Category: Appetizers

Old El Paso® Mexican “Hummus” Dip and Simple Summer Entertaining

I don’t know about your summer, but mine has been a whirlwind of entertaining and being entertained. When shopping for clients, or traveling in new locals, I always love to visit the farm stands and Farmers Markets in addition to my usual purveyors. Out of all the markets I have been too , I have to say the Ferry Plaza one in San Francisco is one of my favorites. Chicago doesn’t slouch in that category either. Green City Market attracts locals and the movers and shakers of the culinary world . But my all time  favorite one is in Vienna , the Naschmarkt.

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There is nothing so pleasing to eye and taste buds than fresh produce and food, and the farmers and artisans, and chefs who present them. Simple , beautiful, pure taste. One thing I’m noticing from my clients and the parties I attend, is they simple classic down home fare.  Nothing complex, just the good food speaking for itself without any hocus pocus and additional fanfare. I went to a well known philanthropists annual birthday fete, and the most memorable dish was a simple shrimp and clam boil stand with new potatoes and fresh chucked corn. My clients have been requesting simple roasts, root vegetable gratins, fried green tomatoes sliders, artful salads, and fruitful desserts.

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In another assignment for Old El Paso, I was tasked with using Old El Paso products to complement the wonderful bounty form the summers Farmers Markets. Taking an everyday trendy staple, with Middle Eastern Roots, I played on the legume theme of a classic hummus , using Old El Paso traditional Refried beans instead. Forget Pita, and use Old El Paso Flour Tortillas , deep fried as your tasty chip sprinkled with Sea Salt. A sprinkle of sumac on top of the hummus and WOW. Be creative with your crudite. Give a quick blanch and ice bath to keep its crunchiness. Use various small glasses or verrines, and cutouts to make an artful display and impress your guests with a healthy starter .

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Old El Paso® Mexican “Hummus” Dip and Simple Summer Entertaining
 
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There is a beauty and nature and summers riot of vegetables available at the local Farmers Market. When we shop at them , we feel connected with our earth and community. The past decade, hummus, a Middle Eastern dish of pureed chickpeas, lemon, garlic and chickpeas has become a household staple in American homes and parties. Why not take this recipe and use Old El Paso Refried Beans for a tasty twist on this exotic , and healthy recipe? Serve it up in a spectacular arrangement of vegetables from the farmers market and deep fried soft Old El Paso tortilla wedges seasoned with Sea Salt. Your guests and family will be wowed!
Ingredients
  • Mexican Hummus
  • 1 can Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • ¼ cup Tahini
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 3 cloves garlic minced finely
  • ¼ cup chopped sundried tomatoes
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. The fruitier the better.
  • Additional olive oil for finish drizzle
  • 1 teaspoon Sumac for garnish ( found in Middle Eastern section of grocery)
  • Vegetable Tray
  • 1 head cauliflower (blanched and plunged into ice water)
  • 1 /2 lb green beans (blanched and plunged into ice water)
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 Sweet Red Pepper
  • 1 pot of boiling salt water
  • Deep Fried Soft Tortillas Wedges
  • 1 package Old El Paso Soft Tortillas
  • Canola Oil For frying ( approx 2-3 cups )
  • Sea Salt
Instructions
  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
  2. Make an ice bath in a large bowl.
  3. In a glass bowl combine all ingredients, except finishing oil and sumac, for the Hummus. Take and immersion hand blender and pulse until you have a smooth paste.
  4. Place in serving dish. Drizzle with oil and sumac. Cover loosely and keep refrigerated until serving.
  5. Prep and cut vegetables. Be creative and use cutters for carrots, ripple slicer for squash and zucchini, etc. Add cut vegetable to ice bath to keep color and crispness.
  6. Plunge cauliflower florets and trimmed green beans in to boiling water to blanch for a few seconds. Quickly remove from water with strainer, and add to the ice bath to stop cooking and retain color.
  7. Arrange on platter with dip.
  8. Heat up Deep Fryer at 350-375°.
  9. Cut small piles of soft tortillas into eights wedges.
  10. Fry in small batches until golden. Drain on paper towels and salt.
  11. Serve with vegetable platter.
Notes
Use your favorite vegetables that inspire you. Get creative with presentation. I use bud vases inside glasses to create a more dimensional serving effect. Add some spice of powdered chili instead of sumac, if you prefer your dip on the spicy side. Substitute fresh jalapenos for sundried tomatoes too. Keep it all chilled as the party goes on. Use trays on top of ice.
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Happy Summer Eating. Visit the New Old El Paso site for other great ideas and see my recipes here.

Old El Paso Refried Beans,Chicken,Cheese Empanadas with Creamy Lime Cilantro Dip

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Here is another recipe I developed , incorporating Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans.These Latin inspired hand pies, empanada’s, can be filled with many sweet and savory fillings.Using  Old El Paso Refried beans with chicken and cheese add an extra creaminess. I used premade empanada dough discs , which can be found in the  Latin food freezer section in specialty supermarkets. You can also use a basic premade refrigerated  pie dough. Or if you have the time, patience, and skill, try making your own empanada dough. Either way your guests will enjoy these snacks, or even a meal in one. Play with sizes to determine your portions or style of serving.  The accompanying sauce has  a zesty coolness  of cilantro and lime. Perfect for dipping.

Empanada’s can be baked or fried. In this recipe I fried them. If you fry at the optimal temperature( around 350 degrees minimum), the result is perfect and food is not greasy. I love how frying blisters the dough and makes it perfectly crunchy and flakey. If you choose to bake your empanada, bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes on a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Be sure to brush tops with a bit of oil.

So you see the methods and options for empanada’s are endless. Savory, sweet, vegan, meat filled. Enjoy. And remember using a product like Old El Paso Refried beans adds more creaminess and goes with a multitude of filling options.

 *Disclosure

This is an endorsement of product from General Mills/ Old El Paso in which I developed a few recipes for compensation.

 

 

Old El Paso Refried Beans,Chicken,Cheese Empanadas with Creamy Lime Cilantro Dip
 
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Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • Empanadas
  • 10 premade empanada discs or ready made pie crusts cut into rounds( approximately 4 premade rolled crusts)
  • 1 cup boiled chicken breast, diced or shredded
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ cup Old El Paso Traditional refried beans
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella
  • Vegetable Oil for deep frying.( amount varies on size of deep fryer or skillet)
  • Creamy Cilantro Lime Dip
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • ¾ cup cilantro chopped
  • ½ small onion minced
Instructions
  1. For Empanadas
  2. Heat deep fryer to 350 º
  3. In a small bowl mix diced chicken, chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic.
  4. Take a small rounded tablespoon of seasoned chicken and place atop disc.
  5. Add a bit of cheese, and refried beans.
  6. Do not overstuff.
  7. Take each end of dough to fold over into half moon shape.
  8. Seal edges shut by pressing dough together, and then laying down on flat surface and using a fork to press in edges to seal.
  9. Fry empanadas a few at a time. Do not overcrowd fryer.
  10. Drain on paper towel. Keep warm on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 200 º oven.
  11. Creamy Cilantro Lime Dip
  12. In a small food processor or bowl/cup of immersion blender, add all sour cream, lime, cilantro, and onion.
  13. Pulse to blend.
  14. Refrigerate until ready to serve with empanadas.
Notes
You can use pre made refrigerated pie crust. If you make your own empanada dough, try coloring it with annatto. You can vary size of discs, empanadas, just remember not to overfill. You can use leftover rotisserie chicken, or other meats as a filling with Old El Paso Traditional Refried Beans, and Cheese of your choice.
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Smørrebrød and Smörgås…Scandinavian Open Faced Sandwiches

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New Year brings new ideas, styles, way of doing things.With all the innovation and tends in food , sometimes we just need to look back at a simpler ,less complex time . A question on my mind with all the holiday catering, was how to deliver the most , for less, without sacrificing taste or quality. I was thumbing through my Catering trade magazine and saw Smørrebrød ( those famous beautiful open faced sandwiches from Denmark) listed as a trend to watch. It seems everyone is on the Nordic bandwagon. I knew after my first visit to Sweden in 2004, there was something special about Scandinavian food. Clean, pure, simple taste. Sparse , yet elegant. No overkill there with their food, and you are completely satisfied.

Smørrebrød can be sweet or savory. They are served for celebrations, lunch, dinners, late night bar/ club snacks.So you see they are very versatile. They can be savory or sweet. So the imagination can run wild with how to compose cheese, fruits, condiments, vegetables, meat and seafood. Like wines or beers, a full menu of Smørrebrød is progressive , starting with fish,meat or poultry, and then dessert. A thick smear of butter on the base of hearty rye , pumpernickel , or white bread, insures the bread doesn’t get soggy, as well as enhances flavor. Because of this seal of fat, they can be premade and refrigerated before serving.

I thumbed through some of my favorite Scandinavian Cookbooks for inspiration. A good one to consider is Scandinavian Cooking by Beatrice A. Ojakangas and The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahneman.

The trick to beautiful Smørrebrød or Smörgås ( Swedish) is an organized mise en place.It’s about structure and balance, so you will want your ingredients prepped and laid out. You needn’t spend a fortune. I found a great  dense European style bread at Aldi for pumpernickel and rye. The shrimp and smoked salmon will be a bit more expensive, but many things you will have on hand.

Butter ,Lettuce,Poached chicken , marinated cucumber with dill, sugar vinegar, tomato wedge and bacon

Butter, Lettuce,Mayonnaise,Small Shrimp, Dill, Lemon, Tomato.

Butter,Raw Honey, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Sliced Pear brushed with Lemon, Bacon

See  how easy these sandwiches can be?  The carnivores, pescatarians, vegetarians, and picky eaters will be happy. Mix cheese , nuts and fruits.Try to make your own compound butters, cream cheese, or may blends. Fuse cultures, the possibilities are endless and it wont break the bank.

 

Cooking and Eating Well on the Run. Bertolli Soups and Salmon Rillettes Tartines

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I work with Bertolli on occasion and always love to receive new products.  Life has been mainly cooking and eating on the run these days.The fast few months the new range of Bertolli  Meal Soups for Two have saved many meals and situations , as I have been :

  • too tired to cook
  • working  or catering and not able cook
  • Certain Someone has no dinner while I’m away working or zoned out from fatigue.

Even industry people take shortcuts. You know the saying about the cobblers kids having no shoes, the hairdresser having bad hair, etc. While we work for others , we sometimes neglect whats at home. If I had to take a shortcut I love the tasty frozen Bertolli soups. These come excellently packaged with frozen cubes of excellent stock, meat and vegetables. It couldn’t be easier. My favorite was the Italian Wedding. I made this with a quick Kale Caprese Salad of chopped kale, small mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes, pesto , balsamic and oil. Dinner in about 10-15 minutes.  Check them out.

Another quick item, stretchable item  to make this winter or even for holiday entertaining, that would pair perfectly with a nice soup , bisque or risotto , is a short cut salmon rillette. I found wild sockeye salmon in cans at Costco that’s far superior than any canned salmon I’ve seen. I purchased a small tub of lox trimmings for less than $3 and made this amazing spread. Try it as a tartine on fresh baguette or on tiny crostini. It’s quite addictive.


Salmon Rillettes Tartines
 
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A quick and easy salmon spread
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Ingredients
  • 1 6 oz can Wild Sockeye Salmon
  • ½ cup lox trimmings or any type pf smoked salmon
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoon softened unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dried chives
  • 1 teaspoon capers packed in salt ( you can use more or less)
  • 1 shallot shaved
  • 1 fresh baguette
Instructions
  1. Combine  both types of salmon, spices, lemon, butter and oil in a bowl .
  2. Pulse with an immersion blender to a paste.
  3. Gently fold in capers.
  4. Shave thin slices of shallot.
  5. Spread salmon paste on bread slices.
  6. Top with shallots and additional chives.
  7. Serve.
Notes
You can use an immersion blender or food processor. Chilling improves the flavor.
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Chilled Summer Borscht

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Summer has arrived, and I’m getting inspired again in the kitchen, as you can see from my recent blog posts. This weeks vegetable box inspired this recipe. Beets with the loveliest greens atop them were the centerpiece of box. Pickling was out of the question and I got to thinking of  the refreshing chilled soups you find particularly in Eastern Europe ( Hungary and Russia). I remembered I loved the beautiful beet based winter borscht with its beautiful ruby-red sheen. So what if  I made a more tourmaline hued  like borscht  with a cream base ,seasoned with fresh crisp apples, dill, and cucumber? A beautiful starter , with crisp bright flavors perfect for summer brunch ?

I played around and this is what I got. You will find it light yet filling. The perfect chilled soup for a lovely summer day. As Borscht is really nothing but a seasonal soup ,play around with your produce and combos.  I used chicken stock as a base, however vegetable stock can be used as well.

Chilled Summer Borscht
 
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A chilled soup.
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Recipe type: soup
Ingredients
  • 2 apples peeled , cored and diced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 2 plum tomatoes chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped dill
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 beets with leaves intact
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar
  • fresh dill weed and thinly sliced cucumber for garnish.
Instructions
  1. In a heavy bottomed stock pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
  2. Add diced apples, carrots, and red onion.
  3. Saute on medium high for about 10 minutes until the vegetables become soft and onions translucent.
  4. Season with salt and pepper, and dill.
  5. Add chopped tomatoes.
  6. Saute for 5 for minutes.
  7. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  8. Take an immersion blender and puree the soup mixture.
  9. Add the sugar and stir in. Continue to let the soup simmer.
  10. Cut off the greens of the beets and chop up. Add to simmering soup mixture.
  11. With a vegetable peeler , skin the beets and chop into small pieces.
  12. In a small fry pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  13. Add the chopped beets and saute for about 10 minutes on medium high, until they are softened.
  14. Remove from heat and add the beets to the soup mixture.
  15. Quickly blend the beets into the soup with the immersion blender.
  16. Turn off the soup. You don't want to overcook the beets once added to the soup as the color will darken.
  17. Let the coup cool down.
  18. Add the sour cream and Sherry Vinegar to the soup. Blend with immersion blender.
  19. Strain soup through a fine mesh wire strainer. There will be pulp. Push out the liquid from the pulp. You want a fine strained liquid, without the thick pulp.
  20. Chill the soup overnight or for at least 6 hours.
  21. Serve cold with chopped fresh dill garnish and thinly sliced cucumber.
  22. *Soup may separate after a few hours while chilling. Just whip up with blender again before serving.
Notes
Equipment A fine mesh wire strainer. Immersion Blender You can make this the day ahead. It will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Serve in small cordial or shooter glasses or bowls. Servings may vary depending on how served.
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