Karina Does Betty Does!

I have a lovely and impressive friend, Jesse Silver, who recently teamed up with other lovely and impressive women to start the online magazine, Betty Does.

Betty Does is a new San Francisco collective publication celebrating women and their work.

I had been following their posts and reading their interviews since they began a few months ago, so to say I was thrilled and flattered beyond belief when Jesse asked me to be her first interviewee is an understatement.

She asked to interview me about my cake making, food blogging, and acting, and we decided it would be fun to make a cake in the process. Since the lovely and impressive Betty photographer, Margo Moritz, was also coming over to document the interview, I offered to make them both dinner as well...



Like so many people out there, Jesse has a gluten intolerance so I decided to recycle an old idea I had of using shreddings of zucchini for a pasta rather than wheat noodles.


I made a vegan pesto by blending raw cashews I had soaked overnight with a few handfuls of organic basil, several cloves of garlic, a squeezed lemon, olive oil, sea salt, cayenne and pepper in the food processor.


I wanted to make some type of protein in the form of a "meatball" for the pasta, so I quickly improvised with the left over quinoa dish I had made the night before. I started by chopping some carrots, raw almonds, and sunflower seeds in the food processor.


I added a cup or two of the leftover quinoa dish I had made that consisted of quinoa, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, apples, vegan sausage and the lot of my usual spicing (salt, pepper, cumin, curry, cayenne, cinnamon, braggs and lemon.) I also threw in a few spoon fulls of organic re-fried beans I had open to help bind the mixture when it came to forming balls.




I heated up sunflower oil (good for high heat) and lightly fried them on all sides until they were crunchy on the outside.


I then set them on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.


I boiled water in a pan and cooked my "zuc noods" for a few minutes until soft and then drained them.


In another pan, I sauteed an onion, some garlic, and several shitake mushrooms in olive oil and then salt and peppered them.


I threw the mushrooms and onions in with the pesto and "noodles" and mixed well.


I made a fresh salad of lettuce, spinach, orange segments, avocado, snap peas and almond slivers and tossed with a tahini-tomato dressing.


The Betties seemed quite pleased! Jesse brought a lovely Riesling to accompany the meal and it all made for a perfect appetizer to the Mango-Ginger-Sage cake that was made! (Coming soon in the Betty Does article!)

Karina's Falafel Pizza Pie

I love pizza, but rarely part take in it or its cherished convenience due to the fact that I avoid dairy, meat, and when I can- white bread. When I want pizza, it usually means I must find the time to start from scratch and do it myself...


I also love Mediterranean food. I love falafel, and hummus, and pomegranate seeds- I love it all. I am lucky enough to have a Israeli best friend who can cook as well as her genius and talented mother, and they have both shared with me incredible flavors and recipes I might not be so exposed to otherwise.

A few weeks back I decided to get creative, and combine these two loves by making my very own- Falafel Pizza.


My favorite pizza dough is made with cornmeal, so I looked up a few recipes and started with this one I found on Martha Stewart's website:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

2/3 cups warm water

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface (I used organic whole wheat instead)

1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for pizza peel or baking sheet

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

I added some extra spices- (cayenne, curry, cinnamon and thyme) for a little extra subtle flavor in the crust.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir ingredients with a wooden spoon just until dough starts to come together. Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes.

Divide dough into four 4-ounce balls. Place balls in a shallow oiled bowl, turning to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

The next steps of the borrowed recipe called for a pizza stone to bake on, but instead I just spread my dough out in a few baking pans once it had sat and risen for an hour. I used my finger tips and palms and worked the dough until it spread out fully in each dish bottom. I preheated the oven at 500* and set my ready crusts aside for the toppings.


I thought the most appropriate sauce for this blending of cuisines might be a nice garlicy pesto. In my food processor, I threw in a few cups of washed fresh basil, a handful of pine nuts, several garlic cloves, sea salt, lemon, and olive oil. As usual, I "guestimated" all of the proportions until I had the most desirable consistency and taste possible.


I could seriously eat this pesto with a spoon. Wait- I did....


I had a bunch of fresh zucchinis and carrots, so I had the idea to shred them in the food processor and spread them over the entire pizza almost as a cheese replacement...






I would love to try making falafel from scratch one day soon, but on this occasion I had just purchased an organic falafel mix that you add water to, and fry them in a pan in some light oil.


I followed the directions (plus added in some extra cayenne for more spice in the mix) and fried each one on each side until brown and almost crispy on the outside...



I coated each of my crusts with a nice thick spread of pesto, sprinkled on a generous layer shredded zucchini/carrot, tossed on some halved cherry tomatoes, and broke apart bits of falafel to top them off..


While they were baking for about 8-10 minutes at 500*, I prepared an Israeli-style salad by finely chopping up onion, cucumber, tomatoes, and pomegranate seeds and mixing it with olive oil, sea salt and lemon. When I was visiting in Israel last summer, we literally had a salad similar to this with every meal.


Once my steaming pizzas came out and cooled for a few minutes, I spooned out dollops of fresh hummus I had made on top, and lastly sprinkled the pies with fresh pomegranate seeds.



If the marrying of these two dishes couldn't bring about world peace, I know not what else could.

ariel's making ... pesto hummus

i adore fresh basil ... and i love hummus ... so why not combine the two?


for this dip you'll need:

4 cups of organic cooked garbanzo beans, plus 1 cup of their liquid
juice of 2 organic lemons
garlic ... as much as you dare! go wild!
handful of fresh organic basil leafs

4 T. organic roasted tahini
2 T. extra virgin organic olive oil
1 t. organic cayenne powder
sea salt and pepper to taste


blend it all together 'til smooth.


so good ... and so easy.

serve with fresh veggies and pita and enjoy!!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... baby 'chokes with fresh pesto

all purple and green ... these little artichokes are quite a chef's dream!


shuck off a lot of the outside leaves because they can be very tough ... then slice them in half.


chop up some fresh garlic and saute it in a pan with olive oil ... then add your little 'chokes.


saute for about 3 minutes, them add about 1/4 c. of water and cover and let them steam for about ten minutes 'til they're tender.


while they're steaming, make some pesto ... i made some with fresh basil, green garlic, olive oil and salt.


serve your dainty little artichokes with the pesto and a bit of strong feta.

delish!!

kisses,

ariel

Karina lost a bet and scallops were met...

A few weeks back my co-worker Jeff and I were suffering through a terribly slow start to our Friday night dinner shift and to keep ourselves motivated, we challenged each other to a serving contest. The first one to sell every dessert on our menu was entitled to a home-made dinner slaved over by the other. I like to think I had it in the bag, but my loyal obsession to one particular dessert was my big downfall and I ended up selling primarily that one over and over as always. Needless to say, I was due in the kitchen.

I found some beautiful organic pesto at a local market, and had a half a head of purple cabbage left over, so I decided to make a pesto and substitute strips of cabbage for noodles. In a food processor, I mixed about 1 1/2 cups washed basil, a cup of cashews, several cloves of garlic, some fresh ginger, salt, olive oil, cayenne and lemon juice. I like my pesto really spicy, so I always add a lot of garlic (no surprise there) but you can definitely tone it down with less. Traditionally pesto has parmesan cheese as well but Jeff and I both tend to stay away from dairy.

I also found some gorgeous scallops while shopping with Ariel, so I decided to make a type of salsa to go on top of them. Since I already had green and purple planned on my plate with the pesto dish, I wanted to find red and yellow produce to use. I was thinking I was going to find strawberries or something to mix with the yellow bell pepper I picked, until I saw a beautiful stem of rhubarb calling my name. I have never cooked much with rhubarb, so I decided this was the perfect chance to start.

I chopped up the rhubarb, bell pepper, garlic and ginger and mixed it with fresh lemon, salt, olive oil, braggs, cinnamon, and agave. I made this salsa hours beforehand so it could soak in the liquids and the tartness of the rhubard would mellow out. It had a sweet, almost pickled flavor by mealtime and Jeff and myself had to stop ourselves from eating it by the spoonful!

Next, I had been craving cooked cauliflower so I bought a lovely head of it and searched for something sweet and orange to add to the growing palate of colors. Thank heavens for kumquat season! I boiled the cauliflower until it was slightly soft and when it was drained and cooled, I began sauteing it with onions, garlic and the sliced kumquats. I added my usual assortment of spices and agave to balance the sweetness and acidity. I simmered this all for quite sometime to make sure the bitterness of the kumquat skins would soften and the cauliflower would be as juicy and flavorful as possible.

Lastly, I moved to the precious sea scallops. I had never cooked scallops on my own before, but I knew that you don't have to do much to them at all. In fact, it would be a crime to mask their natural, succulent flavor with too much spicing or altering. All you need is a really hot pan, butter (or in my case olive oil), maybe a sprinkle of salt any cayenne, and a minute or two on each side until they are golden brown and juicy! I squeezed a slice of lemon over them and flames came up at least 2 feet which added a lot of unexpected excitement to the moment!

Yes, my co-worker was very lucky indeed that I love our restaurant's raw-banana cashew cheesecake so much....