Andhra Spiced Eggplant and Andhra Scrambled Eggs

From time to time we fall into a rut.  I think everyone does, whether it's a food rut, an exercise rut, an occupation rut, etc.  There are certain ingredients we always have in the apartment and that we use with abandon because we are so comfortable with them.  But most of the ingredients in this meal did not fall into that category.  This meal was so different from anything else we have made in recent memory that I think it completely blew any rut we might have been in right out of the water.  I'm not sure exactly what drew me to these two recipes, except that I was thinking that I have been neglecting a bunch of my cookbooks recently.  While we use Hot Sour Salty Sweet quite often, we rarely use this cookbook, Mangoes and Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent.  Both books are by the same authors, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid and both are fantastic, but while Hot Sour Salty Sweet is right in our Asian wheelhouse, the recipes in Mangoes and Curry Leaves are not.  One problem with the recipes is that they often require a number of Indian, Nepalese or Sri Lankan ingredients that we don't have in the apartment.  I'm not even sure if or where I can find some of the ingredients.  Unfortunately that knocks out a lot of recipes.  Luckily I happened to have everything we needed (or I knew where to find it) for these two recipes.

I can't think of enough good things to say about the Andhra Spiced Eggplant, which both Alex and I were fairly blown away by.  The flavor combination is just so unique and wonderful.  I really thought that the eggplant would be spicy, but somehow all of the flavors really melded together to create a very nice savory dish with great depth of flavor.  The recipe recommends serving the eggplant as a dip for chapatis/pita or serving with white rice.  We happened to have some frozen parathas that we served with the eggplant dip and the buttery, flaky parathas worked really well but I'm sure that chapatis/pita would be an equally good combination.  I will definitely be serving this one again in the future.  As for the eggs, I thought they were nice too.  We both preferred the eggplant, but I was very happy with the eggs.  I don't generally like cooked tomatoes (I love them raw, but I don't like the mushy texture when you cook them), but they really worked in these eggs, which is something I never thought I would say.  Scrambled eggs and tomatoes are a very typical homestyle Chinese dish that they used to serve in China all the time that I avoided like the plague.  But it was good! 

Recipes after the jump!

Jalapeno Hummus

Ever since the success of our first hummus attempt, I have been considering different hummus recipes to try.  Should I make jalapeno hummus (which I love)?  Or red pepper hummus?  Should I go completely outside the box and make black bean hummus or white bean hummus?  Or should I make more traditional hummus?  Today I was in the mood for something lightly spicy, but not too complicated.  I think that's mostly because for the past week plus I have been gorging myself on food in various Aruban and NYC restaurants.  After eating so much rich and intensely flavorful food, I wanted something light and simple.  So I took a traditional hummus and added jalapeno and a pinch of cayenne pepper for some additional kick. 

Thus hummus had good flavor, but it wasn't as creamy and different as the Smoky Chipotle Hummus I made a few months ago.  You can taste the chickpeas and tahini more in this recipe than in my previous hummus, and you can taste the jalapeno without it overwhelming you with spice, which is kind of what I was looking for today.  Generally I love funky, outside the box foods, but sometimes I really want simpler, more traditional flavors.  This totally fit the bill.

Recipe after the jump!

Smoky Chipotle Hummus

2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)*

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chilies**

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 4-ounce jar sliced pimientos in oil, drained

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Smoky-Chipotle-Hummus-with-Garlic-Bagel-Chips-105661#ixzz0klNV4Ckn

For our dinner party last night we made both tzatziki and hummus to serve with pita and some of those mini sweet peppers that are super tasty.  Since I couldn't decide which one I wanted to make, I made both.  Sometimes less is more, and sometimes more is just... more.  The only problem with making both sauces/dips was that I had to wash my food processor twice.  Oh well.  It was worth it!

The smokiness of this hummus was wonderful.  I tend to love spicy hummus recipes, rather than the more traditional hummus flavored simply with tahini and lemon juice.  Nothing against traditional hummus, but spicy hummus is just way better.  Generally I go for jalapeno hummus, rather than chipotle hummus, but this time I was in the mood for something a little different.  This hummus is all about the smokey flavors of the chipotles and the ground cumin.  I loved the smokiness, but if you're not into smokey flavors, the combination of the chipotles and the cumin might be a little much.  Feel free to omit the pimentos if you don't have any, because I don't feel like they really added anything in terms of taste to the hummus itself, but they are nice for a burst of additional color. 

Recipe after the jump!

Tzatziki

I love tzatziki sauce.  Tzatziki sauce served with some fresh, fluffy, warm pita is one of my very favorite things to eat at Greek restaurants.  Actually, it's one of my favorite things to eat anywhere.  I've also used it on various sandwiches and burgers, which I think is lovely.  This version of tzatziki sauce has become my new go-to.  I've tried several versions of tzatziki, including some with mint instead of dill, or with mint in addition to dill.  This version has a wonderful balance between the freshness of the cucumber, the creamy tang of the yogurt, the bright lemony flavor, and the dill.  None of the flavors overpowered the others, which was a huge plus.  And the thing I love most about this sauce is that you can basically throw everything into the food processor and let it do all of the work.  I got the idea to use the food processor from Kalyn's Kitchen and I will never go back.  Some recipes require that you grate the cucumber and then squeeze out all of the liquid, before making a paste of the garlic, but this is way better.

I served this tzatziki as an appetizer before a roast leg of lamb and Greek salad.  I figured while I was going Greek for dinner, I might as well pull out one of my favorite Greek menu items!  Seeing as it was a big hit I'm glad that I did.  It was totally delicious and well worth making.

Recipe after the jump!

Hummus with Cinnamon Lamb (Houmous bil erfeh lahem)

Somehow I have never made hummus before.  I always have it in the fridge and I go through phases where I eat Tribe's jalapeno hummus by the truckload.  I absolutely love spicy hummus - the spicier the better.  Why have plain old hummus when you can spice it up?  

That was the rationale behind trying out this hummus recipe.  It had a fascinating sounding list of spices and ingredients - cinnamon, garlic, red chili flakes, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, parsley, lamb and evoo?  Yum.  And this recipe totally lives up to its promise.  The interplay between the spices and the freshness of the lemon and parsley make for a very unique and seriously delicious mouthful.  This was the first recipe I have ever tried from this cookbook (after literally bookmarking dozens of them to try), and I am totally going back for more.  I love street food!


Recipe after the jump!