What did everyone cook today?

[TexLaw]

This wasn’t today. In fact, it was a few days ago, but it’s something I enjoy from time to time. Farinata.

Basically, it’s a flatbread made by frying a thin, chickpea flour batter. This one is flavored with rosemary and black pepper (quite traditional). They make for a great snack or light meal. I also like having a leftover slice or two cold for breakfast.

[calldoctoday]

That looks intriguing & tasty. I will have to learn more about it.

[TexLaw]

calldoctoday It’s definitely worth checking out. You’ll also find it called socca, cecina, and torta di ceci. I’ve slowed down making them during the Summer, since I don’t really like making a super hot oven, but I still crave them. I like them so much that I bought a tinned copper pan for making them, but that pan also is good for thin focaccia and other flatbreads.

Here’s my (current) recipe:

For a 25 cm farinata pan or a #10 Griswold skillet (roughly 25.5 cm diameter at the bottom:

-100 g chickpea flour
-300 g water
-4 g salt
-50 g olive oil
-Freshly ground black pepper (as much as you like–I used a good tablespoon or so)
-Rosemary (about a tablespoon fresh or a teaspoon or so dried–whatever you like)

Add enough of the water to make a very thick mix (about a third) and stir with a whisk to smooth out the lumps as best as you can (you can whisk very briskly once it’s combined enough to keep from splashing around). Add the rest of the water and whisk until lumps are gone (or as good as you can get it)—be more gentle, now, as it’s a very thin batter and easily splashed around—you’re just mixing. If you need to, whisk again about a few minutes later to get rid of all lumps. Let the mix sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to hydrate, but the longer you can let it go, the better. (Recipes I’ve researched say that 8 hours is even better, and one said that 12 is even better still.)

Stir in the rosemary whenever you like. I often do it right after I’ve added all the water. When using fresh, I’ve also added it just before baking, and I’ve not noticed much difference at all. For dried, I want to add it well before baking to hydrate a bit. (FYI, fresh is better, but I have a large rosemary plant at home)

To cook, preheat your oven to around 550F or as high as it will go (mine goes to 555 F). If you have a baking stone or steel, have it on a rack midway up in your oven higher (depending on how hot your broiler gets) and let that heat completely. Place your pan or skillet on the stone/steel (or just in the oven, if no stone) to preheat (a traditional pan only takes a few minutes–5 wasn’t quite enough for my #10 Griswold skillet). While the pan/skillet is preheating, skim off and discard any foam on the top (I rarely have any) and then stir in the salt. Remove the pan/skillet from the oven, pour in the oil and swirl to cover the bottom. Pour in the batter over a wooden spoon or spatula held just above the oil. Sprinkle on the pepper. Return pan or skillet or pan to the oven.

For my oven, I bake it for 7 minutes. Then, I switch over to broil and let it go until the top is done as I want it (typically another 7-8 minutes). Times can vary wildly depending on how hot an oven gets, how hot a broiler gets and how long it takes to heat up, how done you like it what you cook it in, how large a recipe you make, etc. The idea is to have it crispy on the top and bottom and creamy in the middle (it’s very thin, though).

Alternatives: If you want a substitute for or addition to black pepper, you can use white pepper, cumin, fennel, paprika (hot, sweet, or smoked), or blend away. If you want a substitute for or addition to rosemary, great options are tarragon oregano, marjoram, savory, thyme, herbes de Provence, or blend away. Really, whatever sounds good to you is worth a shot, but I’d stick herbs and spices—nothing wet and chunky—it’s not an omelette or frittata.

[Chef]

TexLaw said in What did everyone cook today?:

Farinata.

That does look good. I have all the ingredients, I think I’ll start some this evening. I’ll cook mine on my Primo, can easily reach 550 F on that thing.

Thanks once again TexLaw

[Jonathon]

TexLaw 100% showing this to my wife to see if she has interest in making it. I have an interest in eating it but this sounds more like her area than mine.

Sorry, should clarify, she is an awesome baker and I am a terrible one. I get all nervous and check things WAY too many times, opening the oven or taking the top off something and ruining it!

[Chef]

Jonathon Wish I could trust my wife in the kitchen LOL

[Tex_77]

Chef Mine told me this weekend, she took a gourmet cooking class in high school, but it just consisted of watching Julia Child’s cooking shows. Needless to say I do 99% of the cooking my house, but I enjoy it.

[Chef]

Tex_77 You let her do that much. LOL I can’t do 1%. It would burn down the house.

Like you, I find cooking the most relaxing thing in the world, other than seeing the joy of those in need. Sadly, there are so many people hurting and I so blessed to supply meals to them.

[drbrown35801]

Ribeye steak sandwiches!

[drbrown35801]

[drbrown35801]

Cooking is my therapy, I understand that very well. It keeps me from thinking about and remembering this best left forgotten.

[Jonathon]

drbrown35801 Can’t tell you how many times I have started a project in a negative mood and right around the grinding I start feeling better and it just improves from there. It is sort of like a meditation!

[TexLaw]

calldoctoday Chef Jonathon Just FYI regarding the amount of oil, you want enough oil in there so that it covers the batter (or nearly so). The idea is that there is a thin layer of oil both above and below the batter (again, it doesn’t have to completely cover the top, but it should mostly so). That’s what crisps everything up and keeps things from sticking. That’s also why you pour it gently over the wooden spoon or spatula, i.e., to float the batter on the oil.

Don’t be surprised if it sticks, though. It took me some tries to figure out just how gently to pour it and get the right amount of oil for my pan. It’s still delicious, even if you have to scrape the thing off!

[calldoctoday]

Jonathon Ditto

[Chef]

TexLaw I’ll be cooking my this afternoon. I did let mine rest for 12 hours. Have you ever tried butter? I’m going to use the Phase I have mentioned before. Never had anything stick using that.

[TexLaw]

Chef Butter might work (melted, of course), but I expect it would have to be clarified. I don’t know that the milk solids wouldn’t scorch. It’s not like the olive oil smokes all that much, though, so plain ol’ butter might be fine.

I looked up that Phase, and it does sound like interesting stuff. I might have to get some to play with, sometime.

In the end, though, I like the flavor of olive oil. I expect that is where I will stay.

As long as I preheat the pan properly and pour the batter properly (not hard to do, just gotta do it right), sticking has not been any issue at all. It -might- stick a little at one or two spots where the batter meets the side of the pan, but that comes loose very easily.

By the way, I don’t clean that farinata pan with soap. I’ve just been letting it season.

[Chef]

TexLaw I’m going to use my paella pan for this first test. I think is is similar enough to transfer heat and low side walls. I’ll use Phase for this go.

[TexLaw]

Chef I bet that paella pan works like a champ. It’s nearly the same thing.

[TexLaw]

Chef Just FYI, here’s my farinata pan. It doesn’t show very well in the photo, but it actually has little, shallow dimples hammered into the surface. That’s probably the most significant difference between it and a paella pan.

It’s rather hefty for it’s size, actually, at a little more than 2 1/2 pounds.

[Chef]

TexLaw I got my two paella pans from Spain, both have dimples in the bottom, but made from rolled steel, like a crepe pan. I’m going to use the smaller of the two. The large one is 4 foot in diameter and feed about 150 to 175 people with paella.