Pizza & Hummus

I love Giada DiLaurentis recipes. Tonight Jared and I made a version of her Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza. We used nan (or naan) instead of the store bought pizza dough. We like this brand called Kontos, it's really good.

My mom's food processor continues to come in handy. I wonder if I keep if for long enough if she'll decide she needs a new one and I can keep this one?!?!?!? I made Hummus for the first time! I've been wanting to make it for a long time because I totally love it. I'm glad I did because it turned out great. I'm going to try and bunch of different variations but I started with a basic recipe from Moosewood's Simple Suppers. I like to drizzle a little good quality olive oil on mine before serving.


Herbed Hummus
Yields 1 1/2 cups

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tahini
3 T lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1 garlic clove, sliced or chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 T chopped fresh dill
1 scallion (optional)

Put the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic and 3 tablespoons of water into the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the parsley, dill, and scallion. Pulse just until the herbs are integrated; the hummus should be beige with flecks of green rather than a uniform pale green.

Add more lemon juice and salt to taste. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes so the flavors of the herbs will come through. In a covered contained in the refrigerator, Herbed Hummus will keep for 2 or 3 days.

Give Cuisinart a Chance

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a strong advocate for reducing kitchen clutter. Partly because I have no room to store useless utensils but mostly because the majority of kitchen gadgets out there are just nonsense. I know some people have some strong opinions about their kitchen gadgets -I've actually debated with strangers about the merits of an avocado slicer (I stand by my position by the way: its garbage) - but it wouldn't take long for most of us to make a list of our top 10 "stupidest kitchen tools". People have been able to cut avocado's for years without a dedicated tool taking up space. It's called a knife.

As strong as my opinions on this subject are, I realize there are kitchen tools out there that deserve a chance. Take, for instance, a food processor. I've spent a long time mulling over this one; trying to convince myself of all the reasons why I don't need one: too expensive, too hard to clean, too big to store. But recently, when Sierra's mom let us borrow her Cuisinart, I've found that arguments against owning one of these simply don't stand up. They're pretty remarkable. We've made galettes (kind of like a pie but not in a pie plate), today we made some unbelievable buttermilk biscuits, and we've got plans for pizza dough, bread, pies... and we're just getting started.

Suddenly this seems more like a given then a gimmick. We'll be on the market for our own shortly.

Fall Weekend

Jared and I went to McGlasson's this weekend. What a neat farm! With it being such a short drive from Jared's, I definitely think we'll become regulars.

On Saturday they had a bluegrass band playing outside on a big wooden platform/stage. It reminded me of something straight out of a movie. It was great walking around and watching all the kids scrutinize the pumpkins to decide which one would be the "best". McGlasson's makes their own apple fritters (yum!) and apple cider so we had to sample both.

A flaky, soft, and sugary, homemade apple fritter!!

We picked up a ton of apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and bell peppers. We also grabbed a butternut squash, an acorn squash and of course, a pumpkin! We haven't carved it yet but I think we will this weekend.

Delicious crisp apples...

Fresh tomatoes, sweet potatoes and tiny pumpkins!

Of course we wanted to cook after being inspired by all the fresh vegetables. We even borrowed my mom's food processor so we could try our hands at making some basic pie crust.

Here's what we've made so far:

Grilled (Beecher's Flagship) Cheese and Tomato on Whole Wheat

Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp (Ina Garten)
Recipe here

Butternut Squash, Apple and Onion Galette with Stilton
Recipe here
(We used Gorgonzola - yum!)

Having a food processor is awesome. Jared's going to make another "Galette" using more of the apples from the farm. Can't wait to see how that one turns out. The pictures on the recipe are really elegant. Also we're definitely going to make one of my favorite Moosewood recipes since we have a surplus of sweet potatoes, Navajo Stew. Yum!