Curry Pumpkin Seeds

Halloween is over and the "Great Pumpkin" was still sitting on my counter. We never carved the big vegetable, so it just sat there being festive - and taking up precious space. This morning I had the urge to stab Mr. Pumpkin and steal his tasty seeds for some snacking. I called upon Mira to do the deed - it was her pumpkin after all, and she is being trained to wield a knife in her culinary arts program. And so at last the end came for the pumpkin, but the seeds are still being munched happily.

Curry Pumpkin Seeds
1 pumpkin
Salt
Olive Oil
Curry Powder
Cayenne pepper (if desired)

Preheat oven to 450F. Cut open the pumpkin and remove all of the seeds into a colander. Rinse seeds and remove all stringy pumpkin stuff and discard. For each half cup of seeds you have put two cups of water in a pot with one tablespoon of salt. (My pumpkin had about 2 cups of seeds.) Simmer in salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain seeds in a colander and place in a bowl. Drizzle seeds with olive oil until all seeds are lightly coated, and then toss with curry powder. (I used two teaspoons of curry powder for my two cups of seeds. Bake in a single layer on a sheet pan in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until seeds are lightly toasted. Allow to cool and then toss with additional salt or curry powder to taste. You can also toss a pinch of cayenne pepper in to add some heat. Enjoy!

Caramel Fruit Dip

This is a recipe that I have had for a while, found somewhere by my mother. It is easy to take to a party or picnic and everyone loves it so much that I couldn't resist posting it for everyone was asking for the recipe. I believe my Mom got the recipe from a Watkins distributor. To make this delicious dip, you will need to find one too, or you can purchase it online from Watkins.

Caramel Fruit Dip
1 8-ounce package of Neufchâtel or cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Caramel extract
2 tablespoons skim milk

Combine all ingredients and blend well. Serve chilled with assorted fruit and make sure that you have plenty because it goes FAST!

Dolmas

Every time my girls and I go to the Strip District in Pittsburgh, we stop at Labad's Middle Eastern Grocery. Here we find all sorts of yummy ingredients. For my daughter Zoë, this is the place to stock up on grape leaves. You can also find some somewhat-fresh stuffed grape leaves at our local grocery, but I have been wanting to give my Grandma Harvey's recipe a try. Actually, she had two recipes - one with rice and one without. One of her recipes is only a list of ingredients, and the other has some instructions. So I mushed them together a bit and made this from the combination of both.

Dolmas
1 jar of grape leaves, rinsed
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
juice of two lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Remove grape leaves from jar and rinse. Place them in a pot of boiling water for one minute, and then remove and put in cold water. When they have cooled, drain the water. Combine meat with carrots, rice, tomato paste, and seasonings. When ready to roll, place one teaspoon of the meat mixture on the back of one grape leaf and roll tightly. When the meat is gone and all leaves are rolled, place the remaining whole and broken leaves at the bottom of a heavy pot. Layer the stuffed grape leaves in snugly in the pot, making two or three layers as needed. Place a heatproof dish on top of the leaves to hold them down and then pour water in the pot to just cover the dish. Bake in the oven at 350 F for one hour. When cooled, drizzle leaves with lemon juice and olive oil. Serve warm or cold.

Sweet Heat Garlic Wings

Game time is here, and I threw all caution aside to create something perfect for the Super Bowl. Tomorrow it's back to healthy eating and Meatless Monday, but today I will be watching and munching, cheering on the team. Enjoy!

Sweet Heat Garlic Wings

4 lbs chicken wings

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup Sriracha

2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

Bake wings on a flat baking pan at 450 F until golden, flipping once. (You can also deep fry the wings for extra crunch). While baking, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Then add remaining ingredients. When wings are done (about 20 minutes each side), toss gently in wing sauce. Season with fresh ground black pepper.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

(Sulu Köfte)
Anybody who lives in Western Pennsylvania and regions close all have one thing on mind right now. STEELERS! Everyone is gathering their Super Bowl recipes and preparing to make an extravaganza of football munchies. Last weekend was the playoff game and I too was thinking about savory munchies. So in the tailgating spirit, with a bit of my international cravings, I found an easy Turkish recipe for meatballs in tomato sauce. No grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs in a Crock Pot this year - I am keeping things healthy and delicious.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
1/2 pound lean ground beef (90/10)
1/4 cup fine bulgur
1/4 cup long grain rice
2 small onions, one grated & one sliced thinly
2 cups beef broth
1 14.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (Halaby pepper)
2 cloves garlic, minced
dried parsley
salt
gresh ground black pepper

Combine meat, grated onion, bulgur, rice, egg, mint, Aleppo pepper and garlic in a bowl. Season with a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and set aside. In a heavy pot, saute sliced onion in olive oil and when transluscent, add broth, tomato paste, tomates and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. On a large dish, spread flour. Form small meatballs and roll into flour, making sure all meatballs are covered with flour. Drop meatballs into boiling tomato broth and stir slowly. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook meatballs for about 30 minutes until sauce is thick and meatballs are cooked. Garnish with parsley. After the meatballs are cooked through you can pop the meatballs and sauce in a Crock Pot and serve with the rest of your football nosh.

White Portabella Pizza

Each weekend I try to explore a new recipe. I gather up information, tweak the ingredients to fit my healthy eating plan, seek the ingredients I can substitute or add and come up with something yummy. My experiments are all happily devoured. But each week I get the same comment from the man of the house. "How about something with mushrooms?" Gah! I can no longer escape this request! You see, mushrooms look scary to me. I don't eat them. I adore the mold that gives us stinky cheese and the yeast that makes bread and wine, but mushrooms are...fungus. And fungus is creepy. Sadly this is one reason I could never be a chef. I don't eat fungus and I don't eat critters who swim. Neither shrimp nor 'shroom will I consume. But he tells me these are scrumptious. Tell me if you agree, because I haven't tried one!

White Portabella Pizza
2 large portabella mushrooms
1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Parsley

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small skillet, saute garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Remove from heat. Place portabellas top side down on a baking sheet. Drizzle with garlic oil, mound on 1/4 cup cheese over each and sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Heat until bubbly and melted, abut 5-7 minutes. Serve to your favorite fungus fan.

Chicken Balls

We all have our guilty food pleasures. One of mine is the local Chinese buffet. While there are larger and more spectacular buffets in the area, En Lai in Slippery Rock has a small variety of my favorites. It's a far cry from real Chinese food - sort of an American sweetened version of Chinese food. But give me a plate and I pile on Walnut Chicken, Black Pepper Chicken and General Tso's Chicken and love it. And then there are the yummy Chicken Balls. At first I didn't know what they were - alien round fried balls. Hoping I would not encounter seafood, I took a bite and found a seasoned chicken meatball with a crispy crust. This is my interpretation.

Chicken Balls
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 carrot, shredded
3 green onions, sliced thinly
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Cut chicken into chunks and combine with egg whites, ginger, soy sauce, cornstarch and sesame oil in a food processor. Process until chicken is a thick puree. Add carrot and onion and pulse a couple of times. Remove mixture into a bowl. Heat canola oil to 375 degrees in a deep fryer or deep heavy pot. Drop spoonfuls of chicken mix into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain on paper and serve hot with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce.

Salsa Verde

The last of the fresh vegetables are coming in from friends and family who have gardens. It won't be long before the vegetable stand down the road shuts down until next year. My thanks to everyone who shared their green thumb with me - Steve and Audrey for the cucumbers, tomatoes and chili peppers, Burt for the tomatillos. Actually I had never eaten a tomatillo before. But last weekend I received a whole bag, so I decided to improvise a nice salsa verde.

Salsa Verde
2 pounds fresh tomatillos
4 jalapeño peppers
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Remove stems from peppers, slice and remove pith and seeds. (This will make the salsa mild. If you want extra heat, leave the pepper intact) Slice the pepper and put in a food processor. Set aside. Remove outer papery skin from tomatillos and rinse well under lots of warm water to remove the sticky film. Put into a sauce pan and fill with water to two inches above the vegetables and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer tomatillos for about five minutes. When they are done, remove from the water and put them into the food processor with the lime juice, cumin, salt and sugar. Pulse until the salsa is thick and lumpy. (You can also use a hand blender in a mixing bowl, pureeing to a thick consistency.) Add onions, cilantro and pepper and chill. Serve with chips or over grilled meats.

Crunchy Spicy Chickpeas

My house is full of snackers. Somebody is always running in and out of the kitchen with some form of snack item. Yet, aside from my homemade salsa and an accompanying bag of tortilla chips - there are no typical junkfood snacks in the house. We have apples and cheese, lot of nuts and old fashioned non-microwave popcorn galore as well as the most sought-after snack in the kitchen - the fresh raspberry. Apparently somebody bought me some raspberries the other day. I never saw any of them. So this little crunchy bean is our newest snack item. It's spicy and hot and is crunchy like a nut, yet packed with nutrition. And it's easy and cheap to make.

Crunchy Spicy Chickpeas
2 14.5-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drain and rinse chickpeas well. Allow most of the moisture to dry off (I twirled them in my salad spinner) and put into a large bowl. Add oil and seasonings and toss in the bowl until all chickpeas are well coated. Spread chickpeas on a sheet pan in a single layer and bake in the oven for approximately 45-50 minutes. Shake sheet pan around about every 15-20 minutes while cooking to allow the peas to brown evenly. Allow to cool thoroughly and enjoy!

Chicken Spread

This simple appetizer comes from my sister Kathy. She made it for us one Christmas, and forever it has become a flavor I associate with the holiday season. But I also use this for snack day at work and just for nibbling at home. Serve it on a few crackers, add a piece of fruit and you have a quick lunch.

Chicken Spread

1 can 4.5 oz can Swanson's white meat chicken
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped onion

Mix ingredients well using a fork to shred chicken into the cream cheese and onion mixture. When well combined, refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled with crackers.

Zucchini Fritters

(Beignets de Courgette)
It happens every summer. Like invaders from an alien planet, zucchini start appearing everywhere. At first they seem harmless vegetables, but soon as the summer draws on they grow until they become the size of an infant. Everyone seems to be trying to get rid of them. What to do? Eat. Adopt these green babies and fry them up.

Zucchini Fritters

2 small Zucchini shredded (about 1 pound)
2 large Eggs beaten
1/2 cup Flour 

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 pinch Cayenne
4 cloves Garlic minced

Shred zucchini in a bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be mostly zucchini in small amount of loose batter. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet. Drop batter by tablespoons into the oil and fry for a few minutes until the edges become brown. Flip fritter over with a spatula or slotted spoon and fry the other side until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve as they are or with marinara sauce.

Dill Weed Dip

This addictive recipe came to me from Audrey, who is blessed with a very large garden full of fresh vegetables during the summer months. No matter what the season, when dining at Audrey's, you will find mostly fresh vegetables served in salads and home baked bread. She claims to not like cooking, but is always a taste of the earth's abundance when I go there. This is adapted from one of her staples. 

Dill Weed Dip

8 ounces mayonnaise
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 teaspoon Accent (monosodium glutamate)
3 tablespoons dill weed
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Combine all ingredients and allow to sit for a few hours to blend the seasonings. You can also add less dill weed and an equal amount of other herbs, such as chives, onion flakes, parsley or whatever you wish. Most people I know are shocked that I would use MSG, but they seem to be unaware of what it actually is. Studies have shown that most people only have reactions when they think it is in the food. It's pretty neat stuff actually. It is derived from seaweed and makes the flavors bolder. But like all sodium products, one should use it sparingly - only enough to enhance the flavor and no more. Feel free to omit the ingredient if you wish.

Pickled Purple Eggs

To the uninitiated, they look like alien spores out of a cult 70s sci-fi film. Touch them and a creature conjured from the imagination of H.R. Giger will burst forth and implant in your viscera. Run! No, wait, they are only Pickled Purple Eggs! Harmless little eggs which are a fixture of Pennsylvania salad bars and farm markets, or anywhere there is a population of Amish or Mennonite cooks. Pickled eggs were first made as a way to preserve eggs using leftover pickle juices. The Pennsylvania Dutch brought this technique, and it continues today with the area's Amish, who still live as their ancestors did without electricity.  This recipe is in homage to my own Pennsylvania Dutch ancestor - Elizabeth Barth who was born in May, 1770 and lived in Lancaster PA.

Pickled Purple Eggs
1 dozen eggs
1 14.5-ounce can of sliced or small beets
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 stick cinnamon
4 whole cloves
4 whole allspice berries

Hard boil eggs and cool immediately in ice water.  Using eggs which are a few weeks old makes them easier to peel. Set aside and allow to cool.

Combine beets, vinegar, water, sugar and spices and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool.  Peel eggs and add to cooled liquid. You can keep the beets with the eggs to pickle, or use separately. Refrigerate for two days to a week before eating. The eggs can keep in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Salsa with Fresh Cilantro

Local Mexican restaurant Compadres serves up the most delicious salsa. Never before did I have a salsa that kept me dipping in the bowl and wanting more. I often went there begging for takeout salsa like a junkie looking for a fix and having it packaged with fresh cooked tortilla chips for munching at home. I began to search everywhere for an equally good jarred salsa. I opened jar after jar of flat tasting cooked tomato chunks that didn't make my tongue happy at all. So I started experimenting, and came up with this delicious salsa. Compadres is still a favorite, but this one makes my tongue cry for mama!

Salsa with Fresh Cilantro
2 14.5-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon Goya hot sauce
1 bunch fresh cilantro
fresh ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except onion and cilantro. Blend with hand blender until salsa is preferred consistency (I like mine to be on the smooth side). Add diced onions and chopped cilantro and chill for several hours to blend the flavors.

Pineapple Kielbasa

This recipe comes from my sister Kathy, who made it once for a dinner party. It is a great addition to any gathering from holiday feast to tailgate party. I like to take it in to work on snack days because it is easy and delicious. It is a celebration of Pittsburgh flavors.

The pineapple juice acts as a tenderizer for the kielbasa, making it fork tender and sweet. Use as an entree or appetizer.

Pineapple Kielbasa
1 pound lowfat Polska kielbasa
1 bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup brown sugar

Put chili sauce, pineapple (with juice), and brown sugar into a crock pot and mix well. Slice kielbasa into 1/2 inch pieces and add to crock pot. Cook on high for four hours, and turn to low to keep heated throughout the day.

Mexican Hot Peanuts

(Cacahuates Enchilados)
My favorite place to shop is Pittsburgh's Strip District - an old warehouse district that comes alive every Saturday morning. There are ethnic groceries, excellent restaurants and lots of people. The streets are full of musicians, craftsmen and food carts, as well as an open air vegetable market. I love this place and could go weekly if I lived closer. Hidden between my favorite haunts is the man with the outdoor peanut roaster. On a cold day the roaster is warm and the air smells delicious. You can take a peek of my favorite place in the world here. I adore peanuts. I will take them sweet, hot, salted, in brittle, covered with chocolate and sprinkled on anything.

Zoë and I are the only ones who eat these little treats. We are okay with that - it's more for us that way!

Cacahuates Enchilados
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups raw shelled peanuts
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic salt

Heat peanut oil in a large skillet (cast iron heats the best). Stirring constantly, toast peanuts until golden over medium-high heat for about 4 or 5 minutes. When peanuts just begin to take some color and start smelling really good, reduce the heat to low and add the cayenne and garlic salt. Keep the peanuts moving and be ready to take off the heat if they begin to get too dark. Cast iron holds the heat really well, so you have to be very careful to not overcook. Let the peanuts cool completely in a tray lined with paper towels. You can adjust both the cayenne and garlic salt to your taste.

Easy Marinated Cheese

Life in a cubicle can get a bit boring after a while. Luckily, I work with people who appreciate a good "snack day." A snack day is basically a day-long munchfest featuring everything from chips and dip and cocktail weenies to various tasty treats kept warm in a crock pot. After one long day at work I ruminated over what to bring for the next day's snack. I thought of my sister's mother-in-law's fabulous marinated cheese, but I wanted something easier to make and serve. Little did I know that this quickie appetizer would bring me to the cubicle hall of fame. My co-workers affectionately call this treat "Karen's Stinky Cheese". It is fragrant and addictive and I hope you will like it too.

Marinated Cheese
2 10-ounce packages of sharp white Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Slice the cheese into cracker sized servings and place in plastic container. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the cheese. Let marinate overnight. Serve with crackers.

Saltines or bland "water crackers" work the best, as they let the flavor of the marinade shine. Be sure you eat some of this before anyone comes around. Once the intoxicating scent fills the air, you won't have any left!

Grandma Harvey's Cheeseball

When I was a child, my sister and I would spend Friday nights huddled in the den, watching a small black and white TV. Sometimes my mom would join us upstairs to watch something special - like a Dracula movie. The snack of choice for Friday night was pretzels and dip. Mom rarely purchased prepackaged foods. She stuck to a very tight budget and mixed her own dressings and dips. Her idea of dip was this sublime concoction of cream, blue and cheddar cheese handed down from my Grandma, Louise Harvey. We also made this into a cheeseball.

Not too long ago I was looking through one of my favorite cookbooks Square Meals: America's Favorite Comfort Cookbook by Jane and Michael Stern, and I found an almost exact duplicate of this recipe. It turns out that Grandma Harvey probably found this recipe in a booklet with her Osterizer blender back in the 1950s and made a few modifications. The addition of ¼ cup of milk to this recipe makes it a dip. Leave the milk out and you have cheese ball.

Grandma Harvey's Cheeseball
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 small onion, grated
2 tablespoons parsley, softened in water
ground nuts (pecans)

Combine the cheeses, Worcestershire sauce and onion in a large bowl. Form into a ball and roll in parsley and nuts. Refrigerate overnight and serve with crackers. Add ¼ cup of milk for a softer consistency. Be sure to find yourself a nice aggressive blue cheese for this recipe. I prefer to use Maytag Blue Cheese. Those crumbled tubs available in the grocery store are a bit too wimpy and the flavor falls flat even after sitting overnight.