Party-time

Happy New Year folks! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and that much fun was had while copious amounts of food and wine were consumed – this is how I like to celebrate! Speaking of celebrations, December was a month of fun at my house. It’s the month of my birthday and my wedding anniversary – and those great gift-giving days of Christmas fun – so many reasons to eat, drink and be merry.

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For my birthday I made a few tried and tested party foods. Dips are never a miss at parties – finger foods are not only easy to make but serve a great purpose; you can hold your drink in one hand and eat with the other, all the while making conversation – this is efficiency people :). For this special night I made a simple 4 ingredient hummus dip and a charred eggplant dip (somewhat like a baba ganoush).

For the end of the night nothing works better than the famous ‘trashy truffle’. This particular dessert, inspired by a Paula Dean recipe for cookie dough truffles, was aptly named by my sister. I tweaked the recipe a little and came up with sweet little pieces of chocolately drizzled trashy joy, with a slight biscuity crunch. Yum, I love parties.

Recipes

4 ingredient hummus

400g chickpeas, drained

1 tbsp tahini paste

juice from 1 small lemon

extra-virgin olive oil 2-3 tbsp (plus more for finishing)

Place chickpeas, tahini and lemon juice in food processor and blend. While blending drizzle in olive oil until mixture resembles smooth, creamy paste. If too thick, add a little water to thin out. Season with sea salt and give a final mix. Place into bowl and finish with a little more olive oil and a touch salt.

charred eggplant dip

1 large eggplant

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup greek/full fat yoghurt

sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

extra-virgin olive oil, to finish

First char the eggplant on the bbq (as I have done) or grill. Let cool and remove most of the blackened bits (keeping a little is fine and imparts a smoky flavour). Next, chop up the softened eggplant (it falls apart easily), mix in onions, add salt and fold through the yoghurt (here I didn't over-mix as I like the look and taste of uneven layers of yoghurt and eggplant). Finish with fresh pepper and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

trashy truffles

(slightly adapted from Paula Deen)

makes about 5 dozen truffles

1/2 cup organic butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups organic plain flour

1 can condensed milk

1/2 cup finely chopped biscuits (I used something like a graham cracker but use anything you fancy)

150g milk chocolate, melted

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Gradually mix in flour and add condensed milk. Mix in biscuit crumbs and shape dough into 1 inch balls (dip fingers in flour to make it easier to roll). Place on waxed/baking paper and chill in fridge for an hour.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler on low-heat. Take out tray of truffles and drizzle with melted chocolate – I dipped some whole in the chocolate and kept some simply drizzled – it’s up to you!

All frittered up

I don’t usually think of myself as a person who finds comfort in a particular routine; in fact my life has been driven by change and randomness – even in my love for food.  Very rarely do I have foods that I eat every day – or every Tuesday etc. I thrive on change…

A crunchy craving

The other night I had a serious craving for a snack that was sweet and salty. I thought about baking but I just couldn’t muster the energy to actually get off the couch and whip, beat and mix anything in a bowl!

So my next thought was popcorn - not the regular kind, but the most deliciously sweet, salty, sticky and crunchy caramelised popcorn. I aptly named this creation: sea salt and caramel popcorn.

The combination of dark, rich vanilla-scented caramel with a hint of saltiness was the perfect answer to my lazy cravings. It was ridiculously simple to make and even easier to eat!

sea salt and caramel popcorn

70g (about 1/3 cup popcorn kernels)

50g sugar

1/2 honey

80ml water

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

10 ml (1/2 tbsp) cream (you don’t need this but it adds a softness to the caramel)

1 tsp sea salt

First line a baking sheet with baking paper.  Make popcorn – I used an air popper but you can also use a stovetop method. Keep popcorn in a large bowl. For the caramel, place a small pot on medium heat. Add sugar, honey, water*, butter and vanilla and stir until sugar dissolves – let it come to the boil (don’t stir) and cook until golden/caramel coloured. Add in cream  and cook until thick.  Take off heat and add sea salt. Pour caramel over popcorn – mix through and place onto baking sheet.

The popcorn will keep for a few days in a sealed container but I didn’t have any left to keep!

Note: I used a small amount of caramel – my main reason for this is that I wanted to indulge but not overindulge. 

*not all caramels use water but I used it instead of using more butter.