Tag Archives: almonds

Chickpea Salad with Rosemary & Almonds

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© Johanna Kindvall

One of my favorite starters is Jules Clancy’s warm chickpea salad with rosemary & garlic. It’s a wonderful dish that is super easy to put together. It always seems to be a welcoming treat for my guests. I serve it warm or cold as a starter together with fresh homemade bread. This dish is also nice together with olives, mushroom confit, feta and thinly sliced dried sausage.

I have tried different variations of this recipe; thyme instead of rosemary and sunflower seeds instead of almonds. They are all good, however the original combination of chickpeas, chili, rosemary and almonds is just perfect so I mostly stick to that. The recipe below is almost identical to Jules, but my method is slightly different. For example, I prefer to add the garlic at the end, as I easily burn the garlic otherwise. And in this way I minimize the risk of bitter and overcooked garlic.

Thanks Jules for this lovely recipe.

Chickpea Salad with Rosemary & Almonds
adapted from a recipe by Jules Clancy

400 g cooked chickpeas, drained (about one regular can)
chili flakes
one sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves chopped fine or kept whole
one garlic clove, minced
flaky sea salt
¼ cup (60 ml) almonds, toasted

In a separate frying pan, heat up some olive oil. When the oil is hot, lower the heat to medium and add the rosemary with a pinch of chili flakes, fry for about a minute before adding the chickpeas. Stir occasionally. Just when the chickpeas start to brown, clear a spot in the pan and add the minced garlic. Let cook for just a little bit before stirring in the rest. Lastly, add the toasted almonds and season with sea salt and some more olive oil (if it feels too dry).

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As you may know already, Jules is the creator of Stonesoup where she share recipes and teach minimal healthy cooking. In 2011 she was a guest here on kokblog. I have also done several illustrations for her websites, for e.g. the beets in the header of stonesoup, the yellow bench and header of her Virtual Cookery School.

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Can’t get enough of chickpeas? I suggest you check out these links:

Feed the Hommous – Chickpeas, the Versatile Bean by Fouad Kassab
Fabrizia’s Panelle by Nicky at Delicious Days  (I love Fabrizia‘s Panelle)
Black Chickpea and Broccoli Soup by Elizabeth Minchilli
Smoky Fried Chickpeas by Aliwaks at Food 52
Easiest Way to Skin Chickpeas for Super Smooth Hummus [VIDEO] by Andrew Janjigian at America’s Test Kitchen

 

Lemon Tart

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kokblog_lemon_tart

Whats the point of using sucanat in a lemon tart filling? Isn’t it supposed to look gorgeously yellow against the golden brown crust? I guess it should… but I kind of like the sour surprise, when my guests take their first bite in something that looks like a pumpkin or a caramel pie! (and the taste is fantastic).

almond dough

100 ml (about ½ cup) regular flour
225 ml (about 1 cup) milled almonds
60 g (2 ounces) butter
5 tablespoons sucanat
a splash of water

lemon filling

3 eggs
150 ml (2/3 cup) regular sugar (probably recommended even if I use sucanat)
75 g (2.65 ounces)  butter, melted
fine peel of one lemon
juice from 2-3  lemons (depends a little how large the eggs are that you use)

Start to mix together butter, flour, almonds and sugar. When the butter is well divided add a splash of water. Work the dough together and let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour. Line a 9 ½ inch pie form. Pre-bake @ 175°C (350F) with pie weights to avoid the dough slipping down or bubbling up (I use dried chickpeas on top of aluminum foil). Remove the pie weights after 10 minutes and keep baking the pie shell for about 5 minutes. The crust should have got some color. Let cool.

Mix egg and sugar in a blender. Melt the butter and add it to the filling before adding lemon to your taste. Blend to a smooth filling. Pour it over the pre-baked pie shell and bake in the oven at 175°C (350°F) until the filling is firm, about 15-20 min.

Let cool. I think this cake is served best plain at room temperature (but it would’t hurt to shave some bitter sweet chocolate on top).

See also recipe for Ginger & Lime Tart

Pear and Almond Tart

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pears

I didn’t have much candy or chocolate this Easter. Besides eating plenty of herring, eggs and lamb I had some lovely cakes… this one was crunchy and juicy at the same time.

crust
300 ml (1 ¼ cup) flour
100 g (3.5 oz) butter
2 tablespoon sucanat
3 table spoon cold water

filling
2 pears
4-5 tablespoons rum or juice from one lemon
100 g (3.5 oz) butter
4-6 table spoon sucanat
120 ml (½ cup) almonds

Mix the crust ingredients together and let them rest in the fridge for one hour. Place the crust in a greased 9” baking tin and trim to fit. Stick this shell a few times with a fork and pre-bake for 10 minutes at 200º (400F).

Peal and slice the pears thinly. Soak the pear pieces with rum or juice from a lemon. Roast the almonds at 200º (400 F) for about 8-10 minutes. When they have cooled down chop them into smaller pieces. Melt the butter and then add sucanat and the roasted almonds. Divide the soaked pears in the pre-baked shell and pour the filling on top. Bake in the oven at 200º (400F) for about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Almond Cake

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jefferssonville

This summer we went to Jeffersonville, a small town in upstate New York. It was just a small vacation over the weekend and we were staying at a lovely Bed and Breakfast place call the Fifth Floor Farm. In between our activities and small trips, we enjoyed relaxing in their garden, while our hosts Faye and Fred spoiled us with their treats. This is not their recipe of almond cake, but my try to come close to something I have been longing for since then.

pastry

55 g (ca 2 oz) butter
25 ml (0.1 cups) sucanat
one small egg yolk
150-200 ml (0.6-0.8 cups) flour

Mix flour with sucanat, butter and later on the egg yolk to a firm dough. Let the pastry rest in the fridge for an hour or overnight. Roll out the pastry and cover a greased circular baking tin or some smaller cups.

filling

200 ml (0.8 cups) almonds
200 ml (0.8 cup) sucanat
1 egg
50 g (1.8 oz) butter

Grind the almonds. Whisk the egg gently and mix it with almonds and sucanat. Melt the butter and pour it in the mixture. When the filling is well mixed, pour it over the pastry and bake it in the oven at 175° (350 F) for 20-30 minutes. Let it cool and serve as it is or with some dry sherry.

Update 29th November 2005:
Couple of days ago I did this almond cake again. I decided to reduce the sugar in the filling and instead added some raspberry jam, as I thought it would be a great combination. I must say it was a success!

Almond Paste

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I could not find any almond paste in our local store so I did my own… I used some of it in whipped cream that I served together with a banana cake. Lovely!

almonds

450 ml (1 lb) blanched almonds
250 ml (1 cup) water
500 ml (2 cup) sucanat

Mill the almonds in a blender or a coffee grinder.
Heat up water and add the sucanat. Let it cook, while stirring, until the temperature has reach 390°C (240F). If you don’t have a thermometer, just look at it and it will be done when the sucanat get thicker and you can form soft balls. Add the almonds and stir it well. Let the paste get cool and knead until it is smooth.