chickpeas

Market Matters- Flirting with Grilled Squid & Miner's Lettuce Salad

15 Jan 2012
Grilled Squid with Miner's Lettuce Salad and Mint, Parsley, Anchovy Pesto

The Hollywood Farmers Market inspires me. This Grilled Squid with Miner's Lettuce Salad & Mint, Parsley, Anchovy Pesto is proof.

I didn't wake up this morning thinking that this was what I wanted for lunch. But a trip up and down Ivar filled my bag with all the ingredients (except the garbanzo beans) that I needed to fully realize this recipe. I guess it's been sleeping inside me for some time. Waiting for its moment.

It's moment came when miner's lettuce showed itself to me. It was right there. Just across the street from the Hollywood branch of the public library. Saying, "Look at me, I am an ingredient you've read about but have never used before. Lettuce make some trouble".

It was practically a illicit proposal, I'll have you know. I mean I always knew greens were hot. But these greens were smokin'! How could I resist? I am mean if lettuce could talk, this lettuce was screaming, "Take me as I am, or watch me as I go."

So I countered, "If beauty were time, you'd be eternity." After all, if you know me at all then you know "I can resist everything except temptation!"

GREG

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A Flummoxed Spiced Chickpea Stew

08 Dec 2009
chickpea stew

Today I have soup. Or do I have stew? A Spiced Chickpea Stew with Feta Toasts

STEW : (formal) To undergo cooking by boiling slowly or simmering, especially a mixture of meat or fish and vegetables with stock.

(slang) To be in a state of anxiety or agitation

SOUP: (formal) A liquid food prepared from meat, fish, or vegetable stock combined with various other ingredients and often containing solid pieces.

(slang) A chaotic or unfortunate situation.

I don’t know whether to categorize this as a soup or a stew. Which has got me in a ”state of anxiety or agitation” leading to a “chaotic or unfortunate situation.

The Martha Stewart recipe that inspired me was solidly in the soup category. I say that because she called it soup. Flat out, no hemming and hawing. Soup period. Soup!

My version uses the same great flavors, chickpeas, tomatoes, coriander and red pepper. But I have let it cook a lot longer and I have left it a lot chunkier, so I tend to want to call it a stew. But these definitions above make no distinctions concerning texture. Conundrum.

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Spiced Chickpea Stew with Feta Toasts

Spicy Chickpea Stew with Tomato Feta Toasts
By jgreghenry Published December 8, 2009
Prep time: 30
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 3 clv garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 0.5 t crushed red-pepper flakes, or to taste
  • 1 t coriander seeds
  • 1 t kosher salt
  • 0.125 t caraway seeds
  • 2 cn (15 oz each) chickpeas, dreained and rinsed
  • 2 c diced canned tomatoes, with juice
  • 1 c jarred roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped
  • 4 c low sodium chicken broth
  • 6 sli rustic bread or baguette
  • 2 ripe red tomatoes, chopped into 1/4 pieces
  • 0.5 T dried oregano
  • 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

Using a mortar and pestle , crush garlic, chiles, coriander, salt, and caraway to form a rough paste full of cracked seeds. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic mixture, and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in half of the chickpeas, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and stock. Cover the pot and simmer over very low heat, stirring often, for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. Meanwhile lightly toast the bread slices in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Remove the toast from the oven and turn the broiler on to get hot. In a small bowl mix together the chopped tomatoes, oregano and feta. Add a drizzle of very good olive oil. Heap about 1 1/2 tablespoons on top of each toast and place them on a baking sheet. Put the toasts under the broiler for a few moments until they begin to bubble and get brown. Remove the toasts from broiler. Set aside. Using an immersion blender process the cooled tomato and chickpea mixture to a slightly chunky puree. Add the rest of the chick peas. Return the pan to the stove and reheat. Divide the stew among bowls, and serve with the tomato and feta toasts on the side.

Notes:

serves 6 Source: I adapted this from a Martha Stewart soup recipe

Orecchiette with Chickpeas is Apulian for Pasta

01 Oct 2009
orecchiette ingredients

My interest in Southern Italy continues.

Today I am concentrating on the so-called “heel of the boot”. It is generally known as Puglia. Though I have seen it called Apulia, Puglie and les Pouilles.

The area is perhaps the most contradictory region in Italy. Alternatively, desolate and picturesque. Compared to most of the country, tourists are still quite rare.

Many books I have read claim that the culture of food is less defined here than it is in many other regions in Italy, despite the plentitude of good fresh seafood from the Adriatic. Especially shellfish. I recall tremendous mussels battered and fried that make for a memory to last a lifetime. So I am not quite sure who decided that the region was somehow gastronomically challenged. I think perhaps Puglia's food gets a bad rap because it reflects the rustic ingenuity that its poverty-stricken roots requires. Because the dry soil can be difficult to work with and is not as prolific as other regions, Apulians have had to to make more with less.

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Orecchiette with Chickpeas

pasta with chickpeas
By jgreghenry Published September 28, 2009
Prep time: 150
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 3 T olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/4-inch slivers
  • 1 stalk celery, cut in 1/4" dice
  • 1 carrot, cut in 1/4" dice
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 3 small sweet red pepper or 1/2 red bell pepper, minced
  • 1 pn red pepper flakes
  • 3 T tomato paste
  • 6 c vegetable broth
  • 0 very good olive oil for drizzling
  • 0 parmesan cheese, grated
  • 4 clv garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 0 salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb orecchiette or other small sized pasta
  • 9 oz dried chickpeas

Directions

Put the chickpeas into a large saucepan, cover with cold water and soak overnight. The next day drain the chickpeas and rinse them with cold water. Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan, adding the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and rosemary. Cook this mixture over medium high heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, but not yet colored. Season with plenty of salt and pepper (the beans like quite a bit of salt), then add the sweet red pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir in the tomato sauce and the stock. Then add the pre-soaked chickpeas, stirring to incorporate. Bring the pot to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 1 1/2 hours until the chickpeas are tender. You may need to add a bit more water through this process to maintain a constant level. Taste the mixture. Chickpeas benefit from a late in the process seasoning method, so season them generously at this time. Then turn the heat off until you are nearly ready to serve. At that point, bring the liquid to a boil and add the pasta. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the pasta is al dente. Remove the rosemary branch and serve warm. Pass very good olive oil and Parmesan cheese at the table to garnish each serving. Serve with lots of rustic bread.

Notes:

serves 6