White Bean and Roasted Garlic Hummus with Chives

I love spring! I especially love that my chives came back from last year. I hear they're pretty hard to "kill," but still, I'm pretty happy about it. I used a couple of different recipes from the internet to come up with what I think is a delicious accompaniment to vegetable crudite and also pita chips.

1 Can (15.5 oz) Cannelini Beans, drained, but reserve 2 Tbsp liquid
2 heads garlic
1 Tbsp tahini
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp salt
1/2 C olive oil, plus more for roasting
5 stalks chives

Start by roasting your garlic. To do this, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulbs, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place each one into a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and cover them up. Roast for 30-35 minutes or until the heads feel soft when pressed. Let cool completely. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.

Finely chop the chives. Place the beans and reserved liquid, tahini, lemon juice (minus the seeds, folks!), roasted garlic cloves, chopped chives and salt in a food processor. Puree with the blade attachment until mostly smooth. While the processor is still running, drizzle in up to 1/2 C of olive oil or until smooth. Refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving with cut up vegetables and/or baked pita chips.

Apps and Wine Party Wrap Up

The weekend before Christmas, we hosted an Appetizers and Wine party. It all stemmed after Mr. Tote and I attended a client appreciation event where they served us shrimp cocktail shooters in shot glasses. Now, I've seen this done many times before, but I had put the idea in the back of my mind. Seeing these beauties at the party reminded me that I never did make those darn things. Hence, the reason for the holiday get together. So we had 11 of our friends over, along with three children under the age of 2. We asked everyone to bring a bottle of wine, while we supplied the food goodies. Below is the menu we served...

Roast Beef and Sharp Cheddar Sandwiches
Ham and Aged White Cheddar Sandwiches

Stone Ground Honey Mustard - recipe follows

Creamy Horseradish - recipe follows

Shrimp Cocktail Shooters with a salt and pepper rim - recipe follows

Pesto Pinwheels from Ellie at Vintage Victuals

Buffalo Chicken Dip, aka Chicken Shit

Baked brie with walnuts and apricot preserves inspired from Vintage Victuals

Veggie tray with ranch dip

For desserts we had:

Rocky Road Fudge

Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies from Shelby at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch

Hershey Pretzel Bites

I added some fun DIY touches to our "counterscape." To avoid having to use regular old plates for serving, I grabbed a few spare tiles and used other items around the house to raise them up. This worked great for the shrimp cocktail shooters because I hid a big bowl of ice in the shadow box frame to keep the shrimp cold.

I also picked up some holiday colored paint swatches from Lowe's and used a white pen to put signs up for all of the food. This really came in handy for when folks were wondering what the heck was wrapped up in dough (the brie with walnuts and apricot preserves).

Mr. Tote was so helpful!

The sandwich platter took a reeeaaaallllly long time to make. I purchased rolls that had to be baked and sliced in half. Then I had to slice the cheese thinly off the blocks I bought. It was really time consuming, but they turned out so cute.
With the sandwiches, I served some stone ground honey mustard and creamy horseradish.

Stone Ground Honey Mustard
1/2 C stone ground mustard
2 Tbsp honey

In a small bowl, microwave the honey for 20-30 seconds, or until thin. Mix in the mustard with a fork until fully incorporated. Refrigerate until serving.

Creamy Horseradish
1/3 C mayonnaise
1/3 C sour cream
1/3 C horseradish

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate until serving.

As I mentioned earlier, the inspiration for this party came from some cocktail shrimp shooters I had at a client appreciation party. Their shrimp were served in a tall glass shotglass with WAAAAAY too much cocktail sauce for one little shrimpy. So I headed to Party City to pick up some 1.5 oz. clear plastic shot glasses.

I wet the rims of the cups with a sponge and dipped them into a mixture coarse kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper in a shallow dish. Now I know how bartenders feel when they have to rim margarita and daquiri glasses with sugar or salt.

I made the cocktail sauce with about a cup of ketchup, a third of a cup of horseradish and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Here are some additional pictures of the food.
The rocky road fuuuuuuuuuuuudge...

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I feel so blessed that I was able to spend lots of time with my family and friends.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I find that certain restaurants really nail spinach artichoke dip. Others fail miserably. And that's what I really hate. When you go to a restaurant, craving some of the cheesy, tangy, creamy goodness, and then you're seriously dissapointed when "said restaurant" totally misses the mark. That being said, one of my favorite places to get this amazing app is Claddagh's Irish Pub and one of my least favorite places has to be Applebees.

HOWEVER, I think that the recipe below is a serious contender for the top of my list! I'll deem this "Carla's Spinach Artichoke Dip," named after the coordinator at our wedding reception venue. I cannot remember how we got talking about food, but she told me I had to try this recipe. I have since made this for many social gatherings with friends and family. And every time I take my first bite, my eyes slightly roll back in my head, my knees get weak, I mumble some choice words and am taken to a very happy place. If you're looking for a winner, THIS IS IT.

Carla's Spinach Artichoke Dip
1/4 C butter
2 cloves garlic
1/3 C chopped onion - original recipe calls for 3 Tbsp
10 oz package of frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts
1/2 C half and half - I used 1 cup of fat free
8 oz cream cheese - I used the 1/3 less fat variety
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Thaw the spinach in the microwave and drain thoroughly.

Roughly chop the artichoke hearts on a cutting board.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

Crush the garlic cloves and add to the butter, along with the chopped onions. Sautee for 3 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Add the drained spinach and artichoke hearts and continue sauteeing. After 1-2 minutes, add the creamer.

After incorporated, cube the cream cheese and add it to the mixture. Lower the heat and stir until the cream cheese is completely melted and incorporated. Add the parmesan cheese and stir.

Transfer to a pie plate or shallow dish. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Melt in a 350 degree oven or microwave until warm and melted.

Note: I added extra creamer because I found that it tended to dry out when heated. Also, this last time, I served this out of my mini CrockPot, so I omitted the sharp cheddar cheese. The extra liquid really helped in this case, too.

A Peck of Pickled Peppers

OK, so more like 4 small jars, but I am acting as excited as if it were a full peck. This was our first experience canning and it actually worked *gasp!!* We planted four little banana pepper plants back in spring and they produced lots of beautiful peppers. The recipe below made about 4 pints of peppers.

1 Garlic Clove
1 1/2 lb to 2 lbs banana peppers
1 Tbsp salt
2 C water
1 C white vinegar
Celery seed
Fennel seed

Prepare jars and lids by washing them in HOT soapy water. Leave them in clean hot water until you're ready to use them.

Wash the peppers, remove the tops, deseed and cut into thin rings. I would recommend using gloves. Even though banana peppers aren't known for being hot, I still managed to feel stinging on my upper lip for about an hour. I must have scratched my nose or something. But what a pain it was, literally.

In a large pot, combine the vinegar, salt and water. Heat on high until boiling.

Remove one jar at a time to begin the canning process.

Add a clove of garlic, then pack banana peppers tightly into jar. Add a tiny dash of celery seed and fennel. Then pour the hot vinegar-water mixture over the peppers. Immediately put on the lid and ring tightly to seal.

In a canning pot of boiling water, process the jars in a water bath for 10 minutes.

I really can't say how these taste, as we haven't opened a jar yet. They've been "marinating" for a few weeks now. I think it's about time to break open a jar. Don't you?

Chick Pea and Black Bean Salsa

Oooh, yummy! I had this salsa recently at a planning committee meeting for the Lansing Jazz Fest and the Old Town Blues Fest. We were supposed to have a wine tasting with the vendor for the festivals but he didn’t show (apparently, he was ill). But we were asked to bring a snack to pass in anticipation for the wine tasting and one of the committee members brought this refreshing treat. I nabbed the recipe from her and made it this week. Matt said it was the "best salsa he's ever had." I thought that was a nice compliment.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, or fresh (I grilled two ears and used that)
2 scallions, chopped (I used ¼ of a large Vidalia onion)
1 avocado, chopped (I would using a slightly less-than-super-ripe one; mine just mushed in with everything because it was extra ripe)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 bunch of cilantro, ends removed and tops finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
Drizzle of olive oil
Dash of garlic powder, black pepper and seasoned salt (to taste)

Guacamole

Avocados were on sale at the grocery store this week for a buck a piece, so of course I picked a few up since I love-love-love guacamole. I'm sure there are so many similar recipes out there, so I'm not bothering to cite anyone since I just made this from memory.

2 ripe avocados
1 beefsteak tomato
1/2 sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
Chopped cilantro, optional

Pit and chop the avocados, but be sure to save at least one of the pits.

Chop the beefsteak tomato, removing the seeds first. Chop the onion. Finely chop or crush two cloves of garlic in a garlic press.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. If desired, add in chopped cilantro. Add in the lime juice and salt and begin to mash with a large fork.

When the mixture is nicely mashed, add in the avocado pit. This helps the guacamole to retain its green color for a longer period of time.

Baked Potato Skins

What a perfect Superbowl Party treat this was! The local newspaper did a feature last week on great appetizers for a sports party. This one looked too good to pass up.

2.5 pound bag of medium russet potatoes (about 15 potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Black pepper to taste
8 oz (1 block) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. pepperjack cheese, shredded
1 package of center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small bunch green onions, washed, sliced
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream seasoned with 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix if desired

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes and dry them very well. Pierce with a fork.

Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Rub them all over so the oil and salt coats them.

Bake for 1 hour or until soft and the skin is crispy. Remove from oven and remove from the baking sheet. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil on the baking sheet and place it back in the oven to preheat.

Cut the potatoes in half horizontally. Scoop out the flesh (reserve for another use -- it can be frozen) leaving about a 1/4-inch layer. To double the batch, cut the halfs in half crosswise, making "scoops."

Carefully remove the hot baking sheet and place the potatoes on it cut side down. Return to the oven and bake 15 minutes or until the edges are crispy.

Remove from oven, turn them over. Season the insides with salt and black pepper to taste. Evenly divide the cheese in each and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon and sliced green onions. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese melts.

Serve with sour cream.

Hummus with Pita Chips

Hummus is one of our favorite snacks. It's certainly easy to pick up at any grocery store, but making your own is much cheaper AND you can control the amount of oil you incorporate into the recipe. I used a combination of this recipe and Katie's from Good Things Catered.

Hummus
1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained but reserve the liquid
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp + tahini paste
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Drain water from the can of chick peas into a small bowl and reserve.

In a food processor (or blender), mix together the chick peas with the remaining rest of the ingredients, being careful to add second half of lemon juice and tahini slowly, stopping to taste.

Slowly add some of the reserved liquid from beans for correct consistency, until a smooth, slightly fluid paste is formed.

Refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving. This changes the taste of the hummus by allowing the flavors to form.

WW Points Per Serving (2 Tbsp): 1 point

Pita Chips
Whole wheat pita(s)
Cooking spray
Garlic powder
Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the pitas into 6 triangles and split down the middle, for a total of 12 pieces per pita.

Place on a baking sheet. Spray lightly with the cooking spray and sprinkle with the garlic powder and seasoned salt, to taste.

Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the pitas begin to turn brown.

WW Points Per Serving (6 chips, or 1/2 pita): 1 point