Apparently Im on a bit of a crepe kick. Probably because they are the only vaguely bread like food I can have on this elimination diet. 

This time I went savory with chickpea flour crepes, pesto, and smoked salmon.  The fella and I were both really surprised by how delicious I was able to make these while still keeping them hypoallergenic.  The crepes themselves were ridiculously easy and a nice compliment to the salmon.  The pesto which I used pumpkin seeds in instead of pine nuts rounded out the flavors nicely.  Best of all this recipe is totally weight loss phase friendly for the French Diet.  Since it involves bean flour you can put whatever youre in the mood for in these.  So go crazy!

Since Im only cooking really simple foods that dont usually require any sort of recipe Im going to try to stop neglecting this blog so badly and just post pictures of my food to prove that I really am eating well while on such a restrictive diet.  Well see how long I can keep up that promise.

Chickpea Crepes 

1 cups chickpea flour (easily found in Indian groceries)

1 1/4 cups water

dash of salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Whisk together all ingredients.  Heat a large non stick pan over medium heat.  When hot, spray with cooking spray and drop 1/4 cup of the crepe mix into the pan, quickly sliding around  the pan to spread out the crepe as thin as possible.  Cook for 30 seconds.  Flip and cook for 90 seconds on the other side.  Repeat with the rest of the crepe batter.

I topped my chickpea crepes with a handful of spinach, a slice of avocado, some sprouts, a drizzle of pesto, and a couple pieces of smoked salmon.  This would also be amazing with cream cheese or creme fraiche, smoked salmon, watercress, and cucumber.  (Someone eat that version and tell me all about it since I will never be able to.)

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Being a non traditionalist instead of planning a romantic Valentines Day dinner the fella and I had six of our favorite people over for dinner this past weekend.  And to trick us all into forgetting it is still the deepest darkest days of winter I cooked all Moroccan dishes.  The colorful highly spiced dishes and all the amazing wine made it feel like summer for a few wonderful hours around my table. 

And if youve been following my posts at Forkful of News you will already know that my obsession with Moroccan cooking has been going on for a little while.  If nothing else go read my post about argan oil which besides being an amazingly cool oil also plays a huge role in the recipe for the starter course of my meal.  Plus there are hilarious pictures of tree climbing goats so it is just about a requirement that you go find out about argan oil.  Its worth a few minutes of your time I promise, the goats will make your day.

I decided to start dinner out with this simple orange and olive salad.  The thing I love most about Moroccan dishes is so often all it requires is gathering, measuring, cutting the ingredients, adding heat, waiting for amazing food to happen.  It requires very little maintenance.  This salad doesnt even need heat, it just needs tossing and then you instantly have awesome.

The citrus was made somehow more amazing with the hint of cumin and paprika and the nutty argan oil made it even better.  You could just use a high quality olive oil if youre not in the mood to track down and invest in yet another oil with pretty much the same result.  And a crisp not too grassy Bogle Sauvignon Blanc courtesy of my foodie friends Tim and Jess was an excellent compliment to the salad. 

I was super decadent and served this beautiful salad alone in tiny plates so that there was no other food on the table to steal its glory.  It was that pretty that I was willing to do extra dishes for it.  Also I felt fancy serving dinner in semi-proper courses.  And of course I got to stun all my friends by serving them something with such an exotic ingredient and tell them the story of it.  A very excellent start to a successful dinner.

Also included in this meal:

Sundried Tomato Tapenade

Salty Roasted Tomatoes

Crockpot Beef Tagine

Red Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Rice Crepes and Amlou

 

Orange, Olive and Argan Oil Salad

4 oranges, peeled and cut in into bite sized pieces
16 black or kalamata olives
1/ 2 red onion, finely chopped

1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons argan oil
1 tablespoon olive oil (you can do all olive oil if investing in argan oil is not in your budget)
salt, to taste
1/ 2 teaspoon cumin
1/ teaspoon paprika
pinch chili powder

2 tablespoons parsley

Put chopped oranges in a serving bowl along with the olives and chopped onion.  Toss well.

Make the dressing by whisking together all the remaining ingredients except for the parsley. 

If making ahead of time store the dressing separately and pour over salad at the very last minute.  If serving right away pour dressing over salad and toss well then sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Makes enough to serve a party of 8 a starter size portion.

From Claudia Rodens Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon.

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*My Observation Friends*:

I drained the Oil in kitchen sink I had used for frying Modak(dumplings) & Puri(Indian bread) during Ganesha festival. Then I started tap water to max; to my surprise sink was clogged, I had to start garbage disposal unit to drain the water. If kitchen sinks (2inches wide) can get clogged with little oil then our Arteries are way too small to handle oil. Be careful!!! Limit intake of oily food to avoid health issues, heart diseases.

Note: It was left over oil (100% pure olive just 3/4th cup) without any food remains and my sink was clean.

By: Reena Sharma

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This is revenge soup and boy was it tasty.

See a year or so ago I worked at a not great Mexican...er oh so sorry, my bad...South Western restaurant here in Madison. The menu at the place hasnt changed in over 10 years and the cafe part of the place grossed about 20 bucks a week, if that gives you a hint of the culinary bleakness of this supposed dining establishment. Since there were no customers to speak of and I wasnt allowed to help with tables in any way shape or form I had a lot of time to eaves drop and chat with co workers.

So though the menu was unpalatable and often the cause of gastroenterological distress the owner managed to have a seriously bloated ego about his cooking skills. One day he had the whole staff ooing and ahing at some canapés he had made out of the French Laundry Cookbook as he pointed back and forth to the picture in the book and his creation. Much brown nosing occurred in the form of “it looks better than the picture” and so on and so forth.

After an 8 hour shift of making one latte and then repeatedly cleaning every square inch of the espresso machine to stay busy I was less than impressed. I did however peak at the book once he was gone. Its a beautiful book with very very fussy recipes which I suppose for a lot of people is a big thing. When he came back to claim the book and stared at me with the disapproval reserved for the lone employee than refuses to be a sycophant I was looking at a recipe for some fancy chocolate cake. I blurted out something about wanting to give it a try.

“Well dinner there costs hundreds of dollars there you know. My wife and I ate there on our honeymoon.” These and many other details I was supposed to be impressed by sailed over my head to which I replied, “No I mean it would be fun to cook.” He looked at me like I had peed in his crème Anglaise, scoffed while snatching away the book and walking away saying something about that being doubtful under his breath.

The end of my tenure at this particular restaurant was as needlessly dramatic as this mans food was horrible so Ive held a bit of a grudge. And you can ask the fella I hold grudges for life. Im still mad at a boy who tried to pull my pants down on the playground in kindergarten for example. So when I was looking at cookbooks at the library and found the French Laundry book I knew I had to cook something out of it just to prove my old boss wrong by cooking something fabulous from it. Not that he would ever know of course nor would he care but I wanted to put that energy into the universe and end this grudge Ive been holding. A perfect “I told you so” moment that would end in me and the fella eating something nice for dinner.

Looking through the book now that I know how to cook and spend time with a chef I was able to see that the French Laundry isnt even that special. I eat better most nights of the week albeit sans caviar and foie gras. Not to mention none of those desserts were going to gluten free friendly even after heavy modification. So instead I went in search of a hoity toity recipe that would put to use some of this bottle of truffle oil I have and worry about spoiling while it sits in the back of my cupboard. In the process I found a recipe for pea and truffle oil soup. And since I was on a soup kick it seemed perfect.

It is sadly however not spring so finding English peas to shell and cook to perfection following all Thomas Kellers fussy instructions was not going to happen. So I bought frozen peas and carried on from there. It turned out to be a genius move seeing as his complicated instructions end in flash freezing the peas and then pureeing them so I just thawed the peas and went on with the recipe from there.

It was a lot of work and not really worth the effort for the end result. Forcing pea puree through a sieve has got to be up there with child birth on the scale of long difficult and painful life experiences. It did however make for a very creamy soup. And a very beautiful green soup as you can see from the picture that hasnt been color edited. Plus it was a good excuse to make Parmesan crisps which are as fun to make as they are tasty and I really enjoyed my truffle tinted green soup sipped from a mug with a crispy thin bit of cheese.

So there you have it, revenge soup. In your face snotty restaurant owner man.

Pureed Pea Soup with Truffle Oil

2 pound bag of good quality frozen peas
1/4 cup agave nectar (approximate)
salt to taste
1/2 vegetable stock
1/4 cup water (approximate)
white truffle oil
Parmesan crisps (recipe below)

Place frozen peas in colander and run cool water over them just until they are no longer frozen but not until they are mushy. Run thawed peas through food processor until smooth. Pour about a cup at a time of pureed peas in a mesh sieve Force the pea puree through the sieve into a large bowl, this will take a lot of time and elbow grease so be prepared. You should have bright green very smooth puree in the bowl and the dry tougher outer portion of the peas left in the sieve Discard the pea hulls (or save to toss in risotto or pasta later) and run the remaining cups of pea puree through the sieve

When you have pushed all the peas through the sieve add the puree back into the food processor. Add agave nectar (I used about 1/4 cup) and salt to the puree to your particular taste and process to combine. Check peas for taste and adjust seasoning as you like.

Add vegetable stock and water (enough to make the soup the consistency you like) to food processor and processor briefly again until combined. If serving cold pour into mugs or small bowl with narrow tops. If serving warm, gently heat soup over low heat and pour in mugs. Just before serving drizzle a bit of truffle oil in each mug of soup and top with a Parmesan crisp “lid.”


Parmesan Crisps

1/ 2 finely grated Parmesan
silicon baking mat

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of cheese near one corner of the silicon mat and using your fingers spread the cheese into a thin 2 inch circle. Repeat with the remaining cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch of space between the cheese circles.

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Use a small metal or heat safe spatula to very gently dislodge them from the mat and transfer to a plate to cool. They will be soft while removing from mat but will harden as they cool. Use to top pea soup as a decorative lid.


Modified and made slightly less complicated from a Thomas Keller recipe in The French Laundry Cookbook.

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Chana(Garbanzo) Salad

2 Cup Boiled Chana(Garbanzo)
1 small onion
2 Green Chilies(jalapenos)
2 Tomato
Cilantro/Hara Dhania
1 Lemon
Salt

Cut Onion, green chilies, tomato in very small pieces. Mix with boiled & water drained Chana(Garbanzo).
Add Salt, little lemon juice and finely chopped cilantro on the top. Mix it well and it’s ready to eat.

Note: I use canned Chana(Garbanzo) sometimes when I shortage of time but ake sure rinse it well under running water to make sure all preservatives are gone.

Raita/Yogurt Salad

1 Cup Yogurt/Dhai/Curd
1 Cucumber
1 small onion
2 Green Chilies(jalapenos)
1 Tomato
Cilantro/Hara Dhania
Salt

Cut Cucumber, Onion, green chilies, tomato in very small pieces. Mix with Yogurt.
Add Salt and finely chopped cilantro on the top. Mix it well and it’s ready to eat.

Note: Raita goes well with Biryani or vegetable Pullao

Spinach Paratha

Ingredients:

·         3 cups whole-wheat flour

·         1 large bunch spinach Only leaf part not the stem (approximately 1 lb or 500 gms)

·         1 tsp cumin powder

·         1/2 tsp red chilli powder

·         1/4 tsp asafetida powder

·         1/2 tsp turmeric powder

·         1/2 tsp Oregano(Ajwine)

·         Salt to taste

·         Oil to pan-fry the parathas

Preparation:

·         Wash spinach leafs then steam it in cooker(just 1 whistle) or put in bowl put the lid and microwave for 4min without any additional water.

·         Add the coriander, cumin, red chilli, asafetida, Ajwaine and turmeric powders, salt to taste to the whole-wheat flour. Add the spinach also and mix all together, kneading to form a medium-soft, smooth dough. Add some more whole wheat flour if the dough is too soft or you can add little water if dough is too hard.

·         Keep the dough aside in a close container for 1/2 hours.

·         Divide the dough into equal-sized portions and roll into balls between your hands till they are smooth and without cracks.

·         Very lightly flour a rolling board or clean counter surface and roll each ball into a circle Or you can fold it with little oil between the layers and make triangle paratha.

·         Heat a griddle/nonstick pan/ tava and cook the parathas one at a time like this: Put a paratha on the griddle. Do the first flip when you see tiny bubbles rise on the surface of the paratha. As soon as the first flip is done, apply little oil on both sides of paratha . Flip again cook from both side. The paratha is done when both sides are crispy and golden brown.

·         Serve hot with yogurt and chutney. I will not recommend pickle as it’s high in saturated fat. As we are practicing healthy food let’s avoid pickle and try it with fresh CilantroChutny or mint Chutny.

Note: Spinach Parata well with curd or pickle or Tomato or mint chutney

By: Reena Sharma

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