Minted Baby Artichokes

Minted Baby Artichokes

Ingredients:

• 4 baby artichokes
• 1/2 c. fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 c. shelled walnuts
• 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil plus additional to drizzle
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small shallot
• pinch of salt and ground pepper

Directions:

• Remove tough outer leaves of artichokes, cut tips of remaining leaves with kitchen shears, peel and trim stems and cut in half lengthwise. Place each in a bowl of water with lemon juice until ready to boil.
• Bring pot of water to a low boil (I always add my leftover lemon from squeezing to this), add in artichokes and boil about 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of your chokes. To test, try tugging on an inner leaf. When it comes out with ease, they're done.
• Meanwhile, place other ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
• Serve cut side up, drizzle with olive oil, spoon the mint dip into centers and use it to dip your leaves. Heavenly!

XO, Debbie

Filled Dates Appetizer

Having dinner guests always inspires me to try out new culinary delights. I just came up with these filled-date bites last night. They're wonderfully caramel-like in consistency and flavor. They make a great little appetizer, so I wanted to share with you all before the Easter holiday.


Cheese and Nut Filled Dates 

Ingredients:

• 8 fresh Medjool dates
• 2-3 ozs. Fromager d'Affinois (lovely double cream French cheese)
• 1/8 c. finely chopped pecans (hazelnuts would also be delicious)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375
• Pit the dates from the stem end (I used a bird's beak knife to do this without much ado.)
• Mix the cheese and pecans together well
• Stuff the dates (you could use a pastry bag for this step, I used my fingers)
• Bake in baking dish for 10-12 minutes or until skin is very lightly crisped
• Serve hot

 Enjoy, and a Happy Holiday to all!

XO, Debbie

Lavasch Crackers

Lavasch Crackers


I never thought I'd love a cracker enough to invest the time into making it at home. That is until recently, when I bought some Lavasch crackers and topped them with a creamy goat cheese and a layer of fig spread. The salty, seedy toppings on the cracker complimented the sweetness of the fig in just the rightest of ways and made my taste buds do a little dance. Lavasch are an expensive cracker, though, and since my appetite is more extravagant than my budget large, I had to find a way to fit more of this satisfying snack into my life... I put away a whole afternoon getting these just right, but get them right I did, and I think you should try them.

Equipment: stand mixer with dough attachment, large mixing bowl, pasta machine, rolling pin, wet dishcloth or plastic wrap, dough scraper, pastry brush, cookie sheet and liner

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 c. bread flour, plus additional if needed
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 2-1/4 tsp. (or 1 pkg.) yeast
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. sugar or honey
• 1cup lukewarm water, plus additional if needed
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• a variety of seeds and seasonings: I use sesame, caraway, fennel, and poppy, as well as kosher salt, dried rosemary, and cracked pepper for toppings

Directions:

• In bowl of stand mixer, put your yeast, 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, sugar or honey and 1 cup of water. Combine and allow to sit 5-10 minutes, until foamy.
• Turn mixer on low and add bread flour slowly, a cup at a time. Add salt and 1 tsp. of the olive oil. Once incorporated, turn mixer to a medium/high setting. At this point your mixture should begin to take a dough shape. You can add additional flour or water to get it right. Let it work for 8 or so minutes. You're looking to form a ball, pliable, not too dry or sticky.
• Turn out onto floured board and knead by hand an additional few minutes. Form into a ball.
• Put 1 tsp. olive oil in large bowl and transfer the dough, covering all sides of dough with the oil. Cover with wet dishcloth or plastic wrap. Let sit about an hour, until doubled in size.
• Pre-heat oven to 500.
• Remove dough from bowl and knead another few minutes, form into a ball. Cut ball into strips, narrow enough to fit through pasta machine. Roll out one strip using rolling pin, set the others aside under dishcloth until ready to use.
• Starting with setting 1 on pasta machine, run through each setting all the way through setting 6. Repeat with remaining dough strips. You could also roll these out by hand but they have to be very thin and very consistent, I found this the best way of achieving the outcome I was looking for. 
• You're now ready to cut. Shapes are up to your discretion. I made some bite sized rounds using a biscuit cutter, some strips and triangles using my dough scraper. Just be sure the crackers you lay out on your sheet in each batch are about the same size for even cooking.
• On a lined cookie sheet, lay out your shapes. Paint each cracker with your pastry brush dipped in water and sprinkle on your toppings. I mixed my toppings together prior to this step for efficiency. Don't skimp on the salt!
• Bake em! Bake times vary depending on the size of your crackers, but it's short and seconds matter. Mine were about 3 minutes. They're done when you can see slight browning and they've developed small bubbles.

XO, Debbie