“That stench… that heavenly stench!”

Yes, today I am the Goddess of Anchovies! As a part of One Hot Stove’s Blog Bites 7 : The Iron Chef Edition, I put on the crown and try using anchovies in two different dishes. Again, I’m tying together the Blog Bites entry with my ongoing love of referring to other blogs, as seen in my earlier “Blog Love” posts.

It all started when I found a blog post with a recipe for Orecchiette with Broccoli and Mushrooms on What You Having for Your Tea, a blog I subscribed to recently. We weren’t eating much pasta at the time, and this dish looked really good and fast. There was just one wee bony ingredient that I was both unsure of and intrigued by – the anchovy.

I didn’t change the recipe much – I just tossed in a few halved grape tomatoes and garlic scapes. It was incredible, and the anchovy was subtle and really interesting. It’s one of those ingredients that seems a little weird, and you figure you can make the recipe without it… which you probably could, but you’d be missing out.

I made this dish twice, and really hoped that I could use it for an upcoming Blog Bites, since the whole point is to highlight recipes from other blogs.

As it happens, this blog bites requires that we choose an ingredient and use it in two different recipes. I added to my personal challenge by requiring that I find recipes on different blogs. In fact, I’m highlighting THREE blogs today, because I took inspiration from one blog and part of the recipe from another blog.

Let me explain.

In the last few weeks, I came across this blog post on Kalyn’s Kitchen, showing a stack of green zebra tomatoes and fresh mozzarella drizzled in Green Goddess dressing. At the time, I was more drawn to the zebra tomatoes, because I love them and hadn’t seen ANY this year (still haven’t).

Jump ahead about a week, and I decide to use anchovy as my BB7 ingredient. I do a quick search of some of the blogs I frequent, and I come across another, totally unrelated blog post highlighting Green Goddess dip, on Morsels & Musings.

Taking the Green Goddess dip recipe and combining it with the inspiration to stack stuff and top it with the goodness of the Goddess, you have my second dish. I stacked grilled yellow and green zucchini, sliced tomatoes and a bit of bocconcini cheese and poured some Green Goddess sauce over the top.

So good!

The moral of the story is that anchovies aren’t only Fry’s favourite extinct pizza topping, they’re also a way to add a special zip to a sauce or a simple pasta dish. Weird, but nice!

My adaptation of the Green Goddess sauce after the jump.

Green Goddess Dip/Dressing

Adapted from the recipe posted on Morsels and Musings. Makes 1½ cups.

Tip: you can really use any herbs you like. The tarragon in this recipe, for example, was only added because I grow it on my balcony and didn’t have enough parsley to make 2 tablespoons.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh mint
• 3 or 4 anchovy fillets
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped onion
• 1 small clove garlic, chopped (roughly 1/4 tsp chopped)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup yogurt (preferably Balkan style, full-fat. Light yogurts may be too thin for this.)
• 3/4 teaspoon Nanami Togarashi (optional, because I’m obsessed with it)
  
• freshly grated pepper, to taste
• Chips and crudités, for serving

Preparation:

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the chives, tarragon, parsley, basil, mint, anchovies, onion, garlic, lemon juice and mayonnaise.
2. Blend or process until smooth, about 1 minute or about 15 pulses.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the yogurt, then the Nanami Togarashi (if using).
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
5. Serve with potato chips and crudités for dipping.