Category Archives: Food

Whipped Feta Dip and Pita Chips

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So, about a month ago I got together with Megan and Amanda for an awesome and truly delicious Bake Date.  We ate croissants and pop tarts, drank hot cocoa, and played a ton of banana grams (if you haven’t played that game you really should, it’s super fun and lots of indignation will happen).  I also made some dips and  homemade pita chips to make our bake date not kill us with sugar.  At least that was the plan.  I made two dips actually but I’m only going to write about one of them – ever probably, number two was not good.

A while ago (after blogger brunch at Dorado Tacos actually) I ended up hitching a ride to Russos with Renee and we talked about whipped feta dips.  Batting ideas back and forth over the ways feta could be used to make a dip and which feta would be best for it.  She ended up making one with beets (which is a fabulous shade of pink and I totally need to make).  And I made one with roasted red peppers (unbeknownst to her, admittedly, but it was this conversation that inspired me to actually try it).  I chose roasted red peppers because in the handful of times I have gone to Sofra I have gotten this mezza as an appetizer and it makes me giddy, fresh pita chips and some of this dip and I’m set.  Give me a book and I’ll read, and munch, for a good long while (well until the dip is gone anyway).

The pita chips were merely an experiment to see if I could do it.  There was no recipe to go by, just an idea that if I was spending $2.50 per bag on pita chips wouldn’t it be better to make them myself?  I was right.  It was worth it.  They were delicious, and I was lucky I was able to save any pita chips and feta dip once BF tried them.  Both the chips and dip were so remarkably simple I’m surprised I hadn’t tried them sooner. Now I strongly recommend you try them too.

Kathy’s Pita Chips
Note: This recipe just deals with one “bag” of pitas but you can easily make more. It’s also a very fast process so don’t go wandering too far while the chips are baking.

2-3 pocket pitas, cut into triangles and separated (I get mine at Arax where they get fresh breads delivered daily but wherever you can find the pita go for it, Thomas’ is a decent nat’l brand)
olive oil
garlic, salt, rosemary, whatever you like… cinnamon and sugar would be very good

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees farenheit, make sure you let the oven come up to temperture – it is critical with these chips or else they’re wilty (trust me, I got impatient so I threw the pitas in the warming oven and was hugely disappointed in the results).  While the oven heats cut your pitas into good chip sizes, I recommend basically making a pizza with 8 slices so you have triangles… or an approximation of them.  layer the pita “chips” in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and spray/brush/drizzle olive oil on the pitas.  I use a regular spray bottle I picked up at the grocery store for this and it gets the job done, it’s not nearly as good as having a Misto (hey family *nudgenudgewinkwink*) but it works in a pinch.  Sprinkle whatever spices you like on your chips, I like mine with salt, rosemary, and garlic powder but I think cinnamon and sugar would be awesome, though they wouldn’t go with the feta dip (maybe a slightly sweeter spiced cream cheese dip, like frosting, eh?).   Put the chips in the oven for 3-7minutes, checking them every minute or two for doneness.  DON’T WALK AWAY.  These go from done to burnt in literally 10 seconds, but are worth it.  When the chips are a nice light-medium brown pull them from the oven and let them cool on the pan, this should only take a couple minutes.  Then eat them with the following dip.  Unless you made the cinnamon-sugar ones, then you’re on your own 😛

Roasted Red-Pepper Feta Dip
Note:  I made this after eating it at Sofra.  It’s delicious.  If you don’t have a food processor get it, if only to make this dip, though I suppose it could be made in a blender.  If you were watching it.  Also, a note about feta – get it fresh, it tastes worlds better and is very easy to get in the Boston area – ANY middle eastern market will have it, I know of 4 places in Watertown that do.  Another feta note, I recommend using Bulgarian Sheep’s milk feta for this (it’s not as salty as the cow’s milk, maybe the brine is different?  Anyone know?) but if you can’t find that – rinse your cow’s milk feta to lose some of the saltiness, the second time I made this dip I used mostly cow’s milk and didn’t rinse which left me with overly salty dip which needed to be modified, a lot.

1/3-1/2 pound Bulgarian feta – this is more creamy than cows milk/domestic feta if you can get it.  It is the superior choice.
1-2 whole roasted red peppers, without skin and cored, in oil if you purchase them
1-2 Tbs Oil, from the peppers, or Olive oil
1-2 pieces of Roasted tomato, if you have them if not don’t worry but they lend great flavor
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 small clove fresh garlic, more if you want the garlic strong

Break the feta up into large-ish chunks (the size of a clove of garlic is good) and add them to the bowl of a food processor, incidentally I cannot recommend enough that you get a food processor – they are so wonderful from grated potatoes for latkes to this decadent dip they get the job down extraordinarily well.  Chop the roasted red pepper into 4-6 pieces enough so that the processor doesn’t hate you.  Add the pepper, roasted tomato, and garlic to the feta.  Turn the food processor on for 10-15 seconds, then check the consistency of the dip – is it stilla little chunky – whip it some more, is it still a little thick – add a bit of oil.  Add the oil in a slow drizzle while the food processor is on, much like making pesto, until the dip has reached the consistency you want – I like my dip a little stiff but soft enough to pick up with a pita chip, this is about 1 tbs – more if the feta is dry.  After mixing in the olive oil taste the dip – does it need salt, most likely no but if your feta is tangy it may, is it salty?  If you find your dip salty I was able to neutralize that fairly easily with some plain yogurt about 1/4 cup.  The important thing for this dip is that you keep trying it until the flavor is what you like, since you will be eating it and having to throw this sort of thing away is sad.  It will be orange, that’s ok it’s still delicious.  Eat it while, of course, playing Bananagrams with friends.

Thoughts On Kathy Can Cook Turning One

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Last week was my blogiversary.  And I just let it pass with no fanfare.  I realize that I don’t blog as often as I, or you, my readers, would like me too.  I’m working on that.  Kinda.  But I just wanted to use my blogiversary to say thanks. 

I started this blog after much thought about grad school as a way to determine if food was an obsession (absolutely) or just a passing fad (totally sticking with it, this love of food and I are permanant).  I wanted to make sure sinking 40k into my love of food would be a wise decision.  I did not expect to make friends and find such a network of support. When I started this blog I was also lonely – to a fault, I was scared of the big crowds of this city and missed my small hometown with it’s big blueberry fields and few people.  I wanted the safety of friends around me all the time. I started this blog when I had like 3 people I saw on a regular basis (coworkers discluded) and I was debating moving because I was so unhappy.

Then I went to a Boston Local Food Festival meeting where I met Michelle, Robin and Jon and realized that Boston had an amazing and supportive food community.  I went from knowing virtually no one, to being able to chat all day (probably to my detriment and BF’s irritation) about food, culture, news, and whatever else I thought of.  My eyes were opened.  I’ve spent the past year cooking a lot, putting on more butter weight than I should, meeting simply stunning people, and learning from all of you, commentors, bloggers and friends.  I’ve started swapping canned goods with people (most notably Brian and a debacle involving nearly-missing Blood-Orange Curd).

So thanks Boston Food Community, for giving me a reason to keep blogging and to stick around.  Thanks for reintroducing me to a city that is now firmly home, where I get together for cookie swaps, brunches and bake dates with friends.  Where bananagrams is played ALL. THE. TIME.  And where spring now means I have another birthday to celebrate (my own and Kathy Can Cook’s), which means more cake and another reason to eat out.  I appreciate everything this community gives me – from support on bad days to photography lessons.  You’ve all made me a better and less fearful person.

Now I think I need a cupcake, or at least a cookie.

Squash and Apple Soup

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I know that the winter squash obsession has passed for most people, but I’m still obsessed.  The sugars in those hardy winter squash are really coming into their own right now, making the squash really shine and work so well with whatever you want to add to it!  I like my squash soup with a fall fruit (in this case, apples) because I feel like it really fills out the flavors and lightens the heavier squash components.  I don’t roast my squash for soup; I feel like it takes too much time and I can just cook it down in water (or stock if you’ve got some laying around), keeping all of those delicious juices right in the soup pot.  I also feel like it leads to a smoother soup.  It also has the added bonus of NOT burning my hands, which is “handy” (yes, I went there – don’t judge me).

My dining companions (also known as BF and Big Sis) and I enjoyed this soup with sandwiches of baguette, salami, and brie, which were out of this world and were a fantastic accompaniment.

Squash soup isn’t one of those soups I remember eating as a child; it wasn’t even on my radar until I became obsessed with sunshine squash and soup a couple of years ago.  Such bright, cheerful little squash need to be soup.  They are vibrant and they have a fantastic flavor.  But I could be biased.  Also, I bought the one I used for this soup at an adorable honor system farm stand with a drop box for the money!  I love honor system stands in general, but one where I can stand in a little mud and pick out my favorite squash from the pile – those are the best.

Squash-Apple Soup
1 Medium Winter Squash (I like sunshine squash but butternut or hubbard will work too) (1 1/2-2 lb) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1 Asian Pear (Pear-Apple) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1 Macintosh Apple (Cortland will also work but a tart apple is key) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1-2 tsp Garam Masala seasoning (to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4-6 Cups Water or stock
Sour Cream/Creme Fraiche/Mascarpone Cheese/Greek Yogurt (for garnish, optional)

Put squash and apples into a large pot and add just enough water/stock until it comes to the top of the squash/apples but doesn’t cover them.  Heat the pan over med-low heat and let it simmer, stirring occassionally until the squash is soft (15-20 mins).  When the squash has begun to fall apart, add the spices and stir well to fully incorporate them.  Taste the soup – add additional spices as you like.  Allow the soup to simmer for another 10-15 minutes for the flavors to come together.  You can serve the soup chunky if you like texture, or you can use an immersion blender/food processor/blender to make it velvety smooth.  Serve in large bowls with a dollop of your cream of choice (my favorite is Greek yogurt, preferably Cabot).

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

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Mmm cheesecake.  It’s creamy, it’s sweet without being cloying, and it’s delicious.  Always.  So when a friend came to work lamenting the “oreo cheesecake” she had gotten at Mike’s, saying that it was merely chocolate cake with some wierd creamcheese filling, I started plotting these little delights.  She lamented the Mike’s cheesecake in August or so and I made her these in November; enough time for her to totally forget about that disappointment 🙂

Ingredients

My first challenge for these was to determine just what exactly I was going to do for the cupcakes and as Twitter was alive with Joanne Chang’s Flour cookbook and it seemed to be THE cookbook everyone was using. I determined that I needed to make her oreos.  So I found the recipe on Boston.com thanks to Joanne Chang herself directing me to it (super thanks!).  And started plotting.  I had a vision of cheesecake with a full oreo base, until I realized that making all those oreos was just way more work than I was willing to put in ;P
So I just made the cookies, sans filling, and put them in my mini-cheesecake pan as crust.  They were delicious, and will definately be made this way again!

The cheesecake was a breeze, after a quick phone call to my mom (the bible of all cooking questions and head-full of random and mostly useful information), I had a cheesecake recipe that worked with what I had in my pantry/fridge.  I was giddy.  I started cooking on Sunday around 1pm.  I finished cooking around 8pm.  I was exhausted, but it was worth it.  Homemade Oreos, dark chocolate cheesecake, vanilla cheesecake, dark chocolate cheesecake.  Delicious.  And perfect.  My coworkers certainly thought so!

Oreo Cheesecake
Note: I’ve made a lot of cheesecake.  This one is very simple.  Try it.  If you want to make a full-sized cheesecake follow all of the directions below but replace the oreo cookie with a cookie crumb crust and  bake the cakes for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Also, I used the Flour recipe for my oreo cookies in the bottom of the cheesecake.  I baked the cookies according to the recipe, did not fill them, then cut them to size and dropped them into my mini spring-form pan.

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1-8oz pkg cream cheese, full-fat, softened to room temp
1 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream, separated
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit.  Melt the chocolate chips over low heat.  Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until creamy.  Add 1/2 cup of the Greek yogurt or sour cream and the eggs to the cream cheese-sugar mixture.  Beat this until smooth.  Pour 1/3 of the cheesecake batter into another bowl and add the vanilla to this bowl.  Mix well.  Add the melted chocolate to the larger quantity of cheesecake batter (roughly 2/3 of the whole batter).  Mix well.  In a mini-spring-form pan (or a cupcake tin lined with paper cups) drop the cheesecake batter over the homemade oreo cookies, alternating chocolate-vanilla-chocolate for an oreo look. Pouring your batter gently over the back of a spoon (to disperse it, like making a layered cocktail) will keep the layers from blending together.  Put the cheesecakes in the oven.  While the cheesecakes cook, combine the rest of the yogurt/sour cream (1 cup) and the 2 tbs of brown sugar to make a glaze. Remove the cheesecake from the oven (about 10 minutes into baking) and glaze them with the yogurt/brown sugar mixture.  Return the cheesecakes to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until they are light golden brown.  Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool completely; overnight or at least 6 hrs is ideal.  Serve them to someone who loves sweets, they’ll be over the moon about them.  I swear it.