Falafel

It's no surprise that I get pretty excited about falafel. I love chickpeas and I love fried food. Enough said.

I happened by this recipe in the Top Chef Cookbook, which I received as a birthday present. It's a great book (especially if you're a fan of the show) but many of the recipes require what seems like a great deal of skill as well as ingredients that are impossible to find in your everyday grocery store. However, this dish has a very manageable list of ingredients and most of the work is done in the food processor, which is perhaps my favourite appliance.


The falafel came out crunchy on the outside and soft and warm with a pleasing texture on the inside. I wasn't quite expecting them to rise so much when they cooked so I might start with slightly flatter patties of the mixture the next time I make these. Also, they tasted great but could have stood up to a little more seasoning, so feel free to throw in more cumin or salt or pepper if you like. Other than that, this was a delightful and easy dinner that made our apartment smell like fried deliciousness. We toasted some pita bread, filled it up with falafel and topped it off with lettuce, tomatoes and tzatziki (we just mixed plain yoghurt with cucumbers, lemon juice and garlic). Now that it's been a day since we made these, I am happy to report that they heat up super well in the oven! The recipe below easily doubles or halves.

Falafel (from the Top Chef Cookbook)

Ingredients:
2 15oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
oil for frying

Place the chickpeas, parsley, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth.

Add the flour, baking soda and eggs and pulse until combined.

Form the mixture (it's pretty sticky) into 8 balls and let them rest for 15 minutes.

Heat a 1/2 inch of vegetable or peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Test the heat of the oil by throwing a small piece of falafel mixture in, the oil should bubble around it.

When the oil is hot, take each ball of falafel mixture, form it into a patty on a spatula, then slide it off the spatula into the skillet. Cook them for about 4 or 5 minutes per side, flipping once. They should be a deep brown and crunchy.

Eat them in a pita with toppings as we did, or eat them however you want.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

Although it's certainly not the kind of food I grew up with, risotto is definitely comfort food. Warm, creamy, cheesy and filling. Pretty irresistible.

This recipe comes from Giada de Laurentiis, who is my go-to person for Italian food these days. I've made and eaten so many of her recipes, which are always fairly easy but leave you with a wonderful meal. This risotto was no exception. It smelled delicious, was full of mushroomy goodness and the texture of the rice was perfect - tender with a bit of a bite. This dish requires a bit of patience since you have to add the broth and allow the rice to cook in stages, but it's well worth the time. All in all a successful recipe that I'd like to try again.

I used the caps of 16oz of button mushrooms and 8oz of creminis instead of what's listed in the ingredients. I'd like to try this with other varieties of mushrooms too. The peas added brightness but it might be nice to use a vegetable with a little more heft. If you want to add some protein, I'd say try some chicken - cook it separately, then stir it in towards the end.


Mushroom Risotto with Peas (from Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis)

Ingredients
6 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 cups finely chopped onion
10oz white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy, medium-size saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and chop finely. Keep the broth warm over low heat.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the rice, add the wine and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup of hot broth and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Repeat this step until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy (taste it before adding each cup of broth!)

Stir in the peas and the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Soup with Zing

I love soup. A big warm bowl of really good soup can sometimes make the most satisfying meal. Unfortunately, in my experience, even the simplest soups have subtleties to them that make them pretty hard to get just right. I'm certainly not going to stop trying though!

This recipe comes from Barbara Kafka's Roasting: A Simple Art but there is no roasting involved here. I actually haven't made any of the roasting recipes from the book as they all require cranking the oven to 500 degrees F, which just scares me. One of these days, I'll work up the nerve to do it (and buy a roasting pan) but until then, back to the soup.

There aren't a whole lot of ingredients involved here and most of them are for flavour as opposed to forming a substantial part of the dish. This isn't one of those thick, creamy soups that's chock-full of proteins and vegetables and what-have-you. It's light but very tasty and the chicken adds some heartiness to make it into more of a meal.


The soup came out wonderfully! There was a really nice balance of flavours and you could taste all the ingredients, which I love. The ginger and jalapeno gave a really nice warmth, the garlic and scallions added nice flavour and the cilantro gave it some freshness. Now, I'm not very comfortable using lemons in savoury dishes. Every time I've done it, I just don't use the right amount or I don't use it in the right way and it throws something off. I'm happy to say that the lemon juice worked really well in this, lending a nice sour note.

If you're worried about buying a whole bunch of cilantro which seems impossible to use up, fear not and skip on down to Heather's post on cilantro pesto below! As a final note, I can see this dish being easily made vegetarian, with vegetable broth and tofu substituted for the chicken. I'll have to try it some time (or you should feel free to try it out and let us know how it goes!)

Chicken Soup with Zing (from Roasting: A Simple Art by Barbara Kafka)

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth (store-bought or home-made if you're fancy)
1/2 cup water
2 thin slices fresh ginger
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed and chopped fine
6 fresh mint leaves (I didn't have these and they weren't really missed)
3 scallions, white and green parts cut separately lengthwise into thin slices
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
salt and pepper, to taste

1 to 2 cups cubed cooked chicken: This is suggested as something you can add to give the soup more substance. Bring some chicken broth to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. There should be enough broth to completely submerge a chicken breast. Poach one or two chicken breasts in the simmering broth for about 12 minutes, during which time you can chop up all the other ingredients. When the chicken's done and cool enough to handle, cut it into 1/2- to 1-inch cubes.

Put the chicken broth, water, ginger, garlic and jalapeno in a medium saucepan and cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

Add the mint and scallion whites and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the scallion greens and the chicken and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the lemon juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and warm through.