Although I still mourn the demise of Lucky Peach magazine (published from 2011 to 2017, the magazine changed everything about how a food magazine is produced, it's content and most strikingly, the design), and cried the day I found out it was folding, I'm warming up to Saveur. It's the quarterly food magazine that the Lucky Peach peeps used to fulfill pre-paid subscriptions.
All cooking magazines have an audience. Saveur has an international flavor with a lot of short pieces about interesting things culinary.
Saveur is earning my love with quality reporting and beautifully photographed recipies. Like this: panisse-provence-best-french-snack (go on, click on it!)
I love chickpea fries! They are moist and cake-like in the middle with a bit of crunch and durability that stands up to the sauciest of dips.
And, tho I've been to France a couple of times, I've never heard of them.
The recipe highlights chickpea flour and comes from the capitol of Provence, Marseilles where it's street food. It's believed to have traveled from NW Italy to Marseilles.
With it I made a super-quick yogurt, herb, salt, cream & olive oil dipping sauce.
Panisse
Recipe-ish:
2:1 water to chickpea flour, 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of OO per 2 cups of chickpea flour.
Bring water (4 c), butter (1 Tbsp) and oil (1 Tbsp) to a boil. Add SIFTED chickpea flour (2 c) and stir, using first a whisk, then a spoon or silicone spatula until thick. About 5 minutes. The batter will seize up like play-doh.
Line a lasagna pan or a 9 x 9 square pan with parchment.
Spread the dough evenly with an offset spatula or a bench scraper or anything that will smooth the dough.
The dough is sticky and elastic and will fight you. I use a second square dish to weigh down the dough.
Refrigerate for as long as possible. Minimum two hours, ideally overnight.
Cut the panisse into batons and fry using any high heat oil like canola, avocado or grapeseed. I used a combination of avocado oil and grapeseed oil. The oil should come half-way up the side of the baton.
Fry until they're just turning golden brown. They should be crisp on the outside and cake-y inside.
Sprinkle generously with flake salt and serve with a dipping sauce or chutney. Go crazy.
I've also made panisse with chickpea/fava flour and they do have a hint of fava flavor. Still delicious.
I like to trim the batons and use the trim for croutons. So good...
Enjoy!
Nancy #mahkitchen
