Falafel and Tzatziki

Hello reader,

I have been having a blast discovering the joys of pressure cooking dried beans!
It's so much fun, and I love the fact that I don't have to mess around with pre-soaking or anything so time consuming as that.  To help me on my merry way, I found this great website:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/

Which has been enormously helpful.  I've cooked great northern beans to make into a lovely dip, or to enjoy with salsa and sour cream over them (really good!), and then I moved on to garbanzo beans (chick peas).  Lately I've been having trouble getting the consistency of hummus that is smooth and rich from using the cheap, pre-cooked canned variety, so this was my next mission...and it worked.  Over cooking the chick peas made them delightful for hummus.  This was the first factor that led me to a dinner of falafel...

The other happened one night during the week, when  I was seeking a creative way to use cauliflower as a side, and found a recipe for cauliflower falafel.  Well, the mister wasn't wild about it, so I saw this as a challenge to find a good recipe for the real deal.

For this, I turned to the well known website by The Shiksa In the Kitchen:

http://theshiksa.com/2011/01/05/falafel/

I read the reviews for this recipe, and went ahead with the pressure cooking of one-half bag of garbanzo beans (one half pound).

I followed the recipe as listed on the site, only adding a touch of tumeric, and set the mixture in the fridge for a few hours.  Unfortunately, it came out with no stick-together at all.
I added flour and worked it.  Not enough.  Added more. Maybe.  Tried it in the heated canola oil....
And it totally fell apart while frying.
Sadness ensued.
Don't give up!  Add more flour and seasoning (because I figured now it was diluted).
And since I threw out the canola oil mess, I went with a skillet and olive oil.

Here is the recipe for the falafel I ended up making:

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans, pressure cooked
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 T flour
• 3/4 t salt
• 2 t cumin
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• Pinch tumeric
• Olive oil for sauteing

Method

Process this mixture in a food processor, but quite before it gets too smooth like hummus, use the pulse!
I made patties out of the mixture by packing a heaping tablespoon against the side of the bowl, and releasing it into the hot oiled skillet with another tablespoon
Browned each side
Set them for 20 seconds on a paper towel to absorb extra oil
Then under a covered plate until they were all done.  I was able to work 4-5 at a time, and they didn't take long to brown.

 The sauce you see was the Tzatziki I made...

Tzatziki is a wonderfully easy and delightfully cool and crisp addition to this meal (and others too).  It emphasizes the falafel in a manner than I doubt anything else can, and so highly recommend making it to go with.

Tzatziki Recipe

Ingredients:
 
1 1/2 C full fat yogurt
3/4 of a large cucumber
2 t dried mint
1 large garlic clove
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t salt

To make:

Peel and seed the cucumber, then chop finely (save the rest of the cucumber for garnish)
Press the garlic clove
Add the yogurt, lemon juice, dried mint, and salt
Stir and refridgerate until ready for use.

*If you happen to not have dried mint, you can use mint from a tea bag instead, just don't use peppermint.

 
One small confession...
I took this picture the next day when I was having the leftovers for lunch, so the falafel was not as crispy.  But it was still delicious!
For dinner I served it with pita pockets, smeared on the inside with hummus, the falafel, cucumber, tomato and onion slices, and of course, the Tzatziki, it was very good.  OH, and a pickle on the side (Kosher dill of course).


 

Beef Gyros, Tzatziki and Spinach Pies

No, there are no pictures.  It has all been consumed.  How much can you really expect when the food is good and its dinner time?   I’m so glad you understand!

Last night I made a good dinner, inspired by our trip to Greece.  I made gyros with tzatziki and spinach pies.  Mmmm.  Very good.  And it all starts with a piece of beef (chuck roast) and a slow cooker.  Here’s how it went:

Slow cooker roast beef:

1 # chuck roast (or steak)

1/2 C olive oil

3 T lemon juice (or squeeze out a lemon and toss in the wedge)

6 cloves garlic, smashed

2 t dried oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

Add all ingredients to the pot, and then coat the meat in them, cover, and simmer on low for 8 hours.  Make sure that the meat is covered on top by liquid!  When it’s ready, just at dinner time, remove and slice, it should be very tender and it will smell great.

Now, for the delicious accompaniment of Tzatziki.

Ingredients:

1 C plain yogurt (not lowfat, please, but doesn’t have to be Greek, I used Dannon all natural)

1 C cucumber*

1 garlic clove, minced or grated

1 squeeze lemon

black pepper, a few rounds from the grinder

dash salt

*for the cucumber, use a vegetable peeler to take off the thick dk green skin, discard, then shave into the white pulp until you get to the seeds (we don’t want the seedy part), give the white pulp shavings a quick coarse chop and you are done!

Combine all ingredients, set aside to chill a while.  This is enough for 2 people, and can be added directly to the gyro over the meat, or on the side as a dip.  I like to have it both ways!

To complete the gyro, you will need:

Pita-most bendable when warmed in the oven for a few minutes

Thin tomato wedges

Chopped lettuce

Red onion slices

Lastly, but certainly not least…the Spinach Pies.  Ooo these were good.  They cook in ramekins at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

About 2 Tablespoons of dough that is not sweetened will do if you have no filo dough, which I did not, nor could I acquire in these neck of the woods (pathetic, eh?).  So, if you have made a pie, and smartly put the leftover dough scraps into the freezer in a neat little ball wrapped tightly in plastic, you will have just what you need.  Otherwise, you may have to improvise…or reduce the ingredients and check out my pie crust recipe on the Pecan Pie post.

Ingredients:

2 T crust dough

2/3 of a can of spinach

1/4 C mozzarella shredded cheese + extra 2T for the top

1 T Parmesan cheese, grated

1 T milk

1 T margarine

1 egg

pinch of ground black pepper

dash of salt

Between two pieces of wax paper, roll approx. 1 T of the dough into a flat disc about 6” in diameter.

Gently peel the paper away from each side and place the disc on top of the ramekin, help the weight of the dough settle into the cup, pressing gently into place and fixing any rips that may occur.

Trim dough to an even height with a knife (about 1/2” from the top of the lip)

Place on a small cookie sheet and into the oven to bake for 10 minutes

While this is baking, drain the can of spinach, separating about 2/3 of the contents (this you will work with)

Squeeze as much water as you can out of the 2/3s, save the rest for another use or freeze.

In a small saucepan, tear apart the spinach (which is now in tight little balls from squeezing) to separate it a bit

Add low-medium heat to the pan

Add margarine, and stir to incorporate

Add milk, incorporate

Add cheeses, salt and pepper, incorporate

Remove from heat.

Add egg, use a small whisk or fork to incorporate and mix evenly

Divide this mixture in half, placing equal amount in each pre-baked shell

Top with extra mozzarella cheese

Return ramekins to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

There you go!  It’s really a lot easier than all of these steps might indicate…trust me :)

Remove the ramekins from the oven, let cool 5 minutes, and the pies will slip right out of them and onto your plate in a beautiful little spinach pie.

I am definitely going to make these again and again.  They were really tasty.