Foul Mudammas: Fava beans in a thick, flavorful sauce

Ramadan was in September this year. It moves a little earlier each year, since the timing is based on a lunar calendar, and in the fall the daylight hours start to get fairly long. A couple weeks ago I was on the hunt for something filling to eat in the morning before fasting, which made me think of making foul.

Foul mudammas is a saucy bean dish, traditionally served for breakfast. It originated in Egypt, but most Arab countries have adopted some variation of foul. Some cultures rely more on the bean as the dominant flavor, adding minimal amounts of extra flavoring, and some use heavily mashed beans, almost like refried beans. I prefer the kind that has mostly whole beans, with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs to flavor the sauce.

Generally, foul is made using fava beans but my dad likes to make it with chickpeas instead. I've had it both ways, and each type of bean contributes a distinct flavor, but each works equally well. I think that using fava beans leads to a slightly creamier, heavier dish than using chickpeas. I even found a variety of canned foul that has both chick peas and fava beans together, but I haven't tried it yet.

Canned fava beans can be a bit hard to find in a standard grocery store, but any store stocking Middle Eastern ingredients will have them. If you're in San Francisco, Semiramis is a convenient shop to check out. The cans are labeled "foul mudammas" in Arab groceries and sometimes contain additional spices and flavorings. For this recipe, I usually buy the plain variety, which contains salt and sometimes a bit of lemon.

While foul is traditionally a breakfast dish, I think it also makes for a great, quick lunch. I like eating it with a loaf of pita bread, using the bread to soak up the extra sauce. You can also sprinkle some olive oil on top to make it a little richer. Hope you enjoy!

Foul Mudammas: Fava beans in a thick, flavorful sauce
(serves 2-3)

1 can chickpeas, or fava beans (labeled foul mudammas in Arabic groceries)
3-4 cloves garlic
3/4 - 1 cup finely chopped onions, about 1/2 onion
3 small, or 2 large tomatoes, chopped
1-2 Tbsp lemon, the juice of about 1/2 of a lemon (Note that you'll want to tone this back a bit if your canned foul already has lemon in it.)
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, or parsley

Add the beans, with liquid from the can, garlic, and onions to a small pot. Heat on medium-low until it comes to a slow simmer.

After 10 minutes, begin to crush some of the beans with the back of a spoon, mixing and crushing until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. I probably crush about 1/4 cup of the beans, until the sauce looks less watery and just begins to thicken.

Add the chopped tomatoes and lemon. Start conservatively with the lemon, and adjust the flavors to taste. The tomatoes are sweet, and the lemon balances this out, so you may want more or less lemon depending on what kind of tomatoes you are using.

Finally, add the cilantro (or parsley) and remove from the heat. Ladle some foul into a bowl, and optionally garnish with a bit of extra olive oil. Enjoy with some toasted pita bread.

Spaghetti with Shelling Peas in Infused Olive Oil

I've started to go to farmers markets a lot lately. Between one on Tuesday and one on Saturday, I end up having fresh produce to cook with all week long! I love the process of wandering through the stands, searching for the freshest vegetables available, and discovering new ingredients to experiment with.

One of the staples of the farmers market over the past few months has been summer squash. By trying out the numerous varieties, I discovered that I love the subtle flavor and tender texture of the green patty pan squash the most. I also found some things I didn't expect at the farmers market, like Thai chilies and Thai basil, which saves me a trip to the Asian market when I want to make curry.

Recently I decided to try a new ingredient from a stand that sells peppers in all sorts of shapes and colors. I had walked by it without stopping numerous times, unsure of where to start with so many varieties. This time I decided to ask the woman working at the stand for a recommendation, and she pointed me to the red sweet Italian frying peppers.

These peppers actually look like they might be spicy, but obviously, given the name, they are not. They have very few seeds, thinner flesh than bell peppers, and a mild, slightly sweet flavor. I decided they might be a nice addition to a light pasta with oil.

The rest of this recipe came together with some other ingredients I picked up at the farmers market, including shelling peas and sundried tomatoes. The sundried tomatoes I used are actually made from cherry tomatoes, which gives them a really sweet pop of flavor. In this dish, they help to reinforce the sweet flavor of the peppers.

A long, slow saute of the garlic, sweet peppers, and sundried tomatoes infuses the olive oil with flavor and stains it a shade of red. A good quality, nutty cheese is really a necessity to finish this dish off and balance out the sweetness.

I love that this pasta is so light and simple. I usually tend to make pastas with tomato sauce, so this was a nice change from that. And as a bonus, it's really quick to make!

Spaghetti with Shelling Peas in an Infused Olive Oil

(serves 2-3)

2 lb. fresh shelling peas, in shell
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic
1 cup chopped sweet Italian frying peppers, about 6
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped sun dried cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb. spaghetti
1 - 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese, some kind of good quality hard cheese - I picked up Carnia Mezzano after tasting a few cheeses from a local Italian specialty store, but something like Parmesan would work just fine
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Shell the peas, rinse them, and set them aside. Remember that while fresh shelling peas last for up to a week, they have the sweetest flavor when used within the first couple of days of purchase. I picked mine up from the Ferry Building Farmer's Market.

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

Put the olive oil in a large saute pan (I use a 4 quart pan). Add the garlic and the sweet peppers and heat slowly over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. After about 5 minutes, add the sun dried tomatoes. When the peppers are cooked through, keep the oil warm on low heat while the spaghetti cooks. The long, slow saute will infuse the oil with flavor.

When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the spaghetti. When the spaghetti has two minutes left to cook, add the peas to cook with the spaghetti.

Drain the spaghetti and peas well. Add to the oil and toss well, ensuring that each strand of spaghetti is coated in oil. If it looks dry at all, you can add a little extra oil at this point.

Add the cheese and mix well. Salt and pepper generously, to taste, garnish with parsley and enjoy!

A Long Overdue Update, plus Chocolate Covered, Coconut Stuffed Stawberries

I took a break from posting to my blog for awhile, but I definitely haven't stopped cooking! Here's a sample of what I've been making for the last few months...

This Filet Mignon with Caramel-Brandy Mushroom Sauce was delicious, with a sweet sauce that complimented the tender filet. My only mistake was substituting some re-hydrated dry mushrooms for fresh mushrooms, since they ended up being a little tougher than they should have been.

This Spinach Gratin was decadent - cheesy and creamy, with a hint of nutmeg to compliment the spinach. It was also really easy to make. If you are in the mood for something rich, I definitely recommend it!

Inspired by the lentils in the Crispy Salmon with Warm Lentils and Balsamic Essence recipe, these lentils with chicken were hearty and flavorful, but I do think the dish needed something sweet to go with it, like the balsamic essence in the salmon recipe.

This mushroom risotto was yummy, but my favorite part were the roasted carrots. They are incredibly easy to make and the carrots get really tender and sweet. You can compliment the carrots with your favorite herb - in this case I used parsley.

This started out as a good concept: scrambled eggs, with sundried tomatoes, spinach, and onions, on some crusty french bread covered with goat cheese. Then I realized I had some leftover turkey and decided to add that in to the mix.  Wow, it was terrible!  There was something about the flavor of the turkey and the eggs that completely clashed - maybe they are too similar? Trust me: turkey and eggs is not a good idea.

These chocolate covered strawberries stuffed with coconut are really easy to make and very yummy!  Since you can make them in advance, they are great as a dessert when you have company over.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Stuffed with Coconut

10 strawberries

about 5 ounces white chocolate (or dark, whatever you prefer)

1 vanilla bean

1/2 cup shredded coconut, just enough to fill the strawberries

Cut the stem off of each strawberry. Instead of cutting the whole top off, angle the knife and cut just around the stem and the white part of the strawberry.

After you remove the stem, this should reveal a hole in the middle of the strawberry.  Fill liberally with shredded coconut.  (Or, try your favorite ingredient as a filling instead.)

Line a cookie tray with wax paper, to hold the strawberries after they have been dipped in chocolate.

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over boiling water, or in a double broiler. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the melted chocolate and mix well.

Dip each strawberry in the chocolate, large end down, using a toothpick to hold the strawberry steady, and spooning the melted chocolate up the sides to coat. Optionally, leave the top of the strawberry uncovered.

Place each strawberry on the cookie sheet, large end down, and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, or up to 24 hours, before serving.