Monday, July 19, 2010

Spicy Hummus Wontons



Over the past few weeks I have been making these little guys for lunch for Ryan and myself - experimenting with different flavored hummus, different folding of the wonton skins, and different toppings - so now I am ready to share them.



The idea is pretty simple. Put little spoonfuls of hummus onto flat squares of wonton skin, fold, fry, and eat!

Spicy Hummus Wontons

Roasted Red Pepper and Jalapeno Hummus
Wonton skins (they usually come in a pack of 100 so perhaps use a 1/4th at a time and freeze the rest for the future)
Extra virgin olive oil
Cayenne Pepper
Shriracha

1. Using your brand new cast iron skillet (oh wait you don't have one? get one! or use what you have i suppose...) pour enough oil into the skillet so that the bottom is covered with a thin layer. Heat over medium heat.

2. Here is how you make them. Use a cookie sheet or a large cutting board and cover it with wax paper. Lay out as many wontons as you can handle (I usually do 12) and put a small spoonful of hummus on each square.


3. Fill a small bowl with water. Dip your finger into the water and gently trace the outline of half the square.


4. Fold each square in half and fold the top two corners down towards the straight edge. They should look like this.


5. When the oil is hot place as many wontons as will fit in the pan without them touching into the skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until they are crispy and brown. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat the process with any remaining wontons.


6. Serve with Shriracha and cayenne pepper and even a little more hummus for dipping.


Enjoy!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Where Can't I Chant - A Collboration

I've been meaning to post about this for a while - I recently started a collaboration with Jeremy Litten called Where Can't I Chant. I just got a new lens (35mm!) so stay tuned for more soon!




Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Lemon Blueberry Muffins - revisited



For those of you who are regular readers you are probably thinking its time for me to close up shop and move on with my life. Wait...she's doing lemon blueberry muffins again? Didn't she just do those like 2 weeks ago. Yes, but wait! These are different I promise. Here is why. First...




I got this lovely little antique citrus juicer! I used one of these in France and kinda fell in love with it and decided my life would not be complete until I had one of my own.



Another reason these muffins are different is because this time I decided to go vegan. And for those of you who are about to poo poo this - taste testers (ie the boys I live with who don't have a preference between vegan and non-vegan muffins) have confirmed that the vegan ones are better.



The basic base for these muffins came from the book Vegan Yum Yum, but she made Lemon Cranberry Muffins. Which would have been cool too but I had blueberries. This is the first recipe from her book that I have tried (even though I tweaked several thinks) and now I can't wait to try more!


Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins (12 muffins)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornstarch
the zest from 1 lemon
1 cup plain soy milk
the juice from 1 lemon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 small carton blueberries, rinsed and dried
1 tbsp raw sugar



1. Preheat the oven to 400 F and line your muffin tin with paper liners or grease them.
2. In a large bowl mix together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, cornstarch, and lemon zest.
3. In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup mix together the soy milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, almond, and lemon juice.
4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until almost combined.
5. Toss the blueberries in a bowl with the raw sugar, then add them to the batter and mix everything together until its just combined.
6. Fill the muffin tins. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Using a knife, pop each muffin out of its tin and either place it on a rack to cool or turn the muffins slightly sideways in the tin to prevent soggy bottoms.