Lifestyle

York and Chapel Tahini Takedown

Katherine Cantillo

Account Supervisor

Mighty Sesame, a longstanding client of York and Chapel, produces premium squeezable tahini paste and TahiniBars. Working with their content and seeing one delicious tahini recipe after another led us to want to make our own creations. This inspired York and Chapel’s Tahini Takedown, a cookoff where Y&C employees had a chance to try Mighty Sesame’s squeezable tahini and flex their culinary skills of course.

A few of our staff members even volunteered to share their recipes. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Ginger Tahini Ice Cream

Justin Girard, Art Director

Ingredients:

¼ cup Mighty Sesame tahini
1 tablespoon ginger – grated on a Microplane
2 large eggs – beaten until smooth
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
¾ cups granulated sugar
Sesame seeds for topping (optional)

Directions:

Combine tahini, ginger, beaten eggs, milk, cream, and sugar in a medium-sized pot and whisk until smooth.
Using a thermometer, cook the mixture on medium-low heat. Stir often and remove from heat as soon as it reaches 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Transfer mixture to a container and place in the fridge until chilled.
Add chilled mixture to ice cream maker and turn on (following your machine’s directions).
Once the ice cream has fully set, scoop into bowls and top with toasted sesame seeds.

Tahini Udon Noodle Stir Fry

Kat Cantillo, Project Manager

Ingredients:

Udon noodles
1/2 cup Mighty Sesame Harissa Tahini
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic (peeled and grated)
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
Vegetable oil
Veggies (any kind!)
Your choice of meat (I used flank steak)
Garnish: Sliced scallions

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together the harissa tahini, water, soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, grated ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes until smooth.
Saute your vegetables in vegetable oil and set them aside.
Using the same pan from the veggies, cook your protein of choice.
Cook noodles according to the package.
Add the tahini sauce to the cooked noodles.
Mix in your veggies & meat.
Top with the chopped scallions.
Enjoy!

Cold Tahini Noodle Salad

Lisa Chong, VP of Client Services

Ingredients:

1/2 cup julienned carrot
1/2 cup julienned celery
1/2 cup julienned cucumber
1/2 cup julienned red pepper
1/2 cup julienned yellow pepper
1/2 cup julienned extra firm or pressed tofu (may substitute ham or cooked shredded chicken)
1 cup tahini
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
8oz dry spaghetti
Optional garnish: toasted sesame seeds, green onions, crushed red chili flakes

Directions:

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.
Cook the pasta according to its instructions. When the pasta is almost finished cooking, take 1/2 C of the pasta water and mix into the sauce. Drain the nearly-done pasta and while it is still hot, mix it into the sauce and toss until the pasta is fully coated. The sauce will be absorbed by the pasta. Add in the julienned vegetables and tofu. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Allow the dish to cool to room temperature before wrapping and refrigerating it. Garnish before serving.
*Here’s a tip: the noodles taste best the next day! We usually like to bring this cold noodle with us to family picnics.

Spicy Tahini Chicken Wings with Tahini Guacamole

Antony Peiris, Full Stack Web Developer

Ingredients:

Chicken wings
Mighty Sesame Tahini
Garlic
Cayenne Pepper (optional, recommended)
Salt
Grapeseed Oil (or similar)
Olive Oil
Sesame Seeds
Eggplant
Chili flakes (optional)
Carrots
Cherry tomatoes
Avacado
Lemon
Chips (any sort)
Bell Pepper
Celery

Directions:

Wash and prepare about 2 dozen chicken wings and dab them with a little vinegar. A few drops here and there to lightly and evenly coat the chicken should do. Then allow it to sit for a few minutes.
Add 3 tbsp of Tahini, 1 tbsp of finely chopped garlic, some cayenne pepper according to your taste (I added about 2 tbsp), some salt to taste (I added 1 tsp), and mix together with the chicken wings while adding a little olive oil and water until the batter is smooth and sticky, but not too watery.
Prepare a baking tray with some oil (I recommend Grapeseed since it’s a healthier option). Preheat the oven to about 400 F.
Evenly distribute the chicken wings and coat the Tahini batter to completely cover the chicken wings.
Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for flavor, aesthetics and also to visually warn anyone who has sesame allergies.
Cut a few 1/4 inch slices of eggplant and evenly coat with olive oil and a bit of salt to taste. I also added chili flakes on top for additional flavor and spice but this is optional.
Do the same with some veggies (a bit of salt and olive oil). I used cherry tomatoes and rainbow carrots which are absolutely delicious when baked or roasted.
Place the veggies with the chicken wings evenly distributed and place them in the oven when preheating is complete.
While the oven is roasting the chicken and veggies, in a fresh bowl, prepare the dip. Get a ripe avocado and mash it into a chunky paste (how smooth you make this is up to you).
Into the dip bowl, add 3 tbsp of Tahini, salt to taste, lemon to taste, finely chopped garlic (about 1 tbsp), some sesame seeds at your discretion, 2 tbsp of olive oil and gently mix together. Be careful not to smash the avocado too much if you like to have it chunky, but make sure you mix all the ingredients well.
The goodies in the oven should take about 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven. Please keep an eye on it so you don’t burn it, but also be careful not to under-cook the chicken.
Take a large party size plate and add some thinly cut bell peppers and celery sticks. You may then add the rest of the items to the plate when ready and decorate them in a way that’s pleasing to the eye.
Garnish with a few slices of lime or lemon on the side and enjoy!