Great Plates: Dips and Starters

Whether it’s New Year’s Day, game day, or just a get together, these dips and starters are just what you need. Photography by Dave Bryce.

Our wonderful recipe creator, chef, and food stylist Veda Sankaran channeled our “buy fresh, buy local” passion into a New Year’s Day feast of flavor. Her dips and starters are good for any day any day!

Pop a bacon-studded casserole dish of Devils on Horseback Dip into the oven. Slice a loaf of fresh bread from Crustworthy. You know just what to do when the dip is ready! Bacon from Footprints Farm makes the flavors sing.

Devils on Horseback Dip

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp dark brown sugar

5 pieces bacon

6 large pitted Medjool dates

½ cup boiling water

1 tbsp sherry or port

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 ¼ cup grated Comté cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a flat-bottom pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter and add 1 tbsp of oil. Once it is warm, add the sliced onions with ¼ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of brown sugar. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until onions become translucent. Stir every 5 minutes.

Then, lower the heat to medium-low and let onions caramelize slowly, making sure to not stir too often. This process may take up to 20 minutes. Once caramelized, set aside the onions.

Cook the bacon by placing the 5 pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet and coo in a 400-degree oven for 18 minutes. Take it out and let cool. Once cool enough, crumble and set aside.

Place dates in a bowl and pour ½ cup boiling water and let sit for 3 minutes. Drain the water and finely dice the softened dates.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the caramelized onions, crumbled bacon, diced dates, and 1 tbsp of the sherry/port. Then add ½ cup of mayonnaise, ½ cup sour cream, the grated Comté cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine everything and scoop mixture into an oven-safe baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes and serve while still hot.

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The fresh, bitter notes of Who Cooks For You Farm endive contrast beautifully with creamy burrata and Veda’s surprisingly delicious pickled grapes.

Endives with Pickled Grapes & Burrata

1 lb red seedless grapes, washed, stems removed, and cut in half

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

½ cup white sugar

1 star anise

3 bay leaves

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp black peppercorn

1 tsp coriander seeds

4 cardamom pods, crushed open

1 ½” ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

Endives

Burrata, hand-torn

Korean pickled daikon radish, finely diced

Pistachios, crushed

Wash and remove the stems of the grapes. Then cut the grapes in half. Place the prepared grapes in a nonreactive container, like a mason jar.

Place all the other pickling ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once it begins boiling, lower the heat and let simmer for 1 minute.

Cool the pickling mixture completely, then pour it over the grapes, making sure to nestle the spices evenly. Seal tightly and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 days for best results. Every day shake the container to redistribute the grapes in the pickling liquid to evenly redistribute the spices.

To assemble the appetizer: Take an endive leaf, tear and place a few small pieces of burrata inside. Then add a few of the pickled grape halves, followed by some of the diced pickled radish. Top with crushed pistachios.

White bean hummus rounds out a table of grazable starters with a simple, wholesome, easy-to- make schmear for good bread from Crustworthy or another of our great local bakeries.

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White Bean and Cashew Hummus

1 15.5 oz Great Northern beans

1 cup raw cashew pieces

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

½ lemon, zest and juice

½ tsp ground white pepper

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp cumin powder

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt (or to taste)

First, drain the beans, reserving the liquid to use later. Then, place the cashew pieces in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let soak for at least 10 minutes.

Once the cashews have soaked, place them in a food processor, reserving the water to use later. Blend until the cashews begin to form a thick paste.

Then pour in ¼ cup of the reserved cashew water and ¼ cup of the reserved bean water and blend to a smooth paste.

Next, add the crushed garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, drained beans, white pepper, coriander, cumin, salt, and olive oil.

Blend until everything is combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Zhoug

1 tsp cardamom pods

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 serrano chilies, finely chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, crushed

½ small blood orange or navel orange, zest and juice

½ lemon, juice

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp brown sugar

½ tsp sumac

1 ½ cups cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 cup parsley. coarsely chopped

⅓ cup olive oil

First, lightly toast the cardamom, cumin, and coriander in a small skillet. Let cool completely and then grind in a spice grinder or crush with a mortar and pestle until powdered. Set this aside.

In a blender or food processor, pulse the serrano chilies, garlic, and the spice mixture a few times. Then add the zest and juice of the orange and the juice of the lemon, along with the salt, brown sugar, and sumac.

Next, add the cilantro and parsley and pulse a few times to combine everything. Make sure to not blend it too much as you want some texturer to the zhoug.

Finally add the olive oil and pulse twice. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.

To serve, place the hummus in a bowl, top with the zhoug and drizzle olive oil to taste. Add toasted cashews, pomegranate seeds, almonds, etc to garnish.

Round out your New Year’s Day feast with these innovative dishes from Veda Sankaran:

Soba Noodles in Vindaloo Sauce

Meatballs in Cranberry Gochujang Sauce

Ghee and Honey Roasted Carrots

Oven-Braised Pork and Sauerkraut

Recipes by Veda Sankaran / Photography by Dave Bryce / Styling by Keith Recker / Ceramics by FD Ceramics / With Support from Buy Fresh, Buy Local of Western Pennsylvania and PA Preferred