Experiment: Spanish chickpea stew with soyriso

 The experiment went PRETTY well, and was promising enough I'd want to try it again.

Here's what we want to do NEXT time:

- Cook 1 cup dried chickpeas the way we usually do a slow cooker (or pressure cooker).

- in 2 Tbsp oil, cook 1 med onion + 1 med carrot + 2 cloves garlic, all minced.  After 5-8 min (soft but not brown), add 2 chopped tomato (or maybe tomato paste or both) and cook 5 more minutes.  Add 1 tsp smoked paprika and a few seconds later dump in chick peas + cooking liquid.  Simmer for 15-20 min.

Meanwhile: make soyriso meatballs.

Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 cup panko crumbs, 1/2 tsp sweet paprika, and make hand-shaped patties.  Brown on both sides, then cut into more bit-sized pieces and add to the soup in the last 10 minutes.

Combine 2 minced garlic cloves + 3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley and a bit of salt in the mortar and pestle.  Add to soup at the very end and let sit 5 minutes.  Then serve.

Chinese Scallion Bread

 We have been trying to get this bread right for a while and think we know how to perfect it for next time. This round turned out almost perfect aside from the bland flavor (add more salt) and burned one side (start with a lower temp). Otherwise we really like the rolled shape and the bread was nice and fluffy!

Start here: https://redhousespice.com/spring-onion-flatbread-leavened/

Modifications:

• This is a half recipe, which was perfect for the 2.5 of us
• Increased the salt because we found the original recipe much too bland, this is a guessed amount.
• Made special notes to start the pan VERY low when placing the bread to avoid scorching. Scorching is the problem we have had every time making this bread and we think starting with a very low heat will be key to fixing it, and to giving us better control.

[ update: tried it again but this time started the pan from cold on 2nd to lowest setting on our burner (with oil).  STILL burned.  New idea: do it from cold on the SMALLEST burner, all else the same?  maybe try with no oil (since we saw a recipe that did that?) ]

INGREDIENTS

For the dough

• 250 g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp dried instant yeast
• 130 ml lukewarm water (~1/2 cup)

For the bread

• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 stalk scallions, finely chopped
• 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

For cooking

• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil or similar

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the dough

In a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, sugar and water on low/low-medium for ~8 minutes until dough has formed. If it's looking a little dry and not coming together, add another splash of water. Dough should not be very wet.

The first rise

Cover the bowl with a wet kitchen towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until double in size. It will take about 40 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the room temperature. We did this in December and it did need 1-1.5 hours.

Shape the bread

Take the dough out. Knead on a floured work surface until the dough goes back to its original size.

With a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle shape. Roll it as thin as you can. I did not need to dust with any flour to avoid sticking, it was a very easy to work with dough, but you can add if needed.

Brush oil on the dough. Sprinkle salt and scallions on top.

Roll the dough into a rope. Coil it to form a flat circle. Then roll the circle out into a ~6-7 inch disk.

Wet the disk with a little water. Sprinkle with sesame seeds then press them down gently.

The second rise

Cover the bread loosely with damp cloth. Leave to rise for around 20 minutes (we did 30 for cooler kitchen in winter).

Cook the bread

Barely heat a small cast-iron pan over low heat. You can always turn up the heat later, but start very low to avoid scorching the bread too quickly.

Place the bread in (the side with sesame seeds facing down) then cover with a lid to steam cook the bread.

Cook until the first side is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Trust your nose, if it's burning turn the heat way down and flip. Flip over and cook with the lid on until the second side is done, another 10 minutes.

Turn the bread over again to crisp the first side for a few seconds if needed.

Serve

Transfer the bread onto a chopping board. Leave to cool for a short while then cut into wedges. Serve warm.