Tag: appetizer
Hummus and Ground Beef
Hummus and Ground Beef
You probably have never seen hummus topped with ground beef before, but it is a popular dish in Lebanese cuisine. The hummus is a basic recipe with garbanzos, lemon juice, garlic, and tahini; all puréed in a food processor. The ground beef is browned and seasoned with Lebanese 7 spice. The beef is then place in the center of a mound of hummus; garnished with pine nuts, fried garlic, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil. You can serve as an appetizer or as a main course with pita as a scoop.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
Hummus
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
Ground Beef
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- olive oil
- parsley chopped
- fried garlic
- toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Purée all of the hummus ingredients in a food processor. Place in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the olive oil is a small sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the ground beef until cooked through.
- Turn off the heat. Season with 7 spice, salt, and pepper.
Tetelas Oaxaca
Tetelas Oaxaca
Tetales are a refried black bean stuffed masa cake; much similar in concept to the Salvadoran pupusa. The tetelas are pan fried until crispy and topped with crumbled cheese, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.
Equipment
- tortilla press
- gallon sized storage bag; cut into 2 sheets of plastic
Ingredients
- 1 cup masa harina flour
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 2/3 cup refried black beans
- vegetable oil for frying
Garnish
- queso fresco crumbled
- cilantro chopped
- Mexican sour cream
- red or green salsa
Instructions
- Mix together the mass flour and warm water.
- Roll into 4-6 equal sized balls.
- Place 1 sheet of plastic on a tortilla press. Place 1 of the dough balls in the center, with the other sheet of plastic on top.
- Flatten to 1/8” thick. Remove the top sheet of plastic.
- Place a heaping tbsp of refried black beans in the center of the pressed dough. Spread it around.
- Using the plastic, fold up the bottom third of the tetelas. Fold back the plastic.
- Fold over the right side at an angle. Fold back the plastic.
- Fold over the left side, creating a triangle. Seal the corners.
- Heat up vegetable oil on a griddle over medium high heat. Place the tetelas on the griddle.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes until crispy.
Yucatán Fried Beans
I love refried beans. This is possibly the easiest and most flavorful recipe to make Yucatán style fried black beans. Toast the onions and habanero. Purée the black beans with the onions. Fry the purée with the habanero until it reaches your desired consistency. That’s it. You can use either vegetable oil or lard to fry the beans in; depending if you want them vegan or not.
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 2 slices white onion
- 1 habanero
- 4 cups cooked black beans with broth
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Dry toast the onion and habanero for 5 minutes in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Place the onions and black beans in a blender .
- Purée until smooth.
- Heat up vegetable oil or lard in a sauté pan over medium heat. Pour in the beans. Add the toasted habanero back in. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the beans are thickened to your liking. Season with salt.
Chive Cakes
Chive Cakes
Chive cakes are a popular appetizer found on many Thai menus and can usually be purchased frozen; but making them from scratch at home is light years better. There’s a lot of steps in making the chive cakes; all fairly simple. You can find Chinese chives, aka garlic chives, along with rice, glutinous rice, and tapioca flours at every Asian market. The chives are sautéed, then mixed in with the gluten-free batter. The batter is then poured into a springform pan and steamed. There are two really important steps that can’t be skipped in this process. You have to cover the springform pan inside the steamer with a towel. If you don’t, the steamer condensation will ruin the consistency of the batter. The other step is that the chive cake has to completely cool before you cut it into triangles. The chive cakes will only get crispy if you pan fry them while cooled. When ready to pan fry, heat up some cooking oil on a griddle. Cook them for 5 minutes a side until they are crispy. The chive cakes are served with a dipping sauce that is sweet soy based. These chive cakes are garlicky, crispy, and chewy on the inside, making this appetizer a go to for me.
Equipment
- steamer
- 8” springform pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb Chinese chives chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil plus more for frying
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup kecap manis
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 2 Thai red chilies thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add in the chives. Season with 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Sauté for 5 minutes. Let cool.
- Mix together the 3 flours, 1 tsp of salt, and warm water to form a batter.
- Stir in the chives.
- Grease an 8” springform pan. Pour in the batter.
- Place the springform pan in a steamer with 1” of water. Place a towel over the springform pan so condensation doesn’t collect on the chive cake. Cover and steam for 30 minutes.
- Let the chive cake cool completely. Cut into 8 pieces.
- Heat up 3 tbsp of cooking oil on a griddle or in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the chive cakes to the pan, making sure that none of the pieces are touching.
- Cook for 5 minutes a side until the chive cakes are crispy.
- While the chive cakes are cooking, heat up all of the dipping sauce ingredients in a small pan until the sugar dissolves; about 2 minutes.
