Oh Pita, That's Nasty

After the highlight of my birthday this past week, the rest of the week may have passed for the dullest in my brief English history. The wife's company was doing a count of their stock -- scheduled hours were 8 to 8 but she was getting home at 9 or later each night -- dusty from the warehouse and dog-tired. And, she worked Saturday, too. The dog and I can only entertain each other for so long before we start getting on each other's nerves. We need our better third to level us out.

The big highlight of my birthday was a new iPod Touch. If you have an iPhone, same thing minus the phone. But, linked into our home wireless network, I am simply in awe of what this thing can do. It's a remote to control my music from anywhere in the house, it keeps me on top of Facebook (oh so important) for the first time, I can make calls over Skype, I can browse the Internet while sitting on a giant, orange toilet, and so on and nonsuch. Niner.

Anyway... we are trying to trim down the bulk in our pantry. I walk in, figure what's been there the longest, and then cook it. This past week, I re-discovered a kilo of dried chickpeas -- you know, garbanzos. One of the stores here had them on a discount shelf months ago. I know about two things that you make with these things: hummus and falafel. We made both. I'd never made falafel before.

It's a simple thing: soak the beans for at least a day. Throw them in a food processor with herbs and spice. I toasted and added cumin the wife bought at the Bazaar in Turkey, both coriander seed and coriander leaf, fresh parsley, a healthy dose of cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt. Also into this mix goes a bit of baking powder -- to lighten up the texture. Just before frying, added finely chopped onions, garlic, and (just to use them up), a couple of shallots. Form meatball sized balls or patties, deep-fry a couple of minutes. Done. It might have beginner's luck but the results were really, really good.

We stuffed them in crappy English pitas with fresh hummus, cukes, tomatoes, some spicy greens (watercress with parsley and cilantro), and a yogurt sauce made with dill. I topped mine with some Indian lime pickle (just to use it up) and some extra cayenne. Fantastic. I stuffed my self. And if you are following along at home, a kilo of chickpeas makes a helluva lot of falafel. I'll be happily eating these things all week.

Til then -- the big news this week is Thursday's trip to Prague -- land of lasting architecture and beer...Cheers!




Did I hear a "niner" in there? - Richard in the movie Tommy Boy, 1995