[2] We regularly mix other ingredients into hummus (here, butternut squash. So why not tzatziki (photo Good Eggs)?

[3] Tzatziki: yogurt, chopped cucumbers and seasonings (photo courtesy Cava Grill).

[4] One of our favorite starters: a mezze plate (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

Leave it to our creative colleague, Hannah Kaminsky, to come up with this one: combining two great Mediterranean spreads, hummus and tzatziki (tsat-ZEE-kee).

Both of us love Mediterranean spreads, and we’ve included our dozen favorites below.

But who would have thought to mix two of them together: hummus and tzatziki, chickpea paste and yogurt dip? She named the blend hummiki.

“It exceeded even my own expectations from the very first batch. Lighter and fresher than the typical dip, crisp cucumbers added textural contrast so often missing from hummus.

“Zesty lemon and dill brightened the flavor profile considerably, imparting an unmistakably summery flavor, even if made in the heart of winter.”

The recipe follows, and today’s tip is: Don’t hesitate to mix and match. Our foray includes blending sour cream or yogurt into sauces to make creamy sauces or dips; but we’re going to put on our thinking cap to do more.
 
 
RECIPE: HUMMUS + TZATZIKI = HUMMIKI

Note that Hannah did not include tahini, the oily ground sesame paste that is the second ingredient in hummus. So, if you want a hack of mixing store-bought hummus and tzatziki, it will be different from this recipe.

Ingredients For 3-1/2 To 4 Cups

 
Preparation

1. TOSS all of the ingredients except for the cucumber, into a food processor or blender. Purée thoroughly, until silky-smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, and give the machine ample time to blend. For the best consistency, it may take as long as 5 – 10 minutes. When thoroughly blended, add salt and pepper to taste.

2. STIR in the chopped cucumber by hand, and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week…if you can resist finishing it long before then.
 
 
 
MEDITERRANEAN SPREADS

Depending on country—Greece versus any of the countries in what was formerly called the Levant*—there may be different names for the same or similar dishes. For example, Greek tzatziki is Turkish cacik.

Here are a dozen favorites. Note that spellings may differ because the names are transliterated into the Latin alphabet from the Arabic or Greek alphabets.

Baba ghanoush: Smoky roasted eggplant and tahini combine in a dip that can be smooth or chunky. Baba ghannouj is another spelling. Here’s a recipe.

Cacik: The Turkish name for tzatiki, a yogurt and cucumber dip. It is pronounced kah-SEEK.

Ezme: Similar to Israeli salad, ezme is a Turkish salad of finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, mild peppers, parsley and olive oil.

Hummus: A paste of chickpeas, olive oil, garlic and spices. There surge in popularity has resulted in dozens of blend-ins, from the traditional Mediterranean flavors (olive, red pepper) to the trendy (chipotle, edamame hummus, everything bagel topping). Here’s a recipe to make your own.

Labneh: Labneh is thick, strained yogurt with a consistency similar to spreadable cheese like cream cheese. It is spread onto pita. Here’d more about it, and a recipe.

Htipiti: Htipiti (tee-PEE-tee) is a spicy spread of roasted red pepper and feta, mixed with olive oil, thyme, shallots and garlic. It can be smooth or chunky, and is closely related to kopanisti and tirokafteri (see below).

Melitzanosalata: This traditional Greek Eggplant dip is difference from baba ghanoush in that the latter is Levantine* and uses tahini. Melitzanosalata is Greek and doesn’t have tahini. Common ingredients are eggplant, olive oil, garlic, lemon, salt, pepper. Some melitzanosalata recipes add onion. Chopped parsley is a traditional garnish.

Muhammara: A Syrian dish of roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses.

Skordalia: A Greek potato and garlic dip.

Tabbouleh: A salad of bulgur, chopped parsley, mint, onion and tomatoes, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Taramosalata: A spread made from tarama, cured carp (or other fish) roe, whipped with lemon juice and olive oil.

Tirokafteri: Feta cheese dip, similar to htipiti. It includes feta, olive oil, red wine vinegar, chopped chilies or red pepper flakes, oregano, and often roasted red peppers (not hot) and yogurt. Kopanisti, another spicy feta dip, includes olive oil, lemon juice, mint, pepperoncini, garlic and red pepper flakes.

Tzatziki: A yogurt and cucumber dip. It is very similar to Indian raita, and like the latter, it is also served with grilled meats. Here are recipes for both.

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*The Levant was a large area in southwest Asia: south of the Taurus Mountains, with the Mediterranean Sea as the western boundary, and the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia in the east. “Levant” is an English term that first appeared in 1497. It originally referred to the “Mediterranean lands east of Italy.” The historical area comprises modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Among other popular foods, Levantine cuisine gave birth to baklava, balafel, kebabs, mezze (including tabbouleh, hummus and baba ghanoush), pita and za’atar, among other dishes that are enjoyed in the U.S. and around the world.

Looking for some summer fun? At the end off a party, instead of opening up new bottles, make a blend of the ends (not dregs*) of existing ones.

This idea for party fun (or just-the-two-of-us-at-home fun) was inspired by a memory of college drinking…of a students-and-winos-only sparkling concoction called Cold Duck.

What the duck is that? Let’s start with the legend.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF COLD DUCK

According to one version of the legend, Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony (1739 – 1812) mixed Red Burgundy with Champagne, creating a brew he called “kalt ende,” cold end.

There are two versions, at least, of this story. Version #1: At the end of a night of banqueting, it seemed like a good idea to not waste the last few ounces of Champagne that remained in opened bottles.

Whether from inebriation or economy, he had the Champagne mixed with what was left in bottles of Red Burgundy, and served it to his guests. He called the blend Kalt Ente, Cold End.

End of the night? End[s] of the leftovers in the bottles?

It doesn’t matter, except that at some point, someone began to bottle combinations of sparkling and still wines. There were white wine versions as well as reds; for example, equal parts Mosel, Rhine wine and Champagne.

Version #2 is slightly different: A count (or baron, or perhaps even a prince) returned home for lunch with his hunting party. His butler gave him the bad news that that they had only half as much Champagne needed to serve all of the guests, and half as much Burgundy.

The count solved the problem by mixing them together into a “kalte ende,” a mixture of what was left in the cellar.

This engendered a German custom to combine the ends of the Champagne with the still wines as the soirée was winding down.

Now, fast forward a few centuries.
 
Cold Duck Comes To The U.S.

In 1937, Harold Borgman, a German immigrant, restaurateur and owner of Pontchartrain Wine Cellars in Detroit, brought the idea to the U.S. He mixed dry red California burgundy and New York sparkling wine.

He properly called it Kalte Ende, Cold End; but someone replaced the “d” with a “t,” creating Cold Duck—which, we might suggest, had more novel marketing appeal.

In the 1960s, as more Americans embraced wine*, the blend found its way in inexpensive bottlings from brands like André, Paul Masson and Taylor (photo #2). America’s less sophisticated wine drinkers bought Cold Duck for dinner parties, holiday dinners and general festivities.

Most of the grapes used to make Cold Duck were those that would not have held up to a single bottling or blend (i.e., inferior grapes that would have made inferior wines wines).

Thus, the wines were chapitalized, which means that sugar was added (this is often done to some good wines in underripe years).

In the U.S., Cold Duck spawned Baby Duck, a sweet blend of red and white Chanté wines from Chateauneuf du Pape, a region in the Rhone Valley of France.

Baby Duck was the best-selling domestic wine during the 1970s, and “hatched” several imitators: Canada Duck, Cold Turkey, Daddy Duck, Fuddle Duck, Kool Duck and Love-A-Duck. [source].

While the fad passed—especially following national explosion of good California wines in the late 1970s—you can still find André Cold Duck (a brand owned by E & J Gallo Winery). Other brands are sold in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Serious wine drinkers will duck and run. If you want a sweet, sparkling red, get a good Lambrusco from Italy, rather than a bottle of Cold Duck.
 
 
MAKE YOUR OWN COLD DUCK

As a former wine writer, we still attend the monthly dinners of our wine writers’ group. Everyone brings his/her best bottles to pair with the menu.

The finest Bordeaux, Burgundies, and wines from the Rhone and the Loire line the table (we’re a bit Franco-centric, although some dinners are purely American, Australian, Italian, South African, etc.).

At the end of the evening, with three inches or so left in each bottle, I often quipped, “If we combined all of these, we’d have one heck of a blend.”

[1] Forget about the bottled brands of Cold Duck below: Blend your own! (photo courtesy Signature Cellars).

[2] Cold Duck was the party bottle of the 1960s and 1970s (photo courtesy Taylor Wines archives).

[3] Still available today: André Cold Duck (photo courtesy E & J Gallo Winery).

[43] From South Africa, 5th Avenue Cold Duck, available today. André  Cold Duck (photo courtesy Wine Searcher).

The next month, I took home the white wines, and did the same. The results: fun, and imminently drinkable.

Plus, telling friends and neighbors that they were drinking a blend of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and Chateau Climens Sauternes was excitement in of itself—not to mention, probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

You don’t need to have the world’s best wines to do this. We’ve combined the ends of two $15 bottles, a rosé and a Prosecco, and enjoyed them just as much.

So don’t dump the “cold ends”: Stick them in the fridge, and when you have enough, blend and drink up!

And if this idea appeals to you not, pour the wine into ice cube trays. You can use them for cooking (toss into soups and stews); but we put them into club soda, lemonade, sangria, whatever.

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*Following the end of Prohibition in 1933, it was easy to get back into production for beer and spirits: They simply required grain and imported hops. It took seven years or longer to replant and grow wine grape vines to the level where they could make good wine.

†Not every bottle, barrel or pot of liquid has “dregs” as the remnants at the bottom. The term refers to something less desirable due to residue: wine with sediment, coffee with grounds or scorched coffee, beer with yeast cells. Unless your bottle is very old, the wines of today are made so that no dregs remain.

Wild Ophelia’s Sea Salt Caramel Latte Cold Brew Bites. Have some with a caramel latte (photo courtesy Cold Brew Chick).

[3] Great for gifting (photo courtesy Cold Brew Chick).

[4] Take a bite, and the liquid center oozes out (photo courtesy Edel Alon).

Wild Ophelia is a Fair Trade, non-GMO chocolate line that is a sister brand to Vosges Haut-Chocolat, the innovative and adventurous chocolatier that was first to combines global flavors with fine chocolate.

The Wild Ophelia brand was created by Vosges founder Katrina Markoff, as part of her mission to assist American high school and college girls to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams in food.

You can read about the program here, but our focus today is the chocolate, a portion of sales of which are contributed to the Wild Ophelia Accelerator Program.

There are three types of chocolate: coffee bites, bars, and peanut butter cups. For today we tasted the Cold Brew [coffee] Bites, and they have us salivating for the rest.

The Cold Brew Bites use High Brew Coffee’s Fair Trade coffee, pairing brews with chocolate flavors.

The four flavors of Cold Brew Bites include:

 
The bites are one-inch squares (photo #1), four to a package. Put one in your mouth and let the hard chocolate dissolve; or bite down and release the liquid center of coffee and chocolate (photo #4).

All are excellent, and just one square turns a coffee break or after-dinner coffee into a real treat. Ditto for iced coffee.

Get yours at WildOphelia.com.
 
The socially-conscious line is made with 100% renewable energy and packaged on 100% recycled board.
 
 
MORE WILD OPHELIA CHOCOLATE

We haven’t yet tasted them, but you may also want to include some of these in your order:
 
Wild Ophelia Chocolate Bars

 
Wild Ophelia Peanut Butter Cups

We’ve also added them to our Party Favors and Stocking Stuffers lists.

You may be putting chicken on the grill this weekend.

For advice, we spoke with Claudia Sidoti, Head Chef and Head Recipe Developer at HelloFresh, a popular meal ingredients delivery service that makes it easier to cook delicious, nutritious meals (a gift for Father’s Day?).

Claudia reminds us that dark meat chicken is “so much better on the grill than white meat. It stays moist and the skin gets nice and crispy.”

To save money but still keep guests happy, she recommends BBQ chicken wings and drumsticks.

“They key to perfecting dark meat,” she says, “is a good marinade and setting up the grill for direct and indirect heat, so you can get the meat cooked through without burning the skin.”

For cooking indoors, here are Claudia’s chicken-cooking tips.
 
 
HOW TO COOK A WHOLE CHICKEN

 
 
HOW TO COOK A CHICKEN BREASTS

[1] Dark meat chicken is better for grilling. You’ll have much moister chicken (photo courtesy Sun Basket).

[2] Ready, set, roast. All photos courtesy Good Eggs.

[3] While your eye may be drawn to the largest cuts, smaller breasts cook more evenly.

[4] Patting the chicken dry with paper towels limits the spatter.

HOW TO COOK BONE-IN CHICKEN PART & BONELESS CHICKEN THIGHS

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*Fun With English: “Splatter” refers to action that happens to a liquid, so that drops fly out and strike another surface. “Spatter” refers to the drops that have landed on the surface.
  

Angsley salt from the sea around Wales (photo by River Soma | THE NIBBLE).

[3] Maldon River salt from England. It forms unique pyramid-shape crystals (photo courtesy Stephen Upson).

[4] Kosher salt, from underground mines (photo courtesy WiseGeek).

In the world of culinary salts, flake/flaky salts are coarse-grained salts with large, visible grains (the flakes).

It’s a favorite for what chefs, who use it as a finishing salt (after the food is cooked or otherwise prepared), for what they call a pop of flavor and crunch.
 
 
SEA SALT VS. MINED SALT

Salt is harvested from either sea water or rock-salt deposits in salt mines, which aeons ago were underground seas.

Sea Salt

Sea salts are produced over the world, and flake salts—flat flakes—are a subset. While fewer areas produce them, they are evaporated from Angsley (Wales—photo #2) and Maldon (England—photo #3) to Cyprus (photo #1), France, Australia and New Zealand.

 
Mined Salt/Land Salt

 
Whether a sea salt or a land salt, the crunchy flakes dissolves quickly atop foods, resulting in a “pop” of flavor.
 
 
HOW TO USE FLAKY SALT

Kosher salt (photo #4) is a coarse-grained salt made from the same mined salt as table salt. It’s evaporated in a way to make the grains larger. As with sea salt, the evaporation process determines the salt’s final shape. But with mind salt, the company, not Mother Nature, controls the evaporation process.

The large grain size makes kosher salt popular for sprinkling on top of meat, to deliver that pop and crunch.

Another benefit: Kosher salt dissolves quickly, making it a popular all-purpose cooking salt—and it’s far less expensive than sea salt.

Most brands are flat grains, but some brands evaporate their kosher salt into the elegant pyramidal in structure, emulating the famed Maldon salt.
 
Substituting Kosher Salt

You can’t simply substitute one type of salt for another: Measurements will be different between kosher salt, table salt and sea salt.

That’s because the different size of the grains make different salts more or less “salty.”

Here is a conversion chart from Morton.
 
Kosher Salt Trivia

Any salt can be kosher if it’s produced under kosher supervision. But that’s not how kosher salt got its name.

Coarse salt’s original purpose was to kosher meat, which means to remove the blood from the butchered meat, a requirement of kosher law.

Wordsmiths may wonder why its name is not koshering salt. Very astute!

Way back, some American company labeled the boxes “kosher salt” instead of koshering salt. The shorter name stuck.
 
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SALT

Our Salt Glossary has a complete education in the many types of salt.