Falafel is surprisingly easy

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or quick soak), drained and rinsed
3 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Heat about 1/2 inch safflower or sunflower oil on medium heat in an enameled cast iron pan.

Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor.  Pulse for about 30 seconds.  Add the herbs, paprika, garlic, onion, jalapeño and salt.  Process, scraping down the bowl as needed, until it's a smooth paste, about 2 minutes, mixing in the dissolved baking soda just before frying.

 
Form about 2 tablespoons of mixture into balls, slightly flatten, and drop into the hot oil in batches (however many comfortably fit).  Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, flip and cook another minute, until golden brown. Transfer to a towel-lined plate to drain.

Makes 12 small patties, 3-4 servings.

Serve with tahini sauce, thin sliced red onion, kalamata olives, chopped cucumber and tomato with lemon and sea salt, on homemade pita. 

Based on a recipe from the Food Network with input from my Israeli mother-from-another-brother (and sister).

sticky toffee pudding

For the cakes:
112 g medjool dates, pitted and diced
87 g boiling water or other liquid
½ tsp vanilla
109 g flour, plus extra for greasing
¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
42 g salted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
70 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp golden syrup
52 g milk

In a small bowl, pour hot liquid over diced dates.  Let cool for 30 minutes, then mash with fork and add vanilla.

Butter and flour 8 cupcake tins.  Heat convection oven to 350.

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and powder together. In separate bowl, beat egg.

In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg a little at a time, beating well between additions.  Beat in molasses and syrup.  Gently fold in one-third of the flour mix, then half the milk, repeating until all the flour and milk are just incorporated.  Stir the soaked dates and liquid.  Spoon batter evenly between the 8 tins and bake for 14 minutes...

For the sauce:
187 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
25 g butter, cut into pieces
116 g heavy cream
½ tsp molasses
1 tsp golden syrup

Heat sugar and butter in a medium saucepan with half the cream.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved.  Stir in molasses and syrup, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.

Remove the puddings from the oven.  Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out.

Serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce.  To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.  Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them.  Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).  When ready to serve, heat oven to 350.  Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling.  Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Based on Angela Nilsen's recipe

Caramelized onion dip

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 T olive oil

½ t salt

3 sprigs thyme

½ t granulated garlic

a little less than ½ t white pepper

½ t Worcestershire sauce

2 cups sour cream

In large pan on medium-low heat, caramelize onion in oil with salt, adding thyme about half-way through the process. Let cool.

Mix all ingredients together at least a day before serving

English brown sauce

1/8 red onion, chopped

1 smallish apple, peeled and chopped

2 oz prunes

3 caramelized garlic cloves

a bit of apple juice (or water or other liquid) to cover to stew above ingredients on low in a small sauce pan, covered, until soft. 

Blend up with:

3 fl oz vinegar

¾ tsp Worcestershire

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

pinch cayenne

1 tsp salt

6 Tbsp sugar

makes 1 1/2 cups

Candied Ginger Scones

This recipe is based on The Great British Bake Off, my favorite show.  I love working with the precise metric measurements. I make these for holidays of the Wheel of the Year, served with whatever my latest jam is.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams of whole wheat pastry flour 

120ish grams of spelt flour

50 grams evaporated cane sugar
50 grams butter, chilled and diced
1 backyard chicken egg
97 grams buttermilk, (or milk with 2 tablespoons of yogurt) plus more (or other milk) for brushing

115 grams crystallized ginger, rough chopped

1/2 tablespoon sugar-in-the-raw or other sugar with large crystals

Preheat the convection oven to 392°F (425°F in a conventional oven).  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a scale, tare a medium mixing bowl and add salt, baking powder, and whole wheat pastry four.  Add spelt flour to reach 250 grams total.  Add sugar and mix until well combined. Add the pieces of butter to the bowl and toss them in the flour just to separate and coat them. Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers, lifting your hands up above the rim of the bowl so the crumbs and flakes of the mixture fall through your fingers back into the bowl. Rub until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.

In a measuring cup, beat the egg with the buttermilk. Pour into the crumb mixture and lightly work with hands (adding ginger towards the end) just until it forms a soft, shaggy dough (don’t overwork).

Press the dough into a disc, picking up any extra floury bits, about 3cm thick. Cut the disc into 8 wedges.  Gently move scones on the baking sheet so there is space between them.

Brush them with milk, sprinkle with sugar-in-the-raw, and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a rich golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Eat warm from the oven with jam and butter, or better yet, clotted cream.

For mini scones: gently separate each of the 8 wedges in half and shape into 16 rounds.  Bake for about 10 minutes.

Strawberry Rose Petal Preserves

The local Foodshed had an amazing sale on strawberries.  The recent heat wave caused the strawberry fields to smell like jam, which is heavenly but means it's the last of the strawberries.  So it's time to jam.

I wanted to add an additional flavor; looking at what was available in my yard, I thought roses would go beautifully with strawberries.  I picked a bunch of 'purple splash' rose petals and a Meyer lemon from the garden.  I use Pomona universal pectin, mostly because that's what's available at the co-op, but also because it allows me to use less sugar than some recipes.

flower rainbow for pride month;
that's a 'purple splash' rose on the upper left corner.

1.25-1.5 cups evaporate can sugar, organic, fair trade

3 teaspoons pectin

5 cups strawberries (1.5-2 pounds), sliced thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons calcium water (from the pectin packet)

2 cups rose petals, tightly packed

Place a small plate in the freezer. If canning, prep all your tools and equipment, and start boiling water for processing.  Make the calcium water.

In a small bowl, add sugar.  Sprinkle with pectin and stir well. Send aside.

Put a large cast iron enameled pot on high heat.  Add the sliced strawberries. lemon juice, and calcium water.  Bring to a boil, stirring.  Sprinkle in the sugar mix and stir vigorously to dissolve sugar while bringing it back to a boil.  Stir in the rose petals and boil for 5 minutes. Test to see if the jam is set by putting a teaspoonful of liquid jam onto the frozen plate.  Allow plate to cool for 2 minutes in the fridge.  If the jam gels, it's ready.  If not, test every 2 minutes.  When it's done, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

If canning, fill jars leaving a half-inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4.5 cups.  I made three batches, which made 13 cup jars—the perfect fit in my canning pot.

Artichoke and Fava Bean Pilaf

The artichokes are growing high and beautiful in my yard this spring.  They are all volunteers and there is a plethora of them at this point.  I actually started weeding them down this year because they are so prolific.  So now that I have so many artichoke plants, I try to pick them on the young side and pare them down to the heart when I cook.  I don't have to be stingy with them.

I didn't grow favas this year as a cover crop.  They can be such a pain to harvest.  But a pint basket is a small amount to deal with.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced very thin
sea salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 sprigs thyme
1 cup wild rice blend
2 cups vegetable broth
freshly ground black pepper
1 pint basket of young-ish fava beans from African Sisters at the farmers market
6-7 medium-ish backyard artichokes
a backyard lemon

In a large skillet on medium-low heat, add olive oil, onion, and a sprinkling of salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and begins to caramelize.  Add garlic and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.  Add rice and broth, and a few grinds of pepper, bring to a boil, then simmer, covered until almost cooked through, about an hour.

While the rice is cooking, remove beans from their pods, then remove the skin from the beans and set beans aside.  Pare the artichokes down to almost just the heart, leaving a bit of the tender leaves and stem, removing all green color.  Cut in half and remove the choke.  Quarter and place in water with lemon juice.

When the rice is close to done, remove artichoke pieces from the acidulated water and add to pan.  Add peeled beans, cover, and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Stir in about a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest and remove thyme sprigs before serving.

3-4 servings