Thursday, October 11, 2012

I've Moved!

I just moved my blog to a custom domain... Come check it out and if you like it - why not follow me?

On the Road to Idhua

Friday, October 5, 2012

Feta Nut Balls: A Hynovian Recipe

I promised I'd post the recipe for the Nut and Feta balls I made for the Hynovian Launch Party - and here it is.  One of the guests who asked me for it wanted to know if it was an easy recipe and I immediately said, "Oh, sure, it's easy."  Then I got to thinking about it and realized that my idea of easy might not be someone else's.  However, this recipe is pretty easy - it has a longish list of ingredients and several steps but none of them are difficult.  The main thing you need is a blender.  It took me about an hour to make this - including 30 min of baking time, but I was slowed down by taking pictures.  I hope you all enjoy them.  Let me know how they turn out!

(See the end of the post for a PDF of the recipe without the pictures, if you want to print it out.)


Feta Nut Balls

Makes 12 balls (or more if you make them smaller for an appetizer.)  
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 c walnuts
1 c pine nuts
2 c fresh bread crumbs (grind in your blender in small batches)
1/2 c diced onion
1 c shredded raw cheddar (or jack or mild or sharp cheddar cheese would work too)
1/2 cup finely crumbled feta
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup parsley, chopped (measure before chopping)
1/4 cup mint, chopped (measure before chopping)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 c vegetable broth (I made mine with water and 1/2 a bullion cube)



Ingredients gathered together
 1. Make the bread crumbs (small batches in the blender) and place in a large bowl.  In the blender again, roughly chop 1/2 c of the walnuts.  Add to the bread crumbs and repeat with 1/2 c of the pine nuts.  (The pine nuts won't chop much, that's ok.) 


Nuts and bread crumbs
 2. Add to the nuts and bread crumbs: the spices and salt, the cheddar and feta cheeses, the green onions, parsley and mint and 1 Tablespoon of the diced onions.


Into the mixing bowl.
 3. Place the remaining nuts (1/2 each pine and walnuts), the remaining onions and the eggs in the blender and blend until smooth.


Blending the nuts, eggs and onion.
 4. Mix into the cheese and bread crumb mixture.


Combining everything in the mixing bowl.
 5. Preheat your broiler and oil a cookie sheet with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil.  Also oil an 8x8 casserole dish with the other 1 Tbsp of the olive oil.

6. Scoop 1/4 c portions of your nut-cheese mixture and form into balls.  Place them on the cookie sheet.

Forming the nut balls
 7. Broil the balls for about five minutes or until the tops start to brown.  Keep a close eye on them, they can start to burn fast.  While they are in the oven, heat the broth (or dissolve the bullion cube in boiling water).

Broil my pretties!
 8. Using two spoons, gently turn the browned nut balls over and broil again to brown the other side.  This will be even quicker - two to three minutes.

Turning them over.
 9. Place the broiled nut balls into the prepared casserole dish and gently pour the broth into the pan.


Pouring broth.
 10. Bake the nut balls for 30 minutes at 350 F.  They can be served hot or room temperature, and they are excellent the next day, reheated.  To reheat add a little liquid to the pan (more broth, or water is fine) cover and bake until hot... or use the microwave for a quick fix!  At the party, I served them with Greek Yogurt as a topper.  You can spice it up with some garlic like I did in the picture below.

Time to eat!
PDF file in Google Docs of the Recipe :)