Beetroot and Feta Dip – The Prettiest Dip in the World

Tags

beet, beetroot, dip, feta, spread

Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It’s been 10 days since my last post… (och there’s no way that line’s not been used before…). Anyway, it has been a while but this week’s been crazy, as was last weekend. I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner yesterday (a day later but Thursday was a school night here!) and was cooking for about 3 days… Look out for my next post for details.

Within the madness however, I did manage a quick post on my Greek pages. Quick being the operative word! I’d been thinking about going to Food Blogger Connect (#FBC5) in London in July, and I was looking for a blogger buddy in order to benefit from the Early Bird offer of 2-4-1 (ending tomorrow). It suddenly occurred to me to buddy up with someone from here in Greece. So I asked the nice peeps over at Greek Food Blogs and they suggested I write a post which they would promote within the online community. It took but a couple of hours and hey presto, Sugar Flowers Creations left a comment and we’re now looking for cheap flights! Yay!

As I really needed to get that post up as quickly as possible, I chose to include one of my easiest and simplest recipes from the “to-blog” list. The idea for this dip came from two things. First was a gorgeous salad a friend brought to a summer BBQ. Pieces of juicy, sweet and earthy beetroot, teamed with chunks of rich and creamy feta cheese. A match made in heaven. A few weeks later I was drooling surfing the website of another friend, who owns a company that imports/exports food (Elli & Manos). And I landed on this page. I knew I would love the beet/feta spread. So when I found myself with some leftover cooked beetroot and half a tub of feta that was begging to be eaten up, I wondered what would happen if I chucked them in the blender. The result was pretty amazing, in taste and in appearance! In my Greek post I didn’t mention where I got my inspiration, which was my bad, so I’d like to make it right. Elli doesn’t even know I’m writing this, so please don’t think it’s a sponsored post or anything. I haven’t tried their dip but how can it not work? It’s got beetroot and feta in it! (they’re based in Greece and the UK but check with them about delivery to other countries)

Here’s my version (would you please look at that colour? Is it not the prettiest colour ever?)

Beetroot and Feta Dip

Makes 1 small batch

Ingredients

180g beetroot, cut into chunks (I used the pre-cooked vacuum packed version. Might be even nicer with roast beetroot. Scrub, cut each into 4 or 6 wedges, toss in a bit of oil and roast for about an hour-90 min or until you can stick a fork in it)
80g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tsp oil
1 tsp vinegar (I used red wine vinegar and it was quite strong tasting. You might want to start with ½ tsp and add as needed)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Scant 1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp salt (watch the salt because feta has loads already!)

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse till smooth.
(My shortest “Directions” section ever!)

If you love beetroot (do you know it apparently cleans your blood?) check these out:
Beetroot borani recipe (borani chogondar) by Nami-Nami
Beet Chop/Beetroot Patty by Sunshine and Smile
Beet Hummus by Simply Recipes
Beet and Sweet Potato Stacks by The Kitchn

Choco Porridge with Honey and Banana – Is it Breakfast? Or is it Dessert?

Tags

breakfast, chocolate, oatmeal, oats, porridge

This is a mini post. The reason is that I had a last minute work thing which ruined my plans for a nice quiet blogging evening. I got home just before 10pm, cold and starving hungry. I then spent half an hour picking meat off the chicken legs I’d made in the slow cooker, and prepping the bones for overnight stock. Dinner was a boring plate of plain chicken and curried yogurt sauce, which sounds exotic but is basically yogurt with curry powder and dried coriander leaves! As you by now know, Mondays are protein only days (Dukan Diet rules) so today has left a lot to be desired in the culinary department. You should have seen me dodging the canape trays swirling round earlier!

Right now all I want to do is curl up on the sofa with my fleece blanket, watch Modern Family, and dream about the yummy breakfast I’m going to make myself tomorrow morning. If this was a normal night I’d be having it for dessert. It’s that good. Creamy, chocolaty gooeyness that is actually good for you! Unbelievable. I got the idea from a fellow foodie over at Licking The Plate Again, who commented on my Applesauce with Pears post that her mum used to put cocoa in her porridge when she was little as a treat. Genius, is all I can say…

Choco Porridge with Honey and Banana

Serves 1 (if I’m the one eating it)

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup milk
2 squares (20g) dark chocolate
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp honey
1/2 banana, sliced
extra splash of milk, optional

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan mix the milk and oats. Warm mixture over medium heat and when it starts heating up add the chocolate.
2. When the chocolate is nearly all melted, add the cinammon and continue cooking over low heat, stirring continuously.
3. When the porridge has absorbed the milk and thickened to your liking, and the oats are soft, transfer to a bowl.
4. Top with the sliced banana and honey, and add another splash of milk if the porridge has thickened a lot.

Note: After trying a chocolate and cinammon ice cream this summer, I have decided these two ingredients were meant for each other. Give them a go!

Other porridge or oatmeal breakfast ideas from around the blogosphere:
A Hot Breakfast: 10 Nourishing Oatmeal & Porridge Recipes to Warm Winter Mornings from The Kitchn
Quinoa Coma by With a Side of Sneakers (this I like to combine with regular porridge. It’s really good!)

Quince Chutney – Sweet, Sharp, Tangy

Tags

chutney, quince

A while ago I found an old folder full of recipe magazine clippings. Another one. I swear, I’d need about 3 lifetimes to try all the recipes I’ve clipped, saved, bookmarked and filed away under “must try”. I have hundreds of magazines, all with little post-it’s sticking out to mark something I want to make. And of course I now have absolutely no recollection of what is actually in all my books, mags, folders and favourites lists. So it’s like I don’t even have them. But once in a while there will be one recipe that sticks in my mind and stays there till I buy the ingredients and get round to trying it out.

This happened when I found that old folder. Inside was a torn out page from a Sunday newspaper insert, with an article on quince. There were three recipes using this underestimated and underappreciated fruit, in very interesting sweet and savoury dishes.Here in Greece, practically the only way quince is used is in the traditional “Spoon Sweet”. Spoon sweet is basically fruit briefly cooked in obscene amounts of sugar and preserved in the resulting thick syrup. It’s called that because you (can) only eat one spoonful of it! To be fair it’s quite good stuff, it’s just really really sweet. The best way to enjoy it is with Greek yogurt, because that counteracts the sweetness perfectly and prevents the sugar comma you might fall into if not careful. There are many different types of spoon sweet like cherry, pear, apple, orange, grape, apricot, plum, and some weirder ones like carrot, courgette (zucchini) and baby aubergine (eggplant). And of course quince, which is probably one of the nicest.
Anyway. Since I’m supposed to be writing about chutney, I’ll stop going on about sweets! So. Quince chutney was one of the three recipes in that article. It immediately grabbed my attention, and stayed in my mind till a few days ago when I saw a crateful of the strange looking things in my local supermarket. They look like a cross between pears and apples! But they are tough little cookies to deal with. The flesh is very hard and they’re quite difficult to peel because of the many bumps and grooves. I’d recently seen this video on Food52 about peeling apples and thankfully remembered it, so I tried out the technique and it worked a treat. Quince may be very hard when raw (and definitely inedible) but it softens very quickly during cooking. And it must also absorb liquid as this thickened very quickly too. So make sure you cover the pan and turn the heat right down, so the flavours have enough time to mingle before it’s ready.

This is gorgeous with cheese. Try it with a fairly strong tasting variety as it’s very flavourful and the quince chunks are quite sweet. A mature cheddar or even smoked cheese would work fantastically. It’s also a good accompaniment to pork or cold deli meats. Like all chutneys it gets better with age, so let it rest for at least a few days before digging in.

Recipe by Thalia Tsichlaki in the magazine BHMAgazino, November 2009.

Quince Chutney

Makes about 2-3 medium jars

Ingredients

2 quinces
1 lemon, juice of
1 ½ Tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 Tbs raisins
1 Tbs dried cranberries
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
200ml cider vinegar
150g soft brown sugar
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Fill a large bowl with water and add the lemon juice.
2. Peel the quinces, cut into chunks and put them in the bowl with the lemon water (to keep them from browning – they brown very quickly). Leave for 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and gently cook the onion until soft and translucent.
4. Add the quinces, raisins, cranberries, cinnamon, vinegar and ginger. Sprinkle the sugar over the top. Mix gently and let it cook, covered, over very low heat for about 30 minutes. If you can, leave it longer, but be careful that the liquids aren’t all absorbed too quickly.
5. Add salt and pepper (the recipe mentions adding this now. To be honest I think I completely forgot this stage, so I don’t know if it would be better added at the beginning with the rest of the ingredients. I also can’t say how much. I do know that none is fine, you can always season when serving!)
6. Put into warm sterilized jars and leave to cool completely before placing in the fridge.

Other interesting chutneys from around the web:
Fig Chutney by David Lebovitz
Tomato Chutney by Liz the Chef
Apple Cranberry Chutney by Simply Recipes
Curried Apple Chutney by Local Kitchen
Green Bean Chutney by Chutney and Spice