Pita Pizza

Fast, easy, and great with garden-fresh vegetables.

What's in it:
pita bread
hummus
feta cheese
cucumber
tomato
kalamata olives
raddicchio, lettuce, or baby spinach (optional)

How to make it:
Spread hummus onto pita bread and sprinkle feta cheese on top.  Bake or toast until feta cheese just starts to melt.

Add toppings!

Huevos Diablitos

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but I can only take credit for eating almost a whole tray of these. Even though I almost burst like Cool Hand Luke, these are the most bomb eggies you'll ever put in your mouth with the secret ingredient being truffle oil!

Recipe courtesy of Johanna Frenz

1 doz eggs
2T of vinegar
Salty water
1/3 cup mayo or so
1/3 cup good Dijon mustard
S&P
Capers, chopped finely (if you have them)
2 tsp truffle butter or oil
red chile powder, or red and green if ya wanna be festive!

Put the eggs in a pan with cold salty water and vinegar so they are submerged. Bring to a boil, cover the eggs and turn off the flame. Wait fifteen minutes and run under cold water.

Peel them. Or make someone else do it, this part sucks.

Slice eggs in two and take out the yolks. Save the egg boats.

Mash the yolks with the mayo, add the mustard and the chopped capers, salt it, pepper it, truffle it. Whip it and make it fluffy.

You probably have a pastry bag...perfect time to use it!
You don't? Use a plastic bag with the corner cut out. Fill those egg white boats up with the mixture; kinda like a soft serve ice cream.

When done sprinkle with chile powder. eat all in one sitting, before your guests even know you made 'em. ;)

Num Num Num!

Cranberry-Pear Relish

This is the second twist I found on traditional cranberry sauce in Sunset Magazine's November issue, and it is truly scrumptious.  The photo shows the recipe just before it is roasted in the oven so that all the flavors really mingle.

What's in it:
2 1/2 cups firm-ripe Bosc pears
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup water

How to make it:
1.  Peel and dice pears into 1/2 inch cubes.  Mix all above ingredients in a bowl.
2.  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and roast, stirring occasionally, unti the berries have popped and the juices have thickened (about 40 minutes).
3.  Chill until cool, covered*.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

*Also excellent served hot with a meal!

Cranberry-Jicama-Cilantro Salsa

This begins the collection of Thanksgiving recipes from our 2011 gathering.  I found this in the recent November issue of Sunset Magazine and it packs a nice, tangy punch as an appetizer or a side with the main meal.  I served this with crackers and creamy cheeses (havarti + brie), and tweaked the portions a bit to make a nice, big batch with more juice to allow it to steep for more flavor.

What's in it:
(2) cups fresh cranberries
1/2 jicama
handful chopped cilantro
1/2 jalapeno chile
1 cup orange juice
4 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp (optional, if you like it a little sweeter)
salt

How to make it:
1.  Mix orange juice + lime juice (+ sugar) in a bowl and set aside.
2.  Coarsely chop 2 cups fresh cranberries in a food processor.
3.  Peel and dice jicama; mince jalapeno chile.
4.  Mix all ingredients together in bowl, add salt to taste.
5.  Chill until ready to serve.  Drain juices and throw in fresh cilantro.  Voila!

Makes 2 cups.

Apple-Brie-Arugula Sandwiches

These easy, open-faced sammys are YUM.  Because my arugula plant grew like a weed out in the garden this summer, I continually found ways to use this fresh, peppery green.  This adds a nice balance to it's strong flavor.

What's in it:
1/2 baguette, sliced
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced (or your personal favorite kind)
good brie, sliced
mustard (my favs are Maille "Old Style" Whole Grain Dijon & local Old Pecos Food
               Hickory Almond)
black pepper

How to make it:
Add mustard and black pepper to baguette slices and toast.
Add arugula, then apple, then brie on top.
Toast again, lightly, until the brie just begins to melt (they key here is not to over-heat the arugula into wither-eens).

Serves 2 (for lunch, with tomato soup!)
Also great as an appetizer (multiply the recipe accordingly, usually one full baguette is plenty).

Bitterlicious Salad

If you like:

a. belgian endive

b. spicy arugula

c. bitter radicchio

...then this salad is for you. If these make you cringe, especially in their raw and crunchy state, you might want to skip this one.

The three leaves above are some of my favorites for salads. Ideally, you're plucking these out of the garden. I decided to combine them with some sweet red cherry tomatoes and chickpeas.

It tasted great with a classic Guyenet-family-recipe dressing: olive oil + red wine vinegar + dijon mustard.

I imagine this would be great paired with gourmet pizza or your favorite spaghetti.

Bon appetit y'all.

Andy's Hummus

Andy adapted a few recipes to come up with this tasty, dippable, spreadable hummus.

What's in it:

2 cups canned chickpeas (liquid set aside)

2/3 cup tahini paste*

5 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

salt n pepper

1 tsp. paprika

1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

How to make it:

1. In a food processor, purée the chickpeas, tahini, 3 tbsp. olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic until smooth, adding a little reserved liquid if it seems to

o thick; it will be slightly grainy.

2. Season with salt & pepper, and transfer to a shallow bowl.

3. Combine paprika with 2 tbsp. olive oil, and drizzle over the top. Garnish with parsley.

*Make your own tahini if you don't want to buy it. In a food processor or blender grind 4 tbsp. sesame seeds and 1 tsp. olive or sesame oil. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 cup of water if needed.

Makes about 3 cups.

Serve with scrumptious snacks like pita bread triangles and chopped carrots & cucumber, or put on your favorite veggie sandwich.

Here's our spread from dinner last night:

Avocado Hummus

While visiting our friend Sky in Santa Barbara last year, we went out for tapas. One of the dishes we ordered featured an "avocado hummus." Brilliant! And utterly delicious.

So the next night we tried it ourselves, figuring out that a mixture of 1/2 hummus and 1/2 avocado is a nice balance of flavor. Use 2-3 whole avocados and mix in your hummus for a yummy twist on this dip for guests.