Another Dip: Roasted Red Pepper & Walnuts

This is one of my favorite dips. It's a bit unusual and it is rather addictive. You'll be roasting red peppers just so you enjoy this dip on everything. Pomegranate molasses is reduced pomegranate juice. If you can't find it, you can use more lemon juice but it's definitely tastier with the molasses for its sweet and tangy flavor. You can find it in Middle Eastern markets, and supermarkets with a good selection of ethnic foods. You can use it to make this pomegranate vinaigrette, delicious on main dish salads featuring grilled meats.

Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Dip (Muhamara)
(makes 1 ½ cups)

3 red bell peppers, roasted - find out how, peeled and seeded
¾ cup chopped walnuts plus a little more for garnish, toasted and cooled
¼ cup fine dry bread crumbs or wheat cracker crumbs
½ Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses (or more lemon juice)
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
a pinch of sugar (or more if you are using just lemon juice)
1 Tablespoon olive oil plus more for garnish
a few drops of hot sauce

Grind up the walnuts, crumbs, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, cumin, salt, and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Pat the red peppers dry, chop roughly and add to the food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil. If it is really thick, add a Tablespoon or so of water. Season with hot sauce and more salt, if needed. Garnish with additional olive and some toasted chopped walnuts, if you want to pretty it up. Serve with wedges of pita bread, pita chips, or crackers.

The flavor improves as it sits, so make it a day or a few hours ahead for the best flavor.

Party Food for the Big Game: Roasted Eggplant Dip

What big game? The Superbowl, of course. Which is Super Duper this year because my Denver Broncos are in it! I just had to throw that out there. :-)

This dip is made with roasted eggplants, which I consider the best way to cook an eggplant. You can roast them in the oven or on the grill. The grill results in better flavor - really brings out the smokiness, but the oven does an admirable job. Unless you want a full-on oven mess, you must remember to poke the eggplants before they go in the oven. When the steam builds up in there, it's like a ticking eggplant bomb.

This is based on a recipe for baba ghanoush, which is a rich, creamy delicious roasted eggplant dip from the Middle East. You can see a recipe for traditional baba ghanoush on my other blog, World on a Platter. This recipe doesn't use tahini, which is ground sesame seed paste. It has a very distinctive flavor, with a hint of bitterness. Some folks don't enjoy it, so, here's a more approachable roasted eggplant dip made with yogurt. It's very mild. You can jazz it up with any number of garnishes: lots of olive oil, chopped walnuts, crumbled feta cheese, or roasted pine nuts. All of these would be yummy. If you don't finish all the dip, it also makes an excellent sandwich spread paired with mild cheeses like cream cheese or American muenster.

For readers in Boulder, eggplants are really cheap right now at King Soopers (through Tuesday) and at Sprouts (through Wednesday). Good week to make eggplant dip!

Roasted Eggplant Dip
(serves 12 as a dip, 6 as a sandwich spread, costs $6.25 when eggplants are $1 each)

2 eggplants, poked a few times with a fork
2 cloves garlic
¾ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
juice of ½ a lemon
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
4 - 6 sprigs fresh mint, minced (about 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons fragrant extra-virgin olive oil

Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the eggplants on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for 40-60 minutes, turning every 20 minutes. The eggplant needs to get very soft, so don't worry about overcooking it. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Smash the garlic on a cutting board and then sprinkle it with ¼ teaspoon coarse salt. Using the flat side of your knife, mush the salt into the garlic. You want to place the blade parallel to the board and drag the sharp side of the blade through the garlic. In the beginning, you won't seem to get anywhere with this, but keep mushing until the garlic and salt have formed a smooth paste. This takes a little practice, but it's a great technique for getting a smooth garlic paste.

Cut the stem ends off each eggplant and peel off the skin. Drop the flesh into a food processor with a steel blade. Process until smooth. Add the garlic paste, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, yogurt, lemon juice, black pepper, and cumin. Process again to mix well. Mix in the mint. Taste for seasoning - you may want to add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Turn out into a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil and any others garnishes (see article for some suggestions). Serve with crackers or pita bread pieces.

Adapted from 100 Great Lite Bites by Silvana Franco, Sterling Publishing,
2006.

Guacamole!

Though not traditional, guacamole tastes pretty good with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds

Once you have salsa, you need to move on to guacamole. Another recipe from my last class. Guacamole is a great dip with chips, or as a topping for the chicken-potato enchiladas we also prepared in the class.

Avocados are sold ripe and underripe. They always ripen off the tree, so you can buy them underripe. You can buy a lot of them and stick them in the refrigerator. They will happily sit there for weeks. I've heard, though I haven't tried this, that they freeze just as well if you want to keep them even longer. From the fridge, they will take about 3 days to ripen. Once they do get ripe, they will keep in the refrigerator for another week as long as you don't cut them. Once cut, they will darken quickly so plan to eat it within a day.

Here's a tip on avocados: they go on sale in early February for the Super Bowl parties (much guacamole is eaten that Sunday). Plan to make a big batch and share it with your friends.

Guacamole
(4 servings, costs $1.25 - $2, depending on the price of avocados)

1 medium avocado
2 Tablespoons small dice red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon or more minced jalapeño or serrano chile
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika or mild pure chile powder
juice of ½ a lime
1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Cut the avocado in half by running your knife down from the top to the bottom and back up to the top. Twist the halves in opposite directions. Pull out the pit. Scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mash to the desired consistency. Some like their guacamole chunky, some like it smooth. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, chile for more heat, and lime for more zip.