What I'm actually cooking today

Now that I have placated Steph, I'll move on to the business at hand - namely tonight's dinner. We're having falafels tonight. Yum Yum. We often have falafels on Tuesday or Wednesday because I get fresh pitas at the co-op on Tuesday. It will likely become apparent that my menus are largely based around what I pick up at the co-op on any given day. So I have fresh(ish) pita. Step one. Step two involves soaking and boiling chick peas. I could use canned, and to be perfectly honest, I often do, but I also want to make hummus this week, so I started soaking some last night. Step three is the tricky one - tahini. Why is this tricky? Well, mostly because I am fussy about tahini. I don't really like the brand we are carrying at the co-op right now. Had I any foresight, I would have picked some up at the Stop 'n' Shop (yes, this is the name of the major grocery store chain here) on Saturday, but I didn't. So, on a whim yesterday afternoon, I decided that it really can't be hard to make ones own tahini - I bought a big bag of sesame seeds to try it out. I think it turned out well. Granted, I have not yet made the tahini sauce for the falafels, but it tastes right when i dip my finger in it. If it sucks, I will amend this post later.

Ok, to the recipes. I will start with my experimental homemade tahini.

Tahini

2 cups sesame seeds
1 cup canola oil (you could probably play around with different oils for slightly different flavours... but I played it safe my first time around)

Preheat the oven to 340. Spread the sesame seeds on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 min. Stir the seeds every couple minutes so they roast evenly. Remove from oven and allow the seeds to cool for a few minutes. Using an immersion blender or food processor on high speed, blend the seeds with 1/2 cup of oil for a minute or so. Scrape the edges and add the other 1/2 cup of oil. Blend until you have a smooth, even paste. Put into an airtight jar or container and refrigerate.

And now for the main event (I know some of you *Nancy* have been waiting awhile for me to get around to typing this out)..... Thanks to Florence for this recipe!

Falafel

1 can Chick Peas drained and rinsed (about 2 cups cooked)
1 medium onion
2 Tbs parsley
3 Tbs flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp corriander
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
pepper to taste

Whirr all these ingredients in a food processor. Heat a lightly oiled pan to med-high and drop the mixture in by the spoonful. Cook until browned and flip over to brown the other side. Serve in a pita with tahini sauce, lettuce, tomato and sliced dill pickle (or whatever dressings you like).

Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup tahini paste
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Whirr all these ingredients in a food processor until smooth. If you wish to thin it down just add a little more water or lemon juice.