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Garbanzo Beans


Richard Kilgore

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I made a simple Chorizo dish with Garbanzo Beans suggested on this Spanish Chorizo thread. The third time I went to the trouble to cook the beans using the Russ Parsons method, and it was definitely worth it to me. There is as much difference between freshly cooked Garbanzos and Goya canned as there is betwen Goya canned Pintos and cooking a pot from the dried beans.

This leads me to ask, what kinds of things do you do with Garbanzos? What are your favorite soup, salad, appetizer or other recipes using Garbanzo beans?

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Without a doubt, chana masala.

Here's my non-authentic, tastes-good-to-me version:

Cumin, turmeric, red pepper and asafoetida (2:1:1:pinch), toasted in a pan with salt and hot oil. Plenty of smashed ginger added and cooked just till the fragrance blooms. Dried chickpeas, water, green chile and tomatoes - a good two or three hours of cooking.

Plenty of lemon juice, a little more ginger stirred in before serving. A little cilantro.

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I love to eat them plain :blink:.

Just saw a recipe called "Thunder and Lightning" in the book "Little Meals" by Rozanne Gold ($3.99 at Christmas Tree Shops, I couldn't resist. Also picked up "At Home in Provence" by Patricia Wells, hardcover with grogeous photos, for $5.99). It's fried chickpeas tossed with orchiette, butter, sage and parmigiano. Can't wait to try it.

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I made a simple Chorizo dish with Garbanzo Beans suggested on this Spanish Chorizo thread. The third time I went to the trouble to cook the beans using the Russ Parsons method, and it was definitely worth it to me.

I love Russ Parsons's writing, but am not familiar with his bean cooking method. What is it, please?

Russ's method for cooking beans can be found here.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Marcella Hazan's Simplest Chickpea and Leek Soup from Marcella Cucina. Not really that simple, since she tells you to peel each chickpea - next time I think I'll skip that step (more fiber).

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

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My new favorite is called Spiced Baked Chickpeas from Jack Bishop's The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook.

Soak the chickpeas overnight, simmer with a bay leaf for about 25 minutes, add some salt and simmer up to 20 minutes more until tender but still firm.

Drain, then toss with EVOO, ground cumin and salt, roast in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until they are tender on the inside and have a slight crunch on the outside.

Serve still warm.

These are addictive! and have been a staple at my BBQ's for almost 2 years now...

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Basil Girl -- Seriously, chickpea and leek soups sounds like a fine, subtle combination. I'll check out the recipe, but peeling them is pushing it. Does she say what effect peeling them is supposed to have?

eunny jang -- Thanks for the chana masala recipe. The roasted garbanzos sound good to me, too.

bushey -- Thunder and Lightning sounds worth trying. Let us know if you do it.

torakris -- your Spiced Baked Chickpeas sound good and similar to eunny jang's. Or is there a difference?

Thanks everyone. Any other ideas?

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Stewed with lamb and artichokes, the broth turned into avgolemono

Suzanne--Sounds yummy !(and comforting, which I could use about now). Recipe?

I just made one last night. It's pasta with chickpeas and spinach. Please don't flinch, but the recipe was from FoodTV (Emeril ). Here's the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_17945,00.html

The recipe is vegetarian, but I made it with chicken rather than veg. broth. And I used a lot more garlic. But it comes out much richer and with a deeper flavor than it sounds. Really good.

Emily
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Mixed Bean Salad

½ cup each garbanzo and pinto beans

1 cup kidney beans

½ lb green beans, sliced

½ lb mushrooms, sliced

½ Spanish onion

¼ cup parsley, minced

1 or 2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/3 cup apple-cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp liquid honey

salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Soak garbanzo beans overnight. Cook w/ pinto beans in 1 quart water for 3 hours, until chick peas are soft. Discard the cooking liquid. Cook the kidney beans in 3 cups water for 1½ hours, until the juice is thickened; do not drain.

Stream the green beens. Sauté mushrooms in a little olive oil. Slice onion into thin rings, then cut in half to form crescents. Blend the pressed garlic, vinegar, oil, honey, and seasonings; toss with other ingredients. Marinate at least 1 hour before serving.

"Dinner is theater. Ah, but dessert is the fireworks!" ~ Paul Bocuse

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i made a soup/stew with chick peas that has immediately become my favorite.

i wanted to make collard greens, so i sauteed some garlic in olive oil with chili flakes and then added a bunch of chiffonaded collards. i had been playing around with my smoker, so had some smoked leeks & shallots on hand which i chopped and added, but pork would work too. i added broth just to cover and stewed the greens slowly until tender. then i added cooked chick peas and a bit more broth and let it all kind of meld together. i roasted some sausages and served the stew in a shallow bowl with sausage on top.

it was one of those things that kind of evolved as i was doing it - but greens, broth, pork and beans is a beloved combination.

the roasted chickpeas rock too. i like them with coarse salt and rosemary. or with roasted cauliflower.

from overheard in new york:

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Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

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The third time I went to the trouble to cook the beans using the Russ Parsons method, and it was definitely worth it to me.

As I recall, on the thread that bloviatrix linked to, there was some discussion about possibly needing to soak "old world" beans. When you say that you used the Parson's method, I take that to mean that you didn't soak them and used 1 tsp. salt per pound. Could you please report on how long it took to get them done? For comparison, I have found that Camellia Red Beans and pinto beans take 2 to 2 1/4 hours. I would guess that garbanzos would take longer.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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The third time I went to the trouble to cook the beans using the Russ Parsons method, and it was definitely worth it to me.

As I recall, on the thread that bloviatrix linked to, there was some discussion about possibly needing to soak "old world" beans. When you say that you used the Parson's method, I take that to mean that you didn't soak them and used 1 tsp. salt per pound. Could you please report on how long it took to get them done? For comparison, I have found that Camellia Red Beans and pinto beans take 2 to 2 1/4 hours. I would guess that garbanzos would take longer.

Yes. I only rinsed them, put them in a small LC with a little salt, covered with boiling water to a level about 3/4 inch above the beans, and popped them into a 250 degree oven. I checked every 30 minutes to see if it needed any water. Total time in the oven was a about two hours; I wasn't timing it precisely, but certainly no longer than 2' 20". (Then of course when I used them in the chorizo & garbanzo recipe they cooked about another 15 minutes or so.)

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Basil Girl -- Seriously, chickpea and leek soups sounds like a fine, subtle combination. I'll check out the recipe, but peeling them is pushing it. Does she say what effect peeling them is supposed to have?

I don't recall if there's a specific reason for peeling the chickpeas - I guess to make the soup smoother? Anyway, it is a very simple and delicious soup - the only ingredients are chickpeas, leeks, water, a bouillon cube, pepper I think - and parmesan. Half gets pureed and put back in, so it also has a nice texture.

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

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Basil Girl -- Seriously, chickpea and leek soups sounds like a fine, subtle combination. I'll check out the recipe, but peeling them is pushing it. Does she say what effect peeling them is supposed to have?

I don't recall if there's a specific reason for peeling the chickpeas - I guess to make the soup smoother? Anyway, it is a very simple and delicious soup - the only ingredients are chickpeas, leeks, water, a bouillon cube, pepper I think - and parmesan. Half gets pureed and put back in, so it also has a nice texture.

Several of my cookbooks recommend peeling the chickpeas because the peels are going to come off during cooking and they look strange, or they slip off in one's mouth and feel strange. Then the books blithely list the easy method: rubbing the soaked peas in one's hand in a bowl of cold water so the peels "slip off" and "float to the surface" with the naked peas dropping to the bottom. Easy peeling, they say. Humbug and harrumph, I say; the water doesn't sort them out as advertised. I decided after a few tries that peeling isn't worth the extra effort, and adopted Madhur Jaffrey's attitude: the peels provide extra roughage. In a pureed dish (like hummus) it hardly matters. In a soup or a stew the peels add visual interest. (How's that for a rationalization? :biggrin: ) If the finished dish looks strange, I'll turn down the lights and light a candle. :raz:

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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In the summer I like to make a salad that I picked up in Michael Chiarello book: garbanzo beans, finely chopped celery, onions, garlic, parsley, and some hot pepper flakes. Dressed with simple olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing. It's become a staple at our cookouts.

I've also made a Chicken and Chickpea Tagine recipe that appeared in NY Times a while ago that included vanilla along with more traditional North African spices. It was an interesting flavor combination that I've made as a side dish several times omitting the chicken.

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I love chickpeas. I resort to canned sometimes but boiled from dry is undoubtedly better. Let's see...

Hummus, of course

Fatteh (the Middle Eastern dish with yogurt and toasted pita)

Marcella's chickpea soup (with rosemary and tomatoes), preferably the version with pasta.

roasted with salt

candy coated

I have to try the chorizo thing.

And my favorite thing would have to be green chickpeas, pop off the pod and eat it straight :wub:

Edited by Behemoth (log)
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Easy peeling, they say.  Humbug and harrumph, I say; the water doesn't sort them out as advertised.  I decided after a few tries that peeling isn't worth the extra effort, and adopted Madhur Jaffrey's attitude: the peels provide extra roughage.  In a pureed dish (like hummus) it hardly matters.  In a soup or a stew the peels add visual interest.  (How's that for a rationalization?  :biggrin: )  If the finished dish looks strange, I'll turn down the lights and light a candle.  :raz:

And yet another typically eGullet solution to a knotty problem. Gotta love it. :laugh:

I never peeled a garbanzo in my life and I seriously doubt that I will start now. :raz:

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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When I lived in Lebanon, where the chickpea is omnipresent, it was customary to peel the little buggers. I was told that this was key to their texture and to creaminess in dishes like hummus.

I love chickpeas and I agree that cooking them from dried is much better than canned. If I have to use canned I will cook them a bit, as they are often undercooked when canned to withstand their long sit in liquid.

I peel them when I have time for better mouth feel, and if you buy dried split chickpeas the skins actually do come off when you rub them (unfortunately, these aren't readily available in the U.S. so I put on some music and pinch each chickpea one by one if I'm feeling really dedicated).

As for the dishes I love: hummus, chana masala, Lebanese mousaka (no meat, just eggplant, onion, tomatoes, chickpeas and spices), and salads with chickpeas like spinach/mushroom/chickpea/parm.

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