ffwd: hummus
It’s hard to believe that this marks the start of the third year of French Fridays with Dorie. When I joined the group, that inaugural week, I had no idea what I was stepping into. I had been blogging for almost a year at that point. The people who read my posts were family, friends, and maybe some friends of family and friends. If anyone else was reading, they weren’t commenting, so I have no idea if they were out there, though I doubt it.
In October of 2010, I wrote my first post that was part of a collective effort. That first post was about gougeres. I was more than a little self-conscious, not knowing whether any of the other people in the group would read my posts, or even think they were worthwhile to read. I felt equally self-conscious leaving comments for these total strangers, even though we had the shared experience of making the same recipe.
Over the weeks, then months, now years, I got to know this geographically scattered group of home cooks. I feel a connection to these people though we’ve never met face-to-face. I enjoy the feeling of knowing there are other obsessive home cooks out there like me, who share the same passion of cooking and feeding family and friends, and for knowing some of these people. I like seeing what other kitchen ventures they take outside of the shared Friday recipe. I like being part of this community, even if it only exists in cyberspace.
And so, year three begins with hummus.
I’ve made my own hummus for years, usually using the recipe my mother gave me when I was in college. (Admittedly, in the past couple years, I’ve discovered Sabra hummus. I love the texture of theirs and haven’t made my own in a while, buying large tubs of it as Costco.)
Dorie’s recipe is very basic. The ingredients (all pantry staples for me) are pureed in the food processor, and there you have it. The main difference between this recipe and what I’ve made before is the absence of olive oil. Dorie’s recipe used only the reserved liquid from the canned chickpeas and lemon juice to thin the chickpea and tahini paste. Hummus sans olive oil tasted fine, so some calories can definitely be saved. I enjoyed the ground cumin that spices up this version of hummus.
To serve, I mimicked the Sabra hummus I mentioned before. I poured some extra virgin olive oil on top and sprinkled the bowl with pine nuts and a little smoked paprika for color. I served with another favorite new product (no, I’m not in marketing): Stacy’s pita crisps. I’m already a fan of Stacy’s pita chips, but these are thinner and I prefer their texture.
There’s not much else to say. This is an easy appetizer, obviously. I also enjoy hummus on a sandwich with finely grated carrots or other vegetables. This makes a big batch, so there’s enough left over to make sandwiches for lunch.
As always, we don’t post the recipes for what we make for this group. You can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. You can also see how the other FFwD bloggers’ hummus came out by following their links posted here.
Wishing all my French Friday friends a Happy Anniversary! Here’s to cooking along with in the year(s) ahead! Cheers! XOX
tuesdays with dorie / baking with julia: cranberry-walnut pumpkin loaves
When I read the name of this autumnal recipe, I envisioned just another quick bread, so I wasn’t planning to make it. When I realized that it was a yeasted bread, I got more interested. Pumpkin in batter made me think of the Chart House’s Squaw Bread. Not that I ever figured out what was in it, but the memory drew me in.
There’s nothing like a stand mixer to make bread making nearly effortless. If you recall, my last bread attempt was the TWD whole wheat loaves a couple weeks ago. While it was successful, I also killed my stand mixer. With the help of the internet (for both diagnostics and retail), my ever-handy husband Howard determined that I had managed to strip the worm gear. He had it fixed and ready to go for this week’s recipe.
The pumpkin loaf dough is like an enhanced brioche, where the usual flour, yeast, salt and water are enriched by butter and egg (and, in this case, pumpkin as well). It was very sticky. I had some doubts that it would form a ball on the dough hook because after 10 minutes, it was still rather loose. The last five minutes worked its magic, producing the desired silky ball on the hook. Toasted walnuts, cranberries, and golden raisins were mixed in to stud the dough.
This was a happy lump of dough, and it grew heartily.
After First Rise
I was a little confused about the overnight chill. When I’ve chilled dough overnight before, it’s been for an overnight rise, but that didn’t seem to be the case in this recipe. I placed the dough in a bowl just slightly larger than the deflated dough, wrapping tight in plastic. It had a little room to grow, and when I checked for bedtime, it was pushing against the plastic already. Hoping it wouldn’t explode, I just let it be for the night. Good thing that I didn’t use a larger bowl. Though the plastic wrap successfully held the dough in place, I’m sure it would have continued to grow, if unrestrained.
Next morning, I removed the dough from the fridge to let it warm up to 64F. This was the hardest part. The recipe said it would take 3 or 4 hours. Ha! I think it depends on the temperature of your house. It is early fall here in New England, but I’m playing the game of “how long can we wait to turn on the heat”. Of course, I don’t think the heat is needed at all yet, but the thermostat said the kitchen was 65F. It took all day, nearly 8 hours to get to “room temperature”.
Finally, the dough was divided and shaped into little loaves, left to rise for the second time, and then baked.
My verdict on this one? I absolutely love the texture of this bread. It’s moist and light and airy. The pumpkin’s flavor wasn’t noticeable, but I’m sure it added to the wonderful texture. I felt lukewarm about the cranberries. They dotted the loaves like rubies, which looked gorgeous, but tasted a bit too tart. Maybe I would have preferred dried cranberries, which are usually sweetened. I also like the smaller loaves, great for sharing.
Much to my surprise, I can definitely see making this again, playing around with the spices and the add-ins. It reminded me of a moister panettone, the Italian holiday bread, so I’m thinking this American cousin would make a great gift around the holidays.
If you’d like to make it yourself, you can find the recipe at this week’s host Rebecca’s site, This Bountiful Backyard. The recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book, written with Julia Child, Baking with Julia. And, to see how the other TWD bloggers fared with their pumpkin loaves, check out their posts here.
A Plateful of Happiness 