Oh, Summer!
Aug. 31, 2009 11:29 am
Updated: Sep. 28, 2009 11:35 am
I'm going to tell you about a summer dinner to remember.
Okay, so this isn't fair, because this may be the last time I EVER see fresh chickpeas, and I don't know anywhere you can buy them. But if you do, oh, my goodness, this is what you do (I'll try to post a real recipe soon, too).
Summer, farm boxes, grills. What a combo. My son's wonderful girlfriend has so many connections at the Farmer's Market, and one of them handed her stalks of chickpea plants filled with tiny pods, each containing one or two still-green chickpeas. Each pod has a tiny 'stinger' on the end; we shucked them carefully, and thought about what on earth to do with the little green lovelies. We also had two gorgeous, thick lamb chops, so of course we were thinking 'grill!'
And then I had this problematic radicchio. You know how pretty it is, but it's kind of bitter, and I don't love it. But my coworkers had said to grill it, too. So I poured a bit of olive oil into it and massaged it into all the leaves, and onto the top weenie rack of the grill it went.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen we shredded carrots to mix with fennel seed, raisins, cilantro, and lemon juice (Mark Bittmann's idea), put a little salt and pepper on the chops, and sauteed some shallot and garlic. In went the chickpeas; the grill got the chops; the radicchio came off, a little charred, slightly soft. Now nutty and sweet had replaced the bitter.
We chopped the radicchio, tossed it with the hot, garlicky chickpeas and shallots, pulled the chops of medium-rare, and summer supper on the porch was everything it should be. Warm, nutty, savory, peppery, delicious.
I just spent an hour on the phone with my son in NYC who (crazy) night-bodysurfed the 14-foot storm surge from Hurricane Bill, and followed that water adventure with 38-foot waterfall jumping at Fawn's Leap. To him, high adventure is summer; for me, the high adventure is mostly in the back yard, with the colors and textures of fresh-grown things. I ask you, which of us is the crazier? (Maybe you shouldn't answer that, but I'll listen if you do!)
Here are some pictures for you:
Fresh chickpeas pods
Fresh chickpeas
Lamb chops, warm chickpea and radicchio salad, and carrot salad
Beautiful Jamie, with chickpeas
What's this?