Dana Delish's Delightful Dips

From Dana's moderately cramped kitchen...

WOWZER....WHITE BEAN DIP

2 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
5 cloves garlic
5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons (or Olive Oil Pam Spray)
1/2 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cracked red pepper flakes
12 pitas

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley
in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is
coarsely chopped. Season with salt and cracked red pepper flakes, to
taste. Transfer the bean puree to a medium bowl.

Cut each pita in half and then into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges
on a large baking sheet. Pour the remaining oil over the pitas. Toss
and spread out the wedges evenly. Sprinkle with the coarse salt, and
pepper. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until toasted and golden in
color. Pam spray with olive oil works the best.

Serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside the bean puree.

HOORAY for HUMMUS

4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the
garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. I have a
microplane, and I actually think that works better to get the garlic
tiny. If you don't have one, GET ONE! It's the best kitchen tool. Add
the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until
the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled
or at room temperature.

I make the baked pita chips to serve with this too. MMM mmm goood.

International Potluck Fare

Over the past few weeks as I have discussed both the upcoming Cramped Kitchen television show and the currently running Cramped Kitchen blog one theme recurs over and over again. The simplest solution to the constraints of a mini-kitchen is eat out, order in or eat at friends' houses. (Actually those are the easiest solutions to any dilemmas relating to spending time in one's kitchen no matter the size.)

I recently spent several months nestled away in a small resort town in the Southern California Mountains. I belonged to a writers group up there and we had monthly potlucks. Some people brought a bag of chips as their "dish," others a bakery-made cake or two two-liter bottles of soda. A few people though consistently brought their "signature dish" and other party goers complained if those dishes didn't show up.

While our goal is to actually demonstrate that it is not necessary to give up on great meals made and enjoyed at home, the reality is we don't all eat at home every day so, my question is to you, "What is your favorite potluck dish to bring?"

And to keep it interesting...how about those dishes with at least a moderately international flare? And next week we'll bring the dishes back home.

Happy Cooking!

~Chase

TaraMATTsalata

My friend, Matt, who I loving refer to as the Cynical Chef, brings this dish to all the potlucks and office parties he attends.

TARAMASALATA a la MATT

Just whipped up some delicious taramasalata from an improvised recipe:
1 10-ounce jar tarama (carp roe). Make sure not to buy already-made taramasalata sold in similar jars. You could substitute other fish roe that hasn't been given a caviar treatment.
1-2 cloves garlic
approximately 1/4 small onion, finely grated (I used a microplane)
dash salt
juice of one lemon
about 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
four slices cheap white bread and some stale pita, soaked in water
fresh-milled black pepper
Ingredients should be at room temperature. I used a large mortar and pestle, but a food processor or blender would also work.

Crush the garic, onion and salt into a paste. Add the lemon juice and tarama and pound for a while to break up some of the eggs. Whisk in olive oil in a thin stream as if making a mayonaise (which, indeed, you are). Squeeze out excess water from the soaked bread and pita; break up and whisk into the mixture and season with fresh-milled pepper. Adjust seasonings (if too salty, add more lemon juice).

Serve with wedges of pita, veggies and a side dish of olives.

NOTE: Our friends at www.cellartastings.com recommend this greek wine with taramasalata.

Try this dish with: Amethystos dry white wine, Constantin Lazaridis
From the wine region of Drama, located in Greece’s mountainous beautiful Macedonia wine producing area, in the community of Adriani, lies one of our favorite wineries in Greece- Constantin Lazaridis. Leaders in top Greek wine production and also in wine tourism in Greece, Lazaridis makes a range of wines from the Amethystos brand, to Chateau Julia, the flagship range. They also have an interesting distillery where they produce Eau-de-Vie.

The white Amethystos wine is made with principally Sauvignon Blanc, in an ultra dry, very zippy style. It tastes quite similar to how you would imagine a Bordeaux “Entre-deux-Mers”, as indeed it is blended with Semillon blanc and also the Greek varietal, Aegean Assyrtiko. The color is pale straw with hints of green and the bouquet is pure peaches! The flavours and aromas are intense and there is a lovely, long finish. Highly recommended.

Ensalada Española Magnífica De Guillermo Cornett

In keeping with our theme of what works in a small kitchen and staying seasonal...any meal that ends up in one big serving dish certainly fits the bill. Ah, speaking of Bill...

Bill Cornett's Superb Spanish Salad
aka Ensalada Española Magnífica De Guillermo Cornett

Culinary change of pace for you: Make the following
spanish salad.... three or so juicy valenica or blood
oranges (more if you use the latter, which tend to be
smaller), cut into 1-2 inch chunks. Chop, not too
fine, but smaller than the oranges, a spanish
onion--any white onion will do if you lack the latter,
and they need not be sweet, even though that may seem
necessary. Add a dozen or so pitted olives--kalamata
are a bit briney, but something along that line only
perhaps a bit milder will do nicely--if you do use
kalamata, go lightly until you've developed a taste
for what ratios work for you. Also, a few spoons of
sun dried tomatoes, but less is more with them. Stir
lightly and let sit (chilled if you wish) for a bit to
let the flavors blend.