Day #1 @ Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives
Gets started late in the afternoon and is essentially and introduction and teaser for the days to come. At 5pm PST, 400 people gathered for an inspiring introduction and several cooking demos from a Master Chef and other acclaimed chefs. One dish prepared was dukka, a delicious condiment from Egypt. My recipe is below. Afterward, there was a tasting reception in the CIA’s Barrel Room with all of the cooking demo dishes and wine from 9 local wineries.
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| A variety of seeds - a healthy source of fat, fiber and protein |
Dukka
Pronounced “Da’a” or phonetically Dha-ah, is an Egyptian condiment made of a mixture of pounded herbs, nuts and spices. Versions vary a bit and generally contain salt, pepper and then one or more of the following: hazelnut or pistachio, mint, salt, pepper, cumin, caraway, sesame seed, cashew. I’ve even seen some with coconut (I’ve never tried this, though, because it sounds terrible to me!). It is REALLY addictive! Traditionally, it’s eaten with flat bread (about the thickness of a pita) dipped in olive oil and then dipped in dukka. It's also delicious to use as a crunchy coating for baked or roasted cauliflower or brussel sprouts and pork or poultry.
Ingredients
2/3 to 1 cup hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds or macadamia nuts, raw, unsalted*
1/2 cup sesame seeds, untoasted*
1/4 cup coriander seeds*
2 tablespoons cumin seeds*
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon flaked sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste
Directions :
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place nuts on baking sheet. Grab a handful after 5 minutes to check for doneness. To do this, look for a slight darkening in the color, smell for a toasty aroma and make a fist around a couple of nuts. The should quickly heat up your palm if they are done. If not quite there, they will cool off within a few seconds in your closed fist. Continue to check every 2-3 minutes until done. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2. For nuts with skins that are flaking off a bit. Once cool, lie a kitchen towel out on the counter, pour the nuts onto it. Fold the towel over the nuts and roll around under your palms with gentle pressure to remove some of the excess skin. No need to try to get it all off.
3. In a medium sized dry sauté pan heated over medium heat, add the sesame seeds, shaking the pan occasionally until the seeds are popping and starting to turn golden. Keep a lid handy to prevent the seeds from popping out all over!
4. In the same pan, dry toast the coriander seeds and then the cumin seeds each until fragrant and starting to turn a slightly darker hue.
5. Allow all toasted seeds to cool.
6. In a food processor or mortar and pestle, pulse or grind all ingredients until finely ground. Beware, don’t grind too long or you will end up with nut and seed butter.
Yield: Approximately 1 cup, 16-1 tablespoons servings. Varies with exact Kosher salt, but each serving has approximately 100mg sodium and 65 calories per serving.
Store: in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
*Time saver: buy nuts already dry roasted (unsalted), sesame seeds toasted, and roasted ground cumin and coriander. This is much less tasty, but much faster and still delicious.
