The Funky Kitchen

Buckwheat honey is the tall, dark and handsome mystery man of the honey world. Where most honey is light and mild, buckwheat honey is a heavyweight, the honey with all of the knockout power.  Its flavor profile is deeply earthy and malty, reminiscent of molasses, and not overly sweet (for honey, that is).

Madeleines are one of my favorite cookies, and with buckwheat honey baked in they were very good with the cup of tea. I was drinking tea this afternoon in vain hope it would soothe my sore throat and though it wasn’t overly successful, it was nice to have a treat while I sipped.

On madeleines, they are stubborn, and will stick to the pan unless you grease it very thoroughly. My madeleine pan is silicone (and therefore presumably non-stick) and I still run into some problems with them sticking, even with a fair amount of butter used to grease it. Metal madeleine pans have even higher chances for recalcitrant cookies that will not leave the pan, but from what I’ve seen they also brown more evenly. A metal madeleine pan is definitely on my wish list.

Buckwheat Honey Madeleines

1/4 Cup butter

1 Tbsp buckwheat honey (or honey of your choice, but buckwheat is so good)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

• Heat the oven to 425° F.
• Brown your butter, and then mix in the buckwheat honey and vanilla. Remove from heat once the mixture is uniform.
• In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy, and then add in the sugar.
• Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, and then add them to the egg mixture.
• Slowly whisk in the butter-honey mixture.
• Grease your madeleine pan generously. If you don’t have one, you could use a muffin pan, but then you won’t get the lovely seashell shapes.
• Drop the batter by the spoonful into the shell shaped indentations, filling about 3/4 full. Any fuller, and there will likely be overflow between the madeleines.
• Place the madeleines in the preheated oven, and immediately turn it down to 375° F. Bake until puffed up and golden brown (~10 minutes, a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean).

When I think of picnics, I think of: sun, sandwiches, iced tea, veggies and dip, kites, maybe a football, ants and… potato salad.

Normally, potato salad and I don’t get along very well. I like all of the ingredients that go into it, but the end result of a potato salad generally isn’t so appealing to me. Something about raw onions in a mayonnaise based dressing just doesn’t rub me the right way. Feel free to disagree, everyone has their idiosyncrasies when it comes to food.

I was reading Nigella Express (my transition into summer holidays has been  quick, the textbooks have already been replaced by cookbooks) when I found this recipe. A potato salad that has no mayonnaise, no raw onions and a rather unique flavor profile. Apparently Nigella shares my feelings on potato salad, who knew?

When I found out that a friend of mine had planned a picnic at the park, I knew that this different potato salad would be a good addition to my picnic basket. It joined the wraps, apples, iced tea and veggies with dip and was quite well received. The sun may have hidden behind the clouds and it was a little cool, but an afternoon at the park with good friends and good food was a lovely way to start summer break and celebrate the end of exams.

Potato Salad Revisited

(adapted from Warm Potato Salad in Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express)

4 medium potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

3 slices bacon (I used thick cut)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp whole grain mustard

Directions

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender (~20 minutes).
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon until crispy and most of the fat has rendered. When it is done, remove from heat to a plate lined with paper towel.
• In a bowl, combine the olive oil, white wine vinegar and whole grain mustard with a fork or whisk. It should come together similarly to a vinaigrette.
• When the potatoes are done cooking, drain the water off of them and give them a few minutes to cool.
• Pour the vinaigrette over the potatoes, tossing gently to combine. Forceful stirring will leave you with flavored mashed potatoes instead of mashed potatoes.
• Just before serving, crumble the bacon and add it to the salad.

What’s interesting is, this potato salad is good warm (right after being mixed up, even without the bacon), around ambient temperature (how we ate it at the picnic), and cold (what was left once we came home, though the bacon wasn’t so crispy anymore).  I know a lot of you out there are probably fans of normal potato salad but this revisited, revamped potato salad is worth a try.

I am not anti-snack.

Especially at this time of year, studying for and writing final exams, I am very pro-snack. I’ve been too busy reading to get around to cooking much of anything, and a little nibble here and there helps to curb the boredom of reading about nucleic acid synthesis for days on end. Sometimes you don’t want to stop and eat a large meal that will take away from precious time with the textbooks.

A girl cannot subsist on Hint of Lime Tostitos and salsa alone, though, so I made myself a new snack.

Roasted chickpeas are one of my favorite snacks, and the recipe is a standard from the way back then days of high school and veganism. It is as simple as taking a can of chickpeas, seasonings of your choice and a drizzle of olive oil, and letting them roast away in the oven. When they are done you have a lovely, healthy, crunchy snack that is oh so edible on its own, but also goes well on salads or in pasta sauces.

With roasted chickpeas you can go as simple or complex as you want; roasting them with only salt as seasoning, or roasting them with combinations of flavors. This time, I made one of my favorite seasoning combinations, but feel free to make it your own and experiment.

On the topic of chickpeas: they are high in protein, calcium, folate and magnesium, among other things. Research by Pittway, Robertson and Ball suggests that chickpeas also aid in lowering cholesterol. Not only are roasted chickpeas a tasty snack, but they are good for you. That made teenage vegan Dana happy, but it should make the anti-snackers out in the world happy too!

Everyone wins! Hurray for snacking! Vive le goûter!

Roasted Chickpeas

(adapted from Roasted Chichers in Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet)

1-18 oz can of chickpeas

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 tsp dill

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

• Set oven to 375° F.
• Open the can of chickpeas, empty it into a colander, and rinse thoroughly. The water the chickpeas are packed in has all kinds of dissolved solids in it and doesn’t taste very good, nor does it have a nice texture. I rinse until the chickpeas shine in the light, when they come out of the can they will be rather matte.
• Place the rinsed chickpeas in a resealable bag, and add olive oil, stirring to coat.
• Add lemon pepper, dill, garlic powder and paprika to the bag.
• Seal the bag, and shake until the seasonings are evenly distributed among the chickpeas.

• Pour the seasoned chickpeas onto a baking sheet, and shake the sheet until the chickpeas are in a single layer.
• Place the baking sheet in the hot oven, and bake until the chickpeas are browned and crunchy (~25 minutes). Stir the chickpeas about halfway through cooking, to help prevent sticking.

The mister agrees that roasted chickpeas are a tasty snack!