Cakes and Cuties

Easter is over, well at least the secular holiday is.

This year my little heart's birthday happened to land on Easter. So the cake had two functions. 1) Birthday festivities 2) Elegant holiday dessert.

Peeps and colored coconut are elegant . . . right?

I forgot to buy candles . . . how could I forget the candles?

Open flame and marshmallow! What could go wrong?

I saw Bobby Flay make something very similar on Iron Chef just the other day . . .

I don't remember if he had the fancy Star Wars Clone Wars plates though . . .

Hummus!!!

We needed some munchies between Easter brunch and Easter dinner so I thought I'd whip up some hummus. Did you know my mother-in-law introduced me to hummus 22 years ago? I had never had such a thing before! She introduced me to artichokes too! Oh and fennel and all sorts of interesting things.

So it's only appropriate for me to make hummus for her!

Did you know they're charging $5 for a tub of hummus these days? Goodness gracious! Make your own!

Do you have to have a food processor to make hummus? NO! You could use a blender, a hand mixer, mortar & pestle, or even a bowl and fork. You'll just get a chunkier more "rustic" hummus.

I like to start with garlic. Garlic is always a good place to start!

Mince it up! The tinier you get it the more garlic you'll taste.

Let's throw in some lemon! It'll brighten things up and it helps the garlic give up it's goodness.

Now for some salt. The salt will help break down the garlic too.

Scrape everything down to the bottom so they're mingling. Now we'll leave them to get friendly a few minutes. Let's talk seasoning.

I love the taste of cumin in my hummus and I really love it when there is a few whole cumin seeds in there. It's like little nuggets of bonus flavor in the dip.

Cumin likes heat. Since our hummus doesn't get cooked I'm going to heat up my cumin to get it's flavor a little brightened. I can use less cumin and get more flavor.

Heat it over some high heat until you can smell it!

I went ahead and threw a little powdered cumin in after I turned the heat off. The powdered cumin likes a little heat too and it'll distribute through the hummus quicker. (I want to eat the hummus today after all!) Take the cumin off the heat. If you're using a nice heavy pan such as the cast iron I'm using you may want to put it in a bowl to stop it's heating.

Open up a can of chick peas and rinse them off with some nice cold water.

Throw them all in with the garlic and lemon! We're practically there!

Give it a mix! It'll just break up the beans a little. Now hummus is supposed to have this gorgeous sesame paste in it called tahini. It's wonderfully tasty stuff but I only have one use for it. I like more "multifunctional" ingredients around the house so I make a few . . . substitutions . . . shh, don't tell!

A little peanut butter for it's nutty creaminess.

and a little sesame oil. This is roasted sesame seed oil and it is fantastic. I bet your grocery store carries it! It'd be right near the soy sauce in the Asian section. I use it in Asian soups, stir-fry, and in dipping sauces. The kids even put a few drops in their ramen noodles! Very multifunctional.

Throw them in a blend them up.

Now for a little water to help things get wetter and more pureed.

We're getting there. I like my hummus to be fluffy and light.

Olive oil will fix that!

Now I like a little "kick" in my hummus so I added a tad touch of this too. It's smoky and hot. Some canned chipotle would be delicious too. Sometimes I just throw in a bit of hot sauce.

Now give it a little taste and see if you need more salt. Not all canned chickpeas or peanut butters are created the same. You can even add more lemon if you like. If the lemon is too strong for you then sit it in the refrigerator for awhile and it'll tone down. Fresh lemon mellows with time.

Oh, oh, oh! It's so light and fluffy and creamy! Garlicky, nutty, and spicy. Just a touch of tangy lemon. Perfect for parties or picnics! Serve it on pita, pita chips, crackers, or raw vegetables. Happy munching!

Hummus

1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
juice of 1 lemon*
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin seed, toasted**
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chipotle powder (optional)

Mix salt, lemon juice, and garlic together and set aside for 1-5 minutes. Toast cumin seed.**

Blend all ingredients together using food processor, blender, hand mixer or even by beating and smashing with a fork in a large bowl.

*If you don't like a strong acidic lemon flavor allow the juice to sit out for an hour and it'll mellow. If you love strong acidic lemon in your hummus only add half the juice at the beginning and add the other half immediately before serving.

**If you want to skip the toasting of the seed just leave it out and add a few extra sprinkles of ground cumin.

The Boy Scout Motto

Always be prepared!

Well at least that's what I hear the Boy Scout motto is . . .

So on this Good Friday morning I've gotta ask myself Am I prepared?

Am I prepared for the family coming to spend the weekend with us? . . . not really

House cleaned? NO

Sheets changed? NO

Food bought? practically . . .

Menu's planned? . . . sort of . . .

Am I prepared for an 8 year old birthday's? . . . not really

Presents? Sort of . . . he doesn't know what he wants! We went and picked up a multitude of small gifts last night and of course they aren't wrapped or anything. Do you think he'll mind red and green paper with candy canes and holly berries on it?

Cake? I'm going to bake and design a cake while company is here. Am I insane?

Birthday Dinner? I'm sure he'll love the ham and macaroni & cheese. Now to convince him that he really, really likes spinach salad with pancetta, white beans, and balsamic vinaigrette . . .

Am I prepared for Easter?

Commercially?-I've got the eggs, I've got the decorations, I've negotiated basket size with the Bunny. Clothes are purchased.

Spiritually? I've had a whole Lenten season to prepare and I even included a traditional Lenten sacrifice this year. I haven't ate pork in WEEKS! I smoked a brisket a few weeks ago and I think I ate the whole thing myself. I told my husband-It tastes just like bacon! He said it didn't. OH NO! I'VE FORGOTTEN THE TASTE OF BACON!

Seriously though I have tried to become spiritually prepared yet I feel flat. Oh well, dealing with the flats is the true measure of faith I think! I'm considering it a challenge! But I am frankly excited about all the Good Friday activities available at church and will ignore some of my more secular preparations to take part in them. I WILL! I WILL! I WILL! It's what my mother-in-law would want me to do!

She also wanted me to have those totally hot shoes I found at DSW yesterday. They are Italian and they were on sale! She likes my husband to buy me nice things . . .

HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER!!! 

Onion-Potato Cake

What do you do with leftover mashed potatoes?

I know, it's never been a big problem around here either . . .

I love potato casseroles but frankly I get a little tired of all that peeling and boiling just to start the recipe! Through poor planning and illness we ended up with a full two cups of leftover mashed potatoes the other evening. So I decided to try something different with them. A melding of two recipes that I love but both of which kill me to make.

Here's my potatoes! Can I make a confession . . .

They were instant. Are you calculating the possibilities?

Here's the onion! This is experimental so we're working in small quantities here. Just use one.

Slice it up!

Now I melted up a couple of tablespoons of butter in a 10 inch skillet. I was using medium high heat.

See, the butter is even browning a little.

Now a good sprinkle of salt.

Let's slice up a couple of cloves of garlic and add them to the mix for complexity! You like complexity . . . right?

Throw them in and give everything a stir! We're not really looking for a slow process here.

It's more of a stir fry! Quick, quick, quick

They're more char-grilled than carmelized. I want to be encountering crispy bits of chewy onion in my potatoes.

Throw them on your cold potatoes! They'll get friendly really quick.

Now for a little tad of mustard. Mustard and potatoes go together after all!  What? Haven't you ever had potato salad?

Now for a touch more fresh garlic. It'll add another layer of flavor. It's not been browned in butter after all.

More onion! Please note I did say it was an Onion-Potato Casserole. They're the star! Slice them up, greens, and all.

Now since this is a cake, let's throw in a couple of eggs. They'll make things poof!

Do you have the thyme? . . . giggle . . .

My thyme has come . . . in . . . giggle . . .

I'm putting in a teaspoon of the fresh stuff but any green herb would do. You could even stick to parsley.

Mix it up! I used my hand mixer because I've been baking all morning! My poor little arms are tired . . .

I have no doubt if you try this you'll get a different consistency than me! It just doesn't matter. If it's creamier you'll get a lighter, fluffier, more souffle like dish. If it's denser it'll be . . . a casserole. Feel free to adjust the consistency with a little broth or milk or instant potato flakes!

Now, for the question of salt. I assume you salted your potatoes when you mashed them. I added a little more to the onion and frankly that should be good for most people. I felt the need to add a little extra because I had made the potatoes to accompany a very rich, and flavorful gravy. Don't be like me!

I was torn by a desire for dairy in here. I knew it'd be fine without it but . . . I wanted a little more . . . a little bit of umami flavor. Parmesan cheese will work! Just a smidge . . .

I oiled up some ramekins and divided up my batter. There was about 1/2 a cup in each one. How did that happen? I started with 2 cups of potatoes and then I added and added and there still was 2 cups of potatoes . . . hmm . . . teaches me to measure!

Then I decided some more Parmesan would be pretty on top. But so would crackers, or bread crumbs, or crushed potato chips. Then I threw them in a nice hot 400 deg. oven for about 30 minutes.

Oh, they're beauties!

It's all fluffy inside!

It's creamy and warm. You can taste all the different flavors onions can give you. The green onion provided bright, strong, vegetal qualities to the party. The pan grilled onions added sweetness and bitterness. The thyme, oh the thyme, if I only had the thyme to tell you about the thyme . . . giggle . . . it's herbaceousness compliments everything well. I can't get over how creamy they've become. Just like a good mashed potato should be!

If you have any sort of fondness for onions I would make a few extra mashed potatoes the next time you're peeling!

Onion-Potato Cake
serves 4

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 Tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 eggs
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2-3 green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.

Put potatoes in mixing bowl. Slice 2 of the cloves of garlic. Heat butter in 10 inch skillet over medium high heat until melted. Add onion and sliced garlic to pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt to help onion break down. Cook quickly until they're limp and have lots of brown spots. Remove pan from heat if they seem to be burning. Add onion mixture to potatoes.

Mince remaining clove of garlic and add it to the potatoes. Add remaining ingredients to the potatoes and mix well. Divide mixture between four greased 6 oz. ramekins. You could also put it in muffin tins or other small baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes until puffed and golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out dry or with a few solid "crumbs" sticking to it.

If you doubled this recipe it could easily fit in a 6 cup baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes until puffed, golden brown, and passes the "toothpick test."