No, not altogether. That would be gross. Maybe.
I'm finally back in the kitchen and I need to cook. Cooking gives me a welcome break from life. And life is coming at me, also it's time to cook. And write. For all of my many followers. I know you all couldn't live with out my opinions.................
The garbanzo bean. The beige object in the standard Italian salad bar. That's where I first tried mine, many years ago. Drenched in dressing, it tasted, well, like nothing. That's good if you are a kid.
So after the kids and I went gluten-free, I noticed that garbanzo bean flour was in a lot of things. I bought a bag and set out to cook my own cookies, bread etc., based on seeing this flour everywhere. Boy was I ever disgusted. How could a little bean that tasted like nothing turn into a flour that tasted like, ugh. This year though, I changed my mind about that little flour after trying some comfort food called farinata from Italy. It was fabulous. But that's for another post........
Back to beans. My daughter loves hummus, and eats garbanzo beans out of a bowl like they were candy. I started her eating them at about 1 year old. As long as the hulls were off, she ate them up. So, tired of buying canned beans, I decided to brave a recipe in this book and make my own. I have read that there are many ways to soak beans, and I use the boil-for-two-minutes-and-soak-for-2-hours-method. So, after washing and sorting I stuck in my biggest stock pot and boiled them for two minutes. Soaked them for 2 plus hours, and changed the water before cooking. Turned the stove on and let them cook.
I LOVE these recipes.
So, 5 short hours later (they are notoriously hard to get tender) I added a little salt and finished them. OK, time to try them. I reached into the pot and tried a few beans. But wait, there was something else........a golden elixir just waiting for me, simmering gently.
OK, seriously?
Really.
I had never tasted a bean broth before that I liked. Until now. I just sat there and kept slurping. Too much information? Maybe. But I used up every bit of that wonderful broth in soup for the next 4 days. I even fashioned meatless menudo from it. Never had or heard of menudo? Well, that's another post. Even my daughter got on board and enjoyed the broth. It was fantastic. It had a slight taste, but not as strong as garbanzo beans themselves, or as strong as vegetable broth. What a wonderful base. There were beans too, and they tasted 100% better than any canned beans I had ever had. Fresh, fresh, fresh.
Oh yeah, and I baked a cauliflower too.........and made caramel. Wait, you don't want me to go on about the broth?
Fine, I baked a cauliflower. I know, it goes against all the cauliflower I have ever eaten that was thoughtlessly tossed in soup, or haphazardly put on a relish tray. Baked? Yes, a whole head of cauliflower, drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper, baked. that's it. So very simple. So very tasty. It had a different texture than boiled cauliflower (duh Susi!) but it was nice to actually TASTE the vegetable instead of it soaking up whatever flavors were in the dish you put it into. It was more tough, and that's a good thing, than other methods of cooking. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar after cooking, it was divine to eat. It didn't last long. Hmmm.... if I put in the bean broth...............
And of course, I had to try making the carmel/caramel recipe. Which way is the correct spelling? Who cares, it's candy. This recipe was made without a candy thermometer, and with only 5 ingrediants. Butter, honey, sugar, 1/2 and 1/2, and whole milk. Put them in a pan and boil them until thick and golden brown. Drop a bit in some ice water, and if it makes a caramel consistency ball, then it's done.Pour into a pan and cool. Cool? No. I don't think so. I ate it off the spoon from the pan. Then I sprinkled chocolate chips on half the pan, and cooled it. The half with the chips formed the most amazing sugar crust on top. Like a creme brulee, but without the torch. I know, food dork. But I ate caramel for breakfast every morning, and even threw some of it in my hot coffee. Happy food dork. Very happy.
Next up, Garlic Carrots and a BBQ Farinata Tower.
No comments:
Post a Comment