Muhammara: Red Pepper, Pomegranate & Walnut Dip

Tired of hummus? Try this other dip from the same region for a more complex, hotter taste. Muhammara can be served as an appetizer, or with kebabs as a dipping paste.

When going through this recipe, feel free to adjust all the ingredients to your taste. The olive oil gives the muhammara a creamier texture, so adjust accordingly (more for creamier, less for drier).

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Red Peppers	2 large or 3 medium
Walnuts	1/2 cup	Shelled
Garlic	1 tsp	Crushed
Fresh breadcrumbs	1/2 cup
Red chillies	2 small pieces	Seeded & chopped
Olive oil	1/4 cup
Pomegranate seeds	1/4 cup
Lemon juice	2 tbs
Cumin	1 tsp	Powdered or ground
Red chilli flakes	1/2 tsp	Optional. Replace with another red chilli.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Cut the peppers into large, flat pieces. Arrange them skin side up in a baking dish & place in the oven for 10-20 minutes.
3. Once the skins turn black, remove the peppers and place them in a plastic bag. Allow the bag to cool in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
4. Once cooled, the skins should just peel off of the red peppers. Discard all the skins and process the peppers in a food processor until they turn into a fine paste. Remove and set aside.
5. Chop the walnuts, garlic and breadcrumbs until finely ground.
6. Add the peppers, chopped chillies, olive oil, pomegranates and lemon juice. Process in short bursts to combine.
7. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Use a spoon to stir in the cumin and chilli flakes.
8. Season with salt, and refridgerate overnight to allow the flavors to mellow.

Serving suggestions:

1. Decorate with walnuts, pomegranate seeds, or olives. Make a pattern that looks kinda cool. Check out mine below!
2. Serve with toasted flatbread, or my favorite: Falafel chips!.

Variations:

1. If you have access to pomegranate syrup, you could use 1 teaspoon of that instead.
2. Small red chillies... green chillies... doesn't make much of a difference for this recipe. Use either. But, you CANNOT replace the red bell peppers!
3. I wonder what it would taste like with almonds or pine nuts instead of walnuts...

Enjoy! And feel free to leave comments!

Steamed Mussels

Adapted this one from a few youtube videos saw. I had plenty of mussels left over after making the Paella (coming soon!) but nothing to do with them, so I came up with this! Tastes great and is fun to serve and eat in a group!

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Mussels	1 pound	Debearded & Scrubbed
Butter	3 tbs
White Onion	1 small piece	Diced
Garlic	1 tsp	Crushed
Red Peppers	1/2 piece	Diced
Tomato	1 piece medium	Crushed
Sparkling Cider	1/2 cup
Vinegar	1/4 cup
Lemon	1 medium
Parsley	1/4 cup	Chopped
Cumin	1/2 tsp
Curry Powder	1 tsp	Optional

Method:

1. Heat a pot on medium heat that's deep enough so that the closed mussels would only fill it up half way. If you overfill, the mussels will open up and may pop out of the pot!
2. Add the butter. Once it melts, add the onions, garlic and parsley and stir.
3. After 2-3 minutes when the onions start to become translucent, add the cider and increase the heat a bit.
4. Once the mixture starts simmer, add the mussels. Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes, till all the mussels have opened up.
5. Drain and remove the mussels, being careful to save the juice in the pot. Discard any that have not opened after 10 minutes in the pot.
6. Remove and throw the top half of the mussels. Arrange the bottoms in a flat dish that's at least an inch deep.
7. Coming back to the liquid, add curry powder, cumin, red peppers and tomato to the pot and bring to a boil on slow heat. Let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, being careful to not let it dry out.
8. Once the mixture is ready, pour evenly over the mussels in the dish and top with juice of squeezed lemon. You're ready to serve!

Makes ~6 servings, depending on the size of the mussels.

Serving suggestions:

1. Instead of pouring the mixture over the mussels, serve it in a separate bowl. Allow your guests to scoop it up with the mussels!
2. Garnish each mussel with a thin slice of lemon and a bit of parsley to make it look more appealing.
3. Keep a spoon handy to allow your guests to pile on the sauce into the mussels. Some people are finicky with their hands.

Variations:

1. I used sparkling cider as the base for the sauce. You could use dry white wine, apple juice, or even water. Experiment around for different flavors!

Bon Apetite!

Shrimps on a Life Raft

This is a great shrimp & bruschetta appetizer! The beauty of this one is, it can be made up to a day in advance and then just toasted before serving without any loss in flavor.

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Cooked small shrimp (71-90 count)	18 pieces (3 per serving	Defrosted
Red Bell Pepper	1/3 cup	Diced
Onion (yellow/white)	1/3 cup	Diced
Garlic	1/3 cup	Diced
Goat Cheese	To sprinkle	Crumbled
Cherry Tomatoes	1/2 cup	Halved
Pasta/Tomato sauce	1/2 cup	Try a Sweet Peppers sauce if you can find one
Olive oil	1/4 cup
Bruschetta	6 1-inch thick slices
Fresh ground pepper	To taste
Oregano	To taste

Method:

1. Line serving dish with aluminium foil.
2. Brush or gently dip bread slices in olive oil, and lay them in the serving dish, oily side up.
3. Heat oil in a small saucepan on Med-High.
4. Add onions and garlic. Fry & stir till the onions start to look clear.
5. Add shrimp, red peppers, tomatoes and pepper. Fry & stir for ~2 minutes.
6. Reduce heat to low. Add tomato sauce and oregano, and cover.
7. After 5-10 minutes, when the sauce becomes thick, remove from oven and spoon over bread.
8. Sprinkle goat cheese over generously.
9. Cover & refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.
10. Before serving, preheat toaster oven to 450 F / 230 C.
11. Pick up the bruschetta using the foil and place in oven.
12. Once cheese starts to brown, remove and serve!

Makes 6 servings.

Serving suggestions: None

Variations:

1. Try using different cheeses, like feta.
2. Spread over flatbread to make a pizza!
3. Stuff in a hollowed-out dinner roll.
4. Try ranch sauce instead of the pasta sauce.