Becca and Nick
Falafel
Phil and Sarah
So I messed up. As with all good meals, it started with a trip to the sunset super, but I FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTO OF ALL THE THINGS. Sad.
I actually didn’t remember to take a photo till I’d gotten all the way through the food processing step. Whoops.
I used this recipe for Falafel:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-falafel-231755
And I actually followed it!
Falafel ready to sit in the fridge and set
Except it was super sticky! So I added WAY more flour than it said to.
Also, I used canned garbanzo beans cause it was much easier to buy – but the recipe said that was ok.
Now pause the falafel for a few hours while we make Pita Bread. I’d used this recipe once before when I did Schawarma round 2:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016071-homemade-pita-bread
Mixing the Dough
Dough balls
Rolled Dough
Pita!
I actually think I cooked the Pita a little too long. It looked right, and was the right thickness and tasted good, but it was a bit too crispy.
Back to Falafel….
Balls for Fryin’
Fryin’ Balls!
Toppings
Tahini sauce with some yogurt to make it more creamy
I swear there is Falafel in there!
You can see the Falafel on Phil’s
Conclusions? It was super tasty. And all the flavors went together really well. The Falafel themselves were really yummy, but they were super doughy – which is not surpising since I put in over double the flour that the recipe called for. Why did this happen? Maybe because I used canned beans? Maybe because I processed too long? Not sure. Either way, it didn’t make them any less tasty, and it did make them stay together in balls REALLY well, but the consistency was different than I was used to.
I guess next time don’t process as much, less flour, and cook my Pita a minute less. I think I’m getting a bigtnit picky here. This meal was a success!
Galen and Chloe
Falafel
Albin and Jocie
This was a meal of many parts. Here are the different items we made:
Gluten Free Flatbread
Pamela’s Artisan Flour
Slightly browned on the outside, soft on the inside.
The gluten free flatbread actually came out pretty good — they look nothing like those pitas you made Sarah, but they had a soft consistency and we actually managed to slice them open to make mini falafel pockets! They didn’t change in shape and size after baking in the oven, so next time I will be sure form them bigger.
Hummus
Costco can of garbanzo beans.
Using the juicer to grind up the garbanzo beans.
Taste testing after mixing in some essentials like cumin, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and tahini.
The hummus we just made from memory using our juicer. We have made hummus fairly often over the last few years because that giant can of garbanzo beans is only $3 at Costco. We are sad we will not be going to Costco for a while; our membership ended and we will not be renewing because they only take American Express credit cards. 😦
Tzatziki
Shredded cucumber smells amazing!
Whisk it up!
Mmmm, Tzatziki. I love this recipe! Its super simple, but so fresh tasting. The garlic and the dill can be strong, but the yogurt and the shredded cucumber balance those flavors out nicely.
Falafel
Before
After
And of course, the falafel. We soaked some dried garbanzo beans overnight, put all the ingredients in the bowl, and blended them all together with the immersion blender. Not too hard at all!
Cross our fingers — let’s hope this works!
One side done, one to go — I think its working!
Now the tricky part. In the past when we have made falafel from the mixes in the box, we lose so much in the pan while trying to fry them. They just kind of crumble. I don’t know why. Maybe there wasn’t enough oil or it wasn’t hot enough or maybe I tried turning them over too soon — who knows. I was curious to see how these ones made from actual beans held up. We didn’t have as much vegetable oil as would have liked, so I made patties instead of balls in order to avoid having the falafel stick to the bottom of the pan. And I made sure to wait until I saw browning on the sides before trying to flip them.
So the final product?
Frying falafel success!
The whole meal
Mini falafel pocket
A success! They held together so much better than the ones from the box. The flavors were great too. I did have the falafel for leftovers the next few days. Unfortunately, I ran out of the sauces. They were still yummy, but without that garlicky tzatziki sauce, I noticed the falafel did have a particular uncooked beany after flavor (kind of like gluten free baked goods sometimes do when made with bean flour). Maybe if I made the patties thinner, they would cook a little more through and through and that flavor would disappear.
The Weekly Cook-Off 