild, but I guess if you're not a fish fan ...  But I definitely am, and I also like a fishy phrase.  One of my faves is about slapping an annoying person in the face with a wet herring.  Which reminds me of that Monty Python sketch.  But I digress ...  

This recipe calls for Philly (cream) cheese, which I have not used in a very long time.  I found that it is no longer the cheese I remember, sadly.  Okay for dips and cheesecakes, but the texture has clearly been dumbed-down.  After discussing it on a FaceBook group, we decided it is now full of water and 'fillers', rather than delicious milk from the cow.  Sigh! ...  And the texture is just so gummy and squishy and bluuuurrgghhh.  Anyways, it's fine in a dip where it gets blitzed up.

Merry Christmas and happy festive season to all.  See you in the New Year, my friends.  Thank you for all your support this year!

c. Sherry M.

(Recipe from Donna Hay's Christmas Feasts and Treats)

Makes one good-sized bowlful:  see Notes

ingredients:

185g./6.5 oz tuna in chilli oil - drain it but keep the oil 

3 white anchovy fillets  -  see Notes

250g./8 oz Philly cream cheese (use any brand), cut into chunks

2 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs EV olive oil

sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

dukkah, for sprinkling on top

baguette or ciabatta stick, to serve with

lemon wedges, if you fancy (I didn't)

Method:

Basically, you will chuck everything into your food processor, scraping down the sides as you go - for 3-4 minutes! says Donna.  Now this seems like a very long time to me; I guess it's to emulsify the mixture but I only did it for 2-3 minutes max.

Whack it in the fridge for at least 1 hour (longer in humid QLD), then sprinkle with the reserved chilli oil, and throw on the dukkah

Serve with the sliced up bread, and lemon wedges if using

Notes:

Donna says this makes 2.5 cups of dip; I guess it did :=)

I hunted around for white anchovies but they were nowhere to be found, so I bought some good quality, organic regular variety

Add a bit of lemon zest, and maybe a few chilli flakes, if you fancy - 'cos I did!

ingredients gathered

drain the oil, and set aside till later

chuck everything into the food processor

and give it a good blitz - for 2 or 3 (or 4) minutes :=); shove into the fridge

chill it well, splash with chilli oil, sprinkle with dukkah, and serve with bread

c. Sherry M.

Medieval Hummus Or Himmas Kassa

I have always loved hummus - the more garlic and lemon juice the merrier.  Oh, and lots of paprika on top.  But here we have something a bit different - no garlic at all!  And still just amazingly delicious.  This is a 14th century Arabic recipe, which I discovered on the blog by Nawal Nasrallah - In My Iraqi Kitchen.  Nawal is an independent Iraqi scholar, who loves cooking and its history and culture.  Nawal calls this the mother of all hummus.  

Chickpeas are a legume like peanuts, and there can be much discussion about whether they are actually good for you, or not.  I err on the side of yes they are bloody good for you :=)  And so delicious.  People have been eating them for at least 7500 years, so there has to be something fabulous about them. 

gloopy, green and gorgeous

ingredients:


1 tin (400g.) of chickpeas, drained or 1½ cups of boiled chickpeas

2 tbs tahini - I used organic roasted, unhulled

2 tbs water

2 tbs white wine vinegar

1/4 cup walnuts, finely ground

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs white wine vinegar

1/2 cup parsley, chopped roughly or torn

1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped roughly or torn

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp of each of the following: caraway/ground coriander/black pepper/ground ginger/cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt 

2-3 wedges of preserved lemon, skin only, flesh chucked :=)


For garnish:


extra virgin olive oil, a generous amount 

pistachios, chopped

parsley, chopped finely

ground cinnamon

rose petals (optional)


Method:


Zap the walnuts in your processor till you have a fine meal, or buy walnut meal if you can get it

Mix the tahini with the water and vinegar

Stir the lemon juice and the other tablespoon of vinegar in with the ground walnuts

Chuck everything into the blender except the preserved lemon (and the garnish of course)

Blitz!  Well, I mean pulse till smooth and looking fairly green

Add more herbs if it's not green enough for you 

Add more salt or pepper or lemon juice if it takes your fancy

Stir in the preserved lemon which you have chopped into small pieces

Spoon out into a nice bowl and serve with Turkish bread

Pour on the olive oil (Nawal says to use a generous amount), and throw on the garnish(es)

This should be a thick dip, great for piling onto bread

here we go, gathering ingredients

everything goes into the processor

grab that Turkish bread and slather it on, baby! 

Our vego/vegan guest loved it, and had it spread on toast each morning for breakfast.  It melded and tasted better in the days after I made it.  This is such a winner, folks!  Definitely on the permanent playlist now :=)

chickpea plant artwork by sherryspickings

Tapenade - Quick And Easy Home Made Dip

Well, you had better like olives - no, make that love olives if you are going to make and eat this.  I have to say I am not a huge fan of tapenade, but making it yourself adds a piquancy for sure.  I had a chunky version a while ago at a restaurant.  I liked that!  This recipe is smooth, but I think next time I will try leaving it with some chunky bits for texture.

To be honest, the only reason I made this was to go in the olive loaf I was baking.  I tried to buy some decent stuff at the shops, but no go.  Rather than use any old thing I thought now is the time to give this recipe a try.  One thing I can warn you about folks, is that when the jar says pitted olives, it means less pips not none.:=)  So watch out!  I had some supposedly pitted olives from a local deli, plus 2 different brands of jarred olives - they all seemed to have pips.  My poor old processor was being bombarded.



Recipe from Taste.com.au:


ingredients:



175g. (1 cup) Kalamata olives, pitted 

1 heaped tbs capers, rinsed and drained

3 anchovy fillets

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

ground black pepper to taste



Method:


Throw the olives in a food processor - (what? did you think I was going to do it in a mortar and pestle?  Do I look like someone's Italian grandma?- joking!)

Put the olives, capers and anchovies in the processor and blitz briefly till it starts to get smooth

Add the oil in slowly and steadily till it forms a paste

Pour in the lemon juice and blitz for a few seconds

Add pepper to taste

Eat that day or store in a container in the fridge for a few days 



Notes:


Scrape down the processor every so often when blitzing

Add a clove of garlic if you desire

Some recipes suggest adding tuna?!?, or brandy or herbs - why not try them?

Whack in some sun-dried tomatoes for a change

ingredients

chuck 'em in the blitzer

yep, looks like chocolate or something worse   

ready to go!

brown olive doodle 

Guacamole - Hot and Spicy

I love guacamole.  Not the one that is zapped in a blender with sour cream; no I like mine chunky and hot.  (Like my men? - I knew you were going to say that).  So I prefer to make my own when I have the time and inclination, which isn't as often as it should be.  This version is taken from Sophie Dahl's online recipes.  Sophie has lots of stories to tell about her amazing family - well worth a read when you have a bit of spare time.  She and I must be twins!  We both love it chunky and hot. 

So I take no credit for this recipe; in fact The Hairy Bikers make a very similar one.  I have done a bit of research and found that either guacamole is not Mexican at all, or it is but only the chunky version with not much in it except avocados, salt and lime. It appears that Mexicans also like to make it thin and mix it with green salsa into a kind of soup - or not.  As Mr P. said, Mexico is a large country with lots of regional differences, so who knows? Well, each to their own.


ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, mashed but still a bit chunky

zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tomato, deseeded and finely chopped

1/4 red onion (or half a small one), finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

coriander leaves, torn into small pieces - you choose how much, but start with a tablespoon

one small red chilli, very finely chopped or several drops of Tabasco type sauce


Method:


Easy peasy - you know what to do!

Grab a mixing bowl and throw in the avocados, lime zest and juice, the tomato, onion and seasoning

Give it a good stir till combined but not too smooth

Throw on the coriander leaves and chilli as garnish

Serve with corn chips or the bread/cracker of your choice

delish ingredients    

adding the lime juice  

grab a ripe tomato  

chopping the deseeded tomato finely 

delicious chunky guac!  be generous with the coriander and chilli      

I know it looks a bit ratty in these takeaway containers but we were rushing off to a friend's place.  This was part of our contribution to dinner.  Always a great idea to have disposable containers when going out as you don't have to worry about bringing home the plates.

my avocado doodle - did you guess?