Kimchi garlic bread
(Pictured above)
Aversions to the smell of garlic confuse me. Wear the odour proudly. It’s the perfumed result of a well-made snack.
As you would’ve guessed, there’s a lot of garlic here. If you’ve got a garlic press, this is the time to use it, or you could just use garlic paste.
To remove the garlic smell from your hands, rub them with a cut lemon – unless you want to be nicknamed “Garlic Girl” (as I have been).
Serves 6-8 as a snack
Drink pairing Soju
150g butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
2 spring onions, sliced
8 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 loaf of sourdough bread
300g vintage cheddar, grated
100g kimchi, sliced
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan. Line a baking tray with foil.
In a bowl, combine the butter, gochujang, spring onion, garlic and sesame seeds in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper.
Make deep slices in the bread loaf as if you’re cutting it into thick slices, but without cutting through the base. Place on the tray. Smear the butter between all the slices, then stuff with cheddar and kimchi. Wrap the loaf in foil.
Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another five minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden. Tear right into it with your hands. Garlic!
Fried tomatoes on ricotta
As a callow juvenile, I used to munch on Cheds in the safe shelter of my parents’ pantry. The same place where I’d dunk my dirty eight-year-old fingers in Vegemite and honey (not simultaneously). But I’m grown up now, and I buy Cheds with my own money.
FYI, Cheds are an Arnott’s cracker. No extra points for guessing: they’re Cheddar and pecorino flavoured. I’m bound by nostalgia, but use your favourite cheese cracker if you want.
Serves 4-6 as a snack
Drink pairing Orange wine
60ml extra-virgin olive oil (¼ cup)
500g heirloom cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, sliced
½ bunch of marjoram, leaves torn or chopped
400g ricotta
1 lemon, zested and cut into wedges
Cheds biscuits
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Fry the tomatoes until they start to turn golden and soft, about four minutes. Add the garlic and half the marjoram, toss to combine and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Give everything a good season with salt and pepper (emphasis on pepper).
Meanwhile, dollop the ricotta on to a serving plate. Add the lemon zest, season, and stir to combine well. Spread the ricotta over the plate. Top with the fried tomatoes, and arrangelemon wedges around the plate.
Serve with Cheds on the side. To eat, use the Cheds to scoop the ricotta, and spritz with extra lemon, if you feel.
Burrata bitters
Quartering a radicchio and snapping away the leaves makes perfect bite-size vessels. They’re just the right size to hold creamy burrata curd, sweet raspberries, crunchy fennel and a tangy dressing. Forget neat piling – let the toppings fall as they want.
Serves 6-8 as a snack
Drink pairing Chambord Royale
60ml raspberry balsamic vinegar (¼ cup), plus extra if desired
A good pinch of sugar
25g currants
½ head radicchio, halved, leaves separated
½ fennel bulb, sliced
125g raspberries
2 burrata
Basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil and toasted pine nuts, to serve
In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, sugar, one tablespoon water and the currants. Leave to sit and plump up for about 10 minutes.
Arrange the radicchio leaves on a large platter. Scatter the fennel over the radicchio.
Tear (yes, tear) the raspberries on top, in half is cute. Carry on the tearing with the burrata.
Spoon and scatter the currants (along with the vinegar) over the top, adding more vinegar if you want. Top with basil, a drizzle of oil and pine nuts. Generously season with salt and plenty of freshly cracked pepper.
We-groni batch cocktail
We’re gonna get it on … our appetite on. Because that’s what aperitifs do, thanks to their bitter edge. But I trust I don’t need to tell you they’re equally good whenever, wherever, forever.
Serves 6
2 blood oranges
90ml Suze
180 ml Lillet Blanc
270 ml gin
Ice cubes, basil sprigs and soda water, to serve
Thinly slice one of the blood oranges and juice the other.
In a large jug, add the Suze, Lillet Blanc, gin and orange juice. Stir with a swizzle, or a long spoon.
To serve, add ice cubes and a slice of blood orange to each serving glass. Give the basil a smack with your hands and add a sprig to each glass. Pour over about 90ml or a third-cup of the we-groni mix in each glass, then top with a splash of soda water.
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This is an edited extract from Happy Hour Snacks by Bec Vrana Dickinson, with photography by Chris Chen. Available from 3 September 2024 (Hardie Grant, $39.99).