Tzatziki

My wonderful mom reminded me that when we first made this, we also grated in 2 pickling cucumbers. I completely forgot to put them in the recipe here! Correction appended. Have you ever seen a recipe here at NDP that called for mayonnaise? No, I don't think so. Definitely not. That's because I hate hate hate mayo with, well, a passion. It makes my stomach turn just to think about it! Yuck. The grossness of mayo notwithstanding, at least 95.5% of all dip recipes list mayo as an ingredient -- incomprehensible, if you ask me. Why not pass up the mayo for some yogurt? Or sour cream, if that's your thing? Why ruin a perfectly good dip with mayo? Disagree if you must -- I get that mayonnaise is one of America's favorite condiments. Just not one of mine.

(end rant.)

Here's a delightfully fresh and mayo-less dip that's perfect for summer. It's a spin on Mediterranean tzatziki, a dill-spiked yogurt and feta dip. When my mom and I made some for our fathers' day dinner, we spruced it up with fresh chopped mint and parsley in addition to the dill, and added a bit of fresh lemon juice to finish it off. Just when I thought it couldn't be better, I made round two, and grated a bit of lemon zest in as well -- good call; a little zest goes a long way. I also experimented with some cumin, which was interesting though unnecessary. As usual, I can think of a hundred ways to tweak this so-called "recipe," like adding other spices, vegetables, herbs, juices, or even bases (yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, ricotta, etc) according to your taste. Don't be afraid to play around with it.

Tzatziki

• 1 15-20ish oz. tub of yogurt, sour cream, or (ick) other something (I used Fage brand greek yogurt)
• 1 8-oz. block feta cheese, crumbled
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• zest 1 lemon
• 2 pickling cucumbers, grated
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (feel free to omit any herbs or add in any you like!)

Combine all ingredients; mix well to combine. Garnish with mint sprigs, dill, or lemon. Serve with crudites (chopped raw vegetables), pita chips, crackers, or anything else.

Rugelach

I rarely buy cookbooks. That probably comes as a surprise, considering how much I love to cook, and how pretty cookbooks can be -- but I just don't buy them that often. That's partly because I tend to browse for recipes online, and partly because, not being able to help myself, I take all the pretty ones of the shelf at Barnes and Noble and before I know it, I've already looked at every pretty picture and no longer have any interest in buying the darn things.

On the rare occasion that I actually shell out the cash for one, the self control and patience I've been cultivating for years run out in a matter of seconds. I plop down on the couch, open the thing up, and soak up every last picture. Yes folks, that's why they call it food porn.

Regarding the fillers between the pictures: sometimes I read those. Recipes, I think they're called.

Right of the bat, a couple recipes will jump out at me. They're the ones I know I'll be making -- things like Katherine Hepburn Brownies; Nibbly Buckwheat Butter Cookies; World Peace Cookies; and the like. Other recipes don't exactly leap off the pages. Too many steps, seemingly ordinary ingredients, tedious preparatory chores like splitting 8 eggs, and other things make me hesitate. Imagine my surprise, then, when I find said "ordinary" recipes to be utterly transcendent.

Long story short: Rugelach seem ordinary, and they have a few annoying steps involved, but oh, they are so very worth the extra effort. A delightfully flaky, unsweetened crust sandwiches raspberry and/or apricot jam, chopped nuts, chocolate bits, and cinnamon sugar -- at once sweet, tangy, and crispy. So when you're shmearing melted raspberry jam, carefully slicing 16 equally-sized pieces, or rolling each piece up and gingerly placing it on the baking tray, remember: reward is near.

I used Dorie Greenspan's rugelach recipe, because she's just that fabulous (and because she happens to have authored two of my very few cookbooks). I altered the recipe slightly, subbing chopped dried cherries for the dried currants and chopped big chocolate chips for the mini chips. I also used a mix of raspberry and apricot jams because I'm bold. And I recommend the blending, because it tasted fantastic.

Rugelach from Dorie Greenspan

• 4 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds)
• 1/4 cup dried currants or chopped dried cherries
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or mini chocolate chips (or chopped regular chips)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. cold water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar, preferably coarse

1. Make the dough: Put flour and salt in a food processor, and scatter the cream cheese and butter chunks overtop. Pulse the machine 6-10 times, then process, scraping down the sides as necessary. Stop when the dough forms large curds.
2. Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball, divide it in two, and refrigerate each half in plastic wrap for at least two hours and up to one day.
3. Make the filling: heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat until it liquefies. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together and set aside. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone.
4. Shape the cookies: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it's too easy to roll, leave it out for ten minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11-12 inch circle. Spoon a thin gloss of jam overtop, and sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the chopped stuff (nuts etc), and use a piece of wax paper to press the ingredients into the dough. Set aside the paper for the second batch of dough.
5. Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, slice the dough into quarters, and slice each of the quarters into four long, narrow triangles. Starting at the outside rim of each triangle (the base), roll each triangle up so that it becomes a little crescent. Make sure points are tucked under the cookie, and arrange on a baking sheet. Repeat with the second packet of dough. Refrigerate rugelach for at least 30 minutes before baking.
6. Position racks to divide oven into thirds, and preheat to 350 degrees. Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over the rugelach. Sprinkle each with coarse sugar. (I didn't have any, so I used more cinnamon sugar.) Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back half way through. Jam will likely have leaked out, so it's best to scoop underneath each cookie within a minute of removing them from the oven, so that they don't stick to the tray.

Lawsuit Muffins with Mango

I worked from home on Monday morning in exchange for taking Friday off. Ahh, the wonders of working at home: no commute=less time wasted= more time spent baking delicious things in the kitchen= one more post to entertain you! I'd say the equation works out in everyone's favor, don't you think?

When neither D nor I wanted omelettes, oatmeal, shakshuka (to be described in a post sometime soon, hopefully), or any other breakfast staple of ours, I settled on Lawsuit Muffins (hardy-har-har).

These muffins are so named because the recipe, which was created by Marcy Goldman, was so popular that when a competitor started making them, she took the competitor to court and won (a nominal amount of money).My mom says I “gutted the story” – here’s her version: “I recall it that Marcy Goldman was originally making these muffins and selling them to a restaurant or a cafe, where they were such a success that a competitor hired her in-house as his baker in order to get the recipe. She took the job, made the place's reputation with the muffins, after which he fired her but continued to use the recipe, prompting her to sue as you describe.” Yea, that sounds like a juicier story than mine.

I apparently stumbled upon the recipe a while back, thought it promising, wrote it in my cookbook, and forgot about it...until this morning, when I found it again and thought, what the hey? I'll try these out. No regrets on that decision. Boy, I tell ya -- the muffins are soft, flavorful, but with the perfect crust. And the mango was a great choice, IMHO. But hey, it's what I had lying around. Feel free to use what's in your fridge. I also cut the brown sugar in the batter to 3/4 cup from 1 cup, and the muffins were plenty sweet for my sweet tooth.

Now, I never do this, but something "inspired" me to write down the nutrition content underneath the recipe in my cookbook. I consider myself a pretty healthy eater, but as this blog evidences, I have a sweet tooth and a hankering for buttery, sugary deliciousness. And what can a girl do? Well, apparently, she can scare herself into oblivion by noting that one of these muffins, streusel topping and all, packs in a lot of calories (and yes, I'm going to spare you the exact number unless you want post a comment to inquire, in which case I'll send you the number I've got written down). My eyes bugged out of my head a little, and I decided not to make the streusel topping, which you and I both know would really make these muffins spectacular. But here's a little consolation -- they're delicious just as I made them.

Lawsuit Muffins with Mango adapted from Marcy Goldman makes 15 muffins For the streusel topping:

• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. In a bowl, combine all of the streusel topping ingredients. 2. With your fingers, combine until you have a crumbly mixture. 3. Set aside if using immediately or store in the refrigerator.

For the muffins:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons grated citrus zest (I use lemon or orange.)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup milk and 1 Tbsp lemon juice, mixed
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you may need a bit more if the batter is too wet)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-3/4 cups fruit (coarsely chopped if using fruits like apples, banana or pears; I like mango, mango, mango)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If you don't have paper liners butter and flour the muffin tin. 2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda); set aside. 3. In another bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, citrus zest and egg. Once combined, stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. 4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Gently mix in the fruit. If the batter seems to liquidy, add a tiny bit more flour. The batter should be fairly stiff. 5. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them right to the top. Divide the streusel topping equally among the muffins. 6. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 12 minutes. When the muffins are done they will spring back when lightly pressed. Otherwise, test the muffins by inserting a toothpick. 7. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the muffins and let them cool on a wire rack. 8. Enjoy!

A Brittle Perfect for Fall

When a blogger-hero of mine, Danielle from Habeas Brulee, posted a while back about pumpkin seed cocoa nib brittle, I knew I'd be making it sooner or later. For starters, the recipe is uber-simple. Just combine sugar and water with a bit of cream of tartar, heat 'em up, let them turn golden, add the rest of the ingredients, and pour out onto a sheet of silpat (or, in my case, parchment paper) in a thin layer. The hardest part of the recipe is waiting for the brittle to harden before digging in. Even if it weren't easy, this brittle would be worth making. The sheer fact that it contains cocoa nibs makes it absolutely to die for. Cocoa nibs are raw, unsweetened cocoa beans in little bits that are perfect for everything -- including noshing.

In my experience, brittles made of just water and sugar (without butter or milk) are a bit too sugary for me. That's why I decided to add some dried black currants, those perfectly tart berries with quite a bit of zing. In keeping with the other proportions, I added 1/4 cup. I really enjoyed their tartness, and they cut the sweetness exactly as I'd hoped.

I also happened to have some already-roasted squash seeds, which had some sugar, salt, cayenne and cinnamon on them. They were perfect for this brittle, and I actually added a pinch of salt as well. It's still super-sweet, and Danielle's right -- it would be perfect atop a cheesecake or some other less-sweet dessert. That said, this is one classic fall treat you'll be sorry to miss.

Squash Seed Cocoa Nib Black Currant Brittle originally at Habeas Brulee (adapted from Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate</a> by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger) 1/4 cup raw green pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup cocoa nibs 1/4 cup black currants (can sub other dried berries) 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup water a pinch of salt 1/8 tsp cream of tartar A pinch of cayenne

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking very frequently, until they begin to pop. Set them aside to cool.

Set up a baking sheet covered with a Silpat or piece of parchment paper (something non-stick and flexible).

Bring the sugar, water, and cream of tartar to a simmer together in a small saucepan. Continue to simmer until it starts to develop a nice light caramel color that appeals best to you. Stir in the other ingredients, then quickly pour it all out onto the baking sheet and spread it thin as you can with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon.

Let it cool and harden before breaking off pieces to serve and devour.

Or you can just play with the sugar while you wait....