recipephile

Tzatziki With Mint, Basil and Meyer Lemon

The other day I posted a recipe for my twist on the traditional jambalaya. With the addition of cumin and saffron the flavor reminded me of Middle Eastern food. So I decided to serve it with something cool and refreshing that would complement the flavors of the dish.

If you've eaten a Gyro (spoken by many as Jyro, but traditionally pronounced Yeero) before or had a mezze at a Greek restaurant you have tried this dip. The traditional contains Greek yougurt, cucumbers, mint, dill, lemon, salt and pepper.

I had all of those ingredients, except for the dill, so I decided to pair the dish with my own version of tzatziki. It was a perfectly refreshing accompaniment to a spicy and flavorful dish.

Here is what you will need:

- 2 cups chopped cucumber

- 1 tbsp chopped mint

- 1 tbsp chopped basil

- 6 oz of non fat yogurt

- The juice of 1 meyer lemon

- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mix everything together (except for salt and pepper) and mix well.  Add salt and pepper to your liking. You can serve immediately, but I think tzatziki tastes better after setting in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Tzatziki goes great with grilled meats or as an appetizer dip served with toasted pita.

Medjool Dates and Cambozola Cheese

During my trip to New York last week I met up with my clients (who are also my friends) from casual game and advergame developer Arkadium. Kate and I have been working with Arkadium since they were founded in 2001 and we have watched them grow from a team of three to more than 80 employees in both New York and the Ukraine.

Kenny and Jess, the co-founders, love to eat and have actually brought on a number of other foodies to help run and also grown the company. Tina, the director or marketing, who is our daily contact and now great friend is another lover of all things epicurean. She and I are constantly comparing notes on recipes and new restaurants and have cooked together a number of times.

So to help celebrate the success of the year Kate and I try to do something food related for the Arkadium team. Last year we brought in sushi for the office and this year we cooked for Kenny and Jess and plan on taking Tina and her husband Jake out for some great food next time we are all in the city.

For Kenny and Jess' dinner I served an appetizer that is so simple to make it and tremendously delicious. They loved it and vowed to add it to their arsenal of favorite appetizers.

The appetizer is made with dates (I chose Medjool) and Camobozola cheeese. Cambozola is a cow's milk cheese that is a combination of a French soft-ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. It was patented and industrially produced for the world market by large German company Champignon in the 1970s. The cheese, was invented circa 1900 and is still produced by Champignon. In English-speaking countries, cambozola is often marketed as blue brie.

It goes very well with sweet fruits and tastes great when drizzled with honey and served over bread. For this recipe I served the cheese with dates.

- 8-10 Medjool Date

- 3/4 lb. slice of Cambozola Cheese

Slice the dates in half length-wise and remove the pits. Place a small dollop of cheese onto the date halves and arrange on a platter.  Serve.

These dates are best served with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. We went for a Graton Ridge 2008 Graton Ridge Estate Sauvignon Blanc. When you take a bite of the date and cheese immediately sip on the wine and you will experience a flavor explosion in your mouth.  It is truly incredible and something I recommend everyone try.

Easy Cheesy And Delicious Queso Dip

When I was growing up we had family that lived in Tuscon, Arizona, which is where I think this recipe originated from.  Our cousins and Aunt in the Southwest introduced us to this amazingly cheesy dip that was so easy to make and always had people hoarding the bowl and the hips digging for more. Every holiday event or visit with the family always included an evening or afternoon with a bowl of this belly filling delight. 

One of the key ingredients in this dip are green chilies and tomatoes, that happen to be packaged quite nicely in a can of Rotel that you usually find in the"ethnic" section of your grocery store. The other ingredient is a lovely box of Velveeta cheese. Yes, Velveeta, the product that my friend Dan swears is made with petroleum.  The package says it is mostly milk, but a number of online forums say that it is petroleum based which is why the cheese is shelf stable. This concept FREAKS me out a little bit.  To think that something that is primarily dairy can sit on the shelf for years without breaking down or making someone die.

At any rate... the cheese sauce is very easy to make. All you need is a big thing of Velveeta and a can or two, depending on how tomatoey you want your dip, of Rotel.  If you cannot find Rotel, buy a can or two of chopped tomatoes and a can of diced chilies.  Place all of the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 5 minutes. Remove, stir well and cook for 3 or 4 more minutes or until all of the cheesy goodness has melted.

To spice up our version we added some Poblano peppers that we roasted in the oven for about 45 minutes at 300 degrees.  Once they were done roasting we cut in half, removed the seeds and then chopped them up and added to the dip. 

You can also add chorizo to give it some meaty goodness and more flavor.

Serve with chips.

Hummus

Once again I cannot take credit for this incredible recipe. My friend Jeffrey gets the kudos on this one.  It is really amazing.

You should know that Hummus is easy to make, and so much tastier, less expensive and more healthful than grocery store varieties.  Store-bought hummus often is made with sunflower, safflower, canola or very cheap (not extra virgin) olive oil, and tends to have unnecessary preservatives.

2 cans chick peas, saving the liquid from one of the cans
3 tbsp. tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Rinse and pick over the chick peas. There's always one or two duds in each can.  Put the chick peas in your food processor along with the tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  Turn the processor on.  As the chick peas begin to break down, slowly (very slowly!) drizzle some of the chick pea stock into the food processor until everything begins to blend and become smooth.  Generally this uses about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the chick pea stock. Continue to process the hummus for a full 2 more minutes.  Put in a bowl and drizzle more olive oil on top, along with a sprinkling of paprika or zatar. Serve with pita wedges and vegetables (carrot slices, radish wedges, 3" slices of scallion, green pepper) as an appetizer, or use as a spread on vegetable sandwiches.

Variations: add (during the processing) 1/2 cup parsley, or up to 1 cup of diced pitted black Kalamata olives (reducing the amount of salt you add), or use roasted instead of fresh garlic (upping the number of cloves by 5 or 6).

Fava Bean Bruschetta With Mint and Basil

On Saturday mornings in Noe Valley on 24th a farmer's market takes place. This is nothing like the big farmer's market that takes place at the Ferry Building downtown. The Noe Valley farmer's market is very small, only about 15 vendors, and it is difficult to walk out of there without spending the prior week's paycheck. You do get what you pay for however and last Saturday was no exception. My friend Jeffrey and I were strolling the aisles of a vegetable purveyor and there they were. Big and fat and green fava beans... AND... they were already shelled.

If you have never shelled fava beans before I recommend staying away from the task. It is daunting, time consuming and a big pain in the butt. To have access to shelled favas was something that we could not pass up, but what to do with these tasty lime green delicious treats?

During a recent dinner at Bar Bambino, an amazing Italian restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco, my friends and I sampled some creative bruschetta, the best was the Chickpeas With Minced Roasted Olive Bits. Thinking back on this experience I was inspired not only by the bruschetta at Bar Bambino, but also by the fresh herbs and Meyer lemons that were staring me in the face.

So I picked up about 3 cups of shelled fava beans, fresh mint and basil and Meyer lemons. Jeffrey chose a rustic wheat bread to toast and serve the fava beans with.

Here is how you make this amazing bruschetta.

- Whichever you choose, baguette, rustic wheat, etc. slice thin and toast in the oven until crispy and golden brown.
- 2-3 cups of shelled favas (steamed for about 5 minutes or until soft to the bite, but not mushy)
- 2 tbsp each of Fresh mint and basil, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp Olio N'uovo or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix very well. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust flavor accordingly. You may need or want to add more Meyer lemon juice.

Serve atop toasted bread.