My kitchen is a mess, but this was worth it

Occasionally, I toy with the idea of retiring to Spain, but with the 8.5-month stretch of unemployment I had in 2022-2023, those plans are quite far in the future.

Not that I need an excuse, but it's a good one to explore the cuisine. I may have mentioned I found Spain on a Fork via a Facebook group for Americans in Valencia. I was looking for appetizers for a pasta dish with chorizo I plan to serve my favorite guinea pig and I came across chick pea fritters. To my endless delight, this is another recipe where I already had everything in the pantry.  Let's get to it:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 60 ml
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour 60 grams
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup beer 120 ml
• 1 shallot
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 8 grams
• 1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika 1.25 grams
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1.50 grams
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 15.5 oz / 440 grams
• sea salt & black pepper

FOR THE AIOLI

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp saffron threads
• 1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise 120 grams
• 1 tsp lemon juice 5 ml (I recommend a bit more)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 15 ml
• sea salt & black pepper

Instructions

Add the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the middle, crack in the egg and whisk the egg, then add in the beer and whisk everything together until you a creamy batter

Add in the shallot finely chopped, finely grate in the garlic, add in the chopped parsley, sweet smoked Spanish paprika, ground cumin and season with sea salt & black pepper, mix together until well mixed

Drain the can of chickpeas into a colander and rinse under water, then shake off any excess water, (I tossed them with a paper towel as well) transfer the chickpeas into a bowl and using a potato masher or large fork, mash down on the chickpeas until they're semi-mashed. (I recommend the fork if your masher doesn't have a lot of surface area)

Add the mashed chickpeas into the bowl with batter and mix together

Heat a large fry pan with a medium heat and add in the olive oil

After a couple of minutes start adding in spoonfuls of the batter, all in a single layer and evenly spaced out, cook in batches, fry for 3 minutes per side or until golden fried, transfer into a dish with paper towels as you finish. 

I took a touch longer to get them fully crispy on both sides, but no more than a minute each.

To make the aioli, add in the cloves garlic roughly chopped into a mortar, along with the saffron and a pinch of sea salt, using a pestle pound down on the ingredients until you get a paste-like texture, then add in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and season with a kiss of sea salt & black pepper, whisk together until you get a creamy sauce

I found there to be way too much aioli and I am not sure what to do with the rest of it. I'll figure something out.

Transfer the aioli into a serving dish and decorate the fritters around it, serve warm or at room temperature, enjoy!

Studio Living With Brine or Kate Cooks Vegetarian

I'm dedicating this post to my aunt, Barbara. She has been incredibly supportive of Knives, Fire, and Fun and of my cooking adventures in general. Barbara, I think you'll enjoy this, if only for its flexibility.

One of my favorite easy dinners is wine and cheese with some bread and some kind of produce. Sometimes it's fruit, other times it's a marinated vegetable like mushrooms, artichoke hearts, or peppadew peppers.

Or olives (yes, I know that's a fruit). My favorite nibbles are a Greek mix and they go well with many cheeses, or simply bread with a little oil or butter.

The grocery store across the street recently started selling pasta made from chick peas, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's not bad. The texture will never be like semolina (you need gluten for that), but there is some tapioca in it, so there is some of the chewiness that's essential to the mouthfeel.

For some reason, my brain wanted Mediterranean flavors, so this is what I came up with for two main dish servings or four sides:

• 1 8 ounce package of chick pea pasta
• 1/2 Cup of mixed Greek olives, drained, rinsed, finely chopped or run through a blender or food processor 
• 12-15 peppadew peppers, as above
• 4 ounches of  feta cheese, crumbled
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil 
• 3 tablespoons oregano
• Black pepper to taste

Boil water for the pasta and salt it generously. When you're cooking chick pea pasta, you need a little more than you would for semolina pasta. You're also going to get some foam. Don't worry, you'll be rinsing it off in a bit. The rotini I used said 7-9 minutes. I started tasting at 7 and drained it at just barely 9. Rinse well, return to the pot. Stir in your olive oil, the oregano, and your vegetables, mixing until everything is evenly distributed to your eyes. I served mine in a bowl, but it would look very pretty on a plate especially on a bed of spinach.

This is tasty warm or cold and lends itself to many variations. Make it with semolina pasta. Use chick peas themselves. Switch out peppers and add sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts. Eliminate the cheese and make it vegan, still getting plenty of protein. If you insist on meat, throw in a chicken breast and my best assumption would be to increase the vegetables by at least 50%.

If you have ideas or variations, please comment!