When I say me, I mean us, of course.

[dsrtao]

Tonight's dinner: falafel and pita.

The unusual bit: we're making the pita by ourselves. (Making the falafel is the rule, not the exception.)

The other unusual bit: since Elizabear wanted to test out the new replacement blade on the Cuisinart, I altered the falafel recipe a bit. I added a large handful of cilantro (We like it. You weirdo mutants aren't getting any anyway.) and processed a whole onion instead of using dried onion the way I normally would.

Smells good. We shall see.

Comments

[lisagw.livejournal.com]

Falafel with cilantro sounds quite lovely, actually! It makes me want to learn how to make falafel (have never tried to date).

[dsrtao]

Baked falafel is extremely simple.

Start with canned or pre-soaked chickpeas. For each pound of chickpeas:
half a medium onion
(an optional handful of cilantro)
a clove of garlic
a squirt of lemon juice
some coriander
some cumin
some powdered chili pepper
some salt
some pepper
a drizzle of olive oil
(and later, an egg)

Whiz it all around in a food processor or blender until it's a thick paste. Put it in a bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Beat an egg or two and mix it in to bind the paste together. If
it doesn't cohere into balls nicely, add more beaten egg or some flour/breadcrumbs/gram flour as needed.

Shape into balls about an inch across; put them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake in the oven at 400F for 20-30 minutes. When they develop a crust, they're done.

[galaneia.livejournal.com]

So how do you make pita? My stomach thinks that the store-bought ones aren't food, but the fresh ones at middle-eastern restaurants are.

[dsrtao]

We almost got a good result -- it was tasty, but the texture wasn't quite right.

Basically you make a simple yeast dough (1/3 whole wheat, 2/3 bread); rise it; separate into portions and ball; allow to rise again; hand-stretch carefully into rounds, then bake at 500F
for 5-8 minutes. I suspect a pizza stone would help.