Black Bean Falafel

I thought it would be fun to make falafel again; I believe this is my third time now! Since I've already done the more traditional type of falafel, as well as a creative, fun pea-lafel, I thought this time I'd try a variation with black beans. I found a pretty cool recipe that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. It worked out so well that I already want to make these again, and I'm eager to share it with you.



It's very, very easy to assemble the falafel. You basically throw all your ingredients in the food processor and blend it up, and then you add the black beans in last so that they are not quite as ground up as everything else. You toss your falafel balls in some cornmeal, which really gives them a nice, crunchy exterior. I thought that was a great touch; it really contrasted well with the softer interior of the falafel. The flavors were great, although I think the recommended 1 jalapeno could have been increased by one or two. I improvised just slightly (the original recipe called for fresh cilantro; I didn't have any, so I used ground coriander and ground fenugreek) but otherwise stayed pretty true to the recipe. I think it's a great "starter" falafel, because it lends itself to so many different uses. These would be equally delicious in a pita pocket, or tossed with salsa and served in a Mexican salad. I think I'm turning into a falafel-holic!

Black Bean Falafel
adapted from Everything's Eventful
makes 12 patties

Ingredients
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground fenugreek
1 egg
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped (I think I could have used 2)
2 Tbsp. plus 1/2 cup cornmeal, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, scallions, garlic, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, the egg, jalapeno, 2 Tbsp. of cornmeal, and salt and pepper. Process the mixture until nearly smooth, then add the black beans. Pulse the mixture until the black beans are chopped pretty fine, but not completely blended in. You want it to be slightly chunky.

2. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup cornmeal into a shallow bowl. Using a scoop or your hands, form falafel balls by using 1/3 cup of the mixture at a time. Slightly flatten the balls, and then roll each in the cornmeal, gently shaking off any excess. Transfer the balls to a plate as you go. You should be able to get 12 balls.

3. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat it to medium heat (you can also bake these, or use a bit of canola oil to shallow-fry the balls). Working in batches, add three or four falafel balls at a time to the skillet. Fry for about 3-4 minutes per side, until nice and brown on both sides. Remove the balls from the skillet and serve. Some serving suggestions: over a bed of spinach, stuffed in a pita pocket with some hummus, cucumber, and sprouts, or inside an English muffin.

Baked Sunday Mornings: New York Style Crumb Cake

Happy Easter! I hope everyone is having a great day. I'm going to talk about a coffee cake that would actually be very appropriate for a holiday, especially if you're having houseguests over. Unfortunately, my coffee cake is long, long gone and will not be served this Easter. But who knows, maybe next year!

So for this week's Baked Sunday Mornings assignment, we made the New York Style Crumb Cake, which I've been drooling over ever since I first purchased this book. You see, this cake reminds me of the good ol' days, when I used to work at Starbucks. The New York Style Crumb Cake was so good there, but so evil. The crumb portion was thicker than the cake portion, which I quickly learned was why people loved it so much. But me? No, I actually preferred the cake to the crumb. I always wound up with a stomachache if I attempted to eat the entire piece of cake.

Well, after trying the Baked version of this cake, I can see why people love the crumbs so much. This coffee cake puts the Starbucks cake to shame. The cake is so moist and light, while somehow also being hefty enough to pass for breakfast food. The crumb topping is nothing short of amazing. It smells of heaven: cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. I pretty much swooned when I finally took this thing out of the oven. I was originally going to cut this into squares, try a little piece, and send it in to work with my husband. However, once I started cutting, little crumbs started to fall off the cake. I tried one. Then another. Then another. So only a few pieces made it to the office; the rest were thoroughly enjoyed by myself and my two sons.

I have to say that it really is so worth the effort, the way you assemble the crumb top. I did what the book advised, and let the crumbs lay out after the ingredients had all been mixed in. By slightly drying them out, they were very easy to break off into chunks and scatter across the cake batter. After being baked, those crumbs were decadent, sinful, and addictive. I'm definitely a New York Crumb Cake convert!

I can't wait to see how the other Baked Sunday Morning members' cakes turned out! We have such great photographers in the group; I know that looking through all the pictures will just make me crave this cake all over again! You can check them out by clicking here for the blogroll.

CEIMB: Wheat Berry Salad

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was her Wheat Berry Salad, chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. I have to admit, although I was excited to make this recipe and use wheat berries for the first time, I ended up taking a lot of liberties with it. I think in the end, it was probably not even Ellie's salad anymore; it was more my derivative take on it. But I loved it!

I made this as a last-second side dish with a meal I made last week, so I hadn't fully checked the ingredients list before I dove in. Turns out, I didn't really have everything I needed to make it, but I did have close approximations! So, instead of dried cherries, I used dried cranberries. Instead of walnuts, I used some hazelnuts (yum!). I had no lemon juice, so in went a bit of fresh key lime juice and a splash of pomegranate red wine vinegar instead. I didn't even have celery, but I had cucumbers, so I just used some of those. Like I said, it's not really even the original recipe anymore, but it's the same general idea.

Since I have never cooked wheat berries before, I was really unsure about when they were supposed to be done. I followed Ellie's instructions and submerged them in water, and let it come to a boil. However, by the time all the liquid evaporated, the wheat berries were still a little too hard for our tastes. So, I kept dumping more water into the pot and letting it cook off. I probably had the heat turned up way too high; at times I would raise or lower it, but the directions were really unspecific as to whether you should just simmer the mixture, or let it continue to boil. After about two (!) hours, I finally just decided they tasted good, and I took them off the heat. They still had a fair amount of crunchy pop to them, so I was happy with how it all turned out.



Well, obviously I can't speak for Ellie's full, unaltered recipe here, but my version was wonderful! I'm really starting to dig the whole grain/dried fruit/nut combo in a cold salad, and this one was a real winner. The wheat berries were delicious, I thought. I was happy with their texture, and they really felt hearty, bulkier than rice or barley and possibly more filling. I am definitely going to be making this again really soon, but this time I'll have the correct components and I'll do it right!

Thanks very much to Leslie for choosing this! It was one of the best cold side salad-type dishes I've had in a long while. If you'd like the recipe, click on over to Food Network's website, here. And to see the CEIMB blogroll, click here.

Cranberry Mustard-Maple Pork Chops

This recipe was born because I made an impulse purchase, and then realized I didn't quite know what to do with that impulse purchase. The purchase in question was Cranberry Mustard. I know, sounds intriguing, right? I thought so, too. It came in one of those little round, fancy-looking jars, and it was such a pretty, mauve/maroon color. I just could not resist it. Plus, I didn't know if/when I'd ever see it again, so I wanted to grab it while I could!

The mustard is delicious, by the way. It has a distinctly fruity flavor, while still having that tang that mustard has. It did not look like grainy mustard upon my initial inspection, but as soon as I started to spoon it out of the jar, I could see the little grains inside. So, so good! I found a place online to purchase it, too, so when I run out I can still find it there.

So, back to the chops. I bought some boneless, country-style ribs recently, and I wanted to cook them low and slow in the oven. I also have been wanting to try a maple-mustard combination on meat, so I took a chance and did a little bit of experimentation.

I checked out how to bake boneless ribs online, and then I played with a couple different things I'd seen or read about, and came up with this recipe. And guess what? It was good! The glaze on the ribs was so sticky-sweet, tart, and yummy, and it really paired well with the pork. By roasting the ribs with some onions, I was able to retain their moisture and also add extra flavor. I definitely recommend giving this a try, with your own favorite spices or mustard. Oh, and note that the side dish you can just barely see in the background will be blogged about tomorrow, when I tell you about this week's CEIMB!

Cranberry Mustard-Maple Pork Chops
recipe by Bri
makes about 5 boneless ribs

Ingredients
1 1/4 lbs. boneless, country-style ribs (or boneless pork chops)
1 Tbsp. cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp. cumin
3 Tbsp. cranberry mustard
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp. agave nectar (you can also just use 3 Tbsp. maple syrup and omit the agave)
1/2 red or yellow onion, sliced into half-moons

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the cajun seasoning and cumin in a small bowl. Rinse and pat the ribs dry, and them rub the seasonings all over each. Place the ribs on a baking sheet with sides, or in a shallow baking dish lined with foil.

2. Gently place the onion slices on top of the ribs, then cover the sheet or pan with foil. Bake, covered, for an hour and fifteen minutes. During the last fifteen minutes, combine the mustard, syrup, and agave in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, then remove from heat.

3. Remove the foil from the pan and baste the ribs with the mustard/syrup glaze. Switch the oven to broil, and put the ribs back in the oven for about 3-5 minutes, until the glaze has bubbled slightly. Allow to rest for several minutes before serving.

Meatless Mondays: Potato Gratin with Duxelles

It was not until I sat down here and got ready to blog all about this lovely Potato Gratin that I realized I had not photographed one of the most essential, and unique, components of the dish. You see, this week's Meatless Mondays offering is cool and different, and I wanted to tell you all about it. I can still tell you all about it, but I can't show you the innards of this gratin, as it is long, long gone and eaten. Sigh.

As you can see from the title, this is a Potato Gratin with Duxelles. Duxelles, I have learned, is a rich, meaty-tasting mushroom reduction. A long, slow simmer of a large amount of mushrooms cooks them way, way down and reduces them to little more than mushroom....well, mush. But this mush is pure, concentrated mushroom flavor, and it is very, very tasty. Once you have made your Duxelles, you can add it to almost any dish your imagination can dream up. I'm sure it will be fabulous in soups, amazing in omelettes, and delightful mixed into a pan gravy. Here, it was used as a layer of flavor in the Potato Gratin.

Making the Duxelles was quite simple; the hardest part is the waiting. It took me over an hour before all the liquid had evaporated from the pan; that is how you know it is ready. The Potato Gratin, from Cooking Light, was surprisingly decadent for such a light dish. It made me feel like I was being bad when I really wasn't! I love fake-outs like that. Be sure to allow plenty of time to make this whole ensemble, or make the Duxelles ahead of time and stick them in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the Gratin. Oh, and the Duxelles recipe makes a ton! I split up the remainder of my Duxelles in the cups of my muffin tin, flash froze the whole thing, and then popped them out and threw them in a freezer bag. Now I'll have the ability to Duxelle-ify any meal I please!

Potato Gratin with Duxelles
from Cooking Light
makes 10 servings

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups (1/8-inch thick) sliced, peeled baking potato (about 2 pounds)
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 tsp. chopped, fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Cooking spray
3/4 cup Duxelles (recipe follows)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain potatoes through a sieve over a bowl; reserve potatoes and liquid.

2. Arrange half the potatoes in an 11x7 glass or ceramic baking dish that is coated with cooking spray. Spread Duxelles evenly over potatoes; sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Top with remaining potatoes. Pour the reserved cooking liquid over potatoes; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Mushroom Duxelles
from Cooking Light
makes 4 cups

Ingredients
10 3/4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 3 pounds)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced leek (about 1 small)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
3 Tbsp. fresh minced chives
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Place about 2 cups mushrooms in a food processor, and pulse 12 times or until finely chopped, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Place chopped mushrooms in a large bowl. Repeat procedure in batches with the remaining mushrooms.

2. Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, leek, and garlic to pan; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in mushrooms; saute 30 minutes (mine took about an hour) or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, chives, salt, and pepper. Cool completely before using or freezing.

MSC: Chai Tea Cupcakes

This month, for the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club, our assignment was to make the Chai Tea Mini Cupcakes with Condensed Milk Glaze. This month's cupcake is being hosted by Rachel of Simple Girl, since the blogger who originally chose for us to make these had to take some time off from her blog. I decided to make half mini cupcakes, and half regular-sized cupcakes this time. I just wanted to have both options available, and my first plan had been to do two different frostings (although that ended up changing).



So my husband loves to drink chai lattes from Starbucks, but he adds a twist to his. He orders them with two shots of espresso added in, and the slang for this is a "dirty chai." So in the spirit of experimentation, I thought it would be fun to make a frosting that sort of paid homage to his "dirty chai" habit. Plus, it was a great excuse to use up some heavy whipping cream I had hanging out in my fridge! So, I threw together some Espresso Whipped Cream to top my cupcakes.

I gotta say, this stuff was outstanding! I found it over on Epicurious; it's super easy and takes only minutes to make. You whip your cream to soft peaks, add in a touch of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. There you go! I was so impressed with the whipped cream frosting that I wound up abandoning the condensed milk frosting that accompanies these cupcakes in Martha's book. I know it was probably delicious, but I don't think we really missed it. I topped the frosted cupcakes with just a dash of ground cinnamon, which I thought made the cupcakes look more latte-ish.

These ended up being loved by everybody who tried them; the pairing of cupcake and frosting worked very well! I loved the method of steeping the tea bags in milk and then using that milk as the liquid in the cake recipe. This would really be a fun thing to experiment a little bit more with. I dug the spices in the cake, as well. It truly was reminiscent of chai, but a little bit like a pumpkin-spiced cake, too. Not that I'm complaining!

Be sure to see what the other MSCers did with this month's cupcake recipe, by checking out the blogroll, here. Oh, and there's a bonus cupcake recipe this month, Martha's Easter Egg Cupcakes, but I made and blogged about those last year! So if you'd like to see how they turned out, you can see them here.

CEIMB Rewind: Portobello Lasagna Rollups with Easy Tomato Sauce

This week's Craving Ellie in my Belly recipe is going to be a rewind. Peggy from Pantry Revisited chose Tuna Noodle Casserole, which I am still not quite brave enough to attempt just yet. I don't know; there's just something about tuna that just repels me. Any time I try to eat it (usually after years of not eating it) I still feel the same way, so I just don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm sorry, Peggy! I'll make sure to cook along with you next time!

So, I wound up making Portobello Lasagna Rollups with Easy Tomato Sauce, which the group originally made all the way back in mid-November of 2008. I was not yet a member back then (in fact, that same week in November was the week before I gave birth to my second son), and honestly if I had the choice of making this two years ago I probably would have declined. Mushrooms are fine for me now, but they definitely have not always been my friend. I've come around on the mushroom thing in recent months, so I've been wanting to find ways to incorporate them into more dinners since my husband is such a fan of them.

Although you do have to set aside some time to prepare these lasagna rolls, they are very simple to prepare. The easy tomato sauce is just that; easy! It comes together in no time, with very little effort. After cooking lasagna noodles until just al dente, you lay them out flat and fill them with a mixture of vegetables (mushrooms, spinach) and cheese (ricotta, mozzarella) and some of the tomato sauce. You repeat this with all of the noodles, then you roll them up so that the filling remains inside. You place them in a baking dish, standing up, and top with even more cheese and sauce. They bake until bubbly and golden, and that's it!

Reviews were kinda mixed on this one. They tasted just fine, and the concept is a great one. It's lasagna without the labor intensive prep work! However, they did seem a bit lackluster; a bit more flavor, or perhaps some spice, would have helped greatly. My hubby threw a bunch of salt on his; I try to steer away from doing that, so I just settled for some crushed red pepper on top. Still, I would make this again. I think it would be great with some lean ground turkey or turkey sausage in the filling!

For this full recipe, click on over to Food Network's website, here. And to see how the CEIMBers liked the Tuna Noodle Casserole, check out the blogroll, here.