LEFT BRAIN: Olivida with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Toasted Walnuts / Barrel-plug Cheese & Pretzels
The olive and sun-dried tomato spread is simply whirled in the food processor – and can be frozen for spur-of-the-moment entertaining.
This autumn I tasted Spundekäse und Brezeln in a restaurant in Mainz, Germany while enjoying a relaxing river cruise. It sounds really exotic until translated into “barrel-plug” cheese, which refers to its shape, and pretzels. It’s made of a blend of cream cheese and quark or Greek yoghurt. It is quite fortunate that cream cheese already blended with tangy Greek yoghurt is now available – if you can’t find it, make your own by stirring 2/3 cup softened cream cheese with 1/3 cup Greek yoghurt.
Just when you think that your tolerance for hot spices is fairly advanced, open a new bottle of cayenne to discover a whole new world of pain! Yes, cayenne does lose its capsaicin punch the longer it sits in the cupboard so splurge for a fresh amount now and again.
Olivida with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Toasted Walnuts
160g pit-in or 125g pitted black or green olives or a mixture, about 1 cup
4 to 5 large sun-dried tomatoes
50 g toasted walnuts, about 1/2 cup
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/8 tsp cayenne, about 2 pinches
- Pit olives if needed. If sun-dried tomatoes are hard, briefly soak in boiling water to cover; drain. Chop tomatoes with a knife into small pieces; set aside.
- Add olives, walnuts, garlic and olive oil to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Scrape into small bowl; stir in chopped tomatoes. When ready to serve, garnish with a little extra chopped parsley. Or divide between a couple of small ramekins; seal by pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface and freeze for up to a month or more.
- Serve with a tiny knife to spread on unsalted crackers such as table water biscuits or Melba toast – it’s wonderful with a glass of full-bodied red wine. Or toast thin slices of baguette and thinly spread on the olivida for instant crostini.
Makes 1 cup (250 mL)
Barrel-plug Cheese & Pretzels
250 g (8 oz) pkg cream cheese with Greek yoghurt
2-3 tbsp (30-45 mL) cream
1/4 cup very-finely minced sweet onion or green scallion
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne, about 2 pinches
Let cream cheese sit at room temperature for an hour or so to soften. Stir cheese with remaining ingredients until spreadable. Cover and refrigerate for several hours to blend flavours. The cheese keeps well for several days. Serve with small pretzels. Makes 1 generous cup.
RIGHT BRAIN: Crab Pâté / Guacamole Base
A picture is worth a thousand words and all these dips look very inviting. I chose the crab because it is very simple and the guacamole base because of its versatility.
While the base is great for guacamole it also comes in handy for a drizzled salad dressing when serving sliced avocado on a lettuce base – and even adding to marinades. This is an opportunity to use store purchased tubes of red pepper (available in the produce section of grocery stores), which you can keep in your fridge. For this recipe try to find the dark-red diced hot pepper instead of the pureed variety.
To achieve the colourful look in the picture, we rubbed a cut lemon around the edges of plain white dishes. While damp, we dunked the edges into some fine-textured ingredient. In our photograph we used finely chopped fresh parsley with the dark olivida, ground black pepper with the guacamole, paprika with the barrel-plug cheese and pink-coloured salt with the crab.
Crab Pâté
120g (3 1/2 oz) tin of crabmeat or frozen crab, defrosted
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced chives or green scallion
Salt and pepper
1 ½ tsp of good flavourful olive oil
1-2 tbsp mayonnaise
If using tinned crab, drain thoroughly. Meanwhile stir the rest together and add the crab. Check the taste after adding a little mayonnaise and add more if necessary. Makes 3/4 cup.
Guacamole Base
Juice of one or two limes (3-4 tbsp)
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp diced hot red peppers (or dried hot chili flakes to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix together and keep refrigerated for a week or more.
For guacamole, simply mash one or more ripe avocadoes; stir in a tablespoon of the base. Taste and add more slowly until the guacamole is tangy and spicy. Serve right away with crackers or tortilla chips. Makes about 1/2 cup base.
