French Fridays with Dorie: Hummus & more

Friday, October 5, 2012

First I made the hummus...
It didn't take much time! Chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Simplicity never tasted so good.
Then I made the sweet potato chips...and I burned the first butch. I doesn't matter how interesting Angela's post for her Pumpkin Seed Oil Bunt cake is, when the timer goes off you have to go and check the oven...
Then I baked a few more sweet potatoes. Here in Zagreb I can only find red-skinned, white-fleshed sweet potatoes, they are not very photogenic but they taste yummy. I baked some thinly sliced celery root to supplement the vegetable quota of the day :)
Then I made the chicken...Trevor reminded me last week that I have a bush of rosemary thriving on my windowsill which is in desperate need of trimming... so Balsamic Rosemary Chicken was born.
You would think that's enough. I made this week's FFwD chosen recipe, a zesty hummus. I have sweet potato chips to dip into the hummus and I even have chicken to make everything a full meal. But no. I want more...I want...grapes and apples and fennel. So I made it again. Last week's recipe, that is, only this time I swapped the bitterness with the drunken sweetness of fennel. I am going to say just one thing...grapes and fennel are a match made in taste heaven. 
I cannot give you the recipe for the wonderful hummus I made today. You have to buy Dorie Greenspan's book "Around My French Table". But I promise it is worth every cent...I mean who would have thought grapes and apples in butter....magic....


I can give you the recipe for the Baked Sweet Potato & Celery Root Chips and the Balsamic Rosemary Chicken so here you go....


Baked Sweet Potato & Celery Root Chips
For 4 - 6 people
Ingredients
1 kg sweet potatoes
1/2 celery root (about 300gr)
Olive oil or coconut oil (2 - 4 tablespoons each)
Turmeric
Thyme
Paprika
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Ground cumin
Sea salt & ground pepper
Procedure
Pre-heat oven to 150 C.
Slice the sweet potatoes very thinly using a mandolin.  If you don't have a mandolin you can use a very sharp knife but please be very careful.  I left the skin on but you can peel it if you want. 
Peel the celery root and slice it thinly with a knife or a mandolin. 
Put the sweet potatoes in a bowl.  Add half of the olive oil and whatever seasoning you like. I used paprika, garlic powder and thyme. Mix them very well with your hands.
In another bowl mix the celery root slices with about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil turmeric, cumin, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Lay the slices out on a oven pan covered with baking paper. It is better for the slices not to overlap with each other. This will mean that you have to bake them in batches. If you are pressed for time and don't care about how crispy the chips become you can put them all together but there is a big possibility that they will turn out a bit soggy. 
Bake the sweet potatoes for about 35 minutes, checking frequently, or until they are nice and crispy.  
Balsamic & Rosemary Chicken
Recipe from "The Food Lovers Make it Paleo" by Bill Staley & Hayley Mason
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 200 C.
Rinse the chicken breasts and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place them in baking dish.
Drizzle the olive oil over them and rub them to evenly distribute the oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Rub them with the garlic and rosemary and put them in the oven.
Roast for 20 - 30 minutes (depending on the oven) until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 75 C. 
Remove from the oven and pour the balsamic vinegar over the cooked chicken. Prepare yourselves for a bit of sizzling action!!
Enjoy!

33 comments:

  1. Everything turned out fantastic! Great post!

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  2. My you have been busy. Everything looks delicious:)

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    1. Thank youGeraldine it took some time to make everything but I enjoyed eating them as well :)

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  3. its so awesome to see how much you enjoyed everything! I'm so jealous of your rosemary!! I cant grow or keep herbs to save my life!

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    1. I got lucky with this one....for some strange reason it refuses to go dry :)

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  4. Wow!! I’m always so impressed that you’re doing so much catch up! Great post…everything looks fantastic! Love those chips…am definitely making them!

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    1. Thank Kathy! The chips were really nice... and healthy which meant I could eat more hummus :)

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  5. You did an amazing amount of cooking this week, Maria! The sweet potato chips sound especially good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Perfect to dip in the hummus or anything else. I've spent the week dreaming about those grapes, though didn't make more. I'm going to try your version with the fennel. I love fennel, and with the grapes sounds delicious. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Betsy I really think that fennel is perfect for this dish...and the red grapes gave everything a nice colour as well as more sweetness :)

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  6. Wow, you've been cooking up a storm this week! Everything looks delicious and I'll bet those sweet potato chips went perfectly with the hummus.

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  7. This is an amazing table; I want to go over and have dinner with you! The sweet potato chips are perfect for the hummus, love the idea!

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    1. Ha, ha thank you so much Paula. You are welcome to come any time you are near Zagreb or Athens :)

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  8. Love the chips! I could just eat those on their own for dinner! They look perfect!
    I made chicken with my hummus too!
    Everything looks fantastic!

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    1. Thank Sanya Hummus & chicken are lovely together. I sometimes marinate the chicken in tahini and lemon juice before I grill it so I thought that it would also much with the hummus :)

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  9. Everything looks spectacular! I'd much rather have sweet potato chips than regular chips...so darn yummy! And using fennel instead of endive is genius! Enjoy your weekend~

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  10. The chips look great, I must attempt to try that recipe. I also like that you used fennel with the apples and grapes. I'll bet that was
    delicious. Everything looks wonderful.

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  11. Beautiful presentation! Simple and perfect!

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  12. This looks great! I am pinning it!

    I would love it if you would share this recipe on my new blog hop Simple Meals Friday! I know my readers will LOVE it too!

    http://www.naturallivingmamma.com/2012/10/04/roasted-crock-pot-chicken-recipe-and-simple-meals-blog-hop/

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    1. Thank you Amanda for the invitation. Your blog is wonderful. I am linking my post now :)

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  13. Maria, you certainly created one fantastic fall menue - a lot of great pictures and wonderful inspiring ideas!

    Have a great weekend!

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  14. Everything looks great!! I didn't care for the bitterness of the endive last week, either. And fennel was exactly the idea I had to replace it, too. I haven't made it again yet, but seeing yours makes me think I should do it soon!

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  15. What a great feast! Love the grape/ fennel combination. Yum!

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  16. Wow - a feast indeed! Your sweet potato chips seem a great accompaniment for the hummus, the chicken had my mouth watering, and fennel is an inspired substitution for endive! A culinary home run. :)

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  17. This looks like a fabulous dinner - and the sweet potato chips are the perfect accompaniment for the hummus.

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  18. That looks fantabulous! It makes me want to come to your house for dinner. I have just recently been enjoying Hummus. The Greek flavors is my favorite so far. Thank you so much for sharing this on Foodie Friends Friday. Today is open for voting. Head on over and vote for your three favorite recipes.

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  19. I want a bite of everything !! Your post made me so hungry I am going to raid the fridge- and there is nothing comparable in there :) Thanks for including the recipe for the chicken as well as those chips...I am going to make the chips in the next few days for my son who loves Sweet potato fries. And I chuckled at your comment about the timer going off meaning business....so true !

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  20. Well, that is one impressive food-backed, recipe-laden Post, Maria. Thank you. Thank you. I have been absent for three weeks and it's fun to be back up and reading your Post. Between Andrea's Whole Wheat Pita Chips and your Baked Sweet Potato and Celery Root Chips, I vow never to buy another bag of Frito Scoops again. Promise. Loved your enthusiasm for FFWD recipes and salute your catch-up as well as creativity with other menus.

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  21. thank you for linking this in to Food on Friday. We are now getting quite a collection of potato dishes together. Do stop by some of the other links to check them out!

    I have just signed up to follow your blog. A follow back to Carole's Chatter would be wonderful – or have you already followed? Cheers

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    1. Hi Carole! Thank you for the invitation!!! I have already bookmarked your blog, will be following it regularly and submitting my recipes whenever I can!!!

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  22. Looking Yummy !!! Definitely will try to get my groove of cooking style on that Rosemary Chicken :)

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