Beans and Legumes

Socca (Chickpea Flour Pancakes)

July 8, 2013

I can’t quite express how addictive and wonderful I find socca to be. The first time I tried it I was home alone on a sunny Sunday afternoon and kept saying out loud to no-one at all, “oh my god, oh my GOD” as I took greedy bites. So if you’re wondering just how tasty and moreish socca is, now you know. It is talk-out-loud-to-yourself good.

In my opinion it’s best eaten straight from the cutting board that you use to slice it into squares. Just drizzle a generous amount of good olive oil, sea salt, and crushed black pepper on top and dig in with your fingers. That’s really all you need and I dare say, the first time you make it, that is exactly how you should experience it. Those flavours alone are plenty and allow you to taste the wonderfully nutty socca throughout. You’ll have bites that are crisp as crackers where the socca has blistered and begun to burn, and bites that are soft and pancake-y, and each bite is likely to make you fall in love anew.

I first heard of socca from Stephanie Meyer on her blog Fresh Tart, which is full of imaginative, beautiful, gluten-free recipes. Socca is a thin unleavened pancake-type deal made very simply with chickpea flour, water, and olive oil.

It’s a specialty of Southeast France, particularly in and around the city of Nice, which was news to me because despite spending summers there in my teens I never came across socca. I think I need to go back and look harder. Apparently in that neck of the woods it’s formed into a flat cake and baked in an oven, often on a huge cast iron pan, and then seasoned generously with black pepper, wrapped in paper, and eaten while hot with your hands. It’s street food, intended to be washed down with a plastic cup of icy rosé. Put that on the must-do list.

I found some great advice both from Steph’s blog, The Kitchn, and the inimitable David Lebovitz on how to make socca and I’ve used that combined wisdom in my various attempts, all of which have happily been very successful. I like to eat socca plain as described above (and imagine myself standing on the stony beach in Nice, rosé in one hand; socca in the other), but there are lots of ways to enjoy it. Steph recommends it with a fried egg and spinach or as a grilled cheese-type construction. I also like it warm from the oven, piled high with some peppery greens dressed in lemon juice, olive oil, and honey. If you want to make more of a meal out of it, then this variation with pesto and a spring salad looks amazing and I’ve also heard wonderful things about adding a smear of olive tapenade.

Socca (Chickpea Flour Pancakes)

Makes 2 thin 10″ pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup (92 g) chickpea flour (also known as gram flour)
1 cup (240ml) water (add an additional tbsp water for a thinner pancake)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
Sea salt
Optional seasonings: 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), pinch of spice (chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, za’atar)
Optional toppings: try fresh arugula dressed in lemon juice, olive oil, and honey – or – olive tapenade with some fresh greens – or – a fried egg and wilted spinach

Directions

Sieve the chickpea flour into a bowl and whisk together with the water, olive oil, a pinch of salt and any other seasoning you’re trying. Cover with a tea towel and let the batter rest for 1/2 hour to 2 hours to give the flour time to absorb the water.
Set an oven rack six inches below your oven’s broiler and turn on the broiler. Set a cast iron skillet on the rack to warm for five minutes.
Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat the bottom of the warmed pan. Whisk the chickpea batter quickly and then pour half into the hot skillet. Tilt the pan so the batter coats the entire surface of the pan.
Broil the socca for 3 to 5 minutes or until you see the top begin to blister and brown. If you find the top browning before the batter is fully set, move the skillet to a lower oven rack until done. The socca should be fairly flexible in the middle but crispy on the edges.
Carefully remove from the oven and use a spatula to work your way under the socca and ease it from the pan. Slice it into wedges or squares, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a little good olive oil. Repeat with any remaining batter.

breakfast tacos and austin-style black beans

April 11, 2012

If you’ve been reading my blog a while you might know that Austin, Texas has a special place in my heart. It’s where I experienced America for the very first time as a student; it’s where I met Dan; and it’s where Dan and I got married.

Beyond the sentimental value, Austin is pretty easy to love. It has everything I didn’t expect from Texas when I first arrived: green grass, hills, lakes, springs, waterfalls, and damn good live music everywhere you turned. My life as a student there was spent staring in awe at the everyday blue skies, getting used to always having a reddy-brown glow, and eating waaaay too much of everything. I fell in love hard.

Of all the food delights that I came to know and love, breakfast tacos are up there as a perennial fave. We used to go to this place called Juan in a Million (geddit?) where the Don Juan taco came stuffed beyond all reasonable measure with potato, egg, bacon, and cheese in a deliciously hot tortilla. It set you back all of $3 and required loose fitting clothes and a can-do attitude.

These tacos don’t really require a recipe; simply gather some or all of the ingredients listed below, roll ’em up, and dig in! They’re pretty spectacular for brunch with friends alongside a greyhound and some salty chips and hot salsa.

The other mega-spectacular thing I’m sharing with you today is these black beans. I’ve (unsurprisingly) found a lot of inspiration from The Homesick Texan cookbook, and these beans are no exception: they’re smoky and tender, with a lovely kick.

Enjoy y’all.

Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients

4 flour tortillas (or 8 soft corn tortillas, since they’re about half the size of the flour ones)
8 eggs
Dash half-and-half, cream, or milk
Salt and pepper
Canola oil
12 rashers streaky bacon (or swap this for sausage patties or chorizo)
Austin-style black beans, recipe below (or swap re-fried beans)
1 large handful grated cheese (pepper jack is great)
Salsa

Directions

Whisk together the eggs in a large bowl with a dash of half-and-half, cream, or milk and a pinch of salt.
Heat a pan or iron skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil. When oil is warm, pour in eggs and scramble for about three minutes or until done to your liking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Warm your tortillas on a clean, dry skillet. When tortilla starts to puff (about 20 seconds) turn it over and cook for another 20 seconds.
Serve tortillas with all the fixings for people to make themselves including: black or refried beans, scrambled eggs, salsa, grated cheese, and either a slice of bacon or sausage patty.
Fold in the bottom of the tortilla, and then roll from left to right until self-contained. Gobble, with a greyhound in hand. Serves four.

Austin-Style Black Beans
adapted from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

Ingredients

1 lb dried black beans
1 tablespoon of lard, bacon grease, or canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, divided
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup lime juice
Salt to taste

Directions

Rinse and sort through the beans, removing any stones. Place the beans in a large pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil and then cook for 15 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander in the sink.
Return the empty pot to the stove and warm the vegetable oil (or lard/bacon fat) over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots while occasionally stirring and cook until the onions are translucent and the carrots are lighter, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic to the pot and cook for a minute more.
Return the drained beans to the pot, along with the chipotle chiles and 1/4 cup of cilantro. Cover beans with 2 inches of water, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.
After 1 1/2 hours, add the remaining cilantro, cumin, tomato paste, and lime juice. Taste and add salt. Cook for 30 more minutes or until beans are tender. When done, smash a few against the side of the pot with a spoon to thicken the broth. Stir the pot and serve.

the season of soup

October 26, 2011

It’s that time of year. Finally, Minneapolis has accepted fate and we’ve left behind October temperatures in the 80s for blustery, grey mornings and quickly darkening evenings. And just like that, my body knows what’s good for it and starts intensely craving soups (and pounds of cheese and pasta, but that’s another post altogether).

In the spirit of this season of soup I thought I would share my personal to-make list of soups, in case some of you are looking for inspiration too.

Bean and lentil soups tend to be my favourite and I’ve got quite good at remembering to soak dried beans overnight and cooking them up to use in whatever (I currently have a hefty batch of French lentils and cannelini beans sitting in the fridge). I know you’ve heard it before, but they really taste better than out of a can. Really.

So, without further ado, soup!