My first taste of baba ghannouj was at the cafeteria on the Saudi Aramco compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and I could easily make a lunch out of their hummus, baba ghannouj, and flatbread. Baba ghannouj is a traditional Middle Eastern dish made from eggplant that has been grilled or roasted, and the smoky flavor carries over to this simple dip that’s popular all over the Middle East. Depending on where you eat, it will probably have eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and parsley, and may also have chopped tomatoes, cumin, mint, onions, yogurt, or mayonnaise. So consider this a base recipe, a jumping off point to play with and have fun experimenting with the flavors.

I wish the eggplant came from our garden, but after three years of fighting pests that devour the plants, we finally decided that eggplant just wasn’t a good fit for our garden. Fortunately our homegrown garlic and parsley do add some good flavor to the dish. I hope you’ll join us for the third anniversary of Grow Your Own this month! Posts are due on August 31 and should be sent to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. You can find more information at the Grow Your Own page.

(Print this recipe)

BABA GHANNOUJ (BABA GANOUSH)

Adapted from The Complete Middle East Cookbook, by Tess Mallos.

Serves 6.

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

1 eggplant (12 ounces/375 g)
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sesame tahini
2 cloves garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 sprigs parsley

SERVE WITH
khoubiz (pita)

Preparation

1. Pierce the eggplant in a few places, then grill the whole eggplant for about 30 to 40 minutes over medium hot coals, turning about every 7 minutes. Peel the skin off while it’s still hot and remove the stem end, then rough chop the flesh. Place it in a colander and drain out the liquid.

2. Add the flesh to the work bowl of the food processor and puree it. Add the lemon juice and tahini and pulse a few times until well mixed.

3. Add the garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. Process well and add more lemon juice and salt to taste.

4. Add the olive oil and parsley, processing until the parsley is chopped but still visible.

5. Serve in a shallow dish garnished with parsley. Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Variation

Roast the eggplant in a 400° F/220° C oven.

Other Eggplant Recipes

More Eggplant Recipes From Around the Blogs

Food Blogga – Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

FatFree Vegan – Creamy Creole Eggplant Casserole

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Pan-Fried White Eggplant with Onion, Caper, and Herb Sauce

Viet World –Hmong Spicy Eggplant (Lws Kubtshis Tuav)

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We are very fortunate to live near DeBaggio’s, a truly wonderful herb farm and nursery that’s been growing beautiful healthy plants since 1975. One of the ladies in the neighborhood told me about them the first year we lived here, specifically mentioning their wonderful tomatoes, so I made a point to check it out and was amazed at the incredible variety of plants they grow onsite. With only a handful of dedicated workers, they manage to grow nearly 1,000 varieties of vegetables, herbs, perennials, and annuals. The quality of their plants is always top notch because they are knowledgeable and care for the plants so well. In the last few years I’ve been fortunate to have a few casual discussions with Francesco DeBaggio, son of the founder Thomas DeBaggio, about growing rhubarb, rosemary, basil, and bay laurel trees, and our garden always benefits from those discussions.

Thomas DeBaggio has written some excellent books on herbs as well as his experiences with Alzheimer’s, and I keep copies of both the Encyclopedia of Herbs and Basil: An Herb Lover’s Guide in the kitchen for handy reference. The cheese torta recipe (photo above) from Basil is delicious and easy and elegant, a perfect party appetizer, plus it’s a wonderful way to showcase garden fresh basil. Because of my fondness for DeBaggio’s books and their herb farm, I’m giving away two of Thomas DeBaggio’s books on herbs to one lucky reader. The winner will receive one copy of each of the following:

• Basil: An Herb Lover’s Guide
• The Encyclopedia of Herbs: A Comprehensive Reference to Herbs of Flavor and Fragrance

Visit the DeBaggio’s website to see descriptions of the books.

To enter the giveaway, tell us about your favorite dish with basil, and please feel free to share links to recipes so everyone can find new ways to cook with basil. Please make sure to put your correct email address in the email address field so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. You don’t need to put your email address in your comment, just in the email address field. Apologies to my international readers, but the books can only be shipped to U.S. and Canadian addresses. The contest closes at 8 P.M. EST on July 23, and Random.org will select the winner. I will contact the winner via email, and the winner must respond within 72 hours, otherwise another winner will be selected. Look for the announcement of the winner in this post soon after.

[Disclosure: This giveaway is not sponsored by DeBaggio’s Herb Farm & Nursery. I am paying for the prizes myself.]

UPDATE: Congratulations to Faith Plvan, winner of the books!

Recipe Notes

Since we have some gorgeous purple basil this year, I wanted to use the deep purple leaves for the top of the torta, but of course you can use green Genovese, too. I had a limited bowl selection to choose from and found that a deep narrow domed bowl works better than a wide top bowl. If your bowl is very wide and not deep, you may need to increase the ingredients so they will fill up each layer. If served as the only appetizer, then this torta will probably feed about 12 people, but if served on a buffet with other things you can probably estimate up to 24 servings. You can make the torta one day ahead and keep it refrigerated.

(Print this recipe)

CHEESE TORTA WITH BASIL, OLIVES, AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES

Adapted from Basil: An Herb Lover’s Guide, by Thomas DeBaggio and Susan Belsinger.

Serves 12 to 24.

Equipment

stand mixer with paddle attachment, or hand mixer and large bowl
1-quart domed bowl (narrow and deep is better than wide)
small bowl
cheesecloth

Ingredients

16 large whole basil leaves
10 ounces (280 g) goat cheese, softened
8 ounces (225 g) cream cheese, softened
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 to 120 ml) milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt, to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste
1/2 cup (120 ml) finely chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
1/2  cup finely chopped Kalamata olives

Preparation

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer, mix the goat cheese and cream cheese, adding enough milk so the mixture is smooth and spreadable. Add 1 clove of the minced garlic, season with salt and pepper, and mix well.

2. In the other bowl, combine the chopped basil with the remaining garlic and all the olive oil to make a thick paste.

3. Line the 1-quart bowl with wet cheesecloth. Arrange 4 large basil leaves face down on the cheesecloth.

4. Carefully spread one-fourth of the cheese mixture over the basil leaves on the cheesecloth. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, evenly distributing and spreading them to the edge of the cheese. Press down gently. Spread one-fourth of the cheese over the tomato layer. Spread the basil and garlic mixture over this cheese layer, pressing lightly.

5. Add another one-fourth of the cheese, then cover it with the chopped olives, spreading to the edge and pressing gently. Add the final layer of cheese then finish with a layer of whole, large basil leaves and press gently.

6. Fold the cheesecloth in to cover the torta and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

7. To serve, fold back the cheesecloth and invert it onto a serving plate. Carefully remove the cheesecloth from the top of the torta. Let the torta stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

More Basil Recipes

More Basil Recipes From Around the Blogs

Ms. Adventures in Italy – Basilcello, Basil Liqueur

FatFree Vegan Kitchen – Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup

FarmGirl Fare – Fresh Tomato & Basil Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

No Recipes – Basil Watermelon Caipirinha

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We’re off visiting family in the Adirondacks this week, enjoying a small town Fourth of July celebration, fishing, hiking, playing at the lake, cookouts, and evening campfires with roasted marshmallows, s’mores, and campfire pies. We’ll return in a few days feeling rested, a little sunburned, and ready to resume work in the garden, which hopefully won’t burn up in the current heat wave.

After harvesting our garlic scapes at the end of June, we took them to the kitchen and set to work making pesto, a pasta dish, and bean dip. The scapes were spicy—really spicy—and added a nice punch of garlic flavor to this simple bean dip. After a couple bites Michael grabbed some grape tomatoes and put the halves on top of the dip and it made a great combination. If your scapes are as spicy as ours were, you could even add some fresh flat leaf parsley to the mix to balance the flavor.

If you aren’t growing garlic at home, you may find garlic scapes at your local farmers market. We spotted some at the Central New York Regional Market over the weekend, so keep your eye out for them, but if they are out of season you can substitute a few fresh garlic cloves.

(Print this recipe)

CANNELLINI BEAN DIP WITH GARLIC SCAPES

16 servings.

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

15 ounces (425 g) cannellini beans, canned, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup garlic scapes, chopped
1/2 cup (100 g) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground

SERVE WITH
whole grain crackers
sliced baguette
grape tomato halves

Preparation

1. Add the beans to the bowl of the food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times. Add the garlic scapes and olive oil and process for about 30 seconds.

2. Add the lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper and process until the dip is thick and creamy. If the dip is a little dry, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and process. Serve with whole grain crackers or sliced baguette.

Variations

You can also use about 5 or 6 fresh garlic cloves instead of garlic scapes.

If your scapes are very spicy, you can reduce the amount or add some flat leaf parsley to balance the flavor.

More Appetizer Recipes

More Bean Dip Recipes From Around the Blogs

The Perfect Pantry – Black Bean Dip

Simply Recipes – Fava Bean Dip with Goat Cheese and Garlic

Food People Want – Chipotle Bean Dip

Farmgirl Fare – White Bean and Artichoke Dip

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When we began growing jalapenos a few years ago, we investigated making our own chipotles, which are simply smoked jalapenos. We haven’t tried it yet, though we have a smoker now and and might give it a go this year depending on how good the harvest is. In Mexico the process takes several days, and I’m not sure if we could safely keep the coals burning that long with our three boys running around, so we’ll have to figure out the safety angle, too.

In the meantime, we purchase chipotles in adobo sauce, which are nothing short of a magical ingredient in my book. These smoked peppers are then cooked and stored in a sauce made from tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, salt, and spices, and they add an incredible smoky, spicy flavor to foods. They have become widely available in recent years and there are several brands sold in the U.S., such as La Costeña, La Morena, San Marcos, and others.

We only use one or two chipotles at a time because we’ve found that they can be wicked little things, so we always put the remaining chipotles in a small container and keep them in the freezer for later. They keep well for several months.

Hummus is a staple around our house, and for years I’ve used it as a condiment on sandwiches rather than mayonnaise or mustard. I’ll slather it in a whole wheat pita or on a whole wheat bagel, then add alfalfa sprouts and sliced avocado, and I’ve got lunch. And of course we also use it as an appetizer with pita chips and fresh vegetables. This spicy hummus recipe is one of Michael’s favorites.

More Hummus Recipes

More Recipes with Chipotles From Around the Blogs

The Perfect Pantry – Spicy Skirt Steak

FatFree Vegan Kitchen – Smoky Chipotle Guacamole

Homesick Texan – Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

Food Blogga – Smoky Chipotle Chili Corn Chowder

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Snow falls occasionally here in Northern Virginia, usually no more than about 4 or 5 inches at a time, and it’s a chance for fun followed by a quick melting, but we have more than our normal share of snow this winter. We still have plenty of snow on the ground leftover from the back-to-back blizzards two weeks ago, which dumped almost 30 inches on us. The DC area set a new record for winter snowfall, beating the previous record set in the winter of 1898-99, and our county has received over 75 inches this winter, far above our average of 23 inches.

Just yesterday I finally saw some grass peeping out from beneath its heavy white blanket, a sign that our winter may yet return to normal. Though the snow is down about a foot from a week ago, the garden is still buried and we haven’t been able to start spring preparations. I predict a very messy mud season to come.

Summer seems very far away.

Though we are frozen indoors this winter, we have been able to enjoy the fruits of summer using the garden produce we preserved during the season. In summer and autumn we process large amounts of homegrown basil into pesto and freeze it in small containers for winter meals. This month we experimented with our frozen sun-dried tomato pesto in hummus, a variation on our slow roasted tomato hummus, but a basic basil pesto will also work. Though we have months to go before smelling the scent of fresh basil in the garden again, the flavor reminded us of the warm summer to come.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Nate and Annie of House of Annie have graciously volunteered to help out with Grow Your Own while we tend to some family matters this winter, and they are our hosts for this round, so be sure to visit their blog for more information about submitting your post. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page.

Other Hummus Recipes

More Hummus Recipes From Around the Blogs

101 Cookbooks – Hummus en Fuego

Pinch My Salt – Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Gluten-Free Goddess – Jalapeño and Lime Hummus

No Recipes – Hummus with Caramelized Onions

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Popcorn has always been one of my favorite snacks, and as a child I got excited when my dad brought out the vintage hammered Club Aluminum pot and poured in some kernels. Sometimes we had butter on top, but mostly we ate it with a simple sprinkling of salt or occasionally seasoned salt. I don’t think my parents have that old pot anymore, but as I reminisce about all the popcorn we ate together, I wish they still had it.

Now that I have children of my own we make popcorn on the weekends or as an after school snack and sprinkle on all sorts of flavors. Michael likes popcorn spiced up with chili powder or Cajun seasoning, and I like garlic salt. I thought this popcorn from Michael Chiarello would be a tasty way to dress up our favorite healthy snack. The browned butter lends a certain richness while the lemon and our homegrown rosemary brighten the flavor.

Our potted rosemary plants have survived the winter so far, a pleasant surprise after they were buried under 18 inches of snow for a few weeks. The leaves turned a dark shade of red but still have that intoxicating aroma. We decided if they could survive the winter in pots, then we’ll plant them in the spring in a spot out in the garden we’ve already chosen just for them. And if we are really lucky, they might grow into a rosemary hedge.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Nate and Annie of House of Annie have graciously volunteered to help out with Grow Your Own while we tend to some family matters this winter, and they are our hosts for this round, so be sure to visit their blog for more information about submitting your post. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page.

Update: Nate and Annie posted the Grow Your Own roundup. Be sure to check out the 61 fantastic posts!

POPCORN WITH BROWN BUTTER, ROSEMARY, AND LEMON

Adapted from Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello.

Makes about 4 cups.

Equipment

4-quart heavy bottom pan with lid
medium sauté pan
large bowl

Ingredients

1 cup (~210 g) popcorn kernels (Weight can vary depending on the type of popcorn used.)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in the heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add the popcorn kernels. When the popcorns starts to pop, cover the pot tightly and continue to cook until all the popcorn pops, about 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally. Pour the popcorn into the large bowl.

2. While the popcorn pops, melt the butter in the sauté pan over medium-high heat until it is brown, shaking the pan occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the rosemary to the butter and let it sit for a minute or two to infuse the butter with flavor, then pour the butter mixture over the popcorn. Toss well. Add the salt and pepper and lemon zest and toss well.

More Healthy Snacks

More Popcorn Recipes From Around the Blogs

101 Cookbooks – Herbed Buttermilk Popcorn

Rasa Malaysia – Curry Popcorn

Frantic Home Cook – Peanut Butter Popcorn

Ezra Pound Cake – Spicy Southwestern Popcorn

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One of my fondest food memories is of the tiny round potatoes known as papas criollas from Colombia. The Colombian papas criollas grow wild in the Andes highlands and have a thin, tender skin and a buttery yellow interior that yields an amazing flavor. They are a favorite for soups such as Ajiaco or served as appetizers or sides either roasted, fried, mashed, boiled, or skewered and grilled. Here in the United States you can buy them frozen in some stores or in jars from various online grocers (see Where to Buy below). I have searched for years but still have not found frozen, canned, or fresh papas criollas in any of our local Hispanic or international grocery stores.

If you’ve ever had a memory of food so strong that you still dream of it 15 years later, you’ll understand my excitement when I spotted tiny yellow potatoes in Trader Joe’s last week. Small potatoes have been in vogue for a few years, but the little yellow Dutch creamers in our area stores are bigger than papas criollas and I’ve never been quite happy with them. When I saw these petite gems my heart went pitter patter and I jumped with glee and clapped. In Trader Joe’s. Yes, people stared.

These tasty little potatoes are only 1-inch in diameter, a perfect bite size. Michael was thrilled that I found them and assumed I was going to make Ajiaco, but I shocked him when I announced that I planned to fry these. I don’t like to fry, it always makes a big splattery mess leaving me with a big cleanup, but the memory of crispy fried papas is burned in my brain and I wanted to share that experience with my family without buying plane tickets to Bogotá.

My next step is to test the papas in Ajiaco. If they are a true match, they will break up and dissolve into the soup, and then I will set up some space to grow my own papas criollas. What a dream come true.

Just for fun: If you want to experience papas criollas the way I first did years ago, listen to Clasicos de la Provincia by Carlos Vives while eating. For something instrumental, The Rumba Foundation by Jesse Cook offers some great Colombian-inspired sounds that will give you rumba fever.

FRIED PAPAS CRIOLLAS

Makes 1 pound, serves 2 to 4.

Equipment

steamer basket
large heavy bottom pot with lid
cast iron pot or frying appliance
splatter screen
plate or platter lined with paper towels

Ingredients

1 pound (~450 g) papas criollas or similar tiny yellow potato (about 1-inch in diameter)
cooking oil (I use canola.)
sea salt

Preparation

1. STEAM OR PARBOIL: Pour water into bottom of large pot and insert the steamer basket. Add the potatoes, cover, and bring to a boil. Steam the potatoes for about 4 to 5 minutes, then drain and pat dry. If you don’t have a steamer basket, you can parboil the potatoes. Add enough water to cover the potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and dry.

2. FRY: While cooking the potatoes, add oil to the cast iron pot or frying appliance. There should be enough oil for the potatoes to float, but it doesn’t need to be very deep. Add potatoes, about 10 to 15 at a time. They will probably bubble and splatter, so keep a screen handy. Some of the potato skins may burst open, and that’s ok, the skin will be particularly crispy. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove and drain well on the plate lined with paper towels. Allow to cool for a minute or two. Salt generously and serve.

Where to Buy Canned Papas Criollas

Hatogrande

Amigo Foods

More Colombian Recipes

More Bloggers with Authentic Colombian Recipes

Nikas Culinaria

My Colombian Recipes

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Have I ever mentioned that purple is my favorite color? I find the color exhilarating and like plants that bear purple fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos.

Our tomatillo plants were slow this year along with everything else in the garden. The extended cold, wet spring put a damper on things, making everything slow to grow and blossom. We finally harvested some tomatillos a few weeks ago, much later than last year, and with the early cold snap this week we didn’t get much of a growing season at all. All we can do is preserve what we have and hope for better next year.

This was our second year for growing tomatillos, and we planted two green and two purple, both of which took off in late July and shot up to about nine feet tall. The purple tomatillo fruits are generally smaller than the green, with shades ranging from bright amethyst to almost black.

The interiors are only slightly lighter in color than the exterior, and the salsa is a brilliant purple.

When the cold snap hit this week we started pulling things off the plants, hoping to save as much as possible. The tomatillos stopped producing but still have hundreds of little paper lanterns hanging from the four plants. Fortunately they stand up to cold better than tomatoes and peppers, so we have a little time to finish the harvest. We’ll roast the rest, make them into salsa, and freeze it for the winter. I don’t like to process salsa because it tastes cooked rather than fresh, but I do recommend using the salsa within a couple months before it gets freezer burn and loses flavor.

Roasting the tomatillos is easy, just spread them out onto a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and cook under the broiler until they char, about 6 to 8 minutes. Once roasted, the tomatillos can be thrown into a blender with your own blend of chiles, cilantro, garlic, onion, limes, whatever sounds good, and you’ll have roasted tomatillo salsa. This works with either the green or purple tomatillos, and we make both. This year the tomatillos, garlic, and serrano chiles all came from our garden.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. I am the host for this final event of 2009, and you can send your post information to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. Posts are due on October 30. Grow Your Own is taking a winter break this year while we tend to some family matters, but we’ll be back in the spring ready for more fun. If you would like to host in 2010, please drop me a note. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating and find the links to previous events at the Grow Your Own page.

OVEN-ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

Makes about 24 ounces/710 ml.

Equipment

baking sheet lined with heavy duty aluminum foil
blender

Ingredients

3 pounds (1.4 k) tomatillos, color of your choice, husked and rinsed
1/2 medium onion, quartered (red for purple tomatillos, white for green tomatillos)
1 fresh chile, stemmed (serrano or jalapeno work well)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
handful of cilantro leaves and tiny stems, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 lime, juiced

Preparation

1. Spread the tomatillos out on the lined baking sheet stem side down. Place under broiler until charred, about 6 to 8 minutes. Some will crack and release juice, and that’s ok. Add tomatillos and juice to the blender jar.

2. On a dry skillet, toast the onion, chile, and garlic, turning until charred on all sides. Add to the blender jar. (Note: Remove the seeds of the chile if you want a milder salsa.)

3. Add the cilantro and lime juice to the blender jar. Blend all for a few seconds. Pour into a large bowl and serve, or pour into jars and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Can also freeze in plastic containers. I use the Ball Plastic Freezer Jars.

More Grow Your Own Recipes

More Tomatillo Recipes From Around the Blogs

Simply Recipes – Tomatillo Chicken Stew

Cookworm – Chickpea and Tomatillo Soup

What’s Cooking? – Mexican Tomatillo Rice

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Grilled Halibut with Southwestern Rub and Tomatillo Salsa

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This is our first year for growing garlic and now we are slapping ourselves for not trying it years ago because it was so easy. We planted the garlic cloves back in October and then just let them do their thing, no difficult maintenance required. They sprouted before winter set in, then the real growth came in spring when the temperatures warmed up.

We planted softneck silverskin garlic, the most common type of garlic you’ll find in markets or stores. It doesn’t have scapes like hardneck garlic, but it keeps longer after harvest than the hardneck type. Softneck garlic is good for braiding, something I really should practice but I’m all thumbs when it comes to fine motor skills.

As always, we learned a few things with our experiment. First, choose a type of garlic that will thrive in your area. In general, hardneck varieties do well in cold climates and softneck varieties do well in hot climates. Plant only the biggest cloves because they yield the biggest bulbs with the most cloves, and save the little cloves for the kitchen. Plant cloves in October to November in a sunny spot about two to three inches (five to eight centimeters) below the surface. Keep it watered in the spring and when the weather turns hot. Once the green tops start to brown and lay over, stop watering for at least one week before harvesting.

Harvesting is not difficult, just carefully dig around the bulb without touching it to loosen the roots then lift it out. Tap the garlic a little to get most of the dirt off, but don’t worry about removing all the dirt because you want to leave the papery skin on for storage. If you harvest on a dry day you’ll have an easier time tapping off the dirt.

You can use the newly harvested garlic right away, but for long-term storage it needs to cure (dry), so put it in a place out of direct sunlight (not the refrigerator) for about two weeks. We hung it from the rafters in our basement root cellar. After the garlic has cured, you can braid it. Softneck varieties will keep for up to eight months and hardneck varieties will keep for up to two months.

And of course, save some of the big cloves for planting again.

When ready to use, just cut away any dangling roots and use a clean dry toothbrush to gently rub away the outer skin and remaining dirt.

Roasted garlic is one of my favorite foods. It tastes delicious smeared on good artisan bread and adds another dimension of flavor to tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, hummus, and many other dishes. Serve the hummus with raw vegetables, pita slices or pita chips, or baguette slices. It’s also delicious on bagel or pita sandwiches with avocado slices and alfalfa sprouts.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Amy of Playing House is our host for this round, so be sure to visit her blog for more information about submitting your post. The deadline is July 30. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page.

References

Leslie Land – How to Grow Garlic

ROASTED GARLIC HUMMUS

Makes about 2 cups.

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce/425 g) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (or 1/2 cup dry beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed)
3 tablespoons sesame tahini (I prefer Ziyad brand, but any will do.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 whole bulb roasted garlic (or 2 if you really want some garlic flavor)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the skin. In the bowl of the food processor, add the beans, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, and garlic. Process for a few seconds to get the mixture started. While the processor runs, begin drizzling in the olive oil, starting with 2 tablespoons, adding more as necessary to create a smooth consistency.

Other Easy Appetizers

More Recipes With Roasted Garlic From Around the Blogs

Baking Bites – Roasted Garlic Grilled Flatbread

Wild Yeast – Roasted Garlic Bread

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Garlic-Roasted Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds

Ezra Pound Cake – Roasted Garlic, Poblano, and Red Pepper Guacamole

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Delicious food does not have to be difficult to prepare or require hours slaving away in the kitchen. Some of my favorite foods are simple with just a few good ingredients that shine together. The classic goat cheese rolled in herbs is one of those simple appetizers that is hard to resist with slice baguette and seasonal roasted tomatoes. You can make the full recipe to serve four or more or halve the recipe to make a delicious appetizer for two.

I just walk out to the herb garden and snip off whatever is in season to make this, and this time I had fresh parsley, chives, and lemon thyme to chop and coat the soft tangy cheese. Fresh cilantro, basil, lemon basil, and marjoram are also good choices. Rolling the cheese in some good olive oil helps the herbs to stick.

This simple appetizer is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. I am the host for this round, and you can send your posts to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. Posts are due July 15. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page. I hope you will join us!

HERBED GOAT CHEESE

Makes 1 (8-ounce/227 g) log. Serves 4 to 6.

Equipment

plate
plastic wrap

Ingredients

8 ounce (227 g) log of goat cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Preparation

Drizzle the olive onto the plate and roll the goat cheese in it. Sprinkle the chopped herbs on a piece of plastic wrap and roll the goat cheese in the herbs until it is completely coated. Wrap the goat cheese and chill until ready to serve. Serve with sliced baguette or thin wheat crackers.

Other Easy Appetizers

More Recipes with Goat Cheese From Around the Blogs

Simply Recipes – Buttermilk Biscuits with Goat Cheese and Chives

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Breakfast Casserole with Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese

White on Rice Couple – Roasted Klondike Rose Potatoes with Herbed Goat Cheese and Thyme

Nami-Nami – Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart with Thyme

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