Golden Chickpea "Fries"
A crispy Thanksgiving Hors D'oeuvre with make-ahead potential. Plus, 4 days in Saint Barts.
Saint Barts, the Caribbean French colonial island, was a surreal place to find myself on election day. I was there on a press trip, ostensibly to attend a French food festival, but maybe more for the solitude than for the canapés and caviar bumps. Sometimes you need to take a 13 hour flight to hear yourself think.
The island is topographically stunning, with lush rolling hills and crystal clear waters. That said, it is a place to which only the super rich (and subsidized journalists) can gain entry, and “service” is executed with religious fervor. Each Fall, droves of 20 something boys migrate from the chilly French coast to this island paradise, to live in communal housing, to drive tourists in Mini Moke jeeps, to deliver endless bottles of water, and to insist it would be, “their pleasure,” to fulfill your most eccentric requests.
Life on Saint Barts is a colonial construct. The French took it back from the Swedes in 1878, and today, everything is imported from Europe or the closest island, Saint Maarten. The French chain Monoprix is the only supermarket on the island, and not a single piece of produce is grown domestically. Even the water must be desalinated, though the result is not potable. There is not even a maternity ward; if you dare to live here full time, be prepared to take the white-knuckle puddle jumper back to Saint Maarten two weeks before your due date where you can rent an apartment by their hospital.
It’s a privileged position to take, I know, but this level of “luxury” service makes me squirm. No doubt, there is an art to conducting the orchestra that is the five star hotel, but after my pillows are fluffed and my face spritzed with Evian, all I want is for everyone to say something real. It’s no wonder that people lose perspective when the ultimate luxury is to never have to hear the word, “no.”
The night before the election I turned off the phone early for a chance at sleep, and numbed my fears with one too many cocktails. The next morning, I awoke to room service knocking at the door. As the unsuspecting waiter, just one month into his new gig, laid out a platter of croissants and confitures as I looked at my phone and screamed, “F-U-U-U-CK!!!!” Short of breath, I searched his face for some glimmer of recognition, suddenly aware that I stood panicked in my pajamas. He was dumbstruck. I had gone off script, and he was not prepared to rectify the situation.
In that, he was not alone.
Back stateside, where nobody asks me what I need, only to prepare waffles and procure butt cream, I feel much more grounded. Gearing up for Thanksgiving, I am happy to share with you my hors d'oeuvre of choice, a crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside, golden “fry” made from chickpeas. It’s easy to make, but best of all, you can make it ahead of time. You get the fries 90% of the way there and store them in the freezer, only leaving a quick shallow fry for the day-of your holiday event. It’s added protein for your vegetarian family members too.
SKIN
I recently received an unfamiliar serum from a new company called Mother Science, touting the miracle of a naturally-occurring molecule found on skin called Malassezin. The founders are a couple of musicians turned scientists, and promise that the serum will vastly improve skin texture and reduce dark spots. I have been using it for two weeks, and I do see a difference. It’s clean of sulfates and parabens too. I’m sold.
DRINK
Ti’ Punch is Martinique’s national cocktail, a Caribbean staple. “Ti” is the Creole take on the French word petit, and the “punch” part is made by muddling fresh limes in a glass with sugar to make a tart syrup, then pouring rhum agricole over ice (I use twice as many limes as most, and at home, I am using coconut sugar).
From pisco to aguardiente, regional liquor always seems worth packing home when you’re in the throes of travel, but later, those bottles tend to collect dust in our wet bar. But after a week in Saint Barts, I am hopeful that my newfound love of rum will break the paradigm. The straightforward preparation of Ti’ Punch cuts the burn of the rum, but also allows its complex flavor to burst through.
If you are looking for an education in wild fermented rum in NYC, Chef Alex Raijhas an ambitious program at her jewel of a restaurant in Cobble Hill, Saint Julivert (one of my absolute favorite spots). “I wanted to share Ti’ Punch from low to high, across landscapes with cane juice rums,” Chef Raij told me. “The spectrum of flavor was a revelation to me. Bottles are displayed and presented table side as you would present a bottle of wine.”
COOK
Golden Chickpea “Fries”
My inspo for this recipe came from the Sicilian street food, panelle, a tortilla chip-like snack made from nothing more than chickpea flour and water, deep fried and salted (see video below). After cooking in Sicily this summer, I couldn’t quite get the right flavor using domestic chickpea flour, so I started to work freshly cooked, puréed SIMPLi regenerative organic chickpeas into the batter.
Instead of spreading the mixture onto a plate, I let it set in a baking tin, like one would with a molded polenta. Chilled, you can easily cut them into spears, freeze them, and fry them up to order (no need to thaw). This makes for a really handy make-ahead back-up hors d'oeuvre, or a protein packed kid-friendly appetizer.
I serve them with a simple yogurt dip (Greek yogurt, dried mint, microplaned garlic, salt and lemon zest), to lighten them up. I am using SIMPLi olive oil blend because it has a higher smoke point than regular olive oil. If you don’t have their blend (available at Whole Foods), make your own by using one half olive oil, and one half avocado or grapeseed oil to fry. To see a how-to video, check out my Instagram.
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