While we know dukkah makes a great seasoning for roasted vegetables, meats & salads, we wanted to roundup some recipes using this versatile spice blend. So, pin those recipes and get inspired to use this latest addition to your spice cabinet!
Recipe: Dukkah & Goat Cheese Platter
What's better than a bottle of wine and noshing on cheese and accompaniments with friends? This cheese platter has a little something extra... Gary & Kit's dukkah covered goat cheese balls. We paired these with complimentary flavors for a unique take on the everyday cheese platter. The next time you're charged with bringing the cheese board to a gathering, think of dukkah covered cheese for a more exotic (yet simple to prepare) option. As another serving suggestion, you could use the dukkah covered goat cheese on a salad of mixed greens with vinaigrette and dried cranberries.
Dukkah & Goat Cheese Platter
- 8 oz. Goat Cheese
- Gary & Kit's Classic Hazelnut Dukkah and/or Toasted Sesame & Pistachio Dukkah
- Smoked Paprika Almonds with Sea Salt
- Greek Olives
- Water Crackers
- Fresh Red Grapes
- Fresh Green Apple slices
- Divide the goat cheese into 6 equal sized portions. Roll each portion into a ball with your hands. (I found that having wet hands helps forms the balls and helps the dukkah stick better.)
- Sprinkle the dukkah on a plate and roll each ball in dukkah until coated.
- Arrange the cheese, crackers, nuts, olives, and fruit on your platter and serve!
From the Maker's Mouth: Gary & Kit's Napa Valley
Speaking of dukkah, we caught up with one of our favorite producers - Gary & Kit's of Napa Valley - to find out more about how they develop their products and what's next for the brand! As you'll see they have their hands in every aspect of specialty food from condiments to snacks, and olive oils to wine!
Who are Gary & Kit? Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford are the co-owners and Chief Visionary Officers of Clif Bar & Company, the leading maker of nutritious and organic energy bars. They are also the co-owners and co-founders of Clif Family Winery & Farm located in their Napa Valley hometown. The Gary & Kit’s Napa Valley line of specialty food products was inspired by their love of great food and wine. Many of our specialty foods are made to pair with specific wine varietals. Gary and Kit also manage the Clif Family Farm where they grow organic fruit, vegetables, olives and wine grapes. Some of the fruit and vegetables from the farm are used to make our fruit preserves and tomato sauce. We also bottle an extra virgin olive oil from the farm each year.
How do you come up with your product line? Is everything you use in your products grown on the Cliff Farm? Gary and Kit work with our Executive Chef, John McConnell to develop the products in our food line. Although we would love to, we are not able to source all of our ingredients from the farm. Our savory nut mixes, dark chocolates, wine mustards and dukkah spice blends do not come from the farm. Our fruit preserves, pepper jellies, tomato sauce, chutneys and extra virgin olive oil are all sourced from the farm.
You just added a few new products to your product line, what was the biggest challenge in bring your products to market? We do not work with any distributors or brokers to distribute our food products. Everything is sold direct to customers or retailers. Given this approach, we are very limited in our distribution and we have a direct relationship with each of our retailers and customers. Whenever we add new products, it takes time for us to build awareness and grow them in the market.
What is it about what you do that you love the most? From my perspective as General Manager, I love the diversity of what we do. We are able to bring together our passions for wine, food and adventure in every aspect of our business.
What is your most memorable meal? There are so many memorable meals when you work in the food and wine business. We are about to launch a food truck (the Clif Family Bruschetteria) and last week we hosted a pop-up restaurant night to test our bruschetta menu out with friends and family. Chef John McConnell prepared some amazing bruschetta sourcing ingredients from the farm and local purveyors. This was definitely the most memorable meal in recent memory.
What is your favorite food or food trend? As we are about to launch a food truck, we love the popularity that food trucks still have and the ability with a food truck to create a very focused, simple menu.
What are some of the fun/unique ways of using your product? One of our favorite products to use in the kitchen are our dukkah spice blends. They make the perfect easy appetizer (all you need is fresh bread and some tasty extra virgin olive oil) but there are so many other great uses for them from seasoning meats and vegetables to adding them to salad dressings.
What’s next for Gary and Kit’s? The Clif Family Bruschetteria food truck which will be rolling up to our Velo Vino tasting room in early August is the most exciting project on the horizon. We also have some new products under the Gary & Kit’s Napa Valley line that we will have ready for the holidays and some changes to our packaging coming just around the corner!
Spice Market : What exactly is Dukkah?
Whether you've heard of it or not dukkah is getting bigger by the day, with our favorite blogs and magazines adapting recipes using this middle eastern spice blend. We've gathered some information to introduce you to the origins and uses of dukkah. Stay tuned for original recipes this week on our blog and more from the producers of Gary & Kit's brand Dukkah Spice Blends.
- The name is a colloquial Egyptian word derived from the word “dakka,” which means “to crush,” which is what you do to many of the ingredients that go into the mix. More from NY Times Blog >
- Dukkah, an Egyptian spice blend of toasted nuts and seeds, has become a international favorite over the past few years, thanks to its popularity first in Australian restaurants and then among home cooks and food blogs. The warm, aromatic mixture is addictive when served as a dip with bread and olive oil. More from The Kitchn >
- At Gallway restaurant, Ardbia, the traditionally savoury spice blend has been flipped on its head, with a sweet variety used to garnish chocolate pots... More from The Telegraph UK >
Recipe: Soberdough Cinnful Raisin French Toast
What goes better with Father's Day than food and beer? Soberdough is a super simple way to combine both! Just mix one package of Soberdough with one 12 oz beer and you're well on your way to a freshly baked load of artisanal bread. We took it a step further and made our loaf into french toast. It's a hearty breakfast suitable for Father's Day or anyday.
Soberdough Cinnful Raisin French Toast
- 1 package Soberdough Cinnful Raisin Bread Mix
- 12 oz beer
- cinnamon and sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk
- powdered sugar & syrup for serving
- Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan.
- Combine the beer and soberdough mix according to package instructions.
- Spread half the mix into your loaf pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Add remainder of dough mix and spread evenly.
- Bake for 1 hr (if you have a hotter oven, 50 minutes should do it)
- After the bread has cooled completely, slice 3/4" thick slices
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Combine eggs and milk in a pie plate. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture coating on both sides.
- Add bread slices to the pan and toast on each side, approx 3-5 minutes per side.
- Serve warm with powered sugar and syrup.
