Author Archives: Liz Eggleston

basics: homemade date syrup

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When Boston Boy & I visited LA, his uncle whipped together this incredible middle eastern cauliflower dish.  And when he explained how easy it was (tahini + date syrup + cauliflower = wow), I had to try it as soon as possible.  just one itsy bitsy problem- there is no date syrup to be found in the DMV!  I searched high and low, and once I had come to terms with the Great Date Syrup Shortage of 2k12, I knew what i had to do…

Make my own!  

So, this “syrup” didn’t really turn out syrupy in the maple sense.  It was actually more the consistency of tahini.  But it tasted delicious and was the perfect substitute for date syrup in the absence of the store-bought stuff.

You’ll need (for two cups of syrup)

36 dates, pitted and diced
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Blend the mixture in a food processor or blender and let cool before using.

Ta da!  Date Syrup.

xoxo

the hungry texans

roasted root vegetables with charred scallion goat cheese & garlic confit

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hearty root vegetables are one of the best features of these temperature-plunging months.  beets, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, celeriac… the list of ground-dwellers is never-ending and these veggies just beg to be roasted and smothered in earthy chevre.  this recipe uses red potatoes, beets & celeriac, all diced into small pieces and roasted until crisp and soft.  find celeriac at your farmers market right now or in the root section of your grocery.

you’ll need:

serves 10

6 red potatoes
3 small beets
1 large head of celeriac or celery root
Olive Oil, to drizzle
3 sprigs thyme
s&p
4 oz. fresh chevre
1 bunch scallions
3 tbs sour cream
20 cloves of garlic (sorry I’m not sorry)

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Dice the vegetables into small pieces.  I left the red potato skins on but peeled the beets and celeriac.  Layer them into a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Separate the thyme leaves from their stems and season the mixture with the thyme.  Roast in the hot oven for 30-45 minutes, until the outsides are golden and crispy and the insides are soft.  The best way to estimate this point of done-ness is by trying the veggies, spoonful by spoonful, until you have depleted the roasting pan by one serving size and they taste done.

To “confit” something is to cook it in it’s own fat.  However, garlic doesn’t have fat, so garlic confit is really just a nice way of saying “olive oil poached garlic.”  While the vegetables are roasting, fill a small saucepan with 1/3 inch of olive oil.  Heat over medium heat and add your twenty cloves of garlic and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until garlic is golden brown and super soft.  Spoon the garlic cloves onto parchment paper and try to resist the urge to snack on them.

In a separate bowl, combine your chevre & sour cream.  If you happen to have a grill on, you could char your scallions on that.  I just popped them under the broiler until they turned.  Dice up the scallion and add to your chevre mixture.

Once the veggies are finished, top with the burnt scallion chevre and the garlic confit.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

a hungry texans thanksgiving: honey butter chicken biscuits

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Before I get a snarky “whataburger called, they want their recipe back” comment, let me just clarify that this little appetizer resembles nothing of the butter-drenched, deep-fried concoction that you devour at 3am.  Although I would nosh on these at 3am- don’t get me wrong.

No, these are just a great app- a fritter of buttermilk-brined chicken thigh resting upon a tiny, pillowy biscuit and topped with a sweet & spicy jalapeno honey butter.  I got actual hugs for bringing these to the party 😉

for the chicken fritters, you’ll need:

3 chicken thighs, boneless
2 cups buttermilk
5 sprigs thyme
2 cups flour
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
vegetable oil, for frying
s&p

Cut your chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes and cover with buttermilk in a mixing bowl.  Add your thyme, whole, and cover.  Refrigerate for 12 hours or up to one day.  After letting the chicken thighs marinate, drain in a colander to get rid of excess buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, paprika, s&p, and garlic powder.  Set up your chicken fritter station with your drained chicken thighs, flour mixture, and an empty pan.

Heat your oil in a frying pan to 350 degrees.  Then, start your battering & frying process.  Dredge your chicken thighs in the flour mixture and pop them into the oil.  I double-floured mine for good measure.  Let the fritters fry until they’re golden brown, or about 8 minutes.  Then pop them onto a cooling rack (fitted over a cookie sheet).  Do not throw them onto a stack of paper towels!  Not even a brown lunch sack, however tempted you may be!  Just pop them on the cooling rack and let them drain a bit.  I like to season fried things with a pinch of salt after they come out of the oil.

for the buttermilk biscuits:

makes 30 mini biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
12 tbs cold butter
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Cut your cold butter into small pieces and work into the flower mixture with your hands until the mixture looks like the consistency of sand.  Add your buttermilk and mix until just combined.

Turn out onto a floured surface (I used a lot of flour) and knead just a few times until the batter is no longer sticky.  Roll out with your hands or a rolling pin (if you’re fancy) into a 1/3 inch thick slab.  Use a cookie cutter or a shot glass to make small mini-rounds and lay onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Okay here’s the easy part!  Assemble by topping a biscuit with a chicken fritter and 1 tsp of jalapeno honey butter or roasted garlic sage butter.  Now eat it.  Okay, now eat another one.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

jalapeno honey butter

jalapeno honey butter

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combine 1 tbs honey, 1 tbs diced jalapeno & 4 tbs softened butter. spoon onto plastic wrap, roll into a cylinder, and wrap in parchment paper. place in your freezer for 1 hour, until hardened. serve over biscuits, cornbread, potatoes … Continue reading →

favorite things: and we danced edition

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1. Bottomless Brunch at Zengo in Chinatown.  For $35, you get to nosh on the yummiest eats and sip some delicious drinks.  We ordered…everything.  Favorites included these lobster-chipotle grits, the crispy tofu with roasted corn-potato salad, shrimp-vegetable potstickers, short rib hash with poached egg and the angry zengo roll.  We literally stayed from open to close.

2. Crafty Bastards in Union Market!  Admittedly, the crowds pushed one of these Hungry Texans indoors to the Rappahannock oyster bar, but we scored a couple of good finds nonetheless.  (pic)

3. Seven thousand people outfitted in neon & music for miles?  Count us in!  We had such a blast at the LivingSocial Glow-in-the-Dark 5k at RFK Stadium.  One of us ran the distance while the other volunteered with the video crew behind the scenes, but a good time was had by all.  Highlights were the step performance at the post-5k dance party and the 1000 Solar Lamps that were donated by LivingSocial to Somalian school children.

4. Why on earth would you wake up at 5am when it’s so blistery cold outside?  To make 24 dozen eggs for breakfast service at Miriam’s Kitchen, of course!

5. Thanks to our frayands John & Julia, we’re lovin’ Macklemore this week.  Sure, his thrift shop threads are bumpin’, but his power ballad “And We Danced” makes us…well…dance. (pic)

6. And finally, happy Bijoulais Nouveau to all you mediocre wine enthusiasts out there.  The celebration is far stronger than the vino, but it gave us a chance to make these French Onion Soup Dumplings, so laissez les bons temps rouler!

xoxo,

the hungry texans

le nouveau est arrive! french onion soup dumplings

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a happy bijoulais nouveau to y’all!

bijoulais nouveau is really a cute little holiday.  i only learned about it since moving to DC- the closest I’ve ever come to speaking french in texas is “laissez les bons temps rouler!”  the young french wine is actually quite un-tasty.  it’s aged for only a few weeks, but brilliant marketing has awarded it an entire midnight celebration- brava!  french law prohibits the young red from being uncorked until 12am on the second wednesday of each november, so francophiles wait in anticipation.  a few classic dc bistros, like 1905 and Bistro du Coin, were throwing their celebrations  last night, but who were we fooling- 2am on a school night?

so i hunkered down with Boston Boy in my kitchen, while my roommates set some serious mood lighting and french music, and embarked on a journey into these french onion soup dumplings.  there are recipes for these little succulent pouches of magic all over the internet (ever since making their Cooking Channel debut), so i glanced at all of them and then decided on my own approach.  and here it is!

for 20 dumplings, you’ll need: 

20 wonton wrappers
2 onions (mix of red and yellow)
1/2 bouillon cube
1 tbs flour
10 sprigs of thyme
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups shredded gruyere or swiss cheese
1 french baguette
Optional: a cut of beef (we used new york strip)

1. Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Thinly slice your onions and add them to the oil.  Give the whole thing a stir, then cover and let them cook for 10-15 minutes without messing with them.

2. While the onions are softening, dice your beef into 1/2 inch cubes (if you would like to make this vegetarian or if you don’t want beef in your dumplings, then omit this step and just heat your beef broth over low heat on the back burner).  Season with salt & pepper, then sear on each side over medium-high heat until they are caramelized.  Add your beef broth and dry white wine and a couple sprigs of thyme, then reduce the heat to low and let the broth & beef simmer.

3. Remove the top from the onions and stir in 1 tbs flour, leaves from 5 sprigs of thyme, 1 tsp salt & pepper, and 1/2 bouillon cube.  Re-cover and let simmer on low heat for another 10 minutes.

4. When the onions are ready, you’re ready to start building your dumplings.  Lay out a sheet of parchment paper and dip each wonton wrapper in the beef broth (this makes the wrappers easier to work with and more flavorful).  Drop a tablespoon of the onions onto each wonton and wrap the sides up into a little onion purse.  Since you’ve dipped these into the beef broth, the dumpling edges will stick perfectly.  I preferred the more traditional onions, but Boston Boy added a cube of beef to each of his- man hunger!

5. Place the dumplings into an oven-safe dish, ladle the broth over your dumplings, and top with (a lot of) shredded gruyere and swiss cheese.  For that delicious crouton (arguably the best part of french onion soup), poke a toothpick through a cube of french bread and into each dumpling.  In addition to being delicious, these are like little buoys to mark where the dumplings lie.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, then broil for a minute or until the cheese is golden.

We had tons of broth and onions left since we only made a few dumplings, so we ended up just combining everything for a delicious french onion soup- hello leftovers!   And full disclosure: we popped the Bijoulais cork about an hour before midnight.  BB says we’ll be cursed with bad french kisses for a year… I haven’t noticed yet.

Red, White & Blue Nachos

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Don’t wait another four years to make these red, white & blue nachos!  While this patriotic platter is a strong candidate for any gastronomical election, it can also make an appearance at a Fourth of July celebration or your next All-American Sunday potluck.

You’ll Need: 

1 bag blue corn tortilla chips

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese (I used slices because it’s all I could find, but you could use shredded)

1 cup Pico de Gallo (store-bought, or make your own with tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, lime juice & jalapeno)

1 cup sour cream

1 lime

1 jalapeno, diced very small

1 can black beans

1 bunch cilantro

 

This is all about the construction, people.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lay aluminum foil over a baking sheet (no mess!).  Spread your blue corn chips over the sheet pan and layer monterrey jack cheese on top.  Then spoon a tablespoon of black beans over each chip.  Yes, I know black beans are not red, white, or blue.  But what they are is delicious and full of protein.  Top with a sprinkle of cilantro and pop these in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling.

While the cheese is warming up, combine your sour cream, juice of half a lime and half of the diced jalapeno.  Start stirring until…bam!  You just made Kicked Up Sour Cream.

Once the nachos are out of the oven, squeeze the other half of the lime over the whole thing.  Then top with your pico de gallo, jalapenos, cilantro & Kicked Up Sour Cream.

peace, love & snacks,

hungry texans

Favorite Things: Dominican Republic Edition

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1. A chilly election night in DC calls for some Election Night Chili.  We gathered around CNN with hot bowls of meatless goodness to watch the results.  The results?  Chili for president, Nachos for VP.

2. Our bought-on-a-whim LivingSocial Escape to Punta Cana was the perfect weekend respite from plunging temperatures and a Sandy aftermath in the District.  It also quickly turned into a couples retreat.  #LightMyFire

3. Praise the Mostachioed Gods for Movember.

4. Essential reading materials for a Dominican beach.  Cook’s Illustrated definitely made it into the beach totes of these Tejanos.

5. Tastebud Highlights of the Week: Fresh Coconut, Pineapple & Bananas, Sancocho (look for a blog post soon!), and the illustrious Coco Loco- a perfect blend of white rum, creme de coco & nutmeg.

6. The views in Punta Cana are unrivaled- ok perhaps rivaled only by our fave entry in the DC High Heel Race this year: The View.  There was no lip syncing for their lives- these ladies were perfect!

Gingered Parsnip & Carrot Soup

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As survivors of many a hurricane & tropical storm, these Texans weren’t terribly concerned about the Frankenstorm Sandy that threatened the East Coast.  But still, a girl’s gotta eat.  This is a recipe from my Boston Boy’s mama- she made it for Yom Kippur dinner last year and I would have seriously slurped up the whole pot if the rest of dinner hadn’t been so yummy (well, and because slurping up a whole pot of soup in front of your new boyfriend’s parents is pretty inappropriate.)

Full disclosure: I made this soup 2 days ago, also, for my house’s portion of an 11th street progressive dinner.  And then I made it again because it was so good.  It was the perfect amount for ~10 people at a dinner party or 2 people for lunch one day and breakfast the next morning when your eggs have somehow turned gross overnight.

you’ll need:

2 tbs olive oil, divided

1 lb carrots

1 lb parsnips

2 1/2 cups diced onion

1 tbs fresh ground ginger

4 cups stock (I used veggie stock the first time b/c my fellow HungryTexan is a veggietarian)

2 cups water

1/4 cup cream (omit if you’d like. BB’s mama doesn’t use this, but I couldn’t help myself)

1/2 cup thinly sliced parsnip to garnish

1 tbs chives to garnish

s&p, to taste

Start by dicing up your onion (I used red onion because that’s what i always had). Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven and let your onions simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes until soft.  While the onions are getting happy, peel and chop your carrots and parsnips into ~1 in slices.  Add your parsnips, carrots, ginger, stock, and water.  Bring this to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat and cover.  Let this simmer for ~40 minutes until all of the veggies are tender.  Remove the pot from the heat for about 10 minutes.  Then blend using a food processor or your new adorable green emulsion blender.  I chose the latter 🙂  Season the soup with salt and pepper, to your taste.

And to top the soup, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a small saucepan and crisp up the thinly sliced parsnips until golden.  Finish with chives.

But wait!  You’re not quite finished yet.  I made some tasty gruyere croutons (which translated to a gruyere grilled cheese for our lunches).  Layer slices of Gruyere cheese between two thin slices of french bread or ciabatta and bake at 375 for ~15 minutes or until toasty.  Cut them into halves or into croutons.

Stay Dry!
xoxo,

The HungryTexans

favorite things: singin’ in the rain edition

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1. A new green emulsion blender from LivingSocial Shop.  Perfect for soups & sauces.

2. Vietnamese Caramel Sauce– I could use this on everything forever.

3. It’s not even Halloween, but it’s already Christmas.

4. These parsnip chips are delectable little treats, perfect as toppers for a parsnip-carrot soup, or just to snack on.

5. Adam & Tessa’s homemade cinnamon rolls. A totally unexpected dessert to top off a marvelous progressive dinner on Saturday.

6. 3-day juice cleanse. Florida Ave Grill’s short stack. ’nuff said.