Baked Falafel

I have been on a Mediterranean kick lately. My mom brought me a used copy of a cookbook called, A Taste of the Mediterranean: Vegetarian Style, by Mary Salloum. I'm sure she picked it up at a garage sale or a used book store but I am ever so grateful that she picked it up!

It is full of great recipes featuring foods from Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Morrocco, Spain and Turkey. I know, that is alot of ground to cover in one cookbook, but so far I have only really delved into Lebanon and Turkey and I am impressed!

Flipping through the pages, my fingers stopped on the recipe for falafel. Hmm...I have tried several recipes for falafel but with little success. They never turn out great. In fact, I would trade a dry packaged mix for my previous ventures in a heartbeat.

This recipe had me intrigued, it used raw chickpeas, soaked over night, and then they were processed with onion, garlic and- potato! Very unlike the unsuccessful canned chickpea concoctions I had tried in the past. This new recipe got me excited. But then I remembered how much I hate deep frying stuff. I hate dealing with a mass of oil, splatters and the slow process of cooking a few at a time. Pain in the you-know-what.

Anyways, I decided I would attempt these falafels and then I would also try baking them. I adapted the recipe to make a firmer patty that would hold up well to baking and added some parsley for colour and flavour. The results were impressive.

The kids whipped up the tzatziki, combining yogurt, grated cucumbers, garlic, lemon, dill and salt. And everyone in the family got in on the pita-building buffet we had going on. It was fun and delish!

Mom, whatever you paid for that cookbook, it was worth every penny! Thanks!

Baked Falafel
Makes 2-3 dozen depending on the size.
This recipe makes quite a quantity, so either halve the recipe or stick half in the freezer to heat up for a last-minute dinner idea as I do.

You should start soaking the chickpeas the night before you plan on making these. Make sure that the chickpeas are quite dry after draining, otherwise you will need quite a bit of flour to make them hold together. If they are quite dry, you may be able to get by with no flour at all, especially if you want to fry them.

2 cups dry chickpeas
1 small onion, cut in quarters
1 small potato, peeled and cut in quarters
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
up to 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) whole wheat flour
up to 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) corn flour, or more whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
olive or grapeseed oil

Eating now darker than freezing for later

1. Soak chickpeas for approximately 24 hours in 4 times as much water as beans. Drain.
2. In a food processor, place onion, potato and garlic and give it a little whirl. Add chickpeas and process until finely chopped. Remove to bowl and add spices and flour, starting with a few tablespoons and increasing until the mixture begins to hold together. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let stand for 2-3 hours.
3. Just before baking, add baking soda and mix thoroughly. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Add a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush a tablespoon or two of oil on it. Place in oven for 3 minutes to heat pan.
4. For small falafel, take approximately 2 tbsp falafel mix and shape into a ball, flatten lightly. Repeat with remaining mix and place on hot-from-oven baking sheet.
5. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes each side, or fry if desired. Bake them for less time if you intend to freeze and reheat them later, longer if you intend to serve them immediately.
6. Serve with pita bread, thinly sliced lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, tzatziki or hommous. (Hot sauce if you want!)

Individual Blackberry Cornmeal Cakes

A friend and I went blackberry picking the other evening. And although I adore blackberries, I hate the pain and torture that goes along with the harvest.

It ended up that we got more tart blackberries than we anticipated. Last year, I made blackberry jam that was so tart that it was pucker-worthy. I liked it but no one else did.

So instead of making my usual blackberry jam, I decided that I needed to make something else with this batch of tart berries that would be a little more popular in my house. I remembered making a blackberry cornmeal cake years ago that was good but was a bit too crunchy. I set to correcting that little flaw and created these lovely individual blackberry cornmeal cakes.

They are absolute perfection- crisp, crunchy top with oozing juicy berries inside. The best use of tart blueberries that I have found yet, and worth every scratch and scrape!

Individual Blackberry Cornmeal Cakes
EASY
Makes 6 mini cakes
These are best served warm and can be whipped up in 5 minutes and put in the oven while dinner is served. The only adornment these little lovelies need is a light sprinkling of icing sugar, or leave them naked.

1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
approx. 1 1/2 cups blackberries, rinsed
optional: icing sugar

1. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and then add vanilla.
3. Spoon batter into approximately 6 unbuttered 1/2 cup ramekins or into 6 or more large lined muffin tins. Press blackberries lightly into filling to cover the cakes.
4. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until baked through- check with toothpick. Watch the cakes during the last 5-10 minutes and if they are getting too brown, cover lightly with foil.
5. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Tomatillo Salsa

After trying tomatillo salsa at a local Mexican restaurant, I was in love. I have brought several canned, store-bought varieties but was not impressed with the flavour compared to that of the restaurant's fresh, house-made version.

So when my CSA box recently included tomatillos, I was thrilled to be able to try making my own green tomatillo salsa at home.

If you have never seen them before, they are basically a green tomato with a husk on it that looks very similar to a cape gooseberry, only they aren't soft and sweet like a tomato or cape gooseberry. They are rather firm and seem somewhat bitter until cooked.

I scoured books and websites for recipes but ended up adapting them for what I had on hand and decided not to make it as spicy as some of the recipes suggested. There are lots of recipes out there for using canned tomatillos, but if you get your hands on some fresh tomatillos, do try this!

The results? Delicious, homemade tomatillo salsa that may even be better than the restaurant...

Tomatillo Salsa
I used fresh, pungent garlic from the garden so I used only one clove. Use two cloves if your garlic is medium-sized and from the grocery store. Serve with tortilla chips, enchiladas or burritos. Note: Tomatillos keep well at room temperature or in the fridge for several days to a couple weeks if you don't get around to making this right away!


1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, or about a dozen small to medium-sized fruits
1/4 cup (very small) yellow onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 large clove garlic, or two regular-sized
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 tsp salt, or to taste

pinch sugar

1. Heat broiler in oven. Remove husk from tomatillo and wash in warm water to remove sticky residue. Cut in half across the fruit and place on a baking sheet. Broil for approximately 10-12 minutes or until fruit begins to soften and shows some dark spots on the bottom but do not let it burn. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.

2. In a food processor or blender, pulse the onion, jalapeno and garlic until finely chopped. Add tomatillos with any juice that accumulated on the pan. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt. Pulse a few more times until the mixture is mixed nicely but is not too fine that you can't see the lovely bits of colour. Season with a pinch of sugar if desired and salt to taste.

Basil and Tomato Green Salad

Fragrant basil greeted me as I picked up my CSA box this week. My recent attempts at growing basil have been thwarted by pests and so I am ever so happy to have some of that summery goodness to play with.

Greens are finally shooting up in the garden and so I decided it had to be big-bowl salad night in our house. We tore into the kale, romaine and leafy red lettuce and harvested some lovely tomatoes for this salad.

The basil dressing is adapted from from my well-worn and well-loved Rebar Modern Food Cookbook. (The recipe that they have for bread salad is worth the price of the cookbook alone!)

The combination of basil and tomatoes just can't be beat, but tossed with some lovely greens it becomes a lovely salad-meal.

Basil and Tomato Green Salad

Serve this salad with some garlic crostini on the side. Some bocconcini cheese would be nice too.

mixed lettuce greens (romaine, leaf, kale, chard, etc.)

tomatoes

basil leaves

 Basil Dressing:

1 clove garlic
2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

ground pepper, to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup basil leaves

1. Combine all ingredients in blender or mix with hand blender.

2. Toss desired amount of dressing with salad greens, tomatoes and some extra basil leaves. Refridgerate leftover dressing in sealed container for up to 1 week.

Wendy's Zucchini Pickle

Last year my friend Wendy brought over this amazing jar of zucchini pickles she had made with her mom. I had never had anything like it and I was smitten.

She told me that they were eating it with everything and especially liked it in sandwiches. I agreed that it was a good accompaniment to many dishes but I failed to mention that I had eaten it straight from the jar. At least I used a fork.

Zucchinis don't seem to have as many uses as some vegetables (ahem, fruit) but this recipe really makes it a superstar. You don't have to go to all the trouble of processing it in a hot water bath if you keep it in the fridge and eat it within a month or so. But that shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.

Enjoy it and remember: use a fork!

Wendy's Zucchini Pickle
Makes 1.5 L (or 3- 500 ml jars)
I halved her original recipe and only modified it slightly to use the zucchini and onions I had on hand. Double the recipe if you have lots of zucchini. A mandoline really makes slicing a breeze, if you don't have one, slice the zucchini and onions paper- thin. You can use green or yellow zucchini or a little of both. The yellow is strikingly beautiful.

8 cups thinly sliced zucchini (approximately 2 lbs or 4 medium-sized zucchini)
2 cups thinly sliced onions (approximately 1 lb or 2 medium onions)
1/2 cup kosher salt (non-iodized)
4 cups water
2 1/2 cups regular vinegar (5 %)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tsp ground turmeric

1. Stir together salt and water in a large plastic or non-reactive bowl. Add zucchini and onions and toss to combine thoroughly. Cover with tea towel and let stand for approximately 1-2 hours. Drain and squeeze out most of the water without damaging the zucchini. Do not rinse.
2. In a large saucepan, bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a quick boil. Add zucchini and onions and let simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Pack into hot jars and press down to release air bubbles. Allow 1/2" headspace if you are processing. Refridgerate or process for 10 minutes to keep shelf-stable for up to one year.

Lemony Curd

I distinctly remember having a fluroscent yellow, strikingly sweet, gelatinous substance spread on my toast at grandma's house growing up. The green and gold label is etched in my mind reading, "E.D. Smith". I thought it was pretty neat that grandma put such a cool label on her canned goods.

Tens of years ago and that memory never fades. It wasn't really that delicious, but the time was.

Somehow despite being misled on how lemon curd should really taste and the fact that Grandma Elsie Smith wasn't the face behind "E.D. Smith" (I should have caught on earlier since she didn't have a middle name!), I still have a fondness for lemon curd.

It is hard to find one that suits my taste- it can't be too eggy nor too sweet and it has to be perfectly tart. After mixing up a couple batches for a recent cake I made, I finally found one that suited me just fine.

This curd is excellent as a cake filling (on its own or mixed with frosting or whipped cream), a tart filling, or as is intended- a spread for toast.

Lemon Curd
Makes about 3 cups
This doesn't look thick enough after cooking, but once cooled, it thickens perfectly. Serve chilled. It is very important to use organic lemons especially when using the zest, as pesticides are often concentrated on the outer layers of fruit. Zest the lemons and then juice them!

2 tbsp lemon zest, or more to taste
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 8-10 organic lemons)
1 1/2 cups cane sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter
4 large organic eggs
pinch sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a thick-bottomed saucepan (like enamel cast-iron) or double boiler. Cook, whisking constantly over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat so it continues to bubble over lower heat and thickens slightly. Cook for about 8 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
2. Cover and refridgerate and use within 2 weeks or process in small canning jars in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Processed jars keep for about a year.
Adapted from Put 'em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton.

Japanese Cucumber Salad

This is the easiest salad you could ever make. Two ingredients are all you need- a cucumber and some rice, or ume plum, vinegar. It is super refreshing and goes well with almost any summer meal, from sushi or noodles to grilled veg and chicken.

Simple.

Japanese Cucumber Salad
You can use seasoned or unseasoned rice vinegar or delicious ume plum vinegar for this recipe. If you use seasoned vinegar it has a hint of sweet and salty already added, but if you use plain rice vinegar, you can use a sprinkle of salt and/or sugar if desired.


1 long english cucumber
rice vinegar, or ume plum vinegar, to taste (seasoned or unseasoned)
optional: chopped chives

1. Combine sliced cucumbers and vinegar to taste and let stand for at least half an hour before serving.