Michael Schwartz's Falafel Balls with Tahini Sauce

I've already introduced you to Michael in a previous post. This is the second recipe I've made from his new cookbook. (For more details about the cookbook and Michael's restaurant, go HERE.)

Today I'm all about falafel: the fish and chips of the Mediterranean, the tapas of the Middle East. If Israel has adopted a national food, falafel is it. But despite its strong connection with Israel, falafel actually originates from Egypt and was originally made from fava beans. Its roots can be traced right back to the Christian Copts of Egypt who were forbidden from eating meat during certain holidays and came up with a falafel-like alternative. Lebanese falafel often uses a combination of fava beans and chickpeas, while in Egypt, it is traditional to use just fava beans. I've only eaten falafel made with chickpeas. If you're interested in more history, I found a wonderful article about chickpeas HERE.

History aside, I've got to be absolutely the last blogger to make falafel. I've read about it, eaten it, but for some reason have never made it at home. I have several recipes saved but once I read Michael's cookbook, I decided on his rendition. And I had my share of problems (see Bench Notes) but I am nothing if not determined! And I was finally successful. They were fabulous. We loved the flavors and the crispness and when dipped in the tahini sauce they were a marvelous mouthful. Now that I have the hang of it, I'll make these again and again.

Falafel with Tahini Sauce
Adapted from Michaels' Genuine Food by Michael Schwartz

Bench Notes:

• I noticed Michael's recipe did not have any flour. Hmmmm. I'd rarely seen a falafel recipe without a little flour, bread crumbs or some sort of binder. I was doubtful, but I tried a small batch that way and they disintegrated immediately in the hot oil.  I tried again, pressing very firmly on the falafel ball, as the recipe mentions the balls must be pressed tight or they will fall apart. No dice. Raised the temperature of the oil. That didn't work either. So, as to not waste my remaining ingredients, I cheated and added a little flour and had no further problems. Please note in recipe below I included the correct amount of flour I used. Sorry, Michael, but I'm going to use a little flour when I make them from now on.
• Also: use the dried garbanzos as called for. Not canned. Just not the same.
• And...make certain the temperature of the oil remains between 350 and 375. (Michael suggested 350; I increased it to 375.) I ended up cooking only 3 or 4 falafels at a time and the temperature stayed constant that way.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried chickpeas. picked through and rinsed

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leafed parsley

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons flour (I added this)

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

canola oil for frying

Tahini Sauce (recipe follows)

Method:

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water by 3 inches. Soak overnight. They will double in size. 

Drain and rinse thoroughly. (I think you should make certain the chickpeas are very dry at this point. It may have been one of my problems. See Bench Notes. Some of you who make falafel on a regular basis might have some other suggestions.)

Put the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until the consistancy of cornmeal. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro and mint to the processor along with a couple tablespoons of the chickpeas. Pulse until pureed. Add to the remaining chickpeas along with the cumin, coriander, baking powder, flour, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

You may refrigerate, covered, at this point for up to 3 days.

Heat about 3 inches of the oil to 375 in an electric fryer or deep pot.

In the meantime, make golf-sized balls with the falafel mixture, squeezing tightly so they don't fall apart while cooking. (See Bench Notes) Place a few falafels in the oil at a time, moving them around so brown evenly and don't stick. Fry until crusty brown on all sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes; remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Makes about 2 dozen falafels.

Tahini Sauce
(makes  1 cup)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini
1 tablespoon soy sauce
juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
pinch of Kosher salt

Method:
Combine all the ingredients with 1/2 cup water in blender or processor. Process until smooth.

Blackberry and Tomato Crumble

My Michigan family was visiting recently and my sweet DIL mailed me a "thank you" cookbook after they returned. Angie's an excellent cook and she loves looking through my cookbooks. I bet she looked to see if I had this one....I didn't and was really thrilled to get it.

As you can see, it's Avec Eric  and the only way I can describe it is to say it's a cookbook/travelogue/scrapbook. With LOTS of photos of Eric. But that's OK with me; laid back and handsome Eric Ripert is a favorite of mine and his restaurant, Le Bernardin in NYC, is  as near perfect as you can get. I've eaten there and can state that unequivocably. As one reviewer stated:  "it is a high church of reverently prepared fish."

What I found unusual about this cookbook was the way the chapters were labeled. Not according to food groups as one expects, but location. Eric has this to say in his introduction: ".....you really have to get out of the city and visit the source to appreciate what it takes to cultivate and produce the food that ends up in our markets.....you have to walk the fields, talk to the farmer, see the animals and taste everything in its purest form."

So Eric takes us with him on his travels....to California, to Italy, to the Cayman Islands...where he finds inspiration for his restaurant, his home and hopefully, for us. The directions are not fussy, the recipes easily within the reach of everyone and they include wine pairings and notes. It was a pleasure to read.

Because spring is already here (Hopefully summer can't be far behind!) I chose this recipe first because just looking at it made me think of summer. It was in a chapter entitled Star Ingredients, which I certainly think these are. I like savory/sweet desserts and everyone loves fruit for dessert. The syrup for the tomatoes and blackberries made me close my eyes and go mmmmmm....such flavor! The cookbook had a scoop of ice cream or sorbet on top and I just happened to have some vanilla bean sorbet in the freezer. It was the perfect touch.

Blackberry and Tomato Crumble
From Avec Eric by Eric Ripert

Crumble Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, diced
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
pinch of fine sea salt


Fruit Ingredients:
1 pint small grape tomatoes
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
3 tarragon sprigs
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 pint fresh blackberries
lemon zest strips and tarragon leaves for garnish
Sorbet for garnish, optional


Crumble Method:
Stir all the ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a pebble-like consistancy. Cover and chill for one hour.
Preheat oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the crumble mixture on the parchment paper and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool.

Fruit Method:
Bring a pot of water to the boil, drop the tomatoes in for 20-30 seconds. Remove to ice water and peel the skin.

Combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the basil, tarragon, lemon zest and juice and the seeds from the vanilla pod. I tossed the pod in as well for good measure. Cover and allow to infuse until cool. Strain the mixture.

Rinse and dry the blackberries. Place the tomatoes and blackberries in the syrup. Chill for at least 1 hour. Drain, but reserve the syrup.

Arrange the fruit in 4 bowls and top each with a spoonful of the syrup, along with 3 or 4 tablespoons of the crumble. Garnish with lemon strips and tarragon and top with a small scoop of ice cream or sorbet.

Divine Muffins

 I love muffins, don't you? And cupcakes. Really fine line there. What is it I read once about the difference? Cupcakes have frosting, whereas muffins do not.  That's a good enough explanation for me. But if you want a formulaic definition, here it is, courtesy of Diana's Desserts:

"A basic formula for muffins is 2 cups flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 egg, ¼ cup oil, shortening or butter and 1 cup milk. When the fat, sugar and egg ratio in a recipe reaches double or more than this, you have reached the cake level."

But the first definition says it all. Muffins never have frosting. Does the cinnamon sugar on top of mine count as frosting? :) And just to make these a bit more unusual, I added a touch of cardamom. Of course, these are rhubarb muffins. Did I forget to mention that? They are a little tart, a little sweet...a great combination. And incredibly tender. Just a tad of butter needed....or maybe not. I passed on the butter and scarfed them down warm right out of the oven




Rhubarb Muffins

From the recipe here

Ingredients:

9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 
1/2 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. kosher salt 
1 cup sour cream 
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 
2 large eggs 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced rhubarb (7-1/4 oz.) 


For the topping: 
3 Tbs. granulated sugar 
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
(I added 1/4 teaspoon cardamom)

Method:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil baking cups.
Make the muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not overmix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.
Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using the back of a spoon or a small spatula to settle the batter into the cups. The batter should mound a bit higher than the tops of the cups.
Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over each muffin.Bake the muffins until they’re golden brown, spring back most of the way when gently pressed, and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift the muffins out of the pan—if necessary, loosen them with the tip of a paring knife—and let them cool somewhat. Serve warm.
Yields 12 medium muffins.