Avocado and garlic pâté

This always seems to go down well because most people love both avocados and garlic. I use dried, minced garlic here, rather than chopping or crushing fresh cloves. It permeates the pâté better and even garlic addicts don’t always enjoy crunching on a piece of raw garlic.

 

Serves 4 for a starter

 

1 ripe avocado

at least 1/2 tsp dried minced garlic 

thick yoghurt 

salt and pepper

 

Method:

• Cut the avocado in half and scoop out the flesh.
• Add the garlic and mix well, mashing the avocado.
• Now add the yoghurt: it’s hard to say how much, because it all depends on the size of your avocado – and its stone! However, you want to add sufficient to make a good, thick paste.
• Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Taste and add more garlic if you think it can take it. 
• Serve with bread or crackers.

Variations:

• Add some chilli flakes or hot sauce for a bit of zing
• Use mayonnaise instead of yoghurt
• Cheat and buy some ready-made aïoli to mix with the avocado!

Guacamole

It seems that nearly everyone likes avocados and this is always a popular way of serving them. Generally, you see guacamole presented as a smooth, green paste, but I prefer to mash the avocado and dice the other ingredients. I rather like its appearance when it’s made this way.

Serves 4 for a starter

 

1 ripe avocado pear

1 small onion

1 tomato

1 tbsp lime juice

1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot sauce

salt and pepper

 

Method:

• Cut the avocado in two and remove the stone. This can be messy with a very ripe pear and if it won’t drop out, I find the best way is to cut across the stone with a sharp knife and twist it out.
• Using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Dice and then mash with a fork.
• Finely dice the onion and add it to the bowl.
• Dice the tomato – you can peel it if you want to, but if you cut it up small enough, you won’t notice the skin.
• Add the lime juice and mix thoroughly. Now start adding the hot sauce until you get it as spicy as you want.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve as a dip or with crackers.

Variations:

• Lemon juice can be substituted for lime.
• Instead of using hot sauce, de-seed and chop up a fresh chilli pepper, or use some dried chilli flakes.
• It still tastes good even if you don’t have tomatoes.

Butter bean spread

This is a very useful recipe if you have a few cans of ready-cooked beans on board, and is capable of a large number of variations. Many people refer to these spreads as ‛hummus’, but hummus means chickpea, so to do so is quite incorrect! If you don’t have any canned beans, you will need to cook 1/2 cup of dried beans to make the equivalent amount. 

 Serves 4 for a starter 

400 g (14 oz) can butter beans OR 1/2 cup dried, cooked

1/2 tsp dried, minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

 

Method:

• Drain the beans and put them into a bowl.
• Mash them with a fork, then mix in the garlic, the olive oil and the lemon juice, stirring and mashing until a smooth paste is formed.
• Add pepper. Taste and decide whether salt is needed.
• Serve in a sandwich, or on rolls, toast or crackers.

Variations:

• Substitute soft butter or mayonnaise for the olive oil.
• Use coconut butter. 
• Instead of lemon juice, use lime juice or balsamic vinegar. 
• Add some hot sauce to the mix.
• Try adding some Worcestershire sauce. 
• Add diced onion or pepper. 
• Try different types of canned beans. 
• Mix in some of Annie's Mixed Herbs when you put in the garlic. 
• Add a tsp of curry paste to the mix.
• If you happen to have some on board, add some fresh, chopped herbs to the spread.
• Use half a dozen chopped black olives instead of, or in addition to the garlic.
• Add a tsp chopped capers.
• Add some diced pickled peppers.

Butter/Cannelini bean and sun-dried tomato spread

Warning: blender alert!

 

Sun-dried tomatoes, especially those sold in oil, have a rich flavour that is far beyond that of mere tomatoes. This is a great spread or pâté, depending on how posh you feel! It also makes an excellent sandwich filling or goes well with thick slices of fresh, crusty bread for lunch. Use cannellinni beans of butter beans are unobtainable.

I recommend a stick blender for this - the pâté ends up quite thick and it is difficult to move it around in a blender. I also prefer it to have a bit of texture.  You could finely cut up the sun-dried tomatoes and mash the other ingredients, perhpas pounding the beans with a mortar; I’m sure the spread would still be quite wonderful.

Serves 4 as a starter

6 halves of sun-dried tomatoes in oil

2 tbsp oil from the jar

juice of 1 lemon OR a few small pieces of salted lemon

400 g tin butter beans, or 1/2 cup dried beans, cooked

3-4 tbsp reserved water

5-6 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried

salt and pepper

Method:

• Tip the sun-dried tomatoes, oil, lemon juice and 3 tbsp water into a bowl.  Use the blender to chop up the tomatoes  
• Drain the beans, reserving the liquid, and add to the blender with thyme leaves (or dried thyme).
• Blend to a pâté-type consistency, as smooth as you want. Then taste and add salt and black pepper as required. Be careful with the salt: sun-dried tomatoes, canned beans and the salted lemon (if you're using it) might already have added enough salt.  
  If the spread is a little too thick, stiff, add some of the reserved bean liquid, or maybe a drop of wine. Blend again until you get the right consistency.

Serve with toast or crackers, in sandwiches, or with fresh bread.

Variations:

• Instead of lemon juice, use lime juice or balsamic vinegar. 
• Add some hot sauce or chilli flakes to the mix.
• Add diced onion or pepper. 
• Add 1/4 tsp dried, minced garlic
• Mix in some of Annie's Mixed Herbs as well as, or instead of the thyme.
• Use half a dozen chopped black olives.
• Add a tsp chopped capers.
• Add some diced pepperdews
• Use 1 tsp za'atar in place of the thyme.
  

 

Cheese pâté

This is another recipe capable of many variations. If you make it a little thinner, it becomes a lovely dip, excellent with raw vegetables. It can be made with any cheese that has a full flavour, but would be very bland made with something like mozzarella. You do need a fine grater for the cheese to blend properly.

 

Serves 4 as a starter 

 

1 cup finely grated cheese

2 tbsp yoghurt

salt and pepper

 

Method:

• Grate the cheese into a bowl. Mix in the yoghurt and season with black pepper.
• Taste the pâté and add salt if you think it needs it.

Variations:

• Use soft butter or mayonnaise instead of the yoghurt.
• Add 2 tbsp Dijon mustard to the pâté.
• Add 1/4 cup wine to make a dip; reduce the amount of yoghurt if you want it to stay as a pâté.
• Add hot sauce.
• Mix in half a red pepper, diced.
• Add some of Annie's Mixed Herbs to the mixture. 

Hummus (chickpea)

 

 

This is another very popular middle-eastern recipe that nowadays appears in almost every supermarket. I prefer to make it myself, because I don’t like hummus to be too smooth or light. Ideally, you make it with a very full-flavoured olive oil. 

 

Serves 4 as a starter

 

Ingredients 

 

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked OR 400 g (14 oz) can chickpeas

1/2 tsp dried, minced garlic - use more if you like a strong garlic flavour

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

extra olive oil

paprika

Method:

• Cook the chickpeas for five minutes longer than usual and drain, reserving the liquid. The idea of this is to ensure that the chickpeas are really soft.  Indeed, this is one of the advantages of home-cooked chickpeas: canned ones are occasionally a bit too firm. If using a can, drain it and reserve the liquid.
• Put the chickpeas into a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.  Use a stick blender if the canned ones are a bit firm.  You can put them in a blender, but they are a complete pain to clean out!
• Incorporate the garlic, olive oil, tahini and lemon juice. The flavour from garlic granules permeates the mixture more quickly than fresh garlic.  Diced garlic works, but not everyone appreciates pieces of raw garlic.  Combine thoroughly. You should have a thick paste. If it’s too thick, mix in some of the reserved cooking liquid/water. If you prefer a more commercial-style hummus, mix further with a wire whisk, adding extra liquid to produce a lighter, smoother purée.  Tahini varies tremendously in texture: some is like thick peanut butter, some is like runny honey in texture.  This recipe assumes a thin peanut butter-like consistency.
• Season – carefully with salt if you’ve used canned chick peas, which may already be salted, and generously with black pepper.
• To present the hummus attractively, scrape it into a crockery bowl, smooth it down and then make little ridges with a fork. Dribble olive oil over the top and then sprinkle with paprika.  Or chop some fresh parsley and sprinkle it over the top.

Variations:

• Add 1/2 tsp ground cumin when you mix in the garlic.
• Add 1/4 tsp cayenne or dried chilli flakes, when you add the garlic.