We are well into the short days and long nights of winter. No, don’t pull the sheets over your head and hibernate. Now is the best time to invite people over – for drinks or soup or just to watch a movie – to share these wintry evenings. Plus, with the Super Bowl coming up, you’ll need hors d’oeuvres or snacks on hand. Besides a freezer full of little triangles of spanakopita and samosas, cheeses make an easy and well-liked party platter. This week, I offer you a different spin on the traditional baked Brie or Camembert (an old standby for a winter cocktail party snack) – baked Manouri cheese with herbs.

Manouri is a soft cheese made from the drained whey left over when making feta in Greece, Macedonia and Thessaly. Primarily from sheep or goat milk, it has some cream added, which makes it softer, creamier and less salty than feta with just a mild tang. You can crumble it in salad or spread it on a cracker. But my favorite way to serve Manouri is topped with olive oil and herbs and baked, since it gets a cheesecake-like consistency when heated.

I was introduced to Manouri at Mani Marketplace, our local grocery run by two Greek brothers (I’ve written about them before). One of the owners recommended I try it and I loved it just simply spread on seeded crackers. When I went back to get more, the young man who stocks the cheese shelves told me how to bake it with oil and herbs. And the cashier suggested making it with honey and nuts, which could be delicious, too. I had never heard of Manouri cheese before, but apparently it is fairly popular. Find it in New York at Murray’s Cheese, Zabar’s and the Bedford Cheese Shop, as well as at Mani. You can even buy it online.

This is one of the simplest hors d’oeuvres I know and a little different (and less rich) from the more commonly baked Brie. I used a blend of oregano, paprika and thyme but za’atar, Herbes de Provence, chopped rosemary, dill or even a chutney could be delicious. You could bake olives and roasted peppers alongside the cheese and serve them together. Remove the Manouri from your baking sheet with a spatula and plate it on a handmade ceramic dish. Then you have not only a tasty but beautiful snack to serve your guests.

 

BAKED MANOURI CHEESE

This is almost too simple to be a recipe!

• Slice of Manouri cheese (mine was a little more than an inch tall)
• Flavorful olive oil
• Dried herbs (I used oregano and thyme)

Roll your slice of Manouri in dry herbs so the whole edge is coated.

Place the herbed slice on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil (about 1 TB).

Sprinkle the top with more herbs.

Bake at 350F degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Remove to serving plate with a flat spatula.

Serve with crackers, crudités or apple/pear slices.

Although it feels like it started at Halloween this year, we are now officially in the holiday season. That means you may be hosting more guests than usual. We tend to have more friends over for dinner and more parties during the cold weather. Not only are more people around during the cooler months but our apartment is too hot in summer to even consider hosting a soirée. I like to put out a cheese board, crudités and dips and serve a warm appetizer or two if not an entire buffet when having a party. But when friends drop by or we invite people spontaneously, nuts alongside cheese and olives are my fallback. This recipe is 15 minutes start to finish. Just melt the butter in oil, add the seasoning, toss with the nuts and bake.

Nuts are nutritional powerhouses that show up on many “what to eat daily” lists. A handful, that is, not a bowl, because although nutrient rich, nuts are also calorie dense so you can’t eat them like carrot sticks or popcorn. Sorry. Fortunately they are so tasty, a handful is quite satisfying. And if you think they are delicious all by themselves, the recipe I am going to share with you makes them absolutely scrumptious and perfect for a holiday table or with cocktails.

This recipe originated in The Pink Adobe Cookbook by Rosalea Murphy but was made popular when Laurie Colwin published it in her Gourmet Magazine column. It is quite simple – just walnuts, butter, rosemary, cayenne and salt but easily adapted to suit individual tastes. I prefer pecans or cashews (although I think walnuts are actually more nutritious) and using chipotle chili powder over cayenne for its smoky flavor. Because they are a bit “hot”, you actually won’t go through a whole bowl yourself. I tried using olive oil in place of the butter, and you can, but it just wasn’t as delicious. My solution was to use a tablespoon of each. If you like spicier nuts, you could easily add more cayenne or add black pepper. If you hate rosemary, use thyme alone or skip the herbs and use curry powder. And if you like sweet, add a spoonful of sugar, honey or maple syrup to the melted butter and spices. Try these with your own spin and tell us which you prefer. (A word of warning – don’t just turn off the oven and leave the nuts in it – they will continue to darken or, worse, burn).

A few nuts may be the perfect accompaniment to a cocktail or beer, providing a little nutritional snack to balance out the alcohol you are downing. They are a great party food since they can sit out for hours without refrigeration and the rosemary in this recipe makes the nuts taste holiday special. Unlike many spiced nut recipes, including my all-time favorite with curry and chutney, these have no added sugar. Below is the original recipe and the one I adapted and prefer. I like to serve them with a spoon or in a bottle so people don’t dip their hands in and touch the nuts others will put in their mouths. At the Old Church Pottery Sale (which is coming up this weekend-as it does every year after Thanksgiving in Demarest, NJ), the caterers put out  nuts in small individual glasses to avoid such hand dipping. However you serve them, these nuts are delicious and stay fresh in a covered container for a week or two. And if you need a homemade holiday or host gift, a bag or mason jar full of spiced nuts could be perfect.

PINK ADOBE/LAURIE COLWIN ROSEMARY WALNUTS

• 2 cups shelled raw walnuts
• 2 1/2 TBs butter
• 2 tsps crumbled dried rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Melt the butter and add the seasoning.

Mix in the nuts.

Spread on a parchment paper covered pan and bake 11-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned.

Cool and serve or store in a covered container.

MY SMOKY PECAN VERSION

• 2 cups shelled raw pecans
• 1 TB butter plus 1 TB olive or avocado oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp crumbled dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder or 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal because it is less salty than Morton’s)

Preheat toaster oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add the seasoning.

Add in the nuts and stir to coat well.

Pour onto a parchment paper lined toaster oven pan.

Bake for 11 minutes, turning once.

Cool and serve or store in a glass jar for up to 2 weeks.

Crackers might not be the kind of food you would think of making yourself but some home made varieties are actually quite easy and delicious. Especially with so many people concerned about gluten and wheat, controlling the content of what you bake has become more of an issue. Many of the commercial gluten free crackers we’ve tried are either pretty tasteless (read cardboard like), completely made of white and refined flours or full of sugar or corn syrup.

Last year, Anna Jones, a wonderful British cook and protégé of Jamie Oliver, published an easy recipe called “Amazing Seeded Crackers” in A Modern Way to Cook that was widely reprinted. I liked it when I tried it – these are delicious, full of seeds, crunchy no-wheat crackers – but I liked even more a revised version in Bon Appetit that cut in half the amount the recipe made so it is more manageable and reduced the amount of fat. It also made the fennel seeds in the original optional and suggested substitutions of chopped rosemary and black pepper or dried tart cherries and orange zest. All sound good to me although I like my version with 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds so much that I haven’t tried anything else. Other possible flavor additions could be herbs like thyme and oregano, curry or cumin, caraway seeds, nutritional yeast or cayenne. I substituted flax seeds for poppy (more nutritious and cheaper) and adjusted the amount of seeds a little.

These crackers are vegan, delicious alone or with many kinds of spreads or cheese and highly addictive! They are not an ordinary texture like a crispbread or wheat thins but everyone I have served them to has loved them. Don’t be intimidated. If you let the ingredients sit long enough to soak up all the liquid in the recipe, roll them out between sheets of parchment paper and don’t let them burn, you really can’t go wrong. It takes only a few minutes to mix up and a few more to roll out. When you finally break them up, each piece will be a different shape and you may be left with lots of little bits (those are the cook’s bonus). The crackers will keep in a covered container for a week or two, if they stick around that long!

SEED & OAT CRACKERS (adapted from Anna Jones)

• 1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned not quick or instant)
• 3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds, natural or black
• 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 Tablespoons flax seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I have used sesame, avocado and coconut with success)
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix together all dry ingredients. Mix together oil, syrup and water and stir into dry ingredients until well mixed. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

After it has rested, place 1/2 the mixture on a piece of parchment paper about the size of your baking sheet. I used half sheet pans but cookie sheets will work fine. Cover the seed mixture (I hesitate to call it a dough) with a second sheet of parchment and roll until thin, about 1/8″ thick. It doesn’t have to be a perfect rectangle but should be contained by the paper. Peel off the top piece of parchment and transfer the bottom piece with the rolled mixture to a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of seed mixture.

Bake the two pans of crackers for about 15-20 minutes until they are starting to brown around the edges. Remove the pans from the oven and carefully (and quickly) flip the parchment and rolled mixture over and peel off parchment. (I grab the edge of the paper on the long side to flip the big cracker into the pan). Return pans to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes longer until the top is turning golden brown but watch that they don’t overcook. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely in the pans. When cool, break each sheet into 8-10 pieces and store in a covered container.