Greek-style Honey Cake with Cardamom

  Growing up, I loved going to the Greek Culture festival with my Grandmother.  We would wonder around the arts and crafts booths discussing Greek mythology and customs and watch the colorfully clad dancers perform traditional dances-all while munching this delectable dessert.  

Greek Honey Cake with Cardamom

Honey Syrup: 

3/4 c Sugar

1 c Honey

2 tb STM Cardamom

Cake:

1/2 c STM Blood Orange EVOO

1 1/2 c Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp STM Cardamom

1/4 tsp STM Korintje Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 c Sugar

3 Eggs, separated

2/3 c Greek Yogurt

1 1/2 tsp Orange Zest

1 tsp Almond or Vanilla Extract

1/2 c toasted Almonds or Pistachios *optional

Sift together the dry ingredients with the spices.  In separate bowls, divide the sugar between the egg Yolks and Whites (6 tb each)  Beat the yolks until creamy and then add the EVOO, yogurt, zest, and extract. Stir in the dry ingredients until well combined.  Beat the egg Whites until stiff, fold into the batter.  Grease a 9x13x2" pan with some EVOO and flour.  Pour in the batter and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, until done and golden.  While the cake is baking, combine the syrup ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Gently simmer for 10 minutes.  When the cake is done, immediately pour 1/3 of the syrup over it.  Once that has been absorbed, pour another third of the syrup over it.  Repeat with the remaining syrup.  Let sit for at least 2 hours - the longer it sits the better it gets.  

  Alternatively, you can reserve the remaining 1/3 of the syrup and macerate some fresh fruit in it to serve along side the cake or over ice cream.  The syrup also makes a nice whipped cream.

Quinoa Fritters with Avocado

  

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a grain like annual known for its wonderful nutritional content.  It was first domesticated in the Andean regions of Equador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru over 4,000 years ago.  It was a staple of the Incan diet, second only to potatoes.  Quinoa is currently experiencing a growing popularity world wide for its high levels of complete protein, dietary fiber, Phosphorous, Magnesium, and Iron.  It also contains high levels of Calcium and vital Amino acids, and is naturally gluten-free making it a great option for vegans and those who suffer from Celiacs or Lactose Intolerance.  Quinoa is used like rice or cous cous and has a delicious subtle nutty flavor.  It can be found in the Grain/Rice/Legume section of most grocery stores. 

  Stop by our website, we will be posting lots more recipes for this wonder-food.

Quinoa Fritters with Avocado

Fritters:

1 fresh, large Avocado

2/3 c Quinoa 

3/4 c Vegetable stock or water

1/4 c Mizithra or Cotija cheese (crumbled)

1/3 c Flour

4 Green Onions, chopped

3 tb (to taste) STM Carne Asada seasoning

3/4 tsp STM Garlic Sea Salt

1 Egg

1 Egg Yolk

STM Citrus Habanero EVOO, for pan frying

Dipping Sauce:

1/2 c Plain Yogurt or Mayo

1 - 2 tsp Siracha chile sauce or STM Piri Piri seasoning

Juice of 1/2 Lime

1/2 -1 tsp STM Prickly Pear or Spicy Mango Balsamic

  In a dry pot, lightly toast the quinoa until it begins to brown.  Ass the stock and cover.  Simmer over low for about 10 min, until the water is absorbed.  Meanwhile combine the sauce ingredients and chill until ready to serve.  Once the quinoa has cooked, stir over the heat for a minute or two to get rid of the excess water.  Then stir in the flour, cheese, green onions and seasoning.  Mix in the Egg and Yolk and stir to form a dough. Finely dice and season the avocado.  For larger fritters, flatten a spoonful in your hand, add some avocado and fold the fritter up to enclose it.  For smaller, appetizer size fritters, I added the avocado directly to the dough.  Pan fry the fritters in the oil: the larger take about 4-5 minutes a side, while the smaller only take about 2-3 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel and serve with the sauce or some yummy home made salsa.

Chai Infused Cream Cheese Frosting and other Yumminess

On our Carrier Pigeon this week we feature a recipe for Pumpkin Chai Cupcakes.  Here is the Frosting recipe for those cupcakes!  Yum!  Try it on your other favorite cupcakes for a nice change.

Chai Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2c Unsalted Butter
1/4 c STM Loose leaf Chai Tea
8 oz (1 pkg) softened Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla
3 1/2 c Powdered Sugar
  Slowly melt the butter over low.  Add the tea and continue to gently simmer for 5 minutes.   Strain out the tea and squish a bit to get all of the butter out.  Allow the butter to come to room temp (it will begin to re-solidify)  Beat the infused butter and cream cheese together until fluffy.  Add the vanilla.  With the mixer running, slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until well blended. 
*This makes enough soft consistency icing to generously frost a 13x9x2" pan, 24-28 cupcakes or an 8" layer cake.  To make a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar by 1/2 c until consistency is reached -be aware that this will dilute the flavor.

One of my favorite things about Fall are pumpkins.  They are just so tasty and can be used in just about anything.  To celebrate the coming Fall - and help you save a few dollars, here is a wonderful recipe for a latte.
 

Pumpkin Chai Latte
1 c STM Chai Tea, brewed strong
1 c Milk (Vanilla Almond or Coconut are nice alternatives to Cow milk)
1/4 c Pumpkin Puree
1 tsp Vanilla
2-3 tb STM's local Honey
1 tsp STM Chai Spice Mix, ground fine
  Puree everything in a blender for about a minute or so.  Then simply heat it up by the cup.  This recipe makes about 4 cups and will keep for a few days in the fridge.     

Spice 101: Berbere with Wat: Traditional Ethiopian Stew

 Berbere is a spice blend featured in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine.  It is most commonly associated with the thick and complex stews known as Wat (or W'et).  Berbere also makes a fantastic spicy rub for meats and adds wonderful character to lentil soups.  Each family has their own variation of the Berbere blend, but they almost always feature chiles of varying heat levels, fenugreek, cumin, allspice, and ginger.

Try these great ideas:
Sprinkle a little over your baked sweet potatoes or other root vegetables.
Add some to sour cream or yogurt for a lively dip.
Kick up your refried beans.
Re-invent your fall chili
Rub onto baby back ribs before slathering with BBQ Sauce
Mix into flour for an exciting take on Fried Chicken.

Doro Wat: Ethiopian Chicken Stew

3 lb Chicken pieces

3 tb STM Rosemary EVOO

2 tb Sweet Butter or Niter Kibbeh (spiced butter, see below)

3 lbs chopped Onions

6 chopped Garlic Cloves

3 tb (+/-) STM Berbere Spice blend

2 tb Tomato Paste

1 tsp Sugar

2 c Chicken Stock

Hard Boiled Eggs

  Melt the butter with the oil.  Saute the onions until almost caramelized.  Then stir in the garlic, Berbere, tomato paste, and sugar.  Cook until it becomes a thick paste.  Stir the stock little by little.  Simmer for about 10 minutes, and then add the meat.  Cook until tender and liquid has reduced, 45-60 minutes.  It is traditional to add hard boiled eggs near the end of the cooking time.  Serve over fresh Injera bread, couscous, or rice. 

Chickpea Fritters in Spicy Berbere Sauce

3 c Chickpea flour

2 tsp STM Cumin

2 tb STM minced Onion

2 tb STM minced Garlic

Sauce:

3 tb Niter Kibbeh spiced butter (see below)

2 chopped Onions

3 minced Garlic cloves

1/2 c STM Berbere

1/2 c STM Meyer Lemon EVOO

2 1/2 c Vegetable stock or water

  Mix the chickpea flour with the cumin, garlic and onions.  Stir in 3/4 c stock or water until a firm dough ball forms.  Roll dough out to 1/4" thick and cut out with cookie cutters (a fish is traditional, but I use anything)  Fry the fritters until golden and puffy.  Set aside to drain.  Saute the onions until nearly caramelized.  Stir in the garlic and berbere.  Stir to form a rough paste and then slowly add the remaining stock.  Reduce for 15 minutes before adding the fritters to the sauce.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  *I like to add fresh vegetables to the sauce as well to make it a more balanced meal.  I've used zucchini, squash, eggplant, green beans, etc.

Niter Kibbeh: Ethiopian Spiced Butter

2 lbs Unsalted Butter, cubed

1/2 minced onion

3 tb minced Garlic

4 tsp minced Ginger

2 tsp STM Turmeric

1/4 tsp STM Cardamom

1" piece STM Cinnamon Stick

1 whole STM Clove

1/8 tsp freshly grated STM Nutmeg

  Slowly melt the butter in a saucepan.  Gently bring to a simmer and add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer uncovered and undisturbed - no stirring- over low for 45 minutes.  The milk solids will sink to the bottom and become a golden brown.  Strain the butter into a clean jar and cover tightly.  Keeps several weeks in the fridge.

   I use niter kibbeh in just about anything that calls for butter.  Mashed Potatoes, cornbread, sauteed vegetables, toast, etc.  It's a great way to add some extra flavor to a dish.

Stop by our website for lots more Berbere and other fantastic recipes!

Chutney, the continuation...and a Mango Chutney Recipe!

We just couldn't let the argument die, partly because we like the excuse to keep finding yummy new chutney recipes! So here's another installment in the Salsa, Chutney, Relish argument, with a focus on Chutneys this time. Enjoy, and feel free to add your 2 cents!!

Chutneys are generally considered to be either sweet or hot. Chutneys may also be dry or wet while citrus juice or vinegar may be used as a natural preservative. This is where the delicious and vast array of balsamic vinegars here at Spice Traders Mercantile makes the chutney experience so exciting! Think of all the amazing flavor combinations you could try!

There are millions of variations on a chutney, and everyone has their own thing. Most will start with a fruit base, some a non-sweet vegetable such as zucchini or cucumber. Some tips to creating your very own chutney creation are to select fruits/veggies that are not completely ripe and have a firm flesh. Avoid soft fruits such as berries as they will lose their flavor when cooked and reduce down to more of a jam texture flavor. Chutneys are CHUNKY! Try dried fruits, as they hold up well when cooked and mixed with vinegars, etc. Their flavor tens to balance well with the spices and sugar. Firm eggplants, tomatoes, and rhubarb work well if you want to give veggies a try. Most recipes also include onion and garlic as well.

Some popular SPICES to include in your chutney experiment are available here at STM: allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel, ginger, lemon zest, mustard seeds, nutmeg, orange zest, peppercorns and pepper flakes. 

When using spices in a chutney, it is best to use whole spices, as they hold their shape and don't create a cloudy or muddy appearance to the blend.

Some popular fruits found in chutneys are apples, apricots, bananas, green mangoes, nectarines and peaches, cranberries, oranges, plums, pears, pineapple and tamarind.

Mango Chutney

1/2 c sugar
1/4 c STM peach white balsamic vinegar
2 mangoes (about 2 cups) peeled and diced
1/4 c sweet onion, diced
1/4 c golden raisins
2 tsp STM granulated ginger
1/4 tsp STM Tellicherry pepper, ground
pinch STM aleppo chili pepper

Combine sugar and vinegar in a sauce pot, bring to a boil and simmer until sugar dissolves. Add mangoes, onion, raisins, ginger, ground pepper and chili pepper and simmer, uncovered, until mixture becomes slightly thickened. Cool and pour into a glass jar or bowl. Refrigerate until chilled, serve as a relish for meats, tacos, with crackers and cream cheese, or anything else your heart dreams up!

....or try this amazing idea! Mango Chutney, Prosciutto and Paneer "Pizza"

Let us know your FAVORITE uses for chutney, and what your favorite kind is to enjoy!

Summer Strawberry Basil Sangria

You deserve a summer vacation. Or at least one in a glass, on ice, to enjoy some cool evening in the shade, with your feet propped up. Right?

Well, I found one just for you! It's fantastic. It's the perfect blend of summer fruits, marinated in an exquisite William Hill Chardonnay, with a delicate basil flavoring. It's simple, easy, and will be ready for you to enjoy, with some very appropriate summer friends, in just a few minutes!

Summer Strawberry Basil Sangria

1/2 lb fresh strawberries
1 apple
1 oz fresh whole basil leaves
1 bottle STM William Hill Chardonnay
1/2 c sugar
1 c club soda
1 c white grape juice

Trim and thinly slice the strawberries. Slice and dice the apple into very small bits. Score the basil leaves with a fork. This released the flavor without making difficult pieces to swallow. Simply rub the basil leaves with a fork in order to release the essence.
Layer the fruit, sugar and basil in a large pitcher and let sit for about 10 minutes. This is just to let the sugar absorb the juices from the basil and the fruit. Add the club soda first and then the remaining liquids. Stir well and serve to those amazing summer friends of yours. Kick up your feet and enjoy a moment, you deserve it.

Cooking with Beer: Bacon Cheesy Beer Bread

Um...so the title of this blog alone should elicit such massive amounts of excitement that me rambling on here is completely pointless, right? Come ON! Beer (duh) BACON (double duh) and CHEESE! The holy trinity, I'm pretty sure that's the definition, right?

I stumbled across this absolute gem of a recipe yesterday, and knew I just HAD to bring it to you to thoroughly enjoy with me! What's not to love? So please join me in combining the most wonderful three flavors known to man (I'm not being too dramatic, am I? oh well).

Bacon Cheesy Beer Bread adapted from crunchycreamysweet.com

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz (1 bottle) STM light beer...your favorite unique flavor
3-4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 c grated mozzarella cheese
1 Tbs dry ranch mix
1 egg + 1 Tbs water for egg wash
STM artisan salt for sprinkling, we like a smoked flavor to compliment the bacon

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Grease 8" loaf pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ranch mix.) Add cheese and stir with a wooden spoon. Add beer and stir until just combined. It should be thick and lumpy, do not overmix. Place the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the bacon on top. Brush with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cutting board to cool completely.

Now enjoy a slice, maybe topped with tomato sauce, more mozzarella, olives and a few pepperonis?? Heaven...in one intoxicating bite! Don't forget to save a bottle of that beer to enjoy the bread with, eh? Naw,  you wouldn't forget that.