Greek Yogurt Spinach Dip & Homemade Pita Chips

This, dear readers, is one of my very favorite things.  It's the food52 winner for Your Best Spinach Recipe, and it is the most delicious spinach dip ever.  If it were humanly possible I would swallow the whole bowl like a snake ingesting an egg. 

This dip tastes completely different than the traditional mayonnaise-based spinach dip. It's much lighter and fresher tasting, due to the greek yogurt and fresh spinach (hot tip: I've also made this with chard, when that's available, and it's equally delicious).  You'll notice that I've successfully drowned out this dips healthier profile with a slick pool of olive oil.  I blame Andy for this one- the guy loves olive oil.  Feel free to be more judicious in your drizzling :)

I always serve this dip with homemade pita chips (recipe follows).  These are super simple, and way better than the store-bought variety, but the success is contingent on your starting with good fresh pita bread.  Austinites- I use the small rounds of Phoenicia white pita, which is available at good ole Central Market.

Greek Yogurt Spinach Dip

Adapted very slightly from Shayma's recipe from Food52

• 1 pound baby spinach
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups plain full-fat Greek Yogurt (I use the 17.6 oz Fage Total yogurt)
• kosher salt
• few pinches dried mint (optional: for sprinkling on top of finished dip)
• handful crushed walnuts, for topping finished dip
• olive oil, for drizzling on finished dip

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add a generous amount of salt, and then the baby spinach.  Boil for about a minute, until the spinach has completely wilted but is still bright green.  Drain well, and allow the spinach to cool slightly.
2. Put the cooled spinach in a kitchen towel and squeeze as much of the water out as possible. Chop fine.
3. Return the now empty pot to the stove and set the heat to medium. Saute half of your minced garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil and add the spinach. Add a pinch of salt. Stir for a minute or two. 
4. Remove from the heat, allow to cool.
5. In a large shallow bowl, mix the yogurt, the remaining minced garlic, and the sauteed spinach until well combined. Add salt to taste. 
6. Sprinkle with dried mint, crushed walnuts, and a drizzle of good olive oil.  Serve with pita chips.

Pita Chips

• 1 package good pita bread (I like Phoenicia, available at Central Market)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
3. Cut each pita round into six wedges, and peel apart the two layers, creating 12 wedges from one pita round.  Repeat for as many wedges as you can fit on your baking sheet in a single layer (I usually do two pitas at a time).
4. Toss the pita wedges with olive oil, and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.
5. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the chips are mostly golden and crispy.

Guacamole!

Hi, friends! Don't you just want to stick your face into this bowl of guacamole? No? Just me? Well, it really is delicious... Andy and I had this for dinner tonight along with grilled skirt steak fajitas and deep fried plantains with crema (!) It was a happy night in the ole Arizpe household. Side note- why was this the first time I've fried plantains? They are so, so tasty.

When I was growing up my mom would occasionally make guacamole with one of those seasoning packets they stock in the produce section next to the avocados, and oh man! We would go wild for it! Not to knock the seasoning packet, but this guacamole is so much better.  It's loosely adapted from Rick Bayless, with way more lime and no tomatoes.  If you don't have a go-to guacamole recipe, I humbly present this for your approval:


Guacamole

• 2 large avocados, diced large
• 1/2 small onion, diced finely (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 jalapeno or 1 serrano, seeds removed, minced
• 1 handful cilantro, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 3-4 tablespoons lime juice (from 1-2 limes)
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)

1. Put the diced avocado in a small bowl and mash half-assedly with a fork.  You want it to be a little chunky so as to distinguish itself from the guacamole that comes out of the Taco Bell caulking gun.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients (onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and salt) and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.  If it seems flat, add more lime or salt or both.
3. If you're not serving it immediately, press a piece of saran wrap onto the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate.

Also, just for fun, here's the cast of characters and (bonus!) a hot little pic for you meat lovers:

In case you were wondering, this is just a piece of skirt steak, seasoned with kosher salt and pepper, and grilled until nicely charred over a charcoal fire.

Crispy Latkes and Pink Applesauce

Oh man, oh man.  April is busy.  I would like to sit down and not move for six hours. I really like sitting.

Feast your eyes on our Passover table! We celebrated late, but had an absolutely wonderful Seder.  I was particularly pleased with how my brisket turned out (braised with rhubarb and honey from the All About Braising cookbook).  I'll share that recipe with you guys later because it's feeling more and more summery here, and you're probably not in the mood to braise five pounds of beef for three-and-a-half hours.

What I do want to share are my favorite latke and applesauce recipes. Do you have a food mill? You need one to make pink applesauce.  And don't you want to make pink applesauce?  It's oh so pretty.  (Food mills are also totes awesome for making baby food.  You can food mill anything!) Anyway, the pink applesauce is so lovely and pink because you cook the apples in their skins. Then you put the quartered apples into the food mill and zip it through, and the food mill magically keeps all the skins while spewing out the applesauce. Delicious!

Oh, and latkes! I hope you've all had them- they are one of life's great pleasure.  Light and crispy potato and onion pancakes- what's not to love?  Here's a picture of some of the 48 (!) I made for Passover:

The key to a really crispy latke is to squeeze the water out of the grated potato and onions really thoroughly.  Oh! Oh! And when you serve them, you have to have little bowls of sour cream along with the applesauce.  It is impossible to eat latkes without both applesauce and sour cream.  Trust me on this one.

Crispy Latkes
from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 large baking potato (1 pound), peeled
• 1 small onion (4 ounces), peeled 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Peanut oil, for frying

1. In a food processor or on a box grater, coarsely shred the potato and onion. For longer strands, lay the potato sideways in the chute of your food processor. Transfer to a colander or wrap in a cheesecloth sling, and squeeze as dry as possible. Let stand for 2 minutes, then squeeze dry again.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, egg, salt and pepper together. Stir in the potato onion mixture until all pieces are evenly coated.
3. In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until shimmering. Drop packed teaspoons of the potato mixture into the skillet and flatten them with the back of a spoon. Cook the latkes over moderately high heat until the edges are golden, about 1 1/2 minutes; flip and cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining potato mixture, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.

Do ahead: Latkes are a do-ahead-er’s dream. You can also keep latkes warm in the oven for an hour or more, if you’re waiting for stragglers to arrive. Cooked, they keep well in the fridge for a day or two, or in the freezer, well wrapped, for up to two weeks. Reheat them in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven until they’re crisp again. Bonus: If you undercooked them a bit or didn’t get the browning on them you’d hoped for, you can compensate for this in the oven.

Pink Applesauce
from Martha Stewart (of course)

• 1 1/4 pounds red apples (about 4), such as McIntosh or Macoun, unpeeled, cored and quartered
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1. Cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are very soft, 15 to 30 minutes. Pass apple mixture through a food mill fitted with a medium disk. Applesauce will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Carciofi alla Giudia with Fried Lemon

I fear that this dish takes me one step closer to getting a Texas-State-Fair-style reputation as one who fries things that aren't meant to be fried. But, dear reader, this is so. good.  And it's really an adaptation of a classic Jewish-Italian recipe, so it's legit.  Here artichokes are trimmed and quartered and then dropped, sans batter, into hot oil.  The result is a real testament to the power of frying.  The stem and heart of the artichoke become golden and tender, while those delicious leaves take on a crispy, potato chip-like quality that cannot be beat. This must, must be served with a slice or two of fried lemon, which is really just one of the most beautiful things in the world.  A crispy, intensely-lemony delight.  I served this on a chickpea puree featuring gremolata flavors, but if you're in a hurry you could definitely skip this step and just serve these on a plate with a smear of Greek yogurt. 

Carciofi alla Giudia with Fried Lemon

For the Artichokes

• 2 large artichokes
• 2 lemons, meyer if available
• vegetable oil, for frying
• sea salt, for sprinkling
• chickpea puree (recipe follows) or greek yogurt
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

1. Make the chickpea puree (recipe follows).
2. Cut one of the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl of water. Set aside.
3. Prepare the artichokes. With your hands, peel off the tough outer leaves of the artichoke. keep peeling until you start to see pale green tops on the remaining leaves. use your knife to cut off the top third of the artichoke (not the stem end). Use your knife or a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer layer of the stem, and trim off any rough areas around the base of the stem. Cut the artichokes in quarters and remove and discard the feathery choke. Put the prepared artichokes into the bowl of acidulated water.
4. Heat the oil (it should be about 1 inch deep) in a large pot over medium heat, until shimmery but not smoking. (you can put the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil- if bubbles form around the base, your oil is hot enough).
5. Dry your first 4 artichoke quarters as best you can with a kitchen towel and ease them quickly into the oil. Be careful! Remaining water may cause the oil to splatter. Let the oil settle down a minute before you attempt to poke and prod the artichokes. Then fry, turning occasionally until the artichokes are golden and tender. Remove from the oil and drain upside down on paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt while the artichokes are still glistening with oil. Repeat this step with the remaining artichokes.
6. Slice the remaining lemon into very thin slices, and remove any seeds that cling to the slices. Pat the slices dry with paper towels and then drop them into the hot oil. Fry, turning occasionally, until the insides of the lemons are golden brown and the outsides are bright yellow. Drain on paper towels.
7. To serve, spoon some of the chickpea puree (or a smear of greek yogurt) onto a plate. Drizzle with olive oil. Top with two artichoke quarters and a slice or two of fried lemon. Enjoy!

For the Chickpea Puree

• 2 cups canned chickpeas
• zest and juice of two lemons
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1/3 cup water
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Put all ingredients except parsley into a food processor and process until smooth. Toss in the chopped parsley and pulse a few times to incorporate.

Blood Orange Chicken Wings

Hi friends! In just 30 minutes Helen and I are gonna hop on a plane to LA, and then we're off to sunny Mexico on a cruise with my 90-year-old granny and big brother Cameron! I'm excited.  I'm going to eat lots of food.  It'll be so weird to be away from the computer/internet/cell phone for a week but, aside from missing Andy, it'll be fun too!

A couple days ago I made these chicken wings for this week's food52 contest (of course).  The contest this week was über fun (umlaut!).  You were supposed to submit a dish featuring blood orange, feta, and mint.  Helen and I both eschewed the traditional blood orange salad and instead opted for very silly creations! Helen made a feta frozen yogurt! And I made chicken wings! I think they turned out 'right nice too.  They have a blood orange reduction as a glaze, that's sweet and tart and a little bit spicy from an addition of chile flakes.  Then I served them with a whipped feta with mint as a dip.  That dip was good too! If you make it, make sure you rinse your feta before you crumble it- otherwise it will be too salty.  The dip also firms up if you refrigerate it, but it's a great spread for crackers at that point!

So happy spring break friends! I'll miss you!

Blood Orange Glazed Chicken Wings with Minted Whipped Feta


For the Wings

• 2 pounds chicken wings
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 3/4 cups juice from 3 blood oranges
• 1.5 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tablespoon blood orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil, then with parchment paper.
3. Cut the chicken wings into thirds, and reserve the wing tips for stock. Pat dry thoroughly. Season with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, flipping the wings every 15 minutes.
4. While the wings are baking, make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, mix the blood orange juice, zest, honey, and crushed red pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes, or until the glaze has reduced to about 1/4 of a cup. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. After the wings have baked for 45 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and brush the wings all over with the glaze. Return to the oven to bake for 5 more minutes. Serve warm with Minted Whipped Feta (recipe follows).

For the Whipped Feta

• 3/4 pounds fresh feta, rinsed and crumbled
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1. Put the crumbled feta, olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper in a food processor and process until smooth. It should look a bit like hummus. Add the chopped mint and pulse a few times to incorporate.
2. Serve in a pretty bowl topped with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprig of mint.

Olive all'Ascolana

Behold, in all their majesty: deep. fried. olives.

I really thought that I might be the first person in the world to have thought of frying olives.  Turns out it's a classic Italian recipe called Olive all'Ascolana.  But, oh boy! They're fun.  I stuffed mine with a goat cheese mixed with rosemary, garlic, mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes, rolled them in egg and breadcrumbs, fried them, and then topped them with feathery shavings of cheese and lemon zest.  These make for a very happy little snack :)

Olive all'Ascolana

• 24 large green olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (fresh or panko)
• 1/3 cup parmigiano reggiano, or similar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• parmigiano reggiano, for sprinkling
• zest and juice from one lemon, for sprinkling

1. In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese, mustard seed, rosemary, chile flakes, and garlic. Stuff the olives with the cheese mixture (I like to use my fingers, but you could also use a piping bag if you're really classy). Put the stuffed olives on a plate and refrigerate for 20 minutes, to let the cheese firm up.
2. While the olives are chilling, heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan to 375 degrees.
3. Set up three plates for your breading station. Put the flour on one plate, the beaten egg on the next, and mix the bread crumbs and cheese on the last plate.
4. When the olives have chilled, roll half of them in the flour, then in the egg, then in the bread crumbs, and carefully drop them into the heated oil. Fry until golden brown, about one minute per side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain, and repeat with the remaining olives.
5. Pile on a plate and finish with a shower of freshly grated cheese and lemon zest and a spritz of lemon.

Snuggles likes goat cheese.