There�s a Mexican joint Michele and I go to once in a while, that serves a complimentary bowl of spicy, fried chickpeas when you sit down to eat. In the restaurant biz they call this a �loss leader.�
That�s where you give away something cheap to help sell something expensive, and by something expensive, I mean handcrafted margaritas and artisan beers�sold to people like me, who, for some strange reason, are suddenly thirsty.
While I�m hip to the true motive, it�s still a very nice touch, and a periodic reminder of what a great, highly additive snack this is. As in, only make single batches at a time, because you will eat everything you make.
As I mentioned in the video, this works exactly the same using rinsed, canned beans, but dry beans are much cheaper, and get a little crunchier. Obviously, you have free reign with the spices, so I suggest making a few different batches, trying different combinations.
No matter what you come up with, it will be significantly better than any of those salty snacks from the supermarket. I hope you give these easy, oven-fried chickpeas a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 snack-sized portions Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas:
1 cup dry chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans, soaked for 24 hours
2 tbsp olive oil
season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne, OR literally any spices you like
- Bake at 400 F. for about an hour, tossing occasionally, until browned and crunchy/crispy.
Unlike most of America�s other favorite fast foods, falafel is rarely attempted at home, which is a shame, since it�s very simple to do, and even a relative novice like me can get some very decent results. One word of warning: you do need to know you�re going to have a craving for this a full day before you actually want to eat it.
Whipping up a batch of these after a late night at the bar is not going to work, since soaking the dry beans overnight is a crucial step. While you can use canned beans for this, word on the street is not to do it. Those are cooked, and apparently just aren�t as good.
As you�ll see, you don�t really need a deep fryer to do this, as they pan-fry quite nicely, but the model you see me using has some advantages. In addition to being less messy, a small fryer lets you achieve the precise temperature, which means your food crisps up perfectly, while absorbing virtually none of the fat. People have done studies, measuring the oil before-and-after frying, and when done properly, it�s remarkable how little oil is used.
No matter what method you use to cook yours, I think you�ll be surprised how close this is to your favorite falafel stand, assuming they used the exact ingredients and amounts I did, which may not be the case. So, be sure to taste and adjust until you get it just right. I really hope you get this try very soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 12 falafel balls:
1 cup dried garbanzo beans aka chickpeas
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 rounded tablespoon flour
2 tsp lemon juice
- Fry at 350�F for about 5 minutes or until browned and crispy
Any time someone asks the question, �What exactly is soul food,� the answer should always be a comforting bowl of red beans and rice. Just sit them down, give them a spoon, and when they finish, ask them if they understand. They will.
Like I say in the intro, there are thousands of ways you can make this, using all sorts of smoked pig parts and sausages, but there are really only two ways you can serve it � thin and soupy, or thick and creamy.
Once you slowly simmered your beans, and they�re very, very soft and tender, and your meats are falling apart, you�re ready to serve. If you ladle it up as is, you�ll have something that�s fairly loose, with most of the beans still whole. It�s great like this, and based on my travels to New Orleans, the more common style.
However, another popular technique is to smash and stir some of the cooked beans into the mixture as you continue cooking. This creates a much thicker, and creamier consistency, which I really enjoy when I want something a bit more substantial. It�s closer to a chili texture, and I love how the rice sticks to it.
This is totally up to personal taste, so if you�ve never made it before, try some on rice as soon as the beans are tender, and it�s still pretty juicy. Check it out, and then, if you want, you can continue cooking/smashing/stirring to end up closer to where I did.
Regardless of how thick you make yours, you�ll want to soak your beans overnight in cold water before starting the recipe. If you forget, which you will, you can always use the quick method. Bring the beans to a boil in large pot of water, turn off the heat, and let it sit there for an hour or so to soften up, and become easier to digest.
If you put enough meat in it, this is more than a meal, but it also makes a great side dish for barbeque, or pretty much anything. Throw in some collard greens, and maybe some cornbread, and let the good times roll. I hope you give this easy, red beans and recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 8 portions:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced or cubed
1 cup finely diced onion
3/4 cup finely diced celery
3/4 cup finely diced green peppers
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 smoked ham hock
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 quarts chicken broth or water, plus more as needed to adjust consistency
1 pound red kidney beans, soaked overnight
about 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste hot sauce to taste
There�s absolutely nothing wrong with green lentil soup, but once you start making it with black �beluga� lentils, you�ll have a hard time going back. These black beauties cook up melt-in-your-mouth tender, but still retain their structural integrity, which gives the soup both a thick, satisfying body, and a light, non-starchy mouthfeel.
The flavor is wonderfully meaty, especially when you toss in a handful of bacon, and they require absolutely no finesse to prepare perfectly. Just simmer until you have achieved lentil tenderness, adding broth as needed. That�s pretty much it.
I�m told black lentils are really good for you, which is weird, since I�ve never asked anybody. Nevertheless, this is a soup you can feel good about putting into your body, unlike that �Bacon Jalape�o Popper Chowder� recipe you got off Pinterest. We�re still right in the middle of soup season, so the next time you feel like a hot bowl, I hope you give this black lentil soup a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 large portions:
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 oz bacon
1 cup yellow onion, large dice
1 cup carrots, large dice
1 cup celery, large dice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1 1/4 cup black lentils
5 to 6 cups chicken broth, or as needed 1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley 1 tsp extra good extra virgin olive oil
For some arbitrary reason, March is National Peanut Month, and to help kick it off, here are a couple of video recipes that feature this great American legume. You can�t beat a warm stew on a cold night, and they don�t get much warmer than red beef curry. The peanuts may seem like a minor player, but they make the dish.
If you want your peanuts more liquid than solid, then by all means, check out this great, and very easy satay dipping sauce. You seriously can�t run out of things to stick in there.
I hope you give them a try soon, and here�s wishing you a happy and safe National Peanut Month. Click on the titles if you want to read the original post, and see the ingredients. Enjoy!
The third best part of this job, after the fame and fortune, is learning about unique, new foods; and this farinata video is a perfect example! Until it was requested by a Vlad Kiperman (if that is his real name), I had no idea this tasty, and dead simple recipe even existed. It�s so good, I�m kind of sad the discovery came so late in life.
Farinata is nothing more than a simple garbanzo bean flour batter, which is spiked with olive oil and salt, and baked in a very hot oven. The surface gets crusty, the edges get crispy, and yet the inside stays moist and sort of creamy. The texture is easy to explain, but the taste, not so much.
This is so simple and subtly flavored that it�s a kind of hard to describe. You may be familiar with the taste of garbanzo (aka chickpeas) in things like hummus and falafel, but here it�s not combined with other strongly flavored ingredients, and so you�re getting pure, un-cut bean. It�s going to be easier for me if you just make it and taste for yourself.
Like I said in the video, if you�ve never made this before, you should probably try a plain version to get an idea of what this stuff is all about, but after that, the sky's the limit. The options for add-ons to the batter, as well as potential toppings are virtually limitless. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Pan Note: I know many will ask, so I�ll just say it now; yes, you can use any oven-safe 10-inch pan to make this, but I have a tough time believing it will come out as wonderfully textured as it would if you use a cast-iron skillet. Putting the batter into a smoking hot pan seems to be one of the big keys here.
Ingredients for 6 portions (one 10-inch cast iron pan):
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (about 1 tsp fine table salt)
1/2 tsp finely minced rosemary leaves, optional
5 tbsp olive oil, divided (use 3 tablespoons for the batter, and 2 tablespoons for the pan)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Gluten-Free and Loving It
By the way, since this is made from a legume-based flour, farinata is 100% gluten-free, which should make a small, but very passionate group of foodwishers happy. My usually modus operandi when it comes to such requests and questions is a referral to Allrecipe.com�s impressive, and extensive gluten-free recipe collection, or one of my many talented GF food blogger friends.
Speaking of which, Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl (the Beyonce and Jay-Z of GF bloggers), have a new cookbook out called, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. If you happen to swing that way, check it out. The recipes sound wonderful, the photos are gorgeous, and the book�s getting rave reviews.
I�m showing this quick and easy white bean and herb salad for several reasons, not the least of which is to give you a perfectly delicious way to use up the end of that already used once bunch of parsley or cilantro.
You told yourself you were going to add them to your next stock, forgetting you don�t make stock, and the sheared remains end up in the back of the vegetable crisper where they die a slow, slimy death. Well, this may be the answer.
Both cilantro and Italian parsley have tender stems that pretty much taste exactly like the leaves. By slicing the last half of the bunch thinly, across the stems, you have a perfect addition to any simple, cold bean salad. Besides herb stem recover and utilization, this recipe deserves to be in the rotation for two other very good reasons. It only takes like five minutes to makes, and goes beautifully with any and all of the traditional grilled or barbecued summer meats.
This video also reminds me that you wannabe food snobs need to stop making fun of people that don�t like cilantro. For about 10% of the population, due to certain receptors on the tongue, cilantro tastes nasty, which explains why so many people detest the stuff. The good news is that parsley works even better, so everybody wins.
On a spice note, I used Aleppo pepper here instead of cayenne or pepper flakes, and I hope you do the same. I only discovered this pepper recently, and just love it. It�s hot, but not too hot, and has a bright, fruity flavor I think you�ll really enjoy. Please note: In the video I said it was my new favorite pepper, but I only did that to make cayenne jealous. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
1/2 bunch (the stem end) Italian parsley or cilantro, chopped
1 can (15-oz) white beans, rinsed and drained
3 cloves minced garlic 1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard salt, freshly ground black pepper, and Aleppo pepper to taste 2 tbsp white wine or champagne vinegar (or rice vinegar if you want it a little sweeter) 3 tbsp olive oil
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