Last summer I admitted to being patty-impaired. And last fall I even failed at making falafel from a boxed mix- somehow the uncooked falafel balls disintegrated in the hot oil, and I ended up with a frying pan full of sludge. Very frustrating. But tonight... tonight I scored a fritterific victory!
I made a pot of Yellow Indian Woman Beans for dinner last night. This was the first time I'd tried these beans, though many of my cooking friends have raved about them. The uncooked beans are the color of Crayola's now-retired Maize crayon, but they cook up the color of a pinto bean. I kept my pot of beans simple, flavoring them with just salt, olive oil, garlic and charred onions. I seasoned some white rice with lime juice and cilantro, ladled the beans over the rice, and sprinkled the beans with chopped scallions, crumbled feta, and toasted pepitas. Talk about a satisfying meal!
However- it was a BIG pot of beans, and there are only two of us (Ryan will eat a few beans, but hardly enough to make a dent). So I turned to the cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas along with an assortment of Rancho Gordo beans: Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington's Heirloom Beans. The recipe for Yellow Indian Woman Fritters appealed, but I worried about my chances of success given the past track record.
I shouldn't have worried. The fritter batter was easy to make. Some of the beans are pureed with onion and milk, then combined with lightly mashed beans, cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, egg, lime zest and cilantro. Then dollops of the batter are fried (yes, fried!) until the exteriors are crisp and golden. And hooray! The batter held together and "fritterized" beautifully, and the little bean cakes were very tasty. I served them on a salad containing tomato, cucumber, avocado, jack cheese, and pepitas, with a dressing of lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and a dash of hot sauce. Delicious!
I made a pot of Yellow Indian Woman Beans for dinner last night. This was the first time I'd tried these beans, though many of my cooking friends have raved about them. The uncooked beans are the color of Crayola's now-retired Maize crayon, but they cook up the color of a pinto bean. I kept my pot of beans simple, flavoring them with just salt, olive oil, garlic and charred onions. I seasoned some white rice with lime juice and cilantro, ladled the beans over the rice, and sprinkled the beans with chopped scallions, crumbled feta, and toasted pepitas. Talk about a satisfying meal!
However- it was a BIG pot of beans, and there are only two of us (Ryan will eat a few beans, but hardly enough to make a dent). So I turned to the cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas along with an assortment of Rancho Gordo beans: Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington's Heirloom Beans. The recipe for Yellow Indian Woman Fritters appealed, but I worried about my chances of success given the past track record.
I shouldn't have worried. The fritter batter was easy to make. Some of the beans are pureed with onion and milk, then combined with lightly mashed beans, cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, egg, lime zest and cilantro. Then dollops of the batter are fried (yes, fried!) until the exteriors are crisp and golden. And hooray! The batter held together and "fritterized" beautifully, and the little bean cakes were very tasty. I served them on a salad containing tomato, cucumber, avocado, jack cheese, and pepitas, with a dressing of lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and a dash of hot sauce. Delicious!
2 comments:
You are not the only one who has experienced a big fat FAIL with falafel. So, don't feel badly!
That said, I think these could take the place of falafel in my repertoire. What a great looking fritter. Were they as good as they look??
They were quite good. There is a cup of cornmeal and 1/2 cup of flour in the batter, plus an egg, so the texture ends up being different from falafel, but they could definitely be served in a falafel-ish way. They need a sauce or other source of moisture to accompany them.
Meant to post the recipe but ran out of time- hoping to get to it this week.
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