What are you cooking now?

[cloughie]

Same at the big Tesco near here.

I shall think of you and hum snatches from Parsleyfal next time I walk past the display.

Or the entry of the spuds into Valhalla!

[Ockeghem's Razor]

Same at the big Tesco near here.

I shall think of you and hum snatches from Parsleyfal next time I walk past the display.

[Ockeghem's Razor]

Or the entry of the spuds into Valhalla!

[french frank]

Not so much 'cooking', but a counter to the 'offensive meat' thread: I'd cooked some chickpeas and wanted a new recipe instead of the Spanish stew (with pork) or falafel. I found a nice salad from Jane Grigson, ideal as I have a glut of ripe tomatoes atm!

mix in a bowl: the cooked chickpeas, chopped ripe tomatoes, a small onion (I used red instead of white), torn parsley and/or coriander and a touch of cayenne pepper, and P&S. Add a tahini dressing. Serve with warm pitta bread.

I had all the ingredients in house except a lemon for the dressing, so I replaced the tahini with piri-piri from a bottle... I had the tahini paste as ταχινόμελο for pudding

[Richard Tarleton]

I really like the sound of that, am saving it. The Moro chickpea with spinach recipe a regular here, (includes saffron, vinegar, a paste of cumin seeds, chili, garlic, fried bread, oregano for thickening) - no meat required, ideal for a selection of vegetarian mezes or tapas. We do cheat with tinned chickpeas, no pressure cooker and our small stone cottage fills with steam very easily!

[french frank]

We do cheat with tinned chickpeas, no pressure cooker and our small stone cottage fills with steam very easily!

Browsing for the recipe yesterday, I saw people recommending just pouring boiling water on the dry chickpeas and leaving for ... um, I've forgotten how long. Not very long. But once they're soaked, I like to rescue them from the boiling before they are really soft. I like them to have a bit of crunch left. So, soak overnight and cook the next day for 30-40 mins (test to see when they're perfect - probably depends on how old they were).

Just in case I forgot something, the recipe is here.

Is the spinach chopped and included in a mix? Saffron?

[I shall rave periodically about our new greengrocer - takes me back to the days when you came home with a bag bursting with good things for £1-2-6d (mushrooms 1/3d a quarter, less for stalks only)]

[amateur51]

I really like the sound of that, am saving it. The Moro chickpea with spinach recipe a regular here, (includes saffron, vinegar, a paste of cumin seeds, chili, garlic, fried bread, oregano for thickening) - no meat required, ideal for a selection of vegetarian mezes or tapas. We do cheat with tinned chickpeas, no pressure cooker and our small stone cottage fills with steam very easily!

I'm not surprised with an eructogenic diet like that

[french frank]

I'm not surprised with an eructogenic diet like that

Mock not! Chickpeas are absolutely fantastic little legumes.

[amateur51]

[I shall rave periodically about our new greengrocer - takes me back to the days when you came home with a bag bursting with good things for £1-2-6d (mushrooms 1/3d a quarter, less for stalks only)]

Stalks only? What a good idea!

I just wish I could buy the weekend papers without the sundry supplements & colour mags too

[amateur51]

Mock not! Chickpeas are absolutely fantastic little legumes.

I wasn't mocking I'm a fan of the tinned variety. Their gas-inducing qualities are renowned. I don't like the idea of their being fed to cattle, who can emit trombone-like glissandi without added encouragement.

[french frank]

Their gas-inducing qualities are renowned.

Really? I hadn't heard that and they don't affect me in that way. In fact only Jerusalem artichokes have a disagreeable/painful effect. I'd heard about baked beans, but I think some people must have less efficient digestive systems

[Richard Tarleton]

Really? I hadn't heard that and they don't affect me in that way.

Likewise. With all legumes you need to cook them properly!

Put a dollop of olive oil into a pan and add the spinach with a pinch of salt, in batches if necessary, and keep stirring. Remove them when the leaves are just tender, drain in a colander and set aside.

Soak good pinch of saffron in 4 tablespoons boiling water

Heat some more olive oil in a frying pan (we do the following in high-sided heavy iron frying pan), fry bread until golden brown, and add garlic (3 ish cloves finely sliced), ¾ teasp. cumin seeds, small bunch oregano (or chuck in some dried herbs), chili (small dried red crumbled, or tsp chili powder), cook for another minute until garlic nutty brown. Transfer to mortar and pestle or food processor along with 1½ tablespoons good wine vinegar to make a paste. Return mixture to pan, add your cooked & drained (or tinned, washed and drained ) chickpeas and saffron-infused water. Stir until the chickpeas have absorbed the flavours, season with salt and pepper, add water if mixture too thick (I never do this, the glass lid of iron pan keeps the steam in), serve with sprinkling of smoked Spanish paprika and more fried bread (very Spanish) if required.

¡que aproveche!

[french frank]

Thanks for that, RT. And I've had to hasten here to apologise for my misattribution of the recipe. Looking idly at my print-out over lunch I see it was daughter Sophie Grigson, not Jane ... (But perhaps she inherited it from her mother ... :-) )

[teamsaint]

Chicken Fricassee.

quick,tasty satisfying.

Broccoli, rice and a nice bottle of Villa Lobos to go with.

Yum

[Nick Armstrong]

a nice bottle of Villa Lobos

I'd prefer a simple carafe of Albeniz, to be honest...