Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts

Thursday, February 25, 2010

falafel and yogurt sauce!

last week i thought it might be fun to make some falafel, and i got the recipe from mark bittman, once again.

this recipe is different from any others i've come across in that you don't cook the chickpeas. as in, they are kind of raw until you cook the patties. you start out the day before, by soaking a couple cups of chickpeas in a bunch of water. like this:



24 hours later, they look like this:



sometime in the middle of these two pictures, i made some sort of tzatziki / raita / yogurt sauce hybrid. you grate some cucumber...



and add it to some greek yogurt along with lemon juice, dill, and minced garlic. mmm.



while the yogurt is chilling...you turn back to the chickpeas. drain them and put them in a food processor with things like onion and cayenne and cumin and spices...



and parsley. forgot the parsley...



food processors are genius inventions. i tasted things at this point and had mixed feelings about the texture.



but it did not stop me from making little falafel patties and putting them in the oven to bake.



mmm. cooked falafel.



look! fixin's!



this was good. i think the homemade falafel was a success, but next time i might try a cooked chickpea version. also, i was a bit garlic-happy in my yogurt sauce. must remember that stuff is extra strong when its raw.


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

greek yogurt spaghetti!

"i like you: hospitality under the influence," by amy sedaris*, is a fabulous book. at first glance, it can be daunting, because you're not quite sure what to do with it. its a very fun read, offering tips on everything from putting together a pirate theme party to how to remove vomit stains from one's clothing.

*fun side note - i've been in a house where the flooring was done by amy's brother, paul, also known as 'the rooster' (see david's book 'me talk pretty one day.') being as i love the sedaris family, it was an actual moment for me. ok - carry on.

yet, there are actual recipes in there. good ones. i've made greek yogurt spaghetti probably half a dozen times, and its been delicious every single time. and, for those of you who don't have the book (it makes a great gift, fyi), the recipe is also posted (here).

last night was no exception. the base of the recipe is onions. lots of them. i didn't use five, but i did use three. here they are before they were carmelized:



about 15 minutes into the process....



and this, my friends, took about 45 minutes. it was worth it.



like 'epicurean', 'carmelized' is also a lovely word. this one has more bite to it, though. it sounds like something an evil but beautiful queen would do to you with her special powers. carmelize. carmelize.

**

you take your carmelized onions, and you mix them with spaghetti...



some greek yogurt, which you have mixed with some reserved spaghetti water...



and some greek related cheese (i used feta, mixed with locatelli romano - don't tell anyone)



throw some toasted pine nuts on top (just put them in a DRY pan on medium heat and watch them closely - there's nothing sadder than burnt nuts. nothing.)...



and some fresh parsley.



and there you have it. this makes me happy. if you make it, you will be happy, too.

carmelize!