AUTUMN HUMMUS

Hummus - Middle Eastern Cookery. A paste or dip made of chickpeas mashed with oil, garlic, lemon juice, and Tahiti and usually eaten with pita – that is what you find browsing at Google. But do you know that this delicious dish can be also served as main course? It’s very healthy, refreshing, tasty and nutritious. Let’s see what happens when you mix it with autumn season vegetable – pumpkin. Z iVery simple but interesting recipe:

AUTUMN HUMMUS

1,5 kg of fresh pumpkin, you may use Hokkaido – nice sweet taste

1 can of pre cooked chickpeas (or 1 large cup of dry chickpeas - cooked)

½ cup of fresh yogurt

olive oil

garlic clove

bunch of cherry tomatoes per one person

small spoon of fennel seeds

small spoon of cumin

black pepper

salt (I have used Flore de salt  - lemon taste)

bread – brown, pita, tortilla – depending on you - bio if possible

1 large cup of vegetable stock

½ of lemon

4 large portions

 

 

Step by step:

Clean the pumpkin and cut in two similar halves. Cut the first half in small pieces, add butter, pepper, salt, vegetable stock – and then cook in a pot for max 10 minutes, till it gets soft, but still compact in texture.

Pre heat the oven to 185 degree Celsius, cut the second half of pumpkin in to suitable pieces (depending if you wish to serve one big piece or several small pieces on one plate), use baking paper as a base in the pot, then place the pumpkin, cherry tomatoes. Use salt (Flore de salt), pepper, olive oil, and fresh herbs (what you have by hand – basil, rosemary, thymine – they all fit great with this dish). Cover nicely all the vegetable with oil and then bake for aprox 25 – 30 minutes, till they get nice & crispy.

While baking concentrate on the first part of pumpkin – cooked! Drain the cooked water, pour the pumpkin in to a higher bowl (or mixer – Vitamix) and add cooked chickpeas, yogurt, 4-5 spoons of olive oil, grain one garlic clove. Mine while take the fennel seeds, cumin, salt and pinch of brown sugar. Bake them on a pan, till you smell the flavors – 3-4 minutes. Then use a mortar to crush the hot mixture. This is a traditional way, how rise the flavors and taste of the herbs and spices. You will fall in love with this procedure. I always feel like a old witch – hahahahaaaa! Add the spices and lemon juice to the pumpkin / chickpea bowl – and mix till you get nice smooth compact texture. And yes – our pumpkin hummus is ready. Always taste your result. It may happen, that you’ll have to balance the flavors little bit.

The rest is very easy. Just place the hummus on a plate. Add crispy baked pumpkin & tomatoes, sliced bread. Give it the last touch of olive oil, Flore de salt and pepper…..and enjoy!

 

SUNNY SALAD

Well what can I say? We should not complain about silly things and be grateful for all what we have. Everyone around me knows that I’m not that kind of person complaining about small thing sin life. I’m a very happy person 99,9% of my life. But there is this one thing I miss so much – summer sunshine! We can’t fight the nature, but why did someone up there decided to pour rain on our heads for more than a month??? I really charge my batteries each summer. There fore this colorful salad full of summer flavors:

SUNNY SALAD

1 large yellow zucchini

1 large cucumber

1 fresh fennel

8 – 10 cherry tomatoes

15 pc anchovies

1 lemon

1/3 cup of olive oil

large spoon of honey (or two if you feel like it!)

chili

½ spoon of estragon mustard

black pepper

salt

4-5 portions

 

Step by step:

Use the carrot peeler. Peal the zucchini in to thin slices. Bring a pot of water to boil and let the zucchini cook for 2-3 minutes. Then take out the zucchini and let it cool down under cold water – Blanche it! This process helps to keep the zucchini in nice color& softens the structure.

Peal cucumber the same way, cut fennel in to nice thin pieces. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

Place all vegetable in to salad bowl. Add anchovies.

Prepare the vinaigrette as follows:

Mix olive oil, estragon mustard, honey, juice from ½ lemon, cut chili, pinch of salt, pepper in to a nice vinaigrette sauce. To smooth the thickness of the sauce, add 2-3 large spoons of cold water.

Pore the vinaigrette over the salad and leave it for at least 30 minutes, till the flavors combine.

Serve it as a main course, but is also suitable as adding to meats, or dips for party. Enjoy!

CRISPY CHICKEN AND PORK PAN

With three kids and full time job, I may not find enough time for cooking in the working week. But I just can’t imagine leaving my kids without honest home made food. Therefore I try to cook fresh, easy and as simple as possible. Here is my recipe for nice meat & vegetable dinner. Enjoy!

CRISPY CHICKEN AND PORK PAN

2 pc of pork flitch

6 pc chicken leg

4 large carrots

1 large onion

¼ kg Brussels sprouts

medium pumpkin  - any kind

1 big lemon

garlic

olive oil

salt

pepper – black & red

fennel

cumin

honey

 

For 3-4 person

 

Place meat in to pan, sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cumin & fennel. Add ½ of fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil & large spoon of honey. Use your hands and mix the meat with all the flavors. Add bits of lemon and garlic (just cut the whole bunch of garlic in to half, and place it in to pan – you’ll gen a nice sweet garlic paste after baking) and pure one cup of water in to the pan. Heat up the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Cover the pan with foil and bake covered for 35 minutes. Then take of the foil and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered. Sprinkle the meat with gravy from the pan now and then – it will give the meat a nice crispy touch.

Meanwhile cut the vegetable in nice thick pieces (carrot, onion, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts), add olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin. Then place on to oven next to the meat and bake on the dame temperature, till it gets nice crunchy.

And that is it! If you wish, you may prepare nice fresh tomato/cucumber salad as addition to the warm dinner. My kids loved this meal, and the empty plates have been the proof!