Chick(pea) Nuggets

Last year when we were exploring vegetarian proteins, we started getting all kinds of high protein flours. The most versatile and relatively cheap flour I found was chickpea flour. The first thing I tried to make with it was falafel, using the recipe on the package. We enjoyed them in pita with tahini sauce and lettuce and tomato. They were wonderful, though not the same as the crispy balls of falafel that one sees more often, made of mashed chickpeas. They were very easy to make, just mix some flour and various spices and water, scoop into a pan and cook. Perfect for a weeknight dinner.

The flour was also useful in helping to bind various experimental gluten-free veggie burgers.

But I kept coming back to that falafel recipe. It occurred to me, almost immediately, that if they didn’t have Israeli spices, the texture matched that of chicken nuggets remarkably well. I took the falafel recipe, made a few adjustments, and served them with honey mustard instead. Voila, a reasonable substitute for chicken nuggets that are easy to whip up at a moment’s notice.

Recipe: Chick(pea) Nuggets

Adapted from Bob’s Red Mill Falafel Patty recipe

Makes 10-14 nuggets

• 1 1/4 cup of chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp garlic power or granules
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup hot water
• a few shakes of black pepper

1. Mix together all of the above ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl to form a thick pasty batter. Allow to rest for a few minutes while you prepare the pan to fry them in. 
2. Heat a flat skillet with a few tablespoons of oil for frying. I use regular olive oil. I recommend a non-stick type of pan, as these do try to leave a film of flour behind unless you use a lot of oil. Prepare a plate with a paper towel to drain the nuggets as you remove them.
3. Spoon tablespoons of batter into the hot pan and press down with the back of the spoon. When one side is crisp and a darker shade of golden brown, flip and cook on the other side. I usually fry them in batches, even with a large pan, so that they have space to brown nicely. 
4. Remove fully cooked nuggets to paper towel and allow to drain. 

Enjoy warm for the best texture, though they are fine cooled and reheated in the microwave as well. Dip in honey mustard (mixture of yellow mustard, honey and a bit of mayonnaise) or whatever sauce you enjoy with your chicken nuggets. I can’t imagine any child who loves nuggets wouldn’t enjoy these. Try it and let me know!

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Entree: Cheddar, Corn, and Roasted Tomato Pie (Parade of Pies, Part 13)

Finally, at long last, we have the top-rated #1 winner of the pie parade! This delicious, eclectic pie was inspired by smitten kitchen’s recipe, and then edited to the right level of moisture that I wanted for the inside of the pie by roasting the tomatoes instead of blanching them. The result is reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes, and can be combined with various other veggies that roast well (leeks, spring garlic, etc.) to create fun variations on the filling for this pie.

Roasted tomatoes are a magical transformation of their fresh counterparts, but some types are too delicate for this process. I recommend a tomato that is likely to hold up in a roast and really retain a ton of flavor, such as Roma/plums, San Marzanos, or some local Heirlooms.

By switching to a cheddar cheese-infused crust, it really enhances the color and flavor to make this pie absolutely irresistible. Don’t forget to make some cute steam vents on top, they’ll brown up a bit at the end and show off this pie to make it a winner at any meal.

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Entree: Shepherd’s Pie (Parade of Pies, Part 12)

This photo does not do justice to the scrumptiousness that was this pie. It wasn’t pretty but it was one of the tastiest of all the pies, which is why it’s the second to last one on this list. A shepherd’s pie is a meat pie with a mashed potato topping. I decided to make this a deep dish casserole, and so I did not include a bottom crust. You might find this pie reminiscent of our staple biscuit-topped chicken pot pie.

While this was one of the least conventional pies we made, I’m so glad we included it. The gravy was savory and packed with flavor. My mouth is watering remembering this pie, even though I ate it over four months ago. Several friends at our pie parade told us that they thought they didn’t like shepherd’s pie until they tried this one. I can’t take total credit for it though – the recipe was Alton Brown’s. I made a few changes to stretch it for a larger group.

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Entree: Scallion, Mushroom, and Bacon Quiche (Parade of Pies, Part 11)

I know, it’s unforgivable that I should start such a long series about pies, leaving some of the best ones for the end, only to disappear before finishing. My only excuse is that I’ve been so busy testing this quiche recipe over and over and over again, to make sure it was just perfect for you. All I can say is that this quiche came out great every time I made it. It’s very flexible, very savory, and just irresistible. Do yourself a favor and make it this week.

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Red Beans and Rice, a new staple ’round here

 

Adapted from Alton Brown’s fabulous recipe, this hearty donburi-type dish recently became an instant favorite in our regular dinner rotation. Not willing to pickle our own pork (for the time being), we found that using thickly-sliced slab bacon makes the whole texture of the dish turn to silk. You could leave the bacon out for a vegetarian/kosher version of the dish, but a good portion of the flavor and texture will be missing.

It seems funny to post about this hearty, belly-warming stew in the 90-100 F heat of July, but I assure you, once you get a taste of this from your own kitchen, you’ll want to enjoy some in the comfort of your own home with the A/C turned on!

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Luscious, Unbelievable Beets and Ricotta

I’ve always loved beets: their color, a magenta that still seems unnatural every time I see it; their texture, tender and meaty; their flavor, bright, earthy and fruity. As a beet fan, it doesn’t take much to convince me that something with roasted beets in it is going to be delicious.

But because I enjoy them au naturel, I don’t usually do much to dress them up. I’ll generally roast them (or buy them already prepared), slice them and throw them on a salad or just eat them as a side with some salt and pepper.  So I somehow never thought to chop them, mix them up with ricotta cheese of all things, and stuff them into pasta. Why complicate something that’s so good when it’s simple? Because it’s ungodly good, that’s why.

That’s what I found out last weekend, when my friend Emma from Follows The Sun visited. She brought along this recipe for Casunsiei (Beet and Ricotta ravioli), which reminded her of a formative summer she spent interning at the restaurant that is famous for them.

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Sweet and Spicy Morocco-inspired Tomato Sauce

After spending a weekend in a place even colder than New York, I really can’t help but dream of warmer places. Maybe it’s just me, but nothing warms me up like the deep seductive flavors of the Mediterranean. Thinking of food that even hints of places like Morocco seems to usher in a premature summer. At least for a moment. I think that my imagination is one of the only things getting me through this bitterly cold winter.

I was introduced to this dish by my host mom in France. She would let it stew in a makeshift tajine, with pieces of chicken folded into the sauce to soak up all the flavors. The scent of cinnamon, honey and tomato would waft warmly through the house. It was the perfect way to end a blustery Parisian day. We would eat it ladled over a mound of couscous, or just sop up the sauce with bread, licking it off the chicken and our fingers.

Since then, I’ve made a lot of changes to this recipe. Sometimes I add slivered almonds, I almost always add spicy roasted chickpeas, and I’ve even toyed with swapping out eggs for chicken for a shakshuka inspired dish. I usually have rice around more often than couscous, so I pour it over rice instead. Like many tomato sauces, this one is quite versatile, so try it and enjoy it any way you like.

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A Simple Turkey, a retrospective

If you’ve never bought a turkey before, it can be overwhelming to try to understand all the differences between them. There are plenty of guides, but there are so many of those too, it’s hard to know what will be best. In my family we have always chosen frozen kosher turkeys, but even if you don’t keep kosher there are plenty of good reasons to choose a kosher turkey. This cuts down the options a bit, which in this case, is a good thing.

My favorite reason is that kosher turkeys, like all koshered meat, have already been brined. This results in saltier meat that is more likely to retain its moisture during cooking. Sure, you could brine any turkey yourself, but if you live in a tiny New York apartment like I do, you probably don’t have room for the equipment to do it right. And besides, I have enough other dishes to worry about on Thanksgiving, I’ll take the occasional shortcuts where I can find them. If you start with a kosher turkey, then you’ve got all the flavor you need inside the meat before you even start.

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Zucchini and Carrot Frittata, Syrian style

The Kosher Foodies just wrote about Spanach Jibben which we used to call Spinach brownies or cupcakes when I was a child. This spinach, egg, and cheese dish was a great way to make sure us kids had something green without too much fussing or complaining. Tacking “jibben” after a vegetable pretty much means you are getting a Syrian style frittata. That is, eggs and cheese, but no tart shell like a quiche might have. And really, mixing baking any vegetable into eggs and cheese will convince just about any veggie-averse eater to take a bite.

I did just that with myself recently in order to acquire a taste for zucchini. I’ve never really liked it, but it’s such a thrifty squash that I felt like I was missing out by not liking it. I tried it in ratatouille and I was able to handle it for the first few bites but not after that.

One way I know that I’ve always loved zucchini is in a Syrian dish where the skin is peeled off (in my family anyway), the seeds are scooped out, and the leftover shells are filled with spiced meat and rice and cooked in a sour tamarind sauce. I made that and loved it, just as I had as a child. The next time I make it, I’ll share the recipe here. Not being one to waste edible bits if I can help it, I wanted to figure out something to do with the middles I had scooped out.

Cue Kusa Jibben, which is the squash equivalent of Spanach Jibben. Of course, being me and being lazy, I wanted to make this dish without making the stuffed squash dish first. And well… I still don’t love zucchini. So here is my colorful version of Kusa Jibben; in this case, a zucchini and carrot Syrian frittata.

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Shakshuka: Eggs poached in tomato sauce

When you’re down to the dregs of your pantry, and your refrigerator is about to be bare, what do you make for dinner? Well, if you’re me, and you’ve put off shopping for some weeks (out of business and a bit of laziness), you take the last two eggs you’ve got and crack them into a bubbling pan of tomato sauce.  Add a few hunks of bread and you’ve got a quick meal of shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish, for one or two to help clean out your pantry.

This meal can be done quick with just a few eggs and tomato sauce from a can, or it can be elaborate with chopped onions, peppers, an a dozen eggs baked in the oven. Like all of my favorite recipes, it’s really up to what you’re in the mood for and what ingredients you’ve got on hand. And no matter how much you pretty it up, it will always be a relatively cheap, satisfying dish. It would be really  hard to mess this dish up.

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