Muhammara- Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip

         

Think you like hummus? Wait until you try Muhammara, a decadent dip originating from Syria that will make your world explode with creamy, comforting goodness.

Prior to the nightmare that has been Covid-19, I loved frequenting the Peacock Lounge at the Proper Hotel here in Austin, where I first discovered this outstanding treat. Served with warm pita and a zesty cocktail or shrub, this is hands down my favorite appetizer or mezze to enjoy while lounging in the colorful middle eastern inspired lounge lobby with friends. And then, just like that, the entire world was turned upside down due to a virus that literally made society come to a screeching halt, and along with it, entertaining, dining out, bountiful grocery store visits. The pandemic proved the terrifying reality that these great United States was woefully under-prepared to handle the wave of illness headed its way. And so we all did our part and took shelter for what we thought would be a fortnight and stretched in to two months. I was blessed to be able to work from home, despite my worries for my team who stayed working the front lines with the public at my office. They adapted beautifully, and I did my best to pray for them and send food to nourish them and send them my love from afar. It has been the strangest and most unsettling and surreal of times. Not a war, but in a way still a battle, only with an invisible killer.

My anxieties hit a peak when we had to take one of our beloved pugs and put him to sleep- socially distanced as I tearfully soothed him with my voice. I lost my appetite and with it, five pounds shed from worry. And then I began to learn and practice daily meditation and slowly felt my limbs and my breath relax and return to life, and with it, my love of cooking. We made some tremendous meals throughout the sheltering and I was thankful I have learned to be resourceful and stock a pantry, as supplies were at one point very limited in our formerly abundant stores. There are just the two of us, so we have no back up freezer as the majority in our area have. They were the fortunate and dare I say, greedy ones, who stockpiled all the shelves at our local store. They ate well, so did we, but with much planning and frugality. My Depression era father thankfully taught me how to stretch out a meal and get creative.

I was craving my favorite treat from the Peacock, so I googled muhammara recipes and with the staples I had on hand, made a rather good knock off which was a huge hit with my husband. He could dip handfuls of homemade pita into the creamy dip. Being gluten free, I enjoyed it with crudites or Simple Mills almond flour Rosemary and sea salt crackers. The recipe calls for Pomegranate molasses, of which I did not have, so I made due with pomegranate juice in the back of the fridge. I scored some fresh seeds from a Whole Foods delivery on the rare, and lucky day they had a slot open after weeks of none. They even had some chicken that day! I realize I still had many blessings to count as so many around the globe have lost their jobs and all sense of normality and security.

Things were looking up, until our refrigerator and freezer broke. The Russian repairman who spoke but a few words of broken English, typed in his google translator that our fridge was beyond repair. We hurriedly went to the home improvement store to find another one. A rush delivery would be six days out. I felt deflated and despaired that the small amount of food we managed to procure would all go to waste. Somehow, by a miracle, the freezer held it's temps until the new fridge came. It was quite the relief and I was so grateful my prayers were answered. This dip, while not quite as good as the one I enjoy at the Peacock, will always hold a bittersweet memory for me as we embrace the new way of life.

INGREDIENTS

1 12 oz jar of Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup creamy almond butter

2 roasted cloves of garlic (I smoked mine in the Big Green Egg)

2 teaspoons allepo or cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt

4 tablespoons or pomegranate juice and 1 pinch of sugar

Olive oil, pistachios and pomegranate seeds to garnish

Blend all the ingredients except for the garnish until smooth and creamy. Add a little water if it is too thick.

Drizzle with olive oil, garnish and serve at room temperature with crudites, warm pita or crackers.

Stays sealed in a container in fridge for a week.

Pizza on the Big Green Egg

After our success last summer making homemade pizza for the first time, we thought it was time to throw another pie on The Big Green Egg. The Egg really acts like a wood burning oven and produces amazing pizza. We used our recipe from the A16 Food + Wine cookbook again. The result was a bubbly, crispy crust with a nice yeasty, almost sourdough taste. My husband isn't a big pizza or pasta fan, but he ate almost two pizzas! The dough freezes amazingly well, so all you have to do is thaw it in the fridge then let it rise for two hours under a moist towel on a lightly floured surface.

Here's the recipe from the cookbook:

1⁄2 packet active dry yeast
1 1⁄2 cups warm beer(105˚ to 110˚F) NOTE: I've tried replacing water with Belgian wheat beer as it really adds a nice touch to the dough and gets the yeast bubbles popping.
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder (I know this also isn't typical, but it really adds great flavor).
1 tsp sugar (we added this step as that's how our Italian gardener used to make it).
4 cups “00” flour or all-purpose flour (we use Caputo brand and the only place I found it in Austin is Central Market and Mandola's market)

Make The Dough:
1. To make the dough, in a small bowl or large mug, sprinkle the yeast over the warm beer and let proof for 10 minutes. If the yeast has not dissolved into a soft, frothy paste in that time, hunt down a fresher batch and repeat the process.

2. Stir in the olive oil and salt and sugar.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour and yeast mixture and mix together on low speed for about 2 minutes, or until the dough is shaggy and most of the beer has been absorbed. Knead on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and looks smoother.

4. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.

5. Knead on medium-low speed for an additional 10 minutes, or until the dough is very smooth, soft, and warm to the touch.

6. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil.

7. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turn the dough so that both sides are lightly coated in oil, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

8. The next day, punch down the dough with your fist, then fold over the sides and turn the dough over in the bowl. Re-cover and return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours (this makes it taste even better, promise!)

9. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. One at a time, cup the pieces in your hands and tuck under the sides until you have formed a smooth ball.

10. Place the balls on the floured work surface, providing plenty of room between the balls, and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let the balls proof for 1 1⁄2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in volume. Keep a water-filled spray bottle handy, and if you see a skin forming on the surface of the dough, spray the surface to dissolve the skin.

Make Pizza:
1. To prepare in the Big Green Egg, place a pizza stone on top of an upside down aluminum pan placed over the grill plate, with legs facing down over the grill (typically 700˚F) for at least 30 minutes. Raising the pizza stone helps the top brown a bit better. We leave the top bonnet on with the wheel opened.

2. To shape a ball of dough into a pizza base, place it on a well-floured work surface. Using the tips of your fingers, pat down the ball, flattening it into a disk. Place the palm of one hand in the center of the dough and gently but firmly press down. At the same time, with the other hand, pull the dough outward while rotating it clockwise to form a flat circle with a slightly raised edge. If the dough feels resistant as you stretch it, set it aside, covered with a damp kitchen towel, while you work on a second ball of dough. This will give the gluten a chance to rest, making the dough more pliable once you return to it. The entire time you are working on the dough, maintain a thin layer of flour underneath it to prevent it from sticking. If you don’t feel confident handling pizza dough, try starting with a rolling pin to ensure you begin with an even circle, and then return to hand stretching. Continue to stretch the dough, allowing time for it to relax as needed, until it is 10 to 12 inches in diameter. place it on parchment paper dusted with corn meal and  transfer to a pizza peel.

Here we decided to add a local Vital Farms Egg in the center

3. Dress the dough with your selected toppings.
We used Fiorucci pepperoni, shredded asiago, fontina, parm and mozzarella picked up at our new Whole Foods. We topped with carmelized onions we'd cooked on low for 2 hours in a pan with butter, balsamic vinegar, salt and 1 tsp brown sugar until they were tender and sweet. I placed a few discs of buffalo mozzarella along the edges. Be sure never to use more than 3 oz of cheese or the pizza will turn soggy!

4. Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone.

5. Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is crisp and golden brown and the top is bubbling. We drizzled with a bit of Bella Luna truffle oil for an extra punch of flavor. WOW!!!!

I had to peek inside the top to see how things were going... bubbling goodness!!

Serve immediately! This is such a fabulous dough, and though it takes at least 48 hours to make, most of the work is happening in the fridge, so you can just forget about it until you are ready to bake it.

Egg Pizza on the Big Green Egg was eggscellent!!

For this pizza we fired up the Big Green Egg to 1,000 degrees F. We put the plate setter legs down, placed two bricks on top then the pizza stone and let it heat for about 40 minutes.

 Cooked it for 90 seconds and it made really nice blisters- by far the best one we've made yet! Pesto, meatballs, pepperoni, baby grape tomatoes, shaved onion and buffalo mozzarella.

 Perfection!!