Carrot Hummus

Every year, Mom and I go to St. Louis for opera weekend. The picture here is in front of the set of Madame Butterfly this year. While there, we see four operas in three days and eat lots of good food. One place that we always visit is Big Sky in Webster Groves because it has amazing food and is just down the street from the opera. Big Sky features creative and delicious food. Instead of bread and butter, Big Sky serves up carrot hummus and crackers. I have not made hummus before, but I figured I should give this a try. The recipe made a lot, and I thought I would be eating it for a week. But, it was gone within a day.

The nice thing about hummus is that you could easily change it up to suit your tastes. But try this version. The use of carrots gives this hummus just a slightly sweet taste. Otherwise, the recipe is relatively standard. When I made this, I used three cloves of garlic, but I will use a bit more next time. If the chick peas are dry, you may need to use a bit of water. I ended up having to prepare the hummus in batches using my Magic Bullet blender.

Carrot Hummus 

• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 15 ounce can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. tahini
• 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Place a tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the carrots and garlic until tender, about fifteen minutes. Allow the carrots to cool. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and puree until smooth. Use more or less liquid (lemon juice or olive oil), if needed. Serve with veggies or crackers. Enjoy!

Anise Pizzelles

I have previously posted about pizzelles, but because there are many potential flavors, here is another recipe. You can expect to see more in the future, such as chocolate, mocha, orange, and many more. Pizzelles are made using a pizzelle press, which is a lot like a waffle iron. Pizzelles are great to make in the summer when you would rather not turn on the oven.

Anise is somewhat common in Italian baking. For this recipe, I used anise seed, but anise extract or ground anise is more common. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the seeds in the cookies. Anise tastes like licorice. I used just enough anise seed to give these pizzelles a sweet and light flavor. If you really like anise, you could easily use more in the recipe.

Anise Pizzelles 

• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. anise seed
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add butter, vanilla, and anise. Blend in flour and baking powder. The batter will be stiff. Preheat the pizzelle iron. Drop batter by the spoonful into each pizzelle pattern. Close pizzelle iron and allow about bake about one minute. Remove the pizzelles with a spatula and allow to cool on a flat surface. Sprinkle pizzelles with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Sauteed Asparagus

When I was a kid, Mom frequently boiled vegetables to cook them. But now, Mom regularly sautes fresh vegetables such as asparagus, Brussels sprouts or broccoli. So, many Saturday nights at Mom's now include freshly sauteed vegetables. The younger nieces and nephews are not that interested in the veggies at all, but the older nieces and nephews are starting to like these veggies.

For this batch, I found purple and green asparagus at the farmer's market. Frozen asparagus works just fine, too. The recipe here is simple and can be modified in many ways. There is no need to add any seasoning, but if you like, you could add just about any seasoning. When I made this batch, I used paprika and oregano. If you use fresh garlic, add it to the olive oil for a minute or so before adding the asparagus.

Sauteed Asparagus 

• Aspargus
• olive oil
• seasoning, if desired

Wash the asparagus. Trim each stalk and cut into about two-inch segments. Add the olive oil to a  large skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Add asparagus and seasoning. Saute, while occasionally stirring, for about 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Corn Bread

This recipe is not from family history, but one that I have discovered on my own. I happen to love all things pumpkin, especially with cinnamon and nutmeg. Normally, we are inundated every September with pumpkin-flavored everything. But there is no reason to wait until Fall to have delicious pumpkin foods. And this pumpkin cornbread is just the right balance of pumpkin and seasoning that tastes great any time of year.

This recipe is a basic cornbread recipe that is modified with the addition of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. It has the nice crunch of cornbread along with the tasty pumpkin seasoning. This pumpkin corn bread is best eaten warm.

Pumpkin Corn Bread  

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour into a greased 9X9 pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Spritz

Usually, I make spritz in December for the holidays. But there is no reason to save the cookie press for once a year. So when I found this recipe in Mom's recipe box, I decided to try spritz in the spring. Spritz cookies are made using a cookie press, and the dough is loaded into the barrel and pressed out through disk that creates a specific shape. The disks are different shapes, allowing for all sorts of designs.

The dough for these cookies is quite basic: butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and flour. These cookies would be great for kids who might not like fancy ingredients. If you don't have a cookie press, you can still make these cookies by either rolling the dough and using cookie cutters or shaping a ball of about a tablespoon of dough and flattening it with the bottom of a glass. Despite the simplicity of the ingredients, the resulting cookies are delicious.

Brown Sugar Spritz

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour. Knead several times until dough is soft and pliable. Press dough through a cookie press onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Allow to coo. Enjoy!

Ricotta Bread

This recipe is inspired by ricotta bread that MDS and I enjoyed at Shokolad Cafe. Previously, I posted about Buckwheat and Drunken Cherry Cake, inspired by the same place. I think that this recipe is a fairly close approximation of the bread we had at the restaurant.

The bread is a standard double-rise bread. The ricotta makes the bread quite rich. The cinnamon adds a nice touch, but could be left out of the recipe if you prefer. Otherwise, the recipe is relatively basic. I found that the first rise took a little longer, but the second rise produced two good-sized loaves. The resulting bread is unique, so give it a try. It is terrific fresh out of the oven or leftover and used for sandwiches.

Ricotta Bread 

1/2 cup warm water (120 degrees)

Package yeast

dash of sugar

4 cups flour

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup ricotta cheese

In a small cup or bowl, mix water, yeast, and sugar; allow to stand for about ten minutes until foamy. In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of flour, olive oil, cinnamon, and ricotta cheese. Add the yeast. Mix until dough begins to come together. Turn out the dough onto a floured counter and knead in the remaining cup of flour until dough is smooth. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about two hours. Divide dough into two and shape into loaves. Place loaves on floured baking sheet. Allow to rise about one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Just before baking, cut a a few slashes into each loaf. Bake for about 40 minutes, until done. Cool before slicing. Enjoy!

Banana Drop Cookies

Mom has lots of cookie recipes in her recipe box. She made all types of cookies, but I don't remember these. Nevertheless, the cookies sounded delicious, so I decided to give them a try. The cookies are delicious, especially when they are still warm from the oven. And, even if you don't eat them all as they come out of the oven, warm them up in the microwave for a delicious treat.

When I made these cookies, I used a little bit more of the banana then the recipe calls for. I also left out the nuts. Although walnuts are very good when paired with banana, I brought these cookies to a party, so I left out the nuts to accommodate nut allergies. Whether you use nuts or not, these cookies are delicious.

Banana Drop Cookies 

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup mashed banana
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and bananas; beat until smooth. Add flour sifted with baking powder, baking soda, alternating with the milk, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in oats and nuts; drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Enjoy!