Sunday, June 21, 2009

better luck next time (chickpea crepes with swiss chard, pine nuts and harissa chutney)

Being in the design industry, I'm fortunate enough to get wined and dined often. Chicago was no exception - every meal we ate was nothing short of gourmet. Sunday night we had dinner at a place called Sepia which not only was beautifully designed, but the food was extraordinary. I had the most amazing dish there which you may have guessed is the purpose of this post.

As soon as I arrived home I went to work trying to replicate it. I came across a few different recipes for harissa chutney (which I've found out is just red pepper chutney) and figured I was good to go. I remembered the waiter telling me harissa was a sweet spice and I could swear he said it had cinnamon in it...well the recipes I found did not call for cinnamon, which should have been my first clue, needless to say I went ahead and followed my recipe anyway. The filling of this dish was good (except I would definitely go easier on the garlic next time!), but the crepes...I got a little butter happy and used a tad too much. We ended up with very buttery crepes.

All in all, not my favorite dish and definitely not even close to replicating what I ate in Chicago. I will try this recipe again though, with the tweaks I've mentioned above.

Chickpea Crepes

1 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
Reserved duck fat or melted unsalted butter, for brushing

In a medium bowl, mix the chickpea flour with the all-purpose flour and salt. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Whisk in the olive oil and let the batter rest for 30 minutes. Whisk in the water.
Lightly brush a 7-inch crêpe pan with reserved duck fat and set it over moderately high heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of the crêpe batter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Cook for 1 minute, or until brown around the edge. Flip the crêpe and cook for 20 seconds longer. Transfer to a large plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

recipe from foodandwine.com

Harissa Chutney

½ cup Red Pepper; Roasted Seeded, Peeled And Diced
2 teaspoons Garlic; Minced
½ teaspoon Cumin Seed; Toasted
¼ cup Cilantro; Minced
¼ cup Parsley; Minced
¼ cup Fresh Mint; Chopped
¼ cup Kalamata Olives; Chopped
2 tablespoons Capers; Drained And Chopped
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
drop Lemon Juice; To Taste
Salt And Pepper; To Taste

Stir all ingredients together (*this is a one serving recipe, so I quadrupled).

original recipe found here

To prepare the filling:

Saute swiss chard in olive oil until wilted. Add harissa chutney, cook until heated through (a few minutes). Remove from heat and toss in the pine nuts. Fill crepe with 1/4 cup of chutney mixture.

1 comment:

Amanda said...

You'll be so satisfied when you tweak it some more, and realize it tastes just the same as what you remembered from the restaurant. I love when that happens! :)