Chickpea Croquettes with Parmesan Cheese and Almonds

Today I would like to present you a very tasty recipe of chickpeas cakes enriched with Parmesan cheese, almonds and spices.

They are very easy to be prepared and only a few ingredients are needed.

With a rich salad and if you maybe a yogurt sauce they can make a great full but still light meal.

You may adapt the recipe to you taste for example with some herbs, with garlic or roasted onions or other spices. Enjoy!

You may also make bigger ones and make of them burgers.

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 1-2 h
• Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients

• 400 g chickpeas, precooked and drained
• 80 g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 80 g almonds, grinded
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon coriander ground, quantity to taste (or other spices or herbs to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• More or less 100 g grinded almonds for coating
• Oil for frying (I used olive oil)

Preparation

1. Drain well your chickpeas and blend them until smooth
2. Add cheese, almonds, egg, spices and salt and pepper. Combine well working this with a fork or a spoon. Adjust spices, salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture results to wet, add some more grinded almonds.
3. Scoop some mixture, form to ball with your hands, make the little flat and coat them in the additional grinded almonds. Place on a plate until you will have all them ready.
4. In a non-sticky skillet heat little oil. Place the croquettes to fry gently. Brush or drizzle the upper side with oil. Turn when they begins to brown and cook on the other side until golden. Do not overcook them as they are delicious especially if moist.
5. Serve them preferably warm.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/  

Dried Figs stuffed with Almonds and Orange Zest

This year we had a very warm summer and the garden gave us a lot delicious figs, which we shared with friends.

However, it was only during our holidays on Crete after noticing that most of the figs fall on the floor and, as I hate food waste, I decided to try to dry some figs and prepare a great souvenir of the summer in a jar.

The good thing we had for this, beside the figs of course was the sun; the strong Greek sun is best to preserve these figs and for this reason, I searched in the internet how I should proceed.

To make them more special, I decided to modify an Italian recipe (from the *Puglie* region) and so I started to collect ripe but still firm green and black figs and to dry them in the sun!

Figs can be dried halved or cut in two pieces; I opted to cut them into two halves as the effect of the sun would be stronger drying the figs quickly and the rays would destroy all possible parasites.

The best way to dry them would be on a grid, but since I did not have this, I used my normal baking try with a black baking foil, which attracted the sun and kept the heat; in two days, the figs were dry enough, some of them almost to dry! J

If you don’t have the opportunity to collect and dry the figs, you should opt for the dry figs from the store and halve them with a scissor taking care to keep them partially attached.

These figs are an unusual addition to the holiday table and make a unique Christmas gift from the kitchen!

• Time: 1 hr
• Difficulty: easy
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You need

• 50 dried figs, butterflied
• 1 orange, peel only removed with a vegetable peeler and cut into small pieces
• 50 almonds
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1 pinch o cinnamon
• 10-20 bay leaves

Procedure

1. Add a piece of orange peel on one side of the butterflied fig.
2. Add an almond on each it and cover with the other side. Press them well together.
3. Bake for 10 minutes at 180°C/350°F, Check on the color and temperature as cooking time may vary from oven to oven!
4. In the meantime, combine the powdered sugar with the cinnamon.
5. Switch off the oven, take out the figs out, dust with sugar and place them in the oven for other 5 minutes.
6. In order to store them for a long time, place the still warm figs into sterilized jars layered and with several bay leaves between the layers for added flavor. Store the jar in a cool dry place.

Tip1: After sun drying the figs, some of them resulted very dry, too dry for this preparation, for this reason I placed them in bowl, sprinkled them with water (about tablespoons for 5 cups of dried figs) covered them, and placed in the microwave for 2 two minutes. After resting for about 10 minutes they were ready for this preparation.

Tip2: Quartered walnuts and orange zest by lemon or tangerine zest may replace Almonds!

Author: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Almonds Boshi-Shibori – Almond Paste Sweet Bags

Early this year the Museums of Basel started a challenge to promote art and culture form different artists and other culture with a new experiment: chef were invited to create recipes inspired by the objects they selected.

This original idea has been the start of the set of recipes created for this event and in 5 days (the challenge was almost finished as I found it!) and I spent a very exiting week planning, making drafts, cooking, photographing the new creations and dreaming!

My personal challenge had started: create a recipe for all of the objects.

Today’s post will be referred to the object Nr.  09 (Boshi-Shibori dyeing technique with tightly twisted medium cotton or silk thread wound on a wooden dowel, Kyoto/Japan, before 1956)

http://www.museenbasel.ch/media/de/pdf/2015/rezeptheft_museen_basel.pdf

Japanese artisan attend to the smallest detail, such as the choice of a tying thread.

Original despription in German: Boshi-Shibori, vor 1956, Abbindetechnik für Stoffmusterung, Kyoto, Japan, Seide, Plastikfolie, Papier, Faden, Farben, Museum der Kulturen Basel

About the recipe:

As soon as I saw the picture I associated this to thin dough sheets wrapping a delicious filling.

In my case I made the dough and the sheets myself, but this can easily substitutes with gyoza dough, spring rolls sheets or phyllo dough pieces. If using these kind of commercial dough it may be necessary to sheet were the dough should stick together.

Serve this as dessert or simply as food finger addition for you party.

Connection with the art piece:

• Technique: wrapping
• Shape: packages
• Finishing: binding
• Color: pale
• Filling: exotic ingredient as Almonds came from the East

Almonds Boshi-Shibori

• Servings: 8 pieces
• Time: 1 1/2 hour including resting time
• Difficulty: medium
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Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/ 

You need

Dough

• 100g flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1 pinch salt

Almond paste filling (can be substituted by ready almond paste)

• 60 g almonds, peeled and grounded
• 60 powdered sugar
• 2-3 bitter almonds aroma
• 1-2 teaspoons water

Procedure:

1. For the dough combine all the ingredients and knead them well; if necessary add 1 teaspoon lukewarm water. The dough should be smooth, elastic but not sticky. Wrap in plastic foil and let rest for at least one hour.
2. In the meantime combine all the ingredients for the filling until it holds together. Shape 8 balls
3. Knead the dough quickly and make 8 portions. Shape each portion into a ball but reserve a small amount (big as a pea). Dust with flour the ball and roll it out to a disk of about 12 cm, with the small portion make a ribbon about 7 cm long rolling it with your hand and flatten it by pressing lightly with the rolling pin.
4. Hold the ball of filling with one hand, with the second place the disk of dough on it so that the borders are hanging down. Now you have only to fix it together with the ribbon.
5. Place the goodies on a baking try and cook in the preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for about 6-8 minutes or until you see that the borders begin to turn brown.
6. Cool down on a grid.