Sunday gleanings

Well originally this morning I told myself - that's it, no technology today, have a sabbath rest from the internet! Of course, did I listen to myself? Not so much. It's so hard when you use the internet to call far-away family and friends, or if you want to boast about your latest cooking adventures on the only day you really have time to do so....   I guess there's always next Sunday. Actually since it is Sunday, I have had this quote floating around in my head about being with God  that continually brings a smile to my face:

God
and I have become
like two giant fat people living
in a tiny
boat.

We
keep bumping into
each other
and laughing.
(Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz)

 

And now back to food. We had a couple of friends over for dinner last night; one has extreme dietary restrictions. She offered to bring her own leftovers for herself, but I couldn't bear not to be able to feed her food that I made so I ended up with an all vegetable soup (kale, carrots, onion, celery, tomatoes, parsley) plus chickpeas from scratch - no vegetable broth shortcuts which can have unexpected ingredients in them - and I found an actual bread that works for her! A flat bread that made her rejoice in its similarity in taste to cornbread when she hasn't been able to eat anything with corn for a couple of years. Apparently it's Italian in origin and, since it only contains chickpea flour, oil, salt, and spices,  it's gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan!!! I tried two versions of the recipe (Version 1, Version 2) and the second was my favorite for the crispiness (due to more oil and the way the batter is added to oil).

So for Version 1, I used a 9x13" metal baking pan. I brushed the pan with a bit of olive oil and added 2 Tbs of olive oil into the batter when beating it. I baked for about 20-30 minutes and did not take the time to broil it as I was trying to finish baking version 2 in the oven simultaneously. The texture is like a flat cornbread, soft, and crackles on the top as it bakes. For this version, I added ground toasted cumin as the spice.

For Version 2, I used a cast iron skillet and poured the 4 Tbs of olive oil in per the directions. This meant that when the batter was poured in, oil was both underneath the batter and rose up to cover the batter, leading to all around crispiness. I did have to bake this version for something like 30-40 minutes, due to the thicker layer of batter in the pan. For this version, I added dried rosemary which was another lovely flavor. I did NOT add the onion.

Version 2: Chickpea-Rosemary Flatbread