My friend introduced me to an amazing dip and I’ve become sorta addicted to it. She calls it The Sesame Dip of Goodness. It is. However, you probably wouldn’t give it a second look. It’s beige and a bit lumpy from the sesame seeds – it’s not vibrant or chic, and you might think it downright dowdy. The ingredient list is short and it doesn’t really hold many surprises. But somehow, together, everything works and becomes more than the sum of its ingredients. This dip is tangy and creamy and wonderful…and really freakin’ addicting.

When I recreated this for myself, I knew all the ingredients, but not the proportions, but I think I came up with a winner. I asked my friend if it would be okay to write about this dip on my blog, she gave her a-okay. She also told me that she got the recipe from a book called Entertaining Vegetarians which I’ve promptly put on hold at my local library. When I pick it up next week, I’ll see how my version compares with the original.

I’ve made this with both greek yogurt and the runnier plain no/low fat stuff and both work well here. I’ve only tried a 50/50 split between the mayo and the yogurt, but if you’re queasy about using mayonnaise, then I’m sure upping the yogurt content should be okay. This also makes an excellent salad dressing – just thin with a little lemon juice!

When my friend serves it at parties, she says that it’s one of the first thing that disappears once someone ventures for the first dip. I’m not surprised. And if her nearly-four year old daughter is any indication, this dip is super kid friendly too. It’s a great way to eat your raw veggies and I’ve noticed that now that this dip is in my regular rotation, I go through carrots and celery like a crazy person. Of course, other vegetables go well here, but carrots and celery are my serious faves.

elsewhere: Last week, I made a really tasty vegan coffee cake and you can find the recipe over at Poppytalk.

sesame dip of goodness
1/3 c plain yogurt (greek or the low fat kind works equally well)
1/3 c mayonnaise (I use the low fat stuff)
2 T soy sauce
1/4 c toasted sesame seeds

dippers:
carrots, celery, snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes or whatever vegetable captures your fancy

Add everything into a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Serve with raw vegetables.

Possibly related posts:

• spicy red kidney bean dip
• summer holiday: cannellini bean dip with lemon & rosemary

I’ve been trying to open myself up to new experiences and that tends to mean doing things that are pretty frickin’ scary. Though, I did just see 127 Hours recently, I think that experience is one I can live without, thank you very much. But I did speak in front of a crowd of 1,200 people last week and talked about my inspiration regarding food and food blogging at PechaKucha. And it turns out, speaking in front of a crowd of strangers – who thankfully laughed at all the right places – wasn’t as scary as I thought! It was actually all kinds of amazing and I’m so thankful for the opportunity do to so. Conquering a crazy fear? Check! If you are interested in seeing my presentation slides, you can view them here via slideshare. Slide 5 is static over there, but at PechaKucha it was a speeded up silent video. You can see the actual one minute and 40 second movie (with sound!) over on YouTube. It’s called A Dream of Donuts and I made it with a friend in 2000 and we edited with 2 VHS machines ‘cuz that’s how we rolled back then. It’s short and sweet and a little bit fun too. Here are the links to the recipe for my mom’s vanilla chocolate chip bundt cake and the recipe for chocolate on toast that I mentioned at PechaKucha if you feel like doing a little baking.

Oh hey, let’s talk about canning pickled beets! Okay? Okay!

Pickling is fine. No big thing, right? I mean I’ve quick pickled all kinds of vegetables and even made some apricot jam over the summer. But I have never tried canning and processing because it seemed like such a frightening process. And like all things that seem scary at first, it turned out not to be that scary after all. All you need is a bit of preparation – and equipment. I’m lucky because I scored a canning bath pot and jar rack at a garage sale and I found some canning tongs at a thrift store. I also used a wire cookie rack at the bottom of the pot to make sure that the jars didn’t touch the bottom because if glass jars touch the bottom of the pot, they’ll crack and explode. Hence the cookie rack. If you’re feeling more DIY, just create a rack of your own out of tin foil. Improvisation is key! You will also need 6 pint jars. Thrifted jars are fine but they must be clean and free of nicks and chips, but they don’t have to be brand new. However, your snap lids and rings should be, so don’t skimp there!

Once you’ve got all the equipment handy, all you need to do is make sure you’ve got your ingredients ready and read over the directions at least twice. Seriously, this will help you feel calm and prepared. If you’ve never canned anything before, peruse some online guidelines to get familiar with the task at hand. It will sound more scary than it actually is. Trust me.

You know you’ll have escaped the threat of botulism once you hear a very satisfying pop-pop-popping from each jar as they cool. It’s the best sound you’ve ever heard and it goes so well with that sigh of relief. To be sure that your jars have processed correctly, you can tap the lids with a spoon to hear a high pitched ring. The lids will also be slightly concave, so the visual clues with the audio clues will have you totally relived. Phew!

Now, regarding this beet recipe….while it was very tasty, the recipe itself was a bit totally off. One, it calls for a crap-load of beets – 4.5 lbs to be exact. And there’s no way that that amount of beets could have fit into my 6 pint jars (or the 5 pint jars + 2 half-pint jars I used). I had a ton of beets and onions leftover, not a problem since I love beet salad, but a complication nonetheless. In the recipe below you’ll find that I reduced the amount of beets and onions, but I just guessed at the amount figuring 3 lbs and 1 onion should do just fine (if this is not the case, please let me know). I loved the taste of the cinnamon and ginger and rosemary together but I also tend to enjoy a sweeter pickled beet. So bump up the brown sugar from 1/3 cups to 2/3 cups if you want your pickles a wee bit sweeter. Your call.

These pickled beets make fine gifts. I’ve given away a few of the jars already and have received rave reviews. While the beets make a fine side dish, I think they are pretty perfect on their own. Adding a drizzle of local honey and a handful of salty crumbled feta certainly does things up right.

elsewhere: Don’t be a hater! Find the love for some spicy and salty roasted brussels sprouts over at Poppytalk. You won’t be disappointed.

phat beets
(adapted from Martha Stewart)
3 pounds large red beets, greens removed and washed
4-5″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin rounds (12 slices of ginger)
6 sprigs fresh rosemary (3 inches each)
1 large red onion, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thin slices
1 T whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches long)
1 t whole cloves
4 c cider vinegar
1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 – 2/3 c brown sugar

1. In a large pot, bring beets to the boil and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes until they can easily be pierced with a fork. Drain and cool beets. This step can be done the day before. Remove skins and cut beets in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. In a large bowl, mix together the onions with the beets. Set aside.

2. Place 6 clean 1-pint jars right side up on a rack in a boiling-water canner. Fill the canner and jars with hot water, about 1-inch above the tops of jars. Boil jars over high heat for 10 minutes. Remove and drain hot sterilized jars one at a time. Keep the water simmering away in the canner for later. Place jars on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.

3. Meanwhile, in another pot filled with water, bring water to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add cleaned lids and lid rings and let simmer lids for 10 minutes – do not boil, as this may cause problems in sealing jars. Drain lids and set aside.

4. Fill each sterilized jar with 2 pieces of ginger and 1 sprig rosemary. Pack each jar with onion and beet mixture up to within 1/2 inch below the rim of the jar.

5. In a tea strainer or make a baggie out of a piece of cheesecloth, place allspice, cinnamon stick, and cloves inside a medium sized saucepan. Pour over cider vinegar, 2 cups water, lemon juice, and brown sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cover – let mixture simmer about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, check to make sure that the water in the canner is brought up to a boil.

6. Immediately pour hot spiced vinegar mixture over the beet mixture in each jar. Press down with a small rubber spatula to release any air bubbles. If you drip any liquid on the tops of the jars, wipe dry with a clean cloth. Put lids and rings on jars and tighten but do not over-tighten.

7. Within 10 minutes of filling the jars, place them back into the canner one at a time, using a jar lifter that is securely positioned below the neck of the jar. Keep jars upright at all times. Add more boiling water from a kettle if needed so that the water covers the jars by one inch. Boil the jars for 7 minutes. Turn off heat and gently transfer jars to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, taking care not to tilt jars and spacing each jar at least 1 inch apart. Avoid placing jars on a cold surface or near a cold draft.

8. Let jars sit undisturbed until fully cooled, 12 to 24 hours. You will begin to hear a popping noise. This is a very good thing, meaning that your jars have sealed. Hooray! No botulism for you! Do not tighten ring bands on the lids or push down on the center of the flat metal lid until jar has cooled completely.

9. Once jars have cooled completely, test to make sure each jar is completely sealed. Press down on the middle of the lid with a finger. If lid springs up when finger is released, the jar is unsealed. Store sealed jars in a cool place for at least 2 and up to 4 weeks to allow flavors to thoroughly combine. If any of the jars are unsealed, store in the refrigerator and used within several days.

Possibly related posts:

• splash of colour: farro & arugula salad with beets
• i love the beets & the beets love me: sauteed beet greens with lime and garlic

It’s been one of those stupidly busy weeks, but I’m not complaining because the work has been fun and I’ve taken time out to ride my bike in the sunshine. Yes, it’s sunny and beautiful and I can’t remember ever having such a fantastic fall weather. Thumbs up fall, please take a bow! And this dip that you are staring at also deserves some recognition. It’s packs some serious heat and the flavours are quite complex. It’s a winner in the dip department.

This dip saved my ass. A couple weeks ago I needed a quick snack to whip up for some friends stopping by. I checked the cupboard and saw a can of kidney beans and then hopped online and found this Nigella Lawson recipe. I had pretty much everything I needed and I was curious to try out a bean dip that wasn’t made from black beans, cannellini beans or chickpeas. It was a snap to put together and while I strayed from most of her ingredients, I was really happy with the results and it got rave reviews from my friends.

What I especially loved was how it reminded me that celery is such a great lil’ dipper! Years ago, I strayed from celery when it came to vegetable plates. Celery always seemed so bland – but this dip reminded me that it’s not the case! Celery is crunchy, it’s slightly peppery and it’s refreshingly watery.  It also makes sweet, sweet  love to this bean dip – so give celery another chance and forget your standard dip and try this one on for size.

elsewhere: Cozy up with a bowl of the real nitty gritty. I’m talking about grits and polenta over at Readymade and include my go-to recipe. Craving a taste of fall? Try these soft oh-so-cakey pumpkin cookies over at Poppytalk and shove a couple in your coat pockets to keep you warm.

spicy red kidney bean dip
(adapted from Nigella Lawson)
2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of salt
2 T curry paste
2 T tomato sauce
1/4 t cinnamon
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
a few good glugs of sriracha (if you like things really spicy)
1 t maple syrup
juice & zest of 1 lemon

In a small saucepan, heat oil and saute onions and garlic until soft. Stir in the salt, curry paste, tomato sauce, cinnamon and beans, and stir things about until everything has heated. Add in the maple syrup, lemon juice and zest, stir and remove from heat. Using a potato masher, mash the beans well. If you like a smoother dip, use a blender. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Cool slightly and serve with tortilla chips, crackers or vegetable sticks.

Possibly related posts:

• i like it hot in here: simple hummus + white bean dip +white, red & green barley salad
• summer holiday: cannellini bean dip with lemon & rosemary

Canning is something that I’m afraid to try. It’s a stupid fear, but a fear none the less. I’ll get over it. Just like I did with yeast and bread making. I can do it. But in the meantime, I’m going to make freezer pickles. Haven’t heard of freezer pickles? Well, you are missing out. For one thing, they are easy to do. Maybe not as simple and as instantly gratifying as a quickle, but I’d say the satisfaction level on these pickled babies are sky high.

For one thing, you can use regular cucumbers–any kind of cucumber in fact. I had 2 different types of cucumbers from our CSA, a regular field cuke and another kinda fancy heirloom variety, and they both worked out just fine. The slices of cucumbers and onions get salted for a couple of hours to leech out the water which helps to make these pickles oh-so crisp and crunchy. Then they get spiced up with dried hot peppers (I went a little nuts here in a good way) and get kind of earthy and yellowy with a bit of turmeric. Sugar and vinegar are added and then they sit in the fridge for a couple of days.

I tasted them while in the fridge stage and they were perfect: crisp and popped of flavour. But I froze them because that’s just what you do with freezer pickles. Why freeze ‘em when they taste just fine in the fridge? Well, I searched long and hard for a good solid answer and I don’t have one. Some say that freezing breaks down the cell walls of the pickles allowing the brine to permeate the cuke quicker while others say that the opposite happens and the pickling essentially stops. In university, I took science for art students so I’m not the one to keep abreast of such matters. I can say  that for me it makes storage a lot easier and because they don’t last too long in the fridge, having frozen back-ups makes sense when I’m craving another pickle hit.

And you’ll want another pickle hit. And another, because these pickles are delicious and are truly the best I’ve ever made. Super crunchy (you can hear ‘em from the next room) and never slimy. Cornelius says these are his favorite pickles. They’re like bread and butter ones but not too sweet. And they’ve got a good slow burn from the dried chilies, which seems to add more of a burn with each passing day.

Regarding cucumber thickness, I cut these by hand, but you are more than welcome to use a mandoline. I like the assortment of irregularly cut pickles. Some are thinner than others and I prefer the slightly thicker ones – more bite and heft in each bite. Go with your personal preference & you can’t go wrong.

And just a tip when dealing with turmeric. Don’t use your prettiest, oldest Fire king white glass bowl when adding in the turmeric. Not only will it give your pickles a golden hue, but your bowl will stain pretty quickly. It’s not permanent–just have a good scrubbing arm and some baking soda on hand. Easy to solve, but thought a warning should be necessary.

crunchy sweet & spicy freezer pickles
3 cucumbers, sliced thinly
1 large onion, sliced into rings
3 T kosher salt
8-10 dried peppers or a couple fresh ones
1.5 c cider vinegar
1 c water
2/3 c sugar
1/2 t turmeric

In a large bowl, let the cucumbers, onion, salt and peppers mingle for 3 hours in the fridge. Drain the liquid but don’t rinse. In a small saucepan, heat up the vinegar, water, sugar until the sugar melts. Add in the turmeric. Pour over the pickles and keep covered in the fridge for 48 hours, stirring the mixture occasionally. Spoon into freezer containers (glass jars, freezer bags, leftover yogurt containers) leaving about 1 inch head room. I was able to fill up 3 glass jars of Adam’s peanut butter for reference. Freeze pickles for 8 hours or up to 6 months. Thaw in fridge before using & use up within 3 weeks.

Possibly related posts:

• sour dill pickles
• red hot! cinnamon heart quick pickles

A little while ago I was contacted by Mushrooms Canada to come up with a recipe using mushrooms for their upcoming Mushroom Masters contest – a little friendly food competition where each week this month 3 food bloggers battle it out with their own unique recipes. I was picked for the button mushroom round and came up with these tasty mushroom empanadas. The mushrooms are sauteed with garlic, fresh herbs and a splash of wine and cream and then wrapped in a beautiful and flaky whole wheat pastry.

You can find the recipe over at the Mushrooms Canada Blog and you can vote for my little pocket pastry empanada to win over at Tastespotting. Voting closes soon, so please go and vote today! I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was paid a fee for my recipe and photos.

Possibly related posts:

• curried red lentil & mushroom burgers (& a recipe for homemade mayonnaise)

housekeeping: So how’s everyone doing with the new site? I’m a bit worried about the RSS feeds. Bloglines is giving me a bit of grief and I’ve heard some rumblings about Google Reader. Is everything fine or have you experienced some issues? Email me!

It’s pretty easy to whip up a pan of cornbread, but it can be a bit trickier coming up with something that isn’t dry, bland and a step away from the garbage bin. My usual remedy is to add cheese – and it obviously works, as I’ve done HERE. But if you don’t want all the heaviness that cheddar cheese sometimes has, cottage cheese is a pretty wonderful substitute. I also love adding in some frozen corn for texture and some diced green onions or diced green chili certainly wouldn’t be remiss here. I found this recipe on Closet Cooking and it sounded ideal. The results are a moist and light cornbread that is both delicious on it’s own or with a good spicy chili.

elsewhere…
You can find me dishing the dish on kitchen knives over at Poppytalk. Want to know what the best kitchen knife is? Well, I’m probably not going to tell you. But if you are afraid to cook because you aren’t sure what you need, then this is the guide for you.

cottage cheese cornbread
(adapted from Closet Cooking)
1 c cornmeal
1 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 T brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1 c cottage cheese
1/4 c canola oil
1 c frozen corn

Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cornmeal through to the salt and set aside. In another bowl, mix up the sugar, buttermilk, cottage cheese, eggs and oil and then blend it with the dry ingredients. Stir in corn. Pour batter into a buttered baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the centre comes out clean.

Possibly related posts:

• a great side: cheesy cornbread
• 3 cheese seed scones

I didn’t want a recipe that was too heavy with butter or cream, so I decided to make a twist on ceviche. Ceviches usually rely on lemon or lime juice to cook the raw fish, but a recipe found in Gourmet for a grilled scallop ceviche sounded ideal. And it was. It’s full of bright, citrus flavours and the cucumber here is very refreshing against the jalapeño heat. It’s the kind of meal you’d want to eat lots of in the summer, you know, in between your yacht sailings and Prada shopping sprees. And while this meal feels fancy, it’s actually not such a big spend. The recipe only uses 8 large sea scallops and when you think about the cost of eating out, a nice meal in with a bottle of wine is pretty affordable (but go on and strap on some heels for the occasion).

Tip: Are you starting from frozen scallops? Use the cold water method to defrost rather than slowly defrosting in the fridge. Put your scallops into a ziplock bag, place bag into a bowl and slowly run cold water from your tap over the scallops until they thaw. Depending on the size of your seafood, this could take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. This way results in very fresh tasting scallops and this way your seafood doesn’t get swamped with water. This quick thaw method works well for shrimp as well.

grilled scallop ceviche
(recipe adapted from Gourmet)
6-8 large sea scallops
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 small orange
2 T fresh lime juice
3/4 English cucumber, seeded and diced
1/4 of a red onion, finely diced
1-2 jalapeños, seeds removed, minced

1. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper and brush lightly with a bit of olive oil before adding them to a hot grill pan. Grill until marks appear (about 1-2 minutes) and flip repeating the process. Scallops don’t need to be fully cooked as they will fully cook in the lime juice later. Remove from pan immediately and set aside to cool.

2. Cut away the peel from the orange using a sharp paring knife. Cut segments free from their membranes and then dice. Add oranges, cucumber, red onion, jalapeños and any remaining orange juice into a medium sized bowl.

3. If your scallops are large & you want to be thrifty like me, slice the scallops in half on their sides so that 1 scallop is now 2 coin-shaped scallops (rather than cutting them in half width wise). Add the scallops to the bowl and squeeze lime juice over everything. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top and gently toss. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Possibly related posts:

• creamy cucumber dill salad
• schlurp! udon soup with grilled salmon

Initially, I was worried about texture. Slimy wasn’t what I was looking for. I was also determined to make it to my own tastes which meant a lot of garlic and lemon and spice to enhance the experience. I said enhance not mask in case you are taking note. So I got started and strained my own plain low fat yogurt using a coffee pot and paper coffee filters. I’ve done it before and it works really well. Or you can just go ahead and use Greek yogurt which is thick and rich and pretty much perfect. Then you grate and drain the cucumbers of their excess moisture. After that, all the hard part is done. A bit of lemon here, a bit of dill and garlic there. Add in some kosher salt and spice to balance everything out and there you go. A dip of champions. Please note, that the photos were taken on New Years eve and I had a few Amaretto Sours alongside, so things aren’t quite so photogenic – but don’t let that turn you off. This tzatziki is amazing and I’m not just saying that because me and the cucumber are bffs 4 ever.

the best tzatziki ever
500 g tub of Greek yogurt, or strain a 900 g tub of plain yogurt (discard the liquid)
1/2 large english cucumber, seeds removed

2 T olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a red onion, finely minced
1 t kosher salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t paprika
1 T dried dill
juice & zest of 1 small lemon

1. If you are using regular yogurt, you’ll need to strain it through a coffee filter for about 2 hours to remove all the excess liquid as you want the yogurt to be nice and thick. If you are using Greek yogurt, no worries, you are good to go.

2. Grate the cucumber and place it in a mesh strainer and position the strainer above a bowl. Use a large spoon to press out all the water from the cucumber. Sprinkle a bit of salt over top the cucumber to let the water out quicker or just wait it out.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, dill and spices together. Add in the thick yogurt and stir well. Next, stir in the cucumber and lemon zest. Add in the juice of half of the lemon, stir and taste. Want more tang? Add in more juice. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Now go and dip to your hearts content.

Possibly related posts:

• creamy cucumber dill salad
• lemon & cucumber salad

The same “kitchen as restorative” feeling came last Friday. I was attending the party of this lovely lady later in the evening, but I was freaking about about whether I could make the time to bring something, let alone even show up (although what excuse could I make since she lives just one floor below in the same building). So instead of panicking over the emails in my inbox, I headed to the kitchen where I chopped, blended and sauteed myself back into a better frame of mind. After the dip had been made and the spoon had been licked (because that is a cook’s prerogative), I realized that everything under control. Taking the time out to cook helped to sort out my thoughts and gave me the time away from the computer to put things into perspective. And during a holiday when everything seems kind of crazy, it’s nice to escape into cooking.

Now go on and grab that red lentil curry dip and pita chips over at Poppytalk. It’s delicious and healthy and possibly just the thing to soothe your harried soul.

Possibly related posts:

• curry in a hurry: curried red lentil stew with chickpeas and rainbow chard
• spicy red kidney bean dip

I know my life will get some relief once next weekend is over with. I’ll be participating in the One of a Kind show which is a large (read: massive) art/craft show where I’ll be sharing a booth at the Vancouver Convention Centre with 2 other lovely ladies. I guess I wasn’t prepared for all the work involved (like buying carpet, painting hard walls, having enough greeting cards and calendars for 4 busy days of dealing with the public, etc., etc.). My nerves are a bit shot, but I’ll get through it.
As you can probably figure out by all the photos, I’m currently obsessed with sweet peppers. More peppers? Yup. More pickling? Uh huh. While my last fermented pickle experiment was only semi-successful, this is a very safe and sound “quickle” and they’re rip-roaringly delicious. Crunchy, flavourful and perfect. You can read more and follow the recipe over at Poppytalk.

Possibly related posts:

• be a believer: pickled prunes with orange zest
• stewed peppers, tomatoes & onions