Austin winters are odd. I’m not sure why are they called winters in Austin, because in reality, they are just transitory seasons between the hot fall and the even hotter spring. Winters in here get me all confused. Not long ago, a random Santa emerged from nowhere through the backyard of the school where I attend a group workout. I had to think for a several seconds about the month and, hell, even the season we are in. Is it December? No. I remember making resolutions (hence the workout), so it must be past New Year.

This last weekend further confused matters. Temperatures were in the 70s (Fahrenheit that is), and the sun was shining. I decided to make the most of it, so after playing morning fetch with Popsi, I put on my sunglasses and headed to brunch. The weather was so nice that I decided to roam around the city for a bit. It was so energizing people everywhere were wearing t-shirts, and some even wore shorts. When I got home, instead of my usual siesta, I decided to set up the hammock in the backyard, pick up a book, and read while the warm Texas sun filled me with much-needed vitamin D.

I woke from my sun-induced slumber thinking about the skype date I had with my grandma Buna the other day. She reminded me of how cold it is right now back in Romania. I had somehow forgotten that in Romania, January was the coldest and most depressing time of year. Everyone hibernates to avoid the frozen greyness, and the cities are numb and lifeless until snow falls. The snow brings a buzz of life. It brings chaos.

One does not truly appreciate sunshine until faced with a rough winter. Imagine waking at 8 a.m., looking out your window, and realizing that the only source of light is the old street lamp that reflects its yellow glare on the frozen pavement. The sun hasn’t come up yet, and chances are, it will not come up before you get to work. By the time you finish work at 5 p.m., it’s dark again. By the end of the week you realize that there is good chance that you haven’t seen sunshine that week. So you’re waiting for the weekend, only so you can catch those very few hours when the sun is up.

Saunas, thermal baths, tanning salons and bars are most profitable during those months. Hearty food is also a good remedy. There is something special about eating a bowl of fragrant Chicken Paprikas, a few Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, or a hearty portion of Beef Goulash when it’s cold outside. But I live in Austin now where it’s always warm and sunny. I have to settle for something like this Creamy Basil Chickpea Chicken dish. It’s not too heavy, but it has hummus, chickpeas and fresh basil in it. It’s light yet filling. Make it, and your kitchen will smell like heaven. Enjoy!

Creamy Basil Chickpea Chicken

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Inactive time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cans chickpeas (14oz each)
2 Tbsp tahini
3 garlic cloves, crushed
20 fresh basil leaves
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 a medium-sized lemon)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
2 Tbsp canola oil
3 lbs bone-in chicken (thighs, drums, or breast)
3 Tbsp butter
3 sprigs of basil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry white wine

Instructions

Open two cans of chickpeas, and drain the juice from one can only.
In a food processor, combine the drained can of chickpeas, tahini, two crushed garlic cloves, basil leaves, one tablespoon lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Pulse until you reach a smooth paste-like consistency. Congrats -- you just made hummus! Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400F (200C) degrees.
In an oven safe heavy skillet bring canola oil to a shimmer over medium-high heat. When it easily slides across the skillet, carefully place the chicken pieces in the pan with the skin side down. Brown them for approximately 4-6 minutes.
Flip the chicken on the other side and repeat the browning process so each side is nicely seared.
Add butter, the remaining clove of crushed garlic, and the basil sprigs. Using a big spoon, baste the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes on each side.
Using a thermometer, check the internal temperature of the chicken. At this point it should be at around 130-140F (55-60C). If not, cook until it reaches that temperature.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Discard the garlic and basil, but keep the skillet on the stove.
Deglaze the skillet with white wine and cook until the wine thickens and the alcohol evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add the hummus and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the remaining can of chickpeas with juice. Return the browned chicken pieces to the skillet.
Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Serve hot with baguette or pita bread. Optionally, sprinkle with freshly squeezed fresh lemon juice.

Notes

Deglazing is a cooking technique that sounds a lot fancier and more difficult than it actually is. Deglazing simply means that after pan-frying or sautèing, you pour liquid of some sort (in our case wine) to the hot frying pan or skillet. Then you scrape and stir the browned bits (in our case browned chicken skin and garlic) from the pan to incorporate all cooking residues into a rich and flavorful liquid.
If you don’t have a thermometer, poke the chicken with the tip of a sharp knife, preferably close to bone, or, in case of the breast, where it is the thickest. If it’s bleeding red juice, keep cooking it for a few minutes.
Sprinkle the skillet with fresh basil leaves. Make sure you do it right before serving the dish, otherwise the basil will turn brown.

Not even a month has passed since I posted my last cauliflower recipe. Last time it was the creamy and flavorful cauliflower risotto with schnitzel, now it's the fragrant roasted cauliflower and crispy chickpeas inspired by middle eastern cuisine. If you like this amazing and underrated vegetable, you're in the right place. Chances are that it will be the most featured vegetable on the blog, not only because of my endless love for cauliflower, but also because of Roni.

As mentioned in my previous post, Roni has this habit of sneaking cauliflower in our shopping cart every time we go grocery shopping. And we go once a week. On top of that, our local CSA also included a few of them in our recent delivery. At this pace, I'm afraid I'll run out of ideas for recipes before the end of the year.

My mom used to cook cauliflower a lot. It was very easy to grow, which meant that my grandfather, Bunu, would always have them in his garden. Luckily it isn't green like broccoli so it didn't scare me and my sister away from eating it when we were kids. My mom would take advantage our our fondness for cauliflower and get creative by making cauliflower soup, roasted cauliflower, fried cauliflower, cauliflower soufflé or even mashed cauliflower. And we'd eat it all without thinking twice.

I find that often people who eat something in huge quantities as kids will start hating that taste so much that when they grow up they lose interest in it completely. It was the opposite for me with cauliflower. Its taste reminds me of my mom. It reminds me of the good old days when I would hang around the kitchen while she cooked.

My dad on the other hand is not the biggest fan of cauliflower, so you can imagine the joy he had when we kept requesting it. He says that boiled cauliflower smells like fart. I think I will have to agree with him on that one, but cheeses smell bad too sometimes, but the taste compensates for the aroma.

One thing must be know about my dad- he has a very sensitive nose. I remember that one time while I was in high school I went to France with a friend of mine to a small town near the Swiss border called Besançon. My mom asked me to bring her back some cheeses. I brought home Camembert, Roquefort, Brie de Meaux, Époisses de Bourgogne and a few others. When my dad entered the house, he immediately turned around, refused to come back in and told us that we had to choose which stayed, him or the cheeses. And he wasn't joking. So we took all the goodies to my grandparents' place and had a huge cheese feast with fresh bread, honey and homemade jams.

The ingredients in this recipe shouldn't scare you away from trying it. I was intimidated at first by all the new spices and ingredients that I had access to in the US, but after a few failed attempts, I managed to get a good understanding of the flavors and uses. Don't be afraid to experiment with new flavors. You may discover a new favorite that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it!

A few years ago, if you had asked me if I liked barberries I would've said, “Hell yeah!”— not because I actually knew what they were (I’m stubborn and likely wouldn’t have admitted not knowing that word anyway), but mostly because it had the word berries in its name, and I love me some berries. Barberries are truly amazing. They are specific to Persian cuisine where they are mostly used in rice and couscous, or served with chicken. You may find them under the name of zereshk at Persian or Middle Eastern stores. They bring a burst of color and an explosion of tartness to your dishes. I chose to add them to this recipe because their tangy and lemony flavor contrast well with the nuttiness of the chickpeas and tahini.

If you can't find them anywhere, worry not, replace them with dried red currants or dried sour cherries.

Curried Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Tahini Sauce

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Curried Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower
1/2 cup dried barberries
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp curry leaves, dried
1/2 tsp black peppers, freshly ground
2 cans chickpeas, drained (14 oz each can)
2-3 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 lemon, juiced (1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice)
6-8 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated or shaved
salt, to taste

Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup raw tahini
1/2 tsp white pepper, ground
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup cold water
2-3 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F (225C). Trim the leaves off the cauliflower and remove the stalk. The cauliflower will naturally fall apart into large florets. Cut these into small florets. Drain chickpeas and pat them dry with a paper towel. Soak barberries in warm water and set aside. Combine turmeric, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper and curry leaves together.
Add cauliflower florets, chickpeas, olive oil, and curry spice mix to a large mixing bowl. Toss well and make sure the cauliflower and chickpeas are evenly coated with spices and oil.
Transfer the cauliflower and chickpea mix to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread it out evenly and sprinkle smoked paprika on top. Don't go too crazy with the paprika though. If burned, paprika becomes bitter. Put the sheet in the oven and let it roast for about 35-40 minutes. Make sure that you toss it every now and then so that the cauliflower browns evenly and the chickpeas don't burn.
In the meantime, combine raw tahini, white pepper and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk well. Don't be alarmed if the lemon juice will make your tahini thick and lumpy. Keep whisking and start adding cold water until the sauce becomes smooth and silky. You can adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding more water. If you prefer a really thick sauce reduce the amount of water mentioned in the recipe. Toss in the chopped mint, taste and adjust the saltiness.
Remove the chickpeas and cauliflower from the oven and transfer the mix to a large bowl. Squeeze water out of the barberries and add it to the mix. Squeeze half a lemon, sprinkle chopped mint and grate parmesan on top. Add salt, taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve with the tahini either drizzled on top or on the side in a dipping bowl. Enjoy!