Snack Attack--Roasted Chickpeas

Sit tight and hold your skirt; we're taking a ride on the chickpea bandwagon! These little medallions of good health (otherwise known as garbanzo beans) seem to be popping up on food blogs everywhere particularly among the homemade hummus crowd.

I've yet to make my own hummus (that's "on the list"), but I did discovery my newest favorite snack to sneak into the movies: Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chickpeas. Stealing the flavors from a successful batch of spicy roasted nuts, I followed these cooking instructions and found my taste buds quite pleased, noting "Hmm, now that's something different. I think I like it." after I popped piece after piece of these crunchy snacks into my mouth.

Recipe (courtesy of Christie's Corner and Slashfood)

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 (12 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (more if needed)
  
• 2 Tbsp real maple syrup
  
• 2 Tbsp crushed dried rosemary
  
• 1/4 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper depending on your spice preference
• 2 tsp sea salt

(All spice quantities can be varied according to your tastes)
Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pat them dry on a couple of dish towels.
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and maple until combined. a
4. Mix in spices. Toss in the chickpeas and continue to cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
5. Spread the hot chickpeas on a rimmed cookie sheet or baking pan.
6. Cook 30 to 35 minutes, checking them frequently in the last 10 minutes because they will burn quickly.
7. The chickpeas are done when they are crunchy but not burned. (Note: If they aren't cooked enough they will have an unpleasant semi-firm texture. Return them to the oven until they CRUNCH, but keep an eye on them since they go from gold to garbage in minutes.)

What I Love About Teaching

Besides providing firsthand accounts of "inappropriate elimination" (yes, a term related to cats and their bowels that I have now applied to what comes out of students' mouths) which makes me at times laugh in disbelief, explode in anger, or grab a happy hour rita with friends, teaching ultimately refreshes me. This summer, while working with student teachers, teaching my own public speaking class, and working with some of Houston's brightest educators, I am learning about a new speaking technique which actually cures the ever-present and unfortunately prevalent Death-By-PowerPoint!

Check out Japanese-originating Pecha Kucha:




This new product of Japan is blasting through business training and surprisingly through the social realm crossing borders. I feel quite fortunate that a colleague introduced me to this presentation style this summer, and it's a breath of educational fresh air to experiment with my students with the 20-seconds-for-each-of-20-slides speaking extravaganza.

Yes, extravaganza. With this format and a motivating assignment or two, student creativity should flourish. I look forward to updating after this initial trial run and await the fall when I hope my new students can embrace a fresh and effective presentation style.

Not Your Average Sunday Burger

It was love at first sight when I saw these darlings on Yumsugar. I emailed my husband immediately, knowing we would have to try these soon. He took me up on the offer.

After this weekend's burger exploration, I may never again return to the grilled disk of ground beef when making homemade burgers. What happens when you taste a grilled chipotle pork patty accented by the combination of tomatillos, muenster cheese, and avocados, and a touch of cilantro? Your tongue becomes a stage for the performance of a hot and juicy choreographed flavor tango. Warning: You might feel dirty. Recipe below is a flavor affair in your mouth.


Pork Chipotle Muenster Burgers (from Gourmet)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork (not lean)
2 teaspoons minced chipotle in adobo plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
2 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
4 slices Muenster cheese
4 hamburger buns, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large tomatillo (1/4 lb), husked and rinsed, then sliced
1/2 small avocado, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
*Grillmaster husband--useful but not totally necessary
Directions

1. Prepare a gas grill for direct-heat cooking over medium heat.
2. Gently mix pork, chipotle, garlic, and a scant tsp salt until just combined. Form into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties.
3. Oil grill rack, then grill patties, covered, 4 minutes.
4. Flip patties and top with a slice of cheese. Grill, covered, until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
5. Spread buns with mayonnaise and assemble burgers with tomatillo, avocado, and cilantro.

Not enough for you? Serve with a side of Asian slaw.

Avoid Writing Procrastination

If Dr. Wicked graced the World Wide Web with this handy, yet pressure-filled, tool years ago as I kicked myself night-before after night-before, I would have walked the college campus a more rested and stress-free student. DrWicked.com's Writing Lab allows users to set a time in which he or she must fulfill a set goal of number of words for an essay or writing of choice.

Here's my top 5 for why college students everywhere must embrace:
1. Fulfilling your goal brings cheery, congratulatory, Western-we-beat-the-bad-guys music.
2. Dr. W is quite bright and on target, advising upon fulfilling your task, "...my suggestion is to leave them alone for a while, words need time to mature, like fine wines. Don't watch the aging process, you want the wine, right now it's just moldy grapes."
3. Once you begin, you can't turn back. Although you are on the computer, Facebook and chatting will be much less tempting.
4. There is a pause for restroom, food, or the ever pressing need to check Facebook break. Just one pause, therefore you, slacker, can't abuse the system.
5. Choose your own consequences to suit your "learning style"--Kamikaze mode erases your words if you don't work fast enough. Ouch!

So maybe I still would have waited until the night before assignments were due, but that night before might be a bit shorter with Dr. Wicked's help, leaving more time for, well, maybe not rest, but perhaps a longer night of live music, great friends, and celebratory beverages of course.

Look Mom--I'm A Professional!

Perhaps I missed my calling. My Google Reader (The A List) contains at least 17 food blogs. I should have been a chef.

There's always the future. For now I will settle with the initiation into the world of professional blogging! Yes, my friends, (I can say that. You, only people who actually read this, are indeed friends of mine.) I'm expanding my writing horizons and partaking in the world of trying new recipes, taking close-ups of the culinary wonders produced, and commenting on them for all the world to see!

Check out my Fast Break Breakfast Cookies (my first post) and add Just Baking to your RSS feed for my updates. I will have two posts a month, and it's a sure way to see what's going on in CC's kitchen if I forget to update here.

Eating in: Gazpacho

My recipe card for this delightful summer dish reads "Sonoma Gazpacho courtesy of Alton Brown." Normally, the guy annoys me a bit, but according to a large number of my girlfriends whose significant others adore this chef as does my own husband, I do not stand alone.

To celebrate five wonderfully inspiring, loving, and at times challenging years of marriage, my husband and I traveled to California, taking in the quirky San Francisco and of course relaxing in the Wine Country. It was here that we fell in love for the first time...

with gazpacho!

On our actual anniversary we dined at The Depot Hotel enjoying a bottle of white wine and discovering summer's greatest contribution to the world of soup.
Back home after the trip, we realized we had rekindled our love and it was now time to rekindle that tasty tomato treat. After a bit of Internet research, I settled on Alton's recipe; after all, he's classic in his ways. The result was fantastic. It's a sweet, yet punchy, refreshing, and might I add healthy, addition to any summer. Summer of '09--Gazpacho returns! Enjoy!


Sonoma Gazpacho (adapted from Alton Brown)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• Tomato juice
• 1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced (leave some seeds in for subtle spice)
  
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced (use two limes if smaller)
  
• 3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (add more to taste--Did I? of course!)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

Directions:
Fill a 6-quart pot halfway full of water, set over high heat and bring to a boil.
Make an X with a paring knife on the bottom of the tomatoes. (Alton's useful tip--helps to remove skin later.)


Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for 15 seconds, remove and transfer to an ice bath and allow to cool until able to handle, approximately 1 minute. Remove and pat dry. Peel, core and seed the tomatoes. When seeding the tomatoes, place the seeds and pulp into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl in order to catch the juice. Press as much of the juice through as possible and then add enough bottled tomato juice to bring the total to 1 cup.
Place the tomatoes and juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, garlic clove, olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt and pepper and stir to combine.


This is my useful tip, albeit not a great picture, for removing seeds from cucumbers--grapefruit spoons!)

Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to a blender and puree for 15 to 20 seconds on high speed. Return the pureed mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill for 2 hours and up to overnight. Serve with chiffonade of basil.



For an elegant dressed up grilled cheese/tomato soup combo, make provolone on focaccia grilled cheese to serve for a complete summer meal and don't forget your favorite white wine. Cheers!

Writer's Delight? Writer's Dilemma

THE INTERNAL CC DIALOG:
You know, you really should post on your addmoresalt blog.
*Yes, I know, but honestly, who's reading it anyway.
Come on, you know you have a secret ambition inside for this to really take off, for bloggers out there like Bakerella, A Good American Wife, Blue-eyed Bride, and even the great folks over at The Kitchn to love your work and await your updates.
*Really, who has the time for this? I'm not a professional; I have another job; and I'm not good at this.
You are not one to flake out on your own endeavors, you know.
*Do you know me at all? I'm a dreamer. I will put it on a list of "Things To Do in Life" and believe the heck out of it. That doesn't mean I take it on. (Or that I "flake out" I might add; it's still there, just dormant.)
Enough of this dancing around. Get over yourself, your fears, your "I don't have time for this," and put your best self out there on what your best blog attempt. Write something already.


Ok, ok, so this is how I feel this morning after checking out several new blogs around this world wide web we've created. Unfortunately (with perhaps some fine fortune to shine though in the future), I came across The Mighty Girl whose book No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog ate my breakfast. Thus my internal conversation above. I can't hep but feel like an idiot with nothing really to say that anyone except my very best friends who will support me beyond my imagination will actually give a moment's care about.

Yet, I can't imagine that I'm the only one to ever feel this way either. Perhaps this is how Mason envisioned her first book. Perhaps she was simply tired of reading crap.

Here's my solution. Settling is for the Pilgrims. I am going to check out your work Ms. Mason and take any advice I like and leave the rest. Postings to follow.

I can sit around, stare at the screen, jump from url to url and compare myself to people I don't even know in real life and feel inadequate, or I can take this same path and not envy the talents around me, but learn from them and add their achievements to the workings of my own voice.

Moral of the story: writing must be embraced with determination to battle the dilemma seeking to overshadow that which is designed to be delightful.