I like chickpeas. Chickpea flour I find interesting: it is kind of enigmatic, doesn't taste that much like actual chickpeas to me (much more pungent), has a hit of butteriness and a hint of egginess. I do like it, but not as decisively as the whole pulse. Chickpea flour redeems itself with diverse uses - pancakes, pizza base, gluten-free baking, a touch of eggy colour and flavour in vegan foods... I hadn't eaten it like this before though - basically prepared like polenta - but I came across the idea here, it seemed nice and straightforward so I gave it a try.
oil for greasing
2 cups water
good pinch of coarse salt
1 tsp olive oil
generous 1 cup chickpea flour
Grease a loaf tin. Put the water, salt and olive oil together in a small saucepan and bring to just below boiling. Sift the chickpea flour then add it to the pan, gradually, while whisking. When it is all in stir a bit longer until it is super thick. Pour into the greased tin and spread out. Let cool and refrigerate until needed.
When ready to eat, you can fry or bake. To bake, heat the oven to 375F. Grease a baking tray with olive oil, cut the panisse into pieces about 1 cm thick, then arrange them on the baking tray, drier (former top) side down. Bake for 10-15 min on one side, then flip and bake for 10-15 min on the other side.
Eat warm, dipped in salt and pepper and/or some kind of sauce - I did harissa dressing. Basically if you like chickpea flour you will like these - it's a smooth middle of intense chickpea flour flavour with crunchy crispy bits on the outside.
Showing posts with label chickpea flour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickpea flour. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2014
Monday, December 9, 2013
Egg yolk ravioli (and oriecchette)
I spent much of the weekend getting in the mood for Christmas: I cooked brussels sprouts, we bought a tiny tree, I caught up with family and their Christmas plans, I made zimtsterne, put up Christmas decorations, we bought and initiated an advent calendar, stayed in playing games and eating Lebkuchen... And overnight last night it snowed and capped off my indoor decorations with a beautiful (if rapidly melting) outdoor sprinkling of white. I do feel a bit more festive now.
With the three egg yolks remaining after making zimtsterne (I decided Christmas / zimtsterne was enough of a special occasion to warrant buying eggs... fancy, multicoloured ones) I decided to try out making egg yolk ravioli. We'd seen an egg yolk raviolo on Professional Masterchef a few years ago and it looked awesome (think we are usually inordinately excited whenever they make something vegetarian, but in this case it seemed justified). I used the eggless pasta dough recipe I have used before, and decided to try turnip as an additional filling (the traditional version seems to involve ricotta; I was intrigued by the idea of turnip though and had some in the fridge).
For the pasta dough:
(note: this makes way too much for 3 ravioli, hence the oriecchette - estimate enough for ~15 ravioli)
1/2 cup pasta flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp gram flour
1/2 tsp salt
water
For the filling:
(note: the mashed turnip is probably enough for about 10-12 ravioli, depending on size of turnip)
1 large turnip (the white kind)
salt
~ 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp soy yoghurt (or fake milk, or nothing)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
pepper
3 egg yolks, carefully separated from the whites so as not to break the membrane
a little bit more egg for closing
First prepare the pasta dough: mix the flours and salt in a pile on a clean worktop, then made a pit in the middle and add the water a little at a time, mixing with your fingers (while being careful not to break the ramparts), until it comes together into a kneadable dough. Knead for a few minutes then wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 30 min / up to a few days.
While the dough is chilling, peel the turnip, chop into large chunks and then put into a pan of salted water to boil. Boil for ~10-15 min, until tender, then drain thoroughly and transfer back to the pan. Add the thyme, yoghurt (if using), olive oil and some salt and pepper and mash with a fork until fairly smooth. If it seems liquidy at all heat a little while to evaporate off the extra liquid. Set aside and let cool until handlable.
Take out the dough and make six small balls (each about the size of a large marble). Flour a clean worktop and rolling pin, then roll out each ball until it is super thin and you can see through it (try and keep the shape roughly circular). Choose three base pieces and space them out flat on a board. In the centre of each make a little nest of ~ 1 1/2 tbsp turnip mash, with a dent in the middle for the egg to go in. Wet your hands (and anything else you plan to touch the egg yolks with), and carefully transfer one egg yolk into each nest. Gently place the top pieces of rolled-out pasta dough over the egg yolks and press into place carefully, trying to exclude large air bubbles from getting in with the filling. Make a ring around the filling using any remaining egg yolk and/or white and press down firmly all around the circle to close the ravioli. Use the back of a fork to press some more if you want to be really sure of a firm closure. Trim the edges to remove excess pasta (keep the offcuts - you can cook them as random pasta shapes).
Bring a large pan of slightly salted water to the boil. Add the ravioli. Boil for ~3-4 minutes. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, drain, transfer to plates and eat.
I cooked the offcuts as irregular fettucine. I also made oriecchette (wanted to try making a shape that didn't involve rolling!) with some of the remaining dough to make this into more of a meal: pinch of pieces about the size of a small marble and flatten into discs about 7 mm thick. Put on a clean surface, then roll your thumb across the disc, pressing firmly all the way across. It should roll up into an oriecchette (little ear) shape. These will take a little longer to cook than the ravioli as the pasta is quite thick - perhaps 5-6 min. They can be dried and stored if desired.
The egg yolk ravioli were amazing. The turnip and thyme went beautifully, and I felt like it was nice / important to have something extra to complement the egg yolk taste and also for structure when building the ravioli. Really fun to cut into the ravioli and have the orange yolk gush out. S was excited, and that was my main aim, so I'd call this a success. The mashed turnip was also pretty tasty on its own, and what's more reminded me of S's favourite celeriac pasta sauce, so I mushed it in with the oriecchette and that worked quite well too.
With the three egg yolks remaining after making zimtsterne (I decided Christmas / zimtsterne was enough of a special occasion to warrant buying eggs... fancy, multicoloured ones) I decided to try out making egg yolk ravioli. We'd seen an egg yolk raviolo on Professional Masterchef a few years ago and it looked awesome (think we are usually inordinately excited whenever they make something vegetarian, but in this case it seemed justified). I used the eggless pasta dough recipe I have used before, and decided to try turnip as an additional filling (the traditional version seems to involve ricotta; I was intrigued by the idea of turnip though and had some in the fridge).
For the pasta dough:
(note: this makes way too much for 3 ravioli, hence the oriecchette - estimate enough for ~15 ravioli)
1/2 cup pasta flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp gram flour
1/2 tsp salt
water
For the filling:
(note: the mashed turnip is probably enough for about 10-12 ravioli, depending on size of turnip)
1 large turnip (the white kind)
salt
~ 1/2 tbsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp soy yoghurt (or fake milk, or nothing)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
pepper
3 egg yolks, carefully separated from the whites so as not to break the membrane
a little bit more egg for closing
First prepare the pasta dough: mix the flours and salt in a pile on a clean worktop, then made a pit in the middle and add the water a little at a time, mixing with your fingers (while being careful not to break the ramparts), until it comes together into a kneadable dough. Knead for a few minutes then wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 30 min / up to a few days.
While the dough is chilling, peel the turnip, chop into large chunks and then put into a pan of salted water to boil. Boil for ~10-15 min, until tender, then drain thoroughly and transfer back to the pan. Add the thyme, yoghurt (if using), olive oil and some salt and pepper and mash with a fork until fairly smooth. If it seems liquidy at all heat a little while to evaporate off the extra liquid. Set aside and let cool until handlable.
Take out the dough and make six small balls (each about the size of a large marble). Flour a clean worktop and rolling pin, then roll out each ball until it is super thin and you can see through it (try and keep the shape roughly circular). Choose three base pieces and space them out flat on a board. In the centre of each make a little nest of ~ 1 1/2 tbsp turnip mash, with a dent in the middle for the egg to go in. Wet your hands (and anything else you plan to touch the egg yolks with), and carefully transfer one egg yolk into each nest. Gently place the top pieces of rolled-out pasta dough over the egg yolks and press into place carefully, trying to exclude large air bubbles from getting in with the filling. Make a ring around the filling using any remaining egg yolk and/or white and press down firmly all around the circle to close the ravioli. Use the back of a fork to press some more if you want to be really sure of a firm closure. Trim the edges to remove excess pasta (keep the offcuts - you can cook them as random pasta shapes).
Bring a large pan of slightly salted water to the boil. Add the ravioli. Boil for ~3-4 minutes. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon, drain, transfer to plates and eat.
I cooked the offcuts as irregular fettucine. I also made oriecchette (wanted to try making a shape that didn't involve rolling!) with some of the remaining dough to make this into more of a meal: pinch of pieces about the size of a small marble and flatten into discs about 7 mm thick. Put on a clean surface, then roll your thumb across the disc, pressing firmly all the way across. It should roll up into an oriecchette (little ear) shape. These will take a little longer to cook than the ravioli as the pasta is quite thick - perhaps 5-6 min. They can be dried and stored if desired.
The egg yolk ravioli were amazing. The turnip and thyme went beautifully, and I felt like it was nice / important to have something extra to complement the egg yolk taste and also for structure when building the ravioli. Really fun to cut into the ravioli and have the orange yolk gush out. S was excited, and that was my main aim, so I'd call this a success. The mashed turnip was also pretty tasty on its own, and what's more reminded me of S's favourite celeriac pasta sauce, so I mushed it in with the oriecchette and that worked quite well too.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Chickpea bread
I made this beetroot soup the other day and it was just as good as I remembered. Although I used candystriped beetroot because that's what I had and the colour was way off - very drab compared with real beetroot - I prefer the beetroot-coloured kind for almost everything. Anyway, the soup went beautifully with this bread - an interesting loaf with chickpea flour in it I'd bookmarked a while ago and finally got round to making.
50g unsalted butter (used ~35g olive oil)
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for shaping
175g chickpea flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fast-action yeast
300ml warm water
In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter or oil into the flours and salt, then add the yeast and water (I needed to add a couple of tbsp more water). Mix to a smooth dough, and leave for an hour without kneading. Now lightly knead the dough for 10 seconds only, then leave for another 30 minutes. Tip the dough on to a floured worktop and pull the edges into the centre six or seven times, to make a giant Kaiser roll shape. Flour the bowl, then place the dough seam side up in it. Leave to rise for an hour, then heat the oven to 220C/200C fan-assisted/425F/gas mark 7. Transfer the dough onto a floured baking tray(still seam side up). Bake for 20 min, then reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan-assisted/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 25 minutes more. Move to a cooling rack to cool completely before cutting.
This is fairly dense and has a distinct chickpea flavour. In a good way, though. Really excellent with something wet like the soup for dunking it in.
50g unsalted butter (used ~35g olive oil)
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for shaping
175g chickpea flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fast-action yeast
300ml warm water
In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter or oil into the flours and salt, then add the yeast and water (I needed to add a couple of tbsp more water). Mix to a smooth dough, and leave for an hour without kneading. Now lightly knead the dough for 10 seconds only, then leave for another 30 minutes. Tip the dough on to a floured worktop and pull the edges into the centre six or seven times, to make a giant Kaiser roll shape. Flour the bowl, then place the dough seam side up in it. Leave to rise for an hour, then heat the oven to 220C/200C fan-assisted/425F/gas mark 7. Transfer the dough onto a floured baking tray(still seam side up). Bake for 20 min, then reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan-assisted/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 25 minutes more. Move to a cooling rack to cool completely before cutting.
This is fairly dense and has a distinct chickpea flavour. In a good way, though. Really excellent with something wet like the soup for dunking it in.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Chickpea flour pancake-pizza
Another very weird 24 hours: was woodturning late last night, finishing off my first bowl (!). When I left to bike home around 0045, I got to the JFK bridge and again, endless sirens: all shapes and sizes of cop cars whizzing along Mem Drive towards Watertown, and a cop boat in the river too. I eventually got across the road only to nearly get run down by another two cop cars coming over the bridge on the wrong side of the road, then cycled the rest of the way home dreading what I was going to see on the news when I got there.
Woke up this morning, bleary-eyed but ready to head to work, checked the news, and found the city was on lockdown: everyone in the city ordered to 'Shelter at Home' while the police conduct a manhunt (for a bombing / shooting suspect) in Watertown. All day we've been in a kind of limbo, reading news constantly while a warm, sunny Spring day passed by outside. I snacked fitfully and nervously all day, then by evening felt like I needed something real to eat...
I'd been meaning to try this recipe idea for a while. It's basically socca, simplified and restyled as a pizza.
For the base:
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt+pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
For the onions:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium-large onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp vinegary red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (basil, sage, rosemary, oregano)
salt+pepper
1 tsp honey
Other toppings:
8 salty, dry, black olives, de-stoned and chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped basil
2 pieces of dry 5-spice tofu, shredded
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
Heat the oven to 450F and put a large, flat, cast iron pan in it to heat as well.
Whisk the base ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the olive oil for the onions in a medium frying pan with a lid, then add the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until well softened. Uncover, add the red wine, vinegar, dried herbs, salt and pepper and cook for a bit longer, until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the honey (or sugar) and cook for a minute or so longer, then set aside.
Take the cast iron pan out of the oven (careful, it will be very hot and heavy) and spread the chickpea mixture across it quickly and evenly. Put back in the oven for 5-10 min. Then take out again (the chickpea mixture should be cooked to make a crust), and spread the onion mixture across it. Sprinkle the other topping ingredients across the top: shredded dry tofu, chopped basil and olives, and sesame seeds. Put in the oven for another 5-10 min, until the tofu and seeds are lightly browned.
This was interesting: I liked the chickpea base but it came out quite thin, more like a pancake. Perhaps double the quantity another time? And / or try increasing the relative quantity of chickpea flour in the mix?
Woke up this morning, bleary-eyed but ready to head to work, checked the news, and found the city was on lockdown: everyone in the city ordered to 'Shelter at Home' while the police conduct a manhunt (for a bombing / shooting suspect) in Watertown. All day we've been in a kind of limbo, reading news constantly while a warm, sunny Spring day passed by outside. I snacked fitfully and nervously all day, then by evening felt like I needed something real to eat...
I'd been meaning to try this recipe idea for a while. It's basically socca, simplified and restyled as a pizza.
For the base:
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt+pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
For the onions:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium-large onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp vinegary red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (basil, sage, rosemary, oregano)
salt+pepper
1 tsp honey
Other toppings:
8 salty, dry, black olives, de-stoned and chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped basil
2 pieces of dry 5-spice tofu, shredded
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
Heat the oven to 450F and put a large, flat, cast iron pan in it to heat as well.
Whisk the base ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the olive oil for the onions in a medium frying pan with a lid, then add the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until well softened. Uncover, add the red wine, vinegar, dried herbs, salt and pepper and cook for a bit longer, until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Add the honey (or sugar) and cook for a minute or so longer, then set aside.
Take the cast iron pan out of the oven (careful, it will be very hot and heavy) and spread the chickpea mixture across it quickly and evenly. Put back in the oven for 5-10 min. Then take out again (the chickpea mixture should be cooked to make a crust), and spread the onion mixture across it. Sprinkle the other topping ingredients across the top: shredded dry tofu, chopped basil and olives, and sesame seeds. Put in the oven for another 5-10 min, until the tofu and seeds are lightly browned.
This was interesting: I liked the chickpea base but it came out quite thin, more like a pancake. Perhaps double the quantity another time? And / or try increasing the relative quantity of chickpea flour in the mix?
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Buckwheat-coconut-blueberry pancakes
This is another experiment with buckwheat: buckwheat flour crepes are obviously a classic, but I got into the idea of a thick, lumpy pancake full of whole buckwheat groats and other exciting, tasty bits and pieces.
(makes 5-6 medium size, thick pancakes)
1 banana, mashed with a fork
2 tsp coconut oil
3 tbsp plain flour*
3 tbsp wholewheat flour*
1 1/2 tbsp chickpea (gram) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cooked buckwheat groats
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
coconut oil for cooking
maple syrup to serve
Mash the banana and coconut oil together in a bowl with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients except the blueberries and mix together until well combined, adding a little more or less water until you get a good (American-style) pancake consistency (ie fairly thick). Add the blueberries, mix lightly and let sit for 5 min.
Heat some (~1 tsp) coconut oil in a frying pan. Add a big spoonful of pancake batter and spread it out to make a ~8mm thick pancake about 10cm across. Cook on the first side until it starts to look done at the edges, lift the edge to check it is brown underneath, then flip and cook on the other side until browned. Serve with maple syrup on the side.
I really liked these, and they went down well with S too: the buckwheat / coconut / cinnamon / blueberry go great together, and the texture is really sound (quite a dense kind of a pancake, but with so much texture that's fine). You only need a little maple syrup, but it really brings it all together.
*I like the idea of making these gluten free by subbing the plain and wholewheat flours with GF oat flour - I didn't feel like grinding the oat flour, otherwise I would have made them that way.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sesame star mince pies (gluten-free)
(these quantities make 12, when bases cut using Coke glass and baked in regular-sized bun tin)
50g ground almonds
60g cooked chickpeas, mashed to a stiff paste
100g gluten-free plain flour (or 50g gram flour, 50g rice flour)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
40g margarine (or cold-pressed plain sesame or safflower oil)
water, to bind
1 400g jar of mincemeat
Combine seeds, ground almonds, flour and ground chickpeas. Rub in fat and mix with a fork. Add a little water to combine. Rest in the fridge 30min.
Heat oven to 400F / 200C. Roll out the pastry to about 2 mm thick and cut into rounds for pie bases (deep fill used tall plastic measure beaker / normal size used Coke glass). Put bases into bun / muffin tin. Fill with mincemeat or a mixture of mincemeat and cooked apple. Cut out stars (I freehanded) and put them on the tops. Bake for 20-35 min, til lightly browned and crisp. Leave to cool before trying to remove from trays.
The mincemeat I made 2 years ago was still in good nick, so that's what I used for these. I did see mincemeat in Stop n Shop the other day though, for future reference. The pastry was perhaps relatively brittle due to the use of GF flours, but it rolled out OK. I'm wondering if the gram flour was a mistake: it does have quite a pungent taste. Truth will be in the eating - they are cooling right now.
They are good! The pastry is nice and crunchy and robust, and delicious in combination with the mincemeat. The gram taste has baked out. The pastry isn't like regular mince pie pastry, but I think it's better.
Only thing is, the combo of the GF pastry (which cracks quite easily) and the runnier than normal mincemeat (because I used booze instead of fat to preserve it) means the liquid has seeped through the bottoms of a few of the pies and they were kind of welded onto the pans... still came off, but a couple lost a small part of the base. I guess I could have taken more care cutting them out and getting them into the tins...
Note: these freeze (baked) very well: can basically eat them straight from the freezer.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Socca / farinata
A recipe I'd cut out of the Guardian a few years ago but never got around to making... Was flicking through my recipe folder and noticed it, partly as I just bought some chickpea flour and partly as I'd just noted down another, different recipe for socca (I think from the NY Times). I went with the Guardian version, mainly because the cooking method of the other involved an ovenproof frying pan which I don't have...
Guardian recipe
Serves four.
300g cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and ground black pepper
Olive oil
800g white onions, peeled and cut into rings
2 tbsp picked thyme leaves
½ tsp white-wine vinegar
200g chickpea flour (aka gram flour)
450ml water
Crème fraîche to serve
Preheat the oven to 130C/250F/gas mark ½. Spread the tomatoes, cut side up, over a small baking tray, sprinkle over some salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil, and bake for 25 minutes - they are not supposed to dry out completely, just semi-cook.
Next, heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and thyme, season and sauté, stirring all the while, over a high heat for about a minute. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking the onions for another 20 minutes, stirring them occasionally. You want them soft, sweet and golden brown, but not very dark. At the end, stir in the vinegar, taste and adjust the seasoning.
Increase the oven temperature to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. In a bowl, use a hand whisk to mix together the chickpea flour, water, one and a half tablespoons of olive oil, half a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. The batter should be totally smooth. Line two oven trays with greaseproof paper, brush this with a little oil and set aside. Take a small nonstick frying pan, roughly 14cm in diameter at its base, and brush very lightly with oil. Place the pan over a high heat for a couple of minutes, then reduce to medium-high and pour in a quarter of the socca batter - it should be about 0.5cm thick. After two minutes or so, air bubbles will appear as it sets. Use a palette knife to release the pancake's edges from the pan, then carefully lift and turn over. Cook for two more minutes, then transfer to the lined oven tray. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Put the pancakes in the warm oven for eight minutes, then remove and set aside until ready to serve.
Spread the pancakes with plenty of onion - they need to be covered all over - then top with tomato halves and return to the oven to heat up, for about seven minutes or so. Serve warm with crème fraîche on the side.
It was good, like an oniony, vegan pizza / pissaladiere. Lots of potential for varying the topping etc. Also, the chickpea pancake for some reason reminded me of egg - was a bit like an omelette. This could be the basis of some vegan pseudo-omelette experimentation...
NY Times recipe
Time: 45 minutes
1 cup chickpea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon, at least, ground black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion, thinly sliced, optional
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, optional.
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a well-seasoned or nonstick 12-inch pizza pan or cast-iron skillet in oven. Sift chickpea flour into a bowl; add salt and pepper; then slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover, and let sit while oven heats, or as long as 12 hours. Batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream.
2. If using onion and rosemary, stir them into batter. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into heated pan, and swirl to cover pan evenly. Pour in batter, and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until pancake is firm and edges set. Heat broiler, and brush top of socca with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil if it looks dry.
3. Set socca a few inches away from broiler for a few minutes, just long enough to brown it spottily. Cut it into wedges, and serve hot, or at least warm.
Guardian recipe
Serves four.
300g cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and ground black pepper
Olive oil
800g white onions, peeled and cut into rings
2 tbsp picked thyme leaves
½ tsp white-wine vinegar
200g chickpea flour (aka gram flour)
450ml water
Crème fraîche to serve
Preheat the oven to 130C/250F/gas mark ½. Spread the tomatoes, cut side up, over a small baking tray, sprinkle over some salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil, and bake for 25 minutes - they are not supposed to dry out completely, just semi-cook.
Next, heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and thyme, season and sauté, stirring all the while, over a high heat for about a minute. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking the onions for another 20 minutes, stirring them occasionally. You want them soft, sweet and golden brown, but not very dark. At the end, stir in the vinegar, taste and adjust the seasoning.
Increase the oven temperature to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. In a bowl, use a hand whisk to mix together the chickpea flour, water, one and a half tablespoons of olive oil, half a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. The batter should be totally smooth. Line two oven trays with greaseproof paper, brush this with a little oil and set aside. Take a small nonstick frying pan, roughly 14cm in diameter at its base, and brush very lightly with oil. Place the pan over a high heat for a couple of minutes, then reduce to medium-high and pour in a quarter of the socca batter - it should be about 0.5cm thick. After two minutes or so, air bubbles will appear as it sets. Use a palette knife to release the pancake's edges from the pan, then carefully lift and turn over. Cook for two more minutes, then transfer to the lined oven tray. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Put the pancakes in the warm oven for eight minutes, then remove and set aside until ready to serve.
Spread the pancakes with plenty of onion - they need to be covered all over - then top with tomato halves and return to the oven to heat up, for about seven minutes or so. Serve warm with crème fraîche on the side.
It was good, like an oniony, vegan pizza / pissaladiere. Lots of potential for varying the topping etc. Also, the chickpea pancake for some reason reminded me of egg - was a bit like an omelette. This could be the basis of some vegan pseudo-omelette experimentation...
NY Times recipe
Time: 45 minutes
1 cup chickpea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon, at least, ground black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion, thinly sliced, optional
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, optional.
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a well-seasoned or nonstick 12-inch pizza pan or cast-iron skillet in oven. Sift chickpea flour into a bowl; add salt and pepper; then slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover, and let sit while oven heats, or as long as 12 hours. Batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream.
2. If using onion and rosemary, stir them into batter. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into heated pan, and swirl to cover pan evenly. Pour in batter, and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until pancake is firm and edges set. Heat broiler, and brush top of socca with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil if it looks dry.
3. Set socca a few inches away from broiler for a few minutes, just long enough to brown it spottily. Cut it into wedges, and serve hot, or at least warm.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Peanut butter and flax seed cookies (vegan and gluten-free)
Based on this recipe - added more flax seed and made them gluten free. These were to take to another garden work day - lots of the garden people seem to eat GF.
1 3/4 cups gram flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground flax seed
1 1/4 cup brown sugar (or a mixture of brown and white)
2/3 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy - I had smooth so used that)
1/2 cup fake butter
3 tbsp fake milk
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tbsp whole golden flax seed
Put flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and mix with a fork. In a separate, large bowl beat together the sugar, butter and peanut butter. In a small bowl, mix together the flax powder, fake milk and vanilla essence. Add the milk mix to the beaten peanut butter mix and beat. Then add the flour mix and whole flax seeds and mix until well combined. Separate out the dough into walnut-sized pieces and roll and flatten into flattened balls. Put on a greased baking sheet (well spaced out) and bake at 375F for 10min. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little on the sheet and then lift off with a flat knife and cool.
Quite decadent, nice combination of sweet / salty / savoury. They didn't seem to lose anything by being GF
1 3/4 cups gram flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground flax seed
1 1/4 cup brown sugar (or a mixture of brown and white)
2/3 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy - I had smooth so used that)
1/2 cup fake butter
3 tbsp fake milk
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tbsp whole golden flax seed
Put flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and mix with a fork. In a separate, large bowl beat together the sugar, butter and peanut butter. In a small bowl, mix together the flax powder, fake milk and vanilla essence. Add the milk mix to the beaten peanut butter mix and beat. Then add the flour mix and whole flax seeds and mix until well combined. Separate out the dough into walnut-sized pieces and roll and flatten into flattened balls. Put on a greased baking sheet (well spaced out) and bake at 375F for 10min. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little on the sheet and then lift off with a flat knife and cool.
Quite decadent, nice combination of sweet / salty / savoury. They didn't seem to lose anything by being GF
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Pancake Day! Dosa and normal pancakes
I love pancake day - one of my favourite annual foodfests... I had eggless pancakes in India so was pretty confident they'd work out... And seem to be in the mood for Indian food at the moment (perhaps compensating since Jilly is there now). Both these recipes are the result of some Googling: dosa.
Rava dosa
1 cup semolina / rava
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp coriander leaves
few curry leaves (optional)
1/2-1 finely chopped green chilli
salt to taste
water - 3 cups (approx)
veg oil as required
Whisk together all the ingredients (except oil) and leave the batter to stand for half an hour to an hour. It should thicken up a bit as the rava swells.
When ready it should be a good pouring consistency. Heat a frying pan on high until it sizzles when water splashed. Reduce to medium heat. Pour a ladle of well-mixed batter around the outside and then fill in the middle. Pour 1-2 tsp oil in drops around the edge of the dosa. Increase heat to a medium flame and cook for 3min. Increase flame to high and cook for ~2min. Flip and cook another 30sec. Dosa done.
We ate these with dry yellow potatoes. It was super tasty and really tasted like dosa we've eaten out / in India - soooo good!
Pancakes (British style)
(makes about 20)
225ml fake milk
225ml water
6oz / 175ml plain flour
2 tbsp chickpea flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp veg oil
pinch of salt
additional oil for frying
Whisk all the ingredients except the oil for frying together. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and then pour in a ladle of batter, tipping the pan to spread it out thin. Cook for about 3 min on the first side, flip and cook a minute or so on the other side.
They were really good too! We couldn't figure out the point of animal products in pancakes at all... We ate them variously with maple syrup and fresh blueberries, lemon and sugar (classic - can't go a pancake day without one of those), and blueberry jam.
Happy pancake day!
Rava dosa
1 cup semolina / rava
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp coriander leaves
few curry leaves (optional)
1/2-1 finely chopped green chilli
salt to taste
water - 3 cups (approx)
veg oil as required
Whisk together all the ingredients (except oil) and leave the batter to stand for half an hour to an hour. It should thicken up a bit as the rava swells.
When ready it should be a good pouring consistency. Heat a frying pan on high until it sizzles when water splashed. Reduce to medium heat. Pour a ladle of well-mixed batter around the outside and then fill in the middle. Pour 1-2 tsp oil in drops around the edge of the dosa. Increase heat to a medium flame and cook for 3min. Increase flame to high and cook for ~2min. Flip and cook another 30sec. Dosa done.
We ate these with dry yellow potatoes. It was super tasty and really tasted like dosa we've eaten out / in India - soooo good!
Pancakes (British style)
(makes about 20)
225ml fake milk
225ml water
6oz / 175ml plain flour
2 tbsp chickpea flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp veg oil
pinch of salt
additional oil for frying
Whisk all the ingredients except the oil for frying together. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and then pour in a ladle of batter, tipping the pan to spread it out thin. Cook for about 3 min on the first side, flip and cook a minute or so on the other side.
They were really good too! We couldn't figure out the point of animal products in pancakes at all... We ate them variously with maple syrup and fresh blueberries, lemon and sugar (classic - can't go a pancake day without one of those), and blueberry jam.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)