Chickpeas Marinated in Olive Oil, Whole Cumin, and Chile for Tyler Florence Fridays

Once again, "God Bless the chickpea!" and bless Tyler Florence for the recipe I picked for Tyler Florence Friday's this week: Chickpeas Marinated in Olive Oil, Whole Cumin and Chile from Eat This Book,(pg 105).  I think that Eat This Book may just be my favorite of Tyler's cookbooks as I love his emphasis on global flavors.  This recipe comes from Spain and is a not necessarily quick (the chickpeas need to soak over night and take a while to cook) but still very easy recipe, perfect as an appetizer or side dish. 

Tyler says:  "I picked up this recipe at a restaurant in Valencia on the coast of Spain.  I had ordered the chickpeas to tide me over while waiting for my dinner to arrive. They were creamy and spicy and went really well with the wine.  They were served with toothpicks so you had to spearfish the chickpeas, one by one, out of the bowl.  In Spain they eat so late--I was famished and ate three bowls."

Chickpeas Marinated in Olive Oil, Whole Cumin and Chile

Serves 8

1 pound dried chickpeas, picked through and rinsed

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted (not ground)

1 Tbsp paprika

1 fresh Thai bird chili or other hot green chile, chopped

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water to cover. Drain.  Put the chickpeas and bay leaves in a large pot.  Cover with cold water and put the pot over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. About halfway through the cooking, season with salt and pepper.  This gives the chickpeas time to soften so that the seasoning can penetrate.  Check the water periodically  and add more if necessary to keep the peas covered.  Drain the chickpeas , discard the bay leaves, and transfer to a serving bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and toss well.  Season generously with salt and pepper and taste for lemon. Hit it with a drizzle of olive oil before serving. 

Notes/Results:  I tried to make this recipe as written, but my visiting friend Yoko and I were at the North Shore all day (I'll post about that later) and we ended up cooking the chick peas only for about an hour or so.  After testing them, we decided we liked the texture, slightly chewy but still nice and creamy on the inside (and at that point we were very hungry too!)  so we pulled them off the heat and tossed them. I couldn't find a Thai bird chile in two stores so we used a jalapeno pepper instead  Also, in the craze of cooking it, along with two other new dishes I was trying from a magazine, I missed adding the 1/2 cup of olive oil to the beans with the spices and just ended up drizzling some over the top.  We are not sure that it really needed the extra 1/2 cup and it was delicious with the lemon juice and spices.  Next time I will try adding it to compare. This dish is really good, nicely spicy and tangy, but still creamy and satisfying. Although we served it with a Filipino beef adobo dish, garlicky brown jasmine rice and a simple green salad, I would be happy eating this on it own for lunch or dinner.  I will make this again, and my sous-chef Yoko said she would definitely make it again too.  Another success for Tyler!  

If you are a Tyler Florence fan(atic) and want to join us on Fridays, by choosing a Tyler recipe you want to make, come visit the TFF site here. The round up will be posted there each Friday so come see what recipes the TFF members made and how they liked them.

Feeling soupy? (or noodle-y, or stew-y) and want to drop by and share your comforting creation? Join me for Souper Sundays! All you need to do is make a soup, stew, chili, slow cooker dish, etc. (Really almost anything that is served in a bowl will work!)  Send me an email or leave a comment before Sunday and let me know you'll be stopping by and I'll add you to that week's round up so you can share your souper creation. You can make and post the soup any time, I just round them up on Sundays.