Hello, welcome! I am happy you’re here today. Today’s recipe is a special request from Alex, who has been sorely missing his favorite falafel sandwich. Falafel is a chickpea fritter, with herbs and spices, fried to a golden brown. It’s often served in a pita with cucumbers, tomatoes, and tahini sauce or hummus. My favorite place to get falafel was near my old office in Cupertino, California and you could get your falafel sandwich with herby french fries tucked inside. So good! Today, we can do it however we like because this easy and delicious falafel homemade falafel I have ever tasted! Let’s do it, Falafel with Tahini Yogurt Sauce.

Start by soaking the 8 ounces (about 1 and 1/4 cups) dried chickpeas overnight. It’s not recommended to use canned chickpeas because they will make the falafel stodgy, and I reckon it’s because the canned chickpeas are already cooked, so instead of going into the mixture firm and uncooked, they will just get overcooked and mushy in the hot oil.

Tahini Yogurt Sauce

Let’s make the sauce first, so the flavors can mingle while we make the falafel. This is a really simple sauce; equal parts tahini and full fat, plain Greek yogurt; mixed with a little lemon juice, salt to taste, and water to thin it out. Mix the tahini, yogurt, and 1/4 cup lemon juice to a smooth consistency. Add a tablespoon of water at a time to thin it out to your desired consistency and then add a pinch of Kosher salt at time, and taste to add more salt as necessary. By the time we add the sauce to our falafel, you may want to add a little more water to thin it out a little more.

Falafel

In a food processor, process the chopped parsley, cilantro leaves and stems, chopped onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, and cayenne to a pesto-like consistency.

Add herbs and spices to a food processor

Process to pesto-like consistency

Then add the soaked and drained chickpeas to the processor and pulse several times, until the chickpeas are chopped into sesame seed-sized pieces.

Add chickpeas

Process until the chickpeas resemble sesame seeds

Transfer the falafel mixture to a large bowl and set aside. Now for the unexpected part. A cooked flour mixture will bind the falafel so we can form it into balls. The cooked flour (rather than dry, uncooked flour) will help keep the falafel moist and tender. In a small bowl whisk 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water to a smooth, lump-free consistency.

Flour and water

Whisked to a lump free mixture

Now, microwave this mixture 5 seconds at a time, stirring at the intervals, until the mixture cooks into a thick pudding-like paste. Depending on the power of your microwave, this can take 10-50 seconds. My mixture took about 18 seconds. I overcooked it 2 times; it’s overdone when the mixture becomes a hard lump. The original recipe suggests checking it every 10 seconds, but for me, even 20 seconds was overcooking it. So I played it safe and checked and stirred it every 5 seconds.

This is a properly cooked flour paste

Then we add two teaspoons baking powder to the cooked flour mixture. While the cooked flour mixture will keep the falafel moist, the baking powder will keep the falafel light. Stir in the baking powder and you will see the flour mixture immediately lighten up and get fluffy.

Add the baking powder

Stir until well-incorporated

Now, add this flour/baking powder mix to the falafel mixture and stir until the flour mix is completely incorporated.

Stir in the cooked flour/baking powder mixture

Lightly stire in the flour mixture until it’s fully incorporated

Form the Falafel

Line a sheet tray with a sheet of parchment and set it next to the bowl of falafel mix. I have a two-tablespoon cookie scoop that I am using to shape the balls.

I scooped the balls to get them all measured out, and then went back and formed the scoops into balls, like a meatball. This mixture yielded 18, 2.5 tablespoon falafel balls. Place the sheet tray in the fridge while we set up the fry station. Add 2 quarts of vegetable oil to a dutch oven fitted with a thermometer; place a wire rack inside a sheet tray (to catch the fried falafel); set a spider or slotted spoon nearby.

Pro-Tip

The key to successful frying at home is organization. Setting up your fry station thoughtfully will make the frying go smoother, minimizing the likelihood of burnt food and hot oil accidents. It will also help keep things clean. Set up your pot of oil on a corner front burner. Then place one sheet pan on either side of the pot. One for the food to be fried, and one for the food that is already fried. Have your spider skimmer close. Use a candy thermometer that clips to the pot securely. Have your kosher salt near the fried food tray so you can season the food as soon as it comes out of the oil.

Over medium-high heat, get the oil up to 325 degrees. While we wait for that, slice some cucumber, grape tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and rough chop some cilantro and parsley. Set those toppings aside. When the oil is at temp, drop in about 5-6 falafel. Wait about 30 seconds, then use the spider or a long-handled spoon to gently stir the falafel balls in the oil to keep them from sticking. Gently dislodge any falafel if they stick to the bottom of the pot.

When they are deep golden brown (about 4-5 minutes), scoop them out and set them on the wire rack, and season with Kosher salt. Repeat with remaining falafel. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain the 320-325 degree temp of the oil.

Golden brown falafel

Season with Kosher salt

Plate it up!

When the falafel is all fried to golden perfection, warm some pita or flatbread (I have lavash) and place the warmed bread on a plate.

Sandwich assembly

Falafel interior

Add a small handful of shredded lettuce, then drizzle on some of the tahini yogurt sauce. Place a few falafel and drizzle on some more tahini sauce. Top with cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, and hot sauce, if you like.

Lettuce and tahini sauce

Add falafel

Falafel with tahini yogurt sauce

So gorgeous, colorful, fresh, and flavorful! The falafel is crunchy and light, and the interiors are perfectly cooked, not at all stodgy. Restaurant-worthy falafel right in your own kitchen!

To serve on a flatbread like lavash, just assemble the ingredients lengthwise down the center and roll up the long sides like a burrito or fold like a taco and enjoy!

I hope you make this Falafel with Tahini Yogurt Sauce! It’s so good; a wonderful light, vegetarian meal. And while I am not a huge fan of deep-frying, the little falafel balls are not messy to fry and the whole thing goes really quickly. You can find a similar sandwich, but with Chicken Kofta, on the blog, and I definitely recommend trying this wonderful falafel recipe! Let me know if you make this dish, reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook, or leave a comment below – I love to hear from you! Take care and be well, xo Kelly

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Remember, Saturdays are a two-post day.  Make sure to check out Marlene’s guide to building a Spring tablescape.

Contributor Kelly Djalali shows us how to make hot honey chicken.

Hello, friends. Welcome to Djalali Cooks. Today we have a Hot Honey Chicken that gets me a little closer in my quest for recreating my favorite Honey Chili Chicken; a dish that I have been missing for several years. Chef Gia’s was a Hunan restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I frequented Gia’s for 17 years. Every time I moved from The City, I missed Gia’s most of all. And every time I moved back to SF, it was the first place I went. This dish is similar only in flavor, but for me it’s a step closer to my beloved Honey Chili Chicken. So let’s make Hot Honey Chicken!

The original recipe, by Cooks Country does not call for dredging the chicken pieces in flour, but I am doing that today because I am using skinless, boneless thighs and I want the outside of the chicken to get a golden crust. Opt out of this step if you like, but I think it gives the chicken a nice crunch that holds up to the sauce nicely. You can use any combination of bone-in chicken pieces you like best; skin-on, or skinless. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, we will finish the chicken in the sauce, in the oven.

Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with a mix of cumin and salt. Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour and shake off the excess, set the dredged pieces on a wire rack placed in a sheet pan. Set the finished pieces aside and we can make the hot honey.

Hot Honey

Hot honey ingredients

Mix to fully combine

Honey, Franks Red Hot Sauce and minced garlic are the only three ingredients for the hot honey. The Franks Red Hot is not super spicy and the vinegar in the sauce is a really nice compliment to the honey, a very well-balanced hot honey sauce. Mix these three ingredients to together very well, to fully emulsify the honey.

Pro-Tip

An Adjustable Measuring Cup is such a handy tool for measuring sticky ingredients like honey. It’s also great for ingredients like mayonnaise and other sauces that are hard to scrape out of a traditional measuring cup. It features plunger-style bottom piece that you use to push the ingredient out; with a silicone coated base to cleanly sweep all of the measured ingredients from the sides of the cylinder.

Brown the Chicken

In a 12-inch, oven-safe skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of grapeseed or vegetable oil over medium-high heat until the oil just begins to smoke. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and brown both sides. I had to work in two batches to get all 8 thighs browned initially. Once all your chicken is browned, transfer the chicken to a plate momentarily and drain off the fat in the pan. Then, return the chicken to the empty skillet.

Add chicken to skillet

Flip to brown both sides

Chicken added back to empty skillet

Pour the hot honey sauce evenly over the chicken pieces and place in the preheated oven for 17-20 minutes, until the thighs register an internal temperature of 175 degrees. If you’re cooking breasts, those are ready when the internal temperature reads 160 degrees.

When the chicken is cooked to temp, remove from the oven and let the chicken rest in the skillet for about 10 minutes. Transfer pieces to a platter and return the skillet to the stovetop. Over medium-high heat, bring the pan juices up to a boil and let thicken slightly, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter and lime juice. Whisk until butter is melted. Remove from heat.

Whisk in butter and lime juice

Whisk until butter is melted and a nice sauce has formed

Hot Honey Chicken

Spoon sauce evenly over the chicken pieces.

Top with sliced scallions.

This dish is so delicious! It’s spicy and sweet; the chicken has a nice crispy exterior and the interior is moist and juicy. The fresh scallions give a little crunch and pop of fresh onion flavor.

As I mentioned at the top, flavor-wise, this dish comes very close to the Honey Chili Chicken in my memory. Gia’s Honey Chili Chicken is fried in small pieces – Gia’s is much spicier, but all the right notes are here. This is a step closer for me, as I try to reconstruct Gia’s dish from memory; I will get there eventually, and when I do, I will be so excited to share the recipe here, with you!

Recently, I did another dish that reminded me, once again, of the power of certain foods and recipes to transport us to times past: Not So Sloppy Joe’s, check out that recipe if you’d like a delicious trip down memory lane!

Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Definitely make this recipe for Hot Honey Chicken, it’s outstanding – a sure winner! Pin it on Pinterest, because this recipe is one you will want to repeat. Take care and be well, xo Kelly

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We run two posts on Saturday:  Kelly’s Kitchen and Marlene’s tips for home design.  This week Marlene shows us how to add April flowers and scents to your homes.

Hello friends! Welcome to Kelly’s Kitchen on this beautiful fall Saturday. Way back, mid-summer, a reader requested a specific comfort food that I was so excited to make, but also felt like it would be better to wait until the weather turned cool. So, I put it on the back burner, so to speak. This week, though, I felt that it would be a great fall recipe to share with y’all. Today, we are making Arroz con Pollo – Latin chicken and rice. 

Don’t quote me on this, but I am pretty sure every culture has a chicken and rice recipe. The comfort food of a nation, chicken and rice has it all. No matter the cuisine, comfort is inherent to the humble main ingredients. We covered a Persian version with our Joojeh Kabob recipe, so let’s do a Latin version today.

Sazon Spice Blend

The main seasoning for this dish is a Latin spice blend called Sazon. You can find it already blended at some supermarkets, but it’s easy to make it yourself, as I did. Sazon consists of Coriander, Cumin, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Salt and Achiote. 

Achiote gives this dish its golden color. It is interchangeable with Annato, which may sound familiar to you. Achiote and Annato are spices, but are more widely used as natural coloring agents for things like cheddar cheese, or chorizo.  

I don’t have Achiote or Annato in my spice cabinet, so I used Turmeric. Also, I have whole Coriander seeds, so I ground them in my handy spice grinder. Then I just whisked all the spices together and the result is a distinct Latin flavor and fragrance, mostly from the Cumin, but the fresh ground Coriander gives it a floral scent.

Arroz con Pollo

To start, I am using four bone-in skinless chicken thighs. But you can use anywhere from 4-8 thighs. Boneless or bone-in. Get the chicken thighs marinating in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon Sazon, garlic powder and adobo. Let it come together while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Prep

Rinse 2 ½ cups of long grain rice in a fine mesh sieve until the water runs mostly clear and set aside. Then, roughly chop the scallions, cilantro, ½ bell pepper (I am using red, but you can use whatever color you like), ½ onion and 3 cloves of garlic. These four ingredients will go into the food processor to create a chunky salsa-like consistency. Dice up the tomato and set aside. 

Then, in a dutch oven or a deep heavy bottom skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the chicken thighs. Brown them for about 5 minutes each side. Then remove the thighs from the pan and set aside. 

Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and sautè the onion, cilantro, pepper mixture until soft, about 3 minutes. 

Add the diced tomato and sautè for another minute. Then add the rice, sautè fora another minute and add the 4 cups water and bouillon. Stir well to dissolve the bouillon.

A note on the bouillon: I prefer Better Than Bouillon, to the powdered, cubed bouillon. Better Than Bouillon is a paste and I find its flavors are more concentrated and less salty; it melts instantly and a little goes a long way. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend you pick some up! 

Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. At this point, I went rogue by adding a bag of frozen veggies. You can do this or not, I just wanted to add more texture and veg. Taste the broth and add more salt if needed. 

Then add the chicken thighs back to the pot and simmer until most of the water is reduced and you can see the rice near the top of the pot, about 7-10 minutes.

Now, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Then, turn off the heat altogether and leave the pot to sit, covered for 10 minutes. 

Finishing Touches

Plate up you Arroz con Pollo with a generous helping of rice and place a thigh on top. I added a squeeze of lime juice, a sprinkling of fresh cilantro and a pinch of finishing salt. I like Jacobsen or  Maldon Sea Salt Flakes for a nice crunch. 

Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I hope you try Arroz con Pollo – Latin Chicken and Rice. I am thinking that over the course of the season I will tackle Chicken and Rice recipes from different cuisines. So, if there is a Chicken and Rice dish you have always wanted to try, or that is special to you or where you’re from, please do let me know! Don’t forget you can find me on Instagram and Facebook too! Take care everyone, be well. xo Kelly

Hi everyone! Welcome to Kelly’s Kitchen. Several weeks ago, a reader requested we cover salad dressings from scratch. You know the ones: Ranch, Caesar, Thousand island, Italian…I contemplated doing one big post with all of them, but then I thought I’d break them out a bit because at least one of them is slightly more complex. So that one is the star of the show today. Hello, Caesar! 

There are cheats to making your own Caesar dressing; I have used them. Namely, using mayonnaise as a base. This is totally fine. But I will say that when you make the whole thing from scratch, the difference will surprise you. The result is more luscious and doesn’t have that mayonnaise tang. 

Hello, Caesar! 

The ingredients are basic. We have olive oil and vegetable or grapeseed oil, lemon juice, egg yolks, garlic, Dijon, salt, pepper, parmesan and anchovy fillets. 

Y’all probably know this by now, but I like everything prepped and ready to go. So do that first. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world if you just take the time to get it all prepped. 

Grate your Parmesan on the fine side of a box grater. Then gently rub the grated cheese between your fingers to create more of a granular texture, rather than stringy. It ends up being more like store bought grated cheese. All set.

Then, chop your one clove of garlic, a pinch of salt and six anchovy fillets together.

Once chopped, use the flat side of a wide chef’s knife to make a paste with the anchovies and garlic. Using your left hand (or right, if you’re a lefty :), apply pressure to the knife side as you drag the flat side of the knife down. Then push the mixture together and repeat pressing,  flattening and dragging the knife through the mixture until a smooth paste develops.

I like to use a large bowl with a rubberized bottom whenever I am whisking and pouring at the same time. If you have one, use it, or you can place a damp towel under a glass or plastic bowl. 

Then, scrape your anchovy paste into the bowl and whisk in your two egg yolks, two tablespoons lemon juice and ¾ teaspoon Dijon. Whisk until well mixed.

Then, a drop at a time start whisking in the two tablespoons of olive oil. Then in a steady stream, whisk in the ¾ cup of vegetable or grapeseed oil. (I like the grapeseed oil because it feels lighter than vegetable oil.)

Keep whisking until the mixture is thickened and glossy. Finally, whisk in the three tablespoons of finely grated parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice, if you like. Then just set the bowl aside while you make the croutons.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. I am using half a loaf of homemade sourdough, but you can use a country loaf or other crusty bread. If all you have around is sandwich loaf bread, that’s OK! No matter what type of bread you’re using, just be sure to tear your pieces of bread to create a lot of craggy edges to collect the olive oil. 

I like to toss my bread chunks with olive oil in a large bowl, then spread them out on a rimmed sheet pan. Then, I season with salt and lemon zest. I had some leftover grated parm so I sprinkled that on too. Because, why the heck not!

Bake the croutons, toss them at least once, for about 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

I don’t like my salad to be too weighed down with dressing, so I poured about ⅔ of a cup into a separate measuring cup, leaving about ⅓  cup in the mixing bowl. I tossed in my Romaine and poured about ⅓ of the dressing over the top and tossed it with my hands to coat the lettuce. 

Then I scooped the dressed lettuce into a serving bowl and set aside. Then I tossed my still warm croutons in the dressing left in the mixing bowl. Go ahead and pour a little more dressing over the croutons and toss to coat the croutons. 

Top the dressed lettuce with your dressed croutons and use a Y peeler or wide slice side of a box grater to shave ribbons of parmesan to place on top. Add more fresh cracked pepper, if you like. Hello Caesar!

And that’s it! I had some dressing leftover which I will use as a sandwich spread, probably. Or as a dip for some sourdough focaccia I made this week. Homemade Caesar dressing feels intimidating at first. Maybe it’s the anchovies. Or maybe it’s the egg yolks…? But it really is easy. It’s not like making a hollandaise sauce or anything that involves the eggs scrambling. Or butter and eggs breaking. So don’t be intimidated! 

I hope you say Hello, Caesar! and give this recipe a try. It’s a good one to have in your repertoire and it will definitely impress your friends and family when you can tell them it’s homemade Caesar dressing! 

Thanks everyone for stopping by today. If you’re interested in another classic salad, try my recipe for Three Bean Salad, or German Potato Salad. Stay tuned, I will cover more from-scratch salad dressings; and with the holidays coming up, let me know if there is anything in particular you’d like to see in this column. Don’t forget you can find me on Instagram and Facebook too! Take care everyone, be well. xo Kelly

Hello everyone, welcome to Kelly’s Kitchen. I am so happy you’re joining me today. Although fall has arrived, the temperatures in Athens this week have been in the high seventies. It’s been a very lovely fall so far. The warm sunny days haven’t deterred my cravings for brothy, savory soups though! So today, we are making Pork Noodle Soup with Ginger and Garlic. 

This recipe is by Alison Roman. It appeared on the NY Times Cooking site about six months ago. I made this pretty much to the recipe, without many modifications. But I am already looking forward to making it again with a few tweaks and additions, which I will share as we go along.

Pork Noodle Soup with Ginger and Garlic

For the grated ginger, I use my zester, but you can use the fine side of a box grater too. Also, don’t bother to peel the ginger, it’s not necessary, especially since you’re grating it, the skin virtually disappears. 

Also, a mandoline will give you nice even, thin garlic slices.

The recipe calls for one pound of ground pork, but I am going to cook off two pounds and remove about a pound of the cooked pork for something else. But first, let’s toast our garlic. You want to use a neutral oil, like vegetable oil or my favorite, grapeseed oil. 

Let the oil get hot over medium heat, toss the garlic into the pot in a single layer, if you can. Stir them frequently so they don’t get too dark, otherwise they will be bitter. Just a nice golden color. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out and lay them on a paper towel. If some get too dark, you can just pick them out.

Add your pork and the crushed red pepper flakes to the same pot you toasted the garlic in. Season with Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Brown the pork and break it up into bite size pieces as it’s cooking.  

When your pork is browned, add your four cups of chicken stock, four cups of water, and three tablespoons of soy sauce. When I make this again, at this point I will add a tablespoon of Red Boat Fish Sauce. 

Bring this up to a simmer and add half the onions and all of the ginger. Taste it to see if it needs more soy sauce, salt or pepper. 

While it’s simmering, I got my water boiling in a separate pot for the noodles. The rice vermicelli only takes about 8-10 minutes to cook. Once the noodle water is boiling, turn off the heat, drop in the noodles, cover and set a timer for 8 minutes. 

Meanwhile, back to my soup. Now I add my spinach, and stir to wilt the leaves. I turned down the heat to very low and let it all come together.

When your noodles are cooked, strain them and I like to run cool water over them just to stop the cooking. The hot soup broth will warm them back up.

Let’s Plate Our Soup!

I like wide shallow bowls for noodle dishes like this, when I have a variety of toppings. I use about a handful of the rice vermicelli, and I just plop it into my bowl.

Then I ladled my soup over the noodles, making sure I scooped from the bottom of the pot to get a good amount of pork.

Then top with cilantro, remaining sliced onions and toasted garlic. I also added sliced red peppers for extra heat. My red peppers are actually Serranos that have turned red. But jalapeño or Thai chile would be good too. 

In addition to adding fish sauce to this broth, I would also add a little rice vinegar or lime juice right at the end. While the store bought chicken stock is more convenient, next time I might make a richer stock with pork or beef bones. But ultimately, this recipe is an easy weeknight dish with great flavors. The fresh onion and toasted garlic really amp up the savory richness. 

I love a brothy Asian-inspired soup any day of the year, but there’s something about the turn to fall when almost all I want to eat is soup! What’s your favorite fall dish to make? Let me know in the comments below! 

If you like Asian noodle dishes, you might like my recipe for Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodle Bowls, it’s great any time of year! Thanks everyone for stopping by today, I hope you give this recipe a try. Don’t forget you can find me on Instagram and Facebook too! Take care everyone, be well. xo Kelly