Garbanzo Beans

[Behemoth]

Actually, they wouldn't peel the garbanzos for hummus, they would use a food mill which would do the work for you. We are a food-loving people, but we are also a lazy people

[Carlovski]

I quite often make a chickpea mash to serve with casseroles/braised dishes (esp lamb ones). Good with fish too.

Simply fry some sliced garlic and maybe a touch of chilli (Depending on what you are serving it with) and a little parika in some olive oil, add cooked (Canned are fine here) chickpeas along with a little of their cooking liquor/touch of vegetable stock and cook for a few minutes. Mash well and beat in a good glug of EVOO till well emulsified. Add lemon juice to sharpen (I add more for with fish, less for with a casserole - but up to you!).

Same recipe works well with Cannelini beans too. You can make it sloppier (And spicier) for a good dip. Cumin seeds are a nice addition too.

[outofthefrypan]

I'm never happy with the chickpea dishes I make--they usually taste too bland or too garlicky. Today, though, I made the chickpea ragout from the new Jacques Pepin book, Fast Food My Way . Really easy and tasty. I won't print the whole recipe here, of course, but it is a quick stew of canned chickpeas and tomatoes. I think the secret to the depth of flavor is two kinds of onions--yellow and green. I ate it with a wine-soaked sheep cheese and crusty bread on the side. Yum.

[beccaboo]

I've always wondered--who calls them chickpeas and who calls them garbanzo beans? Everyone I know says 'garbanzo bean,' and that's what the labels on the cans say in California and Washington, but cookbooks always call them 'chickpeas.' Is it just that we on the west coast are more Spanish-influenced, and everyone else is Italian?

[Smithy]

I've always wondered--who calls them chickpeas and who calls them garbanzo beans?  Everyone I know says 'garbanzo bean,' and that's what the labels on the cans say in California and Washington, but cookbooks always call them 'chickpeas.'    Is it just that we on the west coast are more Spanish-influenced, and everyone else is Italian?

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I grew up in California and learned them as garbanzo beans. Cans out here in Minnesota may be labeled as either. Overseas I've only heard them called chickpeas (in English), so I assume the name 'garbanzo' is from Spanish influence.

[Pan]

The Italian name is Ceci. I live in New York and have always recognized "garbanzo beans" but call them chickpeas. Keep in mind, however, that Goya products are for sale in most any supermarket in Manhattan.

[Scarpetta]

In Italy, where I live, there's a chickpea soup which is traditional at this time of the year: minestra di ceci e costine.

You boil the chickpeas with a couple of garlic cloves and a few sage leaves until they're tender. Separately - because cooking times are quite different - about half the chikpeas amount of cannellini beans. In a third pot you boil some pork ribs with onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf, a couple sprigs of parsley and a few black peppercorns in lightly salted water.

Finally all of these things come together, you add a roux and pass one third of the legumes through a food mill. It's quite tasty, and warms up very well.

[chile_peppa]

I like chickpeas, garbanzo beans, ceci, whatever -- quite a lot. Here is a recipe for Thunder and Lightning, adapted from the Chicago Tribune:

1/4 c olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c cooked chickpeas

1 tb fresh sage, minced fine

1 c chicken broth

1 1/2 t finely cracked peppercorns

3/4 lb orecchiette ("ear"-shaped pasta), cooked

2 tb butter

1/2 c grated Parmesan

Cook garlic and chickpeas in olive oil over high heat until the chickpeas begin to pop. Add sage, broth, and pepper. Lower heat and reduce broth by one-fourth.

Place the pasta and butter in a large bowl. Add chickpea mixture and toss well. Add Parmesan. If the dish is too dry, add more broth. Serve with additional cheese.

[Jeffy Boy]

There's a dish called "balila", served at a little Lebanese restaurant in Vancouver called Habibi's. It's basically warmed chick peas in a garlic-infused olive oil. It's simple, but delicious. I've come close to replicating it at home, just by sauteeing some canned chick peas in olive oil, minced garlic and salt.

[M. Lucia]

Actually, they wouldn't peel the garbanzos for hummus, they would use a food mill which would do the work for you. We are a food-loving people, but we are also a lazy people 

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When I actually think about it, for the millions of times I have watched people make hummus and foul, I have never seen anyone peel the chickpeas. Thanks for the clarification.

another yummy dish with chickpeas that I am eating as I type: moughrabbia

[Behemoth]

another yummy dish with chickpeas that I am eating as I type: moughrabbia

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Is that the one with the sort of pasta? I haven't had it in years. Isn't the pasta kind of like what people here call Israeli couscous? I didn't like whole chickpeas as a kid, so there are a lot of dishes I didn't start to appreciate until after we left the country.

This thread is really becoming a nice resource for new recipes...

[Smithy]

another yummy dish with chickpeas that I am eating as I type: moughrabbia

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This thread is really becoming a nice resource for new recipes...

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It sure is! I started out tonight to make Carlovski's chickpea mash, but got sidetracked by a discussion on Cajun food over in the Louisiana subforum. The result was quite nice, but I don't know what you'd call it: it's influenced by what I read on the Cajun discussion, and by a Cuban stew recipe a friend gave me some years back, and by this general discussion here. With that much confusion I think I'll call it my own recipe. Anyway, if anyone's interested, here's what I did and how it came out: lard for fat (because I wanted to see what it's like), cooked some onions with lots of smoked paprika, added chopped garlic, the sausage, and after those had cooked a while added chopped celery & carrots, sliced roasted red peppers, some chickpea broth, and a beef bouillion cube. Simmered until done. It was still a bit thin. I bet that's why those Cajun recipes start with "make a roux". Mighty tasty, though. I managed to make my husband envious with the description, and he's off in Florida enjoying fresh sea food. (Maybe he was just being polite. )

If you look closely you can see the skins that slipped off the beans in the stew. I didn't bother turning the lights down.

I'd like to know about moughrabbia!

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks to eveyone for all the interesting ideas.

I also should point out Foodman's wonderful eGCI course, Introduction to Lebanese Cooking, which includes a recipe for Falafel. He writes,

My fondest memories involving Falafel are the ones of our weekend trips to my home town. It is Friday afternoon, I do not have to be back to school till Monday which seems so far away and we are driving along the Beirut coast towards our home town. Inevitably my father would pull over at a small Falafel shop in Tripoli to get some hot steaming Falafel sandwiches. Stopping for Falafel in Tripoli was a much loved tradition in our family. Nostalgia aside, Falafel is one of the most popular middle eastern foods anywhere in the world. This should come as no surprise, as anyone who has tried it knows that it is absolutely delicious.

[fifi]

I have to bump this up to relate a delightful lunch. I had cooked a half pound of Goya dried garbanzos in my little Le Creuset. I have to agree with Richard. The taste and texture is astounding. Anyway... Having put the beans in the fridge for various uses later, I was in the position of thinking of something for lunch today.

I was "rained in" for all practical purposes and couldn't get to the store to work on a couple of kitchen projects so I was relegated to lolling around, reading mysteries, (AWWW!) and then finding that I needed lunch.

I didn't want anything heavy. Then I remembered the garbanzos in the fridge. I diced some red onion, red bell pepper and celery. I made a simple vinaigrette emulsified with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and added a little garlic. Dousing the garbanzos and veggies resulted in an awesome "salad" that made for a very satisfying lunch with saltines and orange juice to drink. The improved texture of the garbanzos cooked using the Parsons method added to the delight.

I think these cooked garbanzos are going to become a staple in my fridge.

[Rachel Perlow]

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.

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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.

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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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Did they ever need additional water? If not, next time try not to check on them. I think they'll cook longer if the steam is not allowed to escape and heat released from the oven every 30 minutes. They'll probably be done to the same level in 2 hours instead of 2:20.

[docsconz]

I too love chickpeas in a number of ways, though my favorite is the Sicilian pannella fritter - basically fried chickpea flour. This is particularly good in a sandwich with cacciacavallo cheese and fresh ricotta.

[dahlsk]

In the summer, I like to make a garbanzo bean salad that is stuffed into toasted pitas. No cooking, just chopping and assembling the beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, kalamatas, parsley and a vinaigrette with a moroccan spice blend, oil and vinegar. It's really refreshing and I found it in a Bon Appetit last year. I know it's also on epicurious.

dahlsk

[fifi]

You just inspired me to have my leftover salad for "brunch". (OK... I slept late. ) I added some feta and a sprinkle of Greek seasoning from Penzey's. Divine!!! There is something really satisfying about the texture of those beans... er... peas... whatever.

[Pan]

What's in the Greek seasoning, Linda?

[fifi]

What's in the Greek seasoning, Linda?

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Here is the ingredient list... salt, Turkish oregano, garlic, lemon peel, Tellicherry black pepper, marjoram.

I am surprised that it doesn't have mint.

[Carolyn Tillie]

There is a recipe I got from Epicurious but their site is down now so I'll give you the gist. They call Moroccan Chickpea Soup and their directions are complicated, needing to start with dried chickpeas. I cheat and used them canned and can put this soup together in less than five minutes

1 large can chickpeas

1 large can chopped tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup lentils

2 oz. dried capellini, broken into 1" pieces, or fine egg noodles (optional)

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Accompaniment - lemon wedges

Sauté onions and celery rib in butter melted in soup pot until the vegetables are wilted. Add all the spices and continue to sauté for other two or three minutes, until fragrant. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, stock, and lentils. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for approximately an hour (to cook lentils). Add parsley and capellini (which will cook in about three minutes). Garnish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

A couple of notes -- I will frequently leave out the capelllini entirely because it swells so much after the initial service and I like to make soups that stay around for a few days. Also, the Epicurious recipe has cilantro in it which I don't care for at all. They also have you buy canned whole tomatoes and purée them in a food processor but I like the chunks better. I like this soup because it has a few ingredients, is incredibly flavorful, and beyond chopping the onion, really only requires opening a few cans to get on the stove and cooking VERY quickly. Yes, I prefer to make wholesome soups from scratch, but this is a great one to have in the repertoire for emergencies.

[fifi]

Oh my Carolyn, that sounds good. I may have to put on the other half pound of garbanzos on to cook. What really appeals to me about this recipe is the cinnamon. I have been increasingly enchanted by the use of cinnamon in savory dishes.

[bloviatrix]

I've always wondered--who calls them chickpeas and who calls them garbanzo beans?  Everyone I know says 'garbanzo bean,' and that's what the labels on the cans say in California and Washington, but cookbooks always call them 'chickpeas.'    Is it just that we on the west coast are more Spanish-influenced, and everyone else is Italian?

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We call them arbas. I have no idea what language it is, but that's what chickpeas were always called when I was growing up.

[nessa]

I like them any way I can get them. I don't care if you call them channa, chickpeas or garbanzos, it all translates and yum to me.

At the top of my list are fatteh, hummus, and channa masala.

Serious comfort food. I had this neurotic need to run to my pantry and make sure that I wasn't below two quarts on chickpeas.

Now I'm craving them. I think I'll branch out and do something soupy.

Hmmm. Maybe something with smoked turkey stock after T-Day......

[fifi]

OH my goodness... A soup based on smoked turkey with garbanzos sounds so good, I may have to smoke some turkey to make some.