White Bean Dip

White bean dip is all the rage right now, and can have infinite mix in possibilities.  Some that I have found seem to have quite a bit of oil in it to  make it smoother, but I want to avoid that as much as possible.  I have found that this dip is getting me to eat more of my veggies and since I am avoiding my kryptonite of crackers (drool) this is a good thing (my work pants are getting just a little too snug).

So, yes, you may notice that some of those beans don't look like they're all white, and nope, they are not, it's a mix of small white beans and black eyed peas (which always gets My Humps stuck in my head, and now hopefully you share my pain).  This is another case of cleaning out the cupboard and using what I have and being less wasteful.  I have a bad habit of buying things on sale and putting them in the cupboard or fridge and forgetting about them until I wonder where the heck they all came from and why I cant stuff anything else in there (like when I am putting on those pants . . . ).

 

So true to form, I decided to make some modifications and they turned out delicious!  beans are so easy and can easily be neglected and still be fine.  I love food that I can say, "meh, I'll get to it in a day or so . . ."   

 

Yes, my "breakfast" nook is messy. No, I didn't get a picture of it all made up, it made a lot and I pigged out on it!

 

As I often do, I have hints and tips: 

1. Do not neglect soaking the beans . . . this is the DE-GASSING and I do it for about 24 hours before I get back to it. I'm sure that there is a ton of info about this.  You're on the internet, look it up, but me, I'm lazy right now . . . 
2. Drain the soaking liquid and use new water to cook in.
3. Instructions vary, saying cook for 1 to 2 hours depending on desired softness.  Simmer them beans for 2 hours to get them nice and soft for this dip.

I know, it's like geeze, these look like they are going to take FOREVER!  But look, pour the beans in a pot and pour water over them and walk away for 8 to 24 hours.  Do nothing else to them . . .  FOR UP TO A DAY!  Then cook for 2 hours with little to no attention needed.  See how easy!

 

PS you need a food processor for this.

White Bean Dip

1 c white beans

2 large cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika

1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

 

Soak and cook your beans as directed, drain and set aside to cool.

 

With the chopping blade running, drop in 2 cloves of garlic until they are splattered around the edges and not being chopped anymore.  Scrape down the sides and add in the beans and olive oil and puree until well blended and the beans are paste like. 

 

Add in the yogurt and all of the herbs and spices, blend until smooth, this takes a bit and because of the skins on the beans it will not ever be FULLY smooth.  

 

Dip stuff in it, or eat it by the spoonful, you wont regret it!

 

 

 

 

 

Lychee Jam -aka- Crack

I was enjoying sharing my love of lychee anything with a good friend who also loves them the other day.  Rare, as so many people I know turn up their noses at anything different.  They aren't beautiful but, man, are they scrumptious!  So yesterday when I was at the new Asian grocery store in town and ran across fresh lychees I did not hesitate to grab them up.  As a matter of fact, I had to stop myself from buying all that they had left!

 

Now, I will admit that this is my first time buying FRESH lychees (I usually guzzle them in juice form in seconds flat, so I keep it for a treat and rarely buy it) and I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them, but after peeling and shoving a few in my mouth an idea struck.  LYCHEE JAM!  I mean look at those little buggers, don't their juicy sweetness just beg to scarfed down?  No?  Well, don't let looks deceive you, them little fleshy eyeball thingies are delicious, I encourage you to try, whole heartedly.

I am extremely disappointed to have found only a (literally) couple of lychee jam recipes online.  I did have a hard time figuring out what I should do to make them into jam, and since it was really late at night I didn't feel like going through the whole process of sterilizing jars, plus I only have pint pickling jars in the house right now.  I have made freezer jam a few times and opted to go that direction, but with so few recipes I decided to go with a mixed berry version that I have made before.  The one frustrating thing about freezer jam is that it is always runnier than I would like, but still so very tasty!

 

Of course, there are tips (surprise, surprise).  Pre-open the liquid pectin and prop it up in a cup so when you need it you don't have to find that the darned package is impossible to open and where the heck did I last see my scissors?  I used my immersion blender to break down the fruit a bit.  Not a full-on puree because there should be some chunks, but to help break down the fruit which is a bit though to do with the usual masher.  A knife might work, but since lychees are very juicy, you may lose a lot of the juice stuffs you need for the jam.  Also, unlike some freezer jams, this should be cooked to help soften the lychees.  I will warn you that this is SWEET, but not so over the top.  A little goes a long way!

 

 

 Lychee Jam

1 3/4 to 2 lbs fresh lychees (measure out 2 c of fruit and juice of this, I used 1 3/4 lbs and it was 2 c exactly)
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 c sugar
1/2 tbsp. butter
1 packet liquid pectin, I use Certo (along with their recipes)

Peel and pit the fruit.  Using either a blender (immersion or stand) or a food processor, break down the lychees into small chunks. 

In a large (6 to 8 quart) stockpot dump in the lychees, lemon, sugar, and butter.  Bring to a full boil on high heat, stirring constantly.   Seriously, you do not want this to burn to the bottom of the pot.

Add in the pectin, and keep at a full boil for 1 minute.  DONT STOP STIRRING!  Remove from heat.

Ladle into your freezer containers and allow to sit for 30 to 60 minutes before putting on the lids.  After you seal them, leave them on the counter for 24 hours before putting them in the freezer.  These will last up to 1 year in the freezer and 3 weeks in the fridge.

Fabulous Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies (really, I love food in general.  Too bad most of it makes me a bit curvier than I should be!). 

I have labored for the last few years to find a recipe that had a good balance of dough to chip ratio (bad, Good Housekeeping), and wasn't too dry (ahem, Betty C.), or too sweet (you too, Mrs. Fields), or made you think, "did I miss something?" (Martha S.), and funny how I'm not partial to the one on the back of the Tollhouse bag . . . 

You wouldn't think that this would be difficult for PROFESSIONALS!  Out of the ton of cookbooks that I have gone through and out right rejected, some even before I baked, knowing the dough was not working well, a couple were okay, but most were not for me.  Now, I'm not knocking others tastes or saying that mine are so much better, but this is just the recipe for me.

I needed to bake for a "thank you" for a friend of mine, and in asking him his favorite cookies, he responded - Chocolate Chip.  Dammit.  So off I go to find one thinking that if I couldn't, I would fall back on banana bread, which I know he likes.  Off I went to my favorite blog that rarely steers me wrong (http://smittenkitchen.com/). I stumbled across one of hers that she touts is her favorite and thought, "why the hell not?"

I now have a recipe that I love.  I do go with a higher amount of sea salt (not regular salt!) and a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.  I also add just a bit more chocolate chips and make them half dark and half light chips, I feel this adds more depth and richness to these fabulous cookies.


Fabulous Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies, give or take a couple for your own amount of dough eating . . .

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c butter, softened (use REAL butter, people)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 c semisweet milk chocolate chips
1 c dark chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 300F, and put the rack in the top 1/3 of the oven, this keeps the bottoms from browning too quickly.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl beat together both of the sugars with the butter until smooth (I do about 5 minutes with a hand mixer).  Add the egg, vanilla, spices and soda, beat well (again, about 5 minutes).

In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.  Mix in the yummy chocolate chips.

I use an ice cream scoop about half full to create about 1 inch (~2tbsp) balls  a couple of inches apart.

Bake for 18 minutes just until pale golden brown.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.  try not to burn off your mouth if you cant wait to whoarf them down!