This recipe is adapted from a recipe that Mardi from Sprout & Pea‘s mom gave to her. It can be made vegan if you replace the butter with olive oil!

Ingredients

– 1 cup Cous Cous (I used Moroccan cous cous)1 1/2 cups Vegetable Broth
– 2 Tbsp Butter (or 1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil if vegan)
– 1/3 cup Pistachios, shelled & toasted
– 1/2 cup Scallions, chopped
– 1/2 cup Dried Currants (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes)
– 1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
– 3 Tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
– 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Oil
– 2 tsp Cinnamon Salt & Pepper

Directions

Bring vegetable broth and butter (or olive oil) to a boil in a sauce pan. Add in couscous, stir and remove from heat. Let sit covered for 12-15 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add scallions, currants and pistachios and toss together. Season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil and cinnamon together. Toss cous cous with dressing to coat. Season again if needed.

It’s peak sweet potato season… and whiskey is in season all year round. 

Ingredients

– 1 large Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
– 1 Apple, peeled and cubed
– 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
– 4 Tbsp Butter
– 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
– 3 Tbsp Whiskey
– Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and boil until soft. In a pan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter. Add add apples and saute until slightly soft, but not mushy. Drain sweet potatoes and put back into pot. Add sauteed apples and cream and mash until potatoes are smooth. The apples will retain their shape. Salt to taste and keep warm as you make the sauce. In a saute pan, melt remaining butter. Add brown sugar and whiskey and whisk together over low/medium heat until it reduces a bit. Serve sweet potatoes hot topped with mascarpone and drizzled with whiskey sauce.

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in the hummus cook-off at the 6th Annual Craig Murphey Fellowship Fundraiser. Proceeds benefit the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and help fund the Craig Murphey Fellowship program. Learn more about the event, and Craig Murphey here.

Ingredients

– 1 can Garbanzo Beans, drained
– 1 Tbsp Tahini Sauce
– 1 clove Garlic
– 1/2 tsp Fresh Ginger
– Juice from 1 1/2 Lemons
– 1/2 Tbsp Tumeric
– 1/2 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
– 2 tsp Anise Seeds
– 1/2 Tbsp Cumin
– 2 tsp Cinnamon
– 1 tsp Coriander
– 1/2 tsp Cardamom Salt to taste
– 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Naan Bread for dipping

Directions

In a food processor, blend together garbanzo beans, lemon juice, tahini and olive oil until very smooth. Using a microplane, grate ginger and garlic into the hummus and continue to blend. In a small saute pan, toast anise and mustard seeds. Mix all spices in a small bowl. Add to hummus and continue to blend. Salt to taste. Add more spices, lemon juice etc. if needed.Warm naan in the oven and cut into wedges. Serve hummus in a bowl, garnished with toasted anise seeds.

Last weekend’s Gala Gala, Hey! went amazing. We had a great turn out (both new and familiar faces) and sold completely out of pie AND cider. We drank, we ate, we played Corn Hole, we bobbed for apples and we square-danced. Thanks to everyone who came out, and to Kate Lebo who made every single one of those delicious pies! I think we’re going to have to do it all again next year…

And of course, the apple costume