Bean Cakes or Black-eyed Pea Fritters

I found this recipe courtesy of Pintrest. I was trying to find ways to use my dried black eyed peas and stumbled across this gem.  It tastes exactly like the Bean Cakes my family used to enjoy when we lived in Mali, West Africa. Even more exciting since no one knew the ingredients or how to replicate them. My mother remembers them having pieces of hot scotch bonnet peppers mixed in the fritters from Mali and pieces of dried fish in the version from Cote d’Ivoire. Either way, these are delicious!

The original recipe for Accara can be found on saveur.com with the description, “Crisp, light-as-air fritters like these are a popular street snack throughout Senegal and the rest of west Africa. They’re usually accompanied by chile-hot, tomato-based kaani sauce.”

Bean Cakes (Accara or Black-Eyed Pea Fritters)

MAKES 30 FRITTERS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ small onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Canola oil, for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the black-eyed peas in a large container or bowl and cover by at least 2 inches of water. Let soak for at least 12 hours or overnight.

2. Remove the skins from the peas. You can do this by massaging with your hands or by placing the peas in a blender and gently pulsing a few times to loosen. Rinse and massage the peas repeatedly until all the skins have been washed away. You should be left with perfectly white pieces. This step is time consuming but important.

3. Place peas, baking soda, onion, salt and pepper, and 3 tbsp. water in a blender and purée until smooth.

4. Heat 2 inches of oil in a pan or heat your deep fryer to 365°. Use two small spoons to drop tablespoon-sized balls of batter in oil and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes.

5. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with kaani sauce.

Sosu Kaani (Chile Sauce)

MAKES 2 CUPS

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. tomato paste
3 medium tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
1 Scotch bonnet chile, minced
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat; add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, until soft. Add tomato paste, and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized. Use gloves to chop the scotch bonnet pepper. Add to the pan with tomatoes and bay leaf. Cook, stirring often, until sauce is reduced and thickened. Our tomatoes did not add much water to the pan so cooking time was short.

2. Remove and discard bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Purée in a food processor or blender. If mixture is too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time. End result should be a thick paste. Store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Gluten Free Calamari Rings

I love calamari. And I am not a huge lover of seafood or deep fried foods. I am the person who only orders fries from certain restaurants and only if I feel like it. I can resist and usually do. With my gall bladder- its actually necessary that I do. But if there is a place that offers calamari my taste buds start to produce copious amounts of saliva and the story changes. I would make detours in to the food court to have them. But going Gluten-free meant giving them up for good.

I am not sure I can express the joy I felt the first time I saw frozen, unbreaded calamari rings in the freezer section of my local grocery store. I didn't even check the price, into my cart they went. I was up for the challenge and work to make them for myself.

So I conscripted my mother to help me try a few recipes to find the best one. This one won the collective vote of my family members. We are a little loose on our measuring technique so eyeball it and have some fun.

Deep-fried Calamari Rings

1/2 cup Brown rice flour
1/4 cup Tapioca starch
1/2 Tbsp total Dried spices of your choice

3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1 Egg

1/4 cup Milk or substitute

1/2 lb Calamari rings, thawed

Cocktail sauce

 

First, combine the dry ingredients. I used about 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion salt, 3/4 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp chili powder for my seasoning. Paprika was my heaviest flavour since it was suggested by most of the recipes I found.

 

Then, mix the egg and milk together. I used a lactose-free milk. Put the thawed calamari in the milk mix and let it soak for at least half an hour. You could omit the egg, but we discovered that it made the rings plump up and stay tender. It also helped make a better crusting.

 

In small batches transfer some of the calamari into the flour mix. Use a Ziploc or container so you can shake well. Place the pieces into a fryer basket and fry until golden brown. We found that they brown quickly and placing the pieces in the oil one at a time caused uneven browning of the batch.

 

Remove from oil. Drain on a paper towel. Serve warm with a side of shrimp cocktail sauce (and lemon wedges if that is your thing). This should be a light appetizer for about 2 to 3 people?

 

I am open to trying a few more recipes if you have one you think is better...

 

Green Onion Flatbread

Okay, first: I have died and gone to heaven.

I don't have very many 'food regrets' simply because the diet changes have been worth it for me. BUT there are a few foods I miss. One big one, green onion cakes from my favourite Chinese takeout place. Light, fluffy and slightly sweet. This recipe has the flavor exactly like my favourite treat! Next time, I might try rolling them into small balls and deep-frying them!



Green Onion Flatbread

2-1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp yeast
3-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs, room temperature
3 Tbsp sesame oil
1 cup finely chopped green onions
1 tsp coarse sea salt

First, combine the flours, starches, xanthan gum, yeast and sugar in your mixer bowl or food processor. Set the mixer onto a low setting. Pour the warm water into the four mix in a steady, slow stream. Scrape the sides if necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time. Turn the mixer up and mix until the batter is smooth and shiny. Add 1/2 cup of the green onions to the batter and mix to blend.

Combine the remaining 1/2c green onions, sesame oil and sea salt in a small bowl. Line three cookie sheets with parchment.

Knead the batter with a spatula, adding 2-4 tsp of rice flour as needed until the dough forms a ball. Divide the dough into six balls. Grease a sheet of plastic wrap with sesame oil and place a ball onto it. Cover with another sheet of lightly greased plastic wrap and roll each ball into a 6 inch disk. Sprinkle some of the onion oil mix and press into the dough lightly with the back of the spoon. Flip onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle a little of the onion oil mix onto the top of the flatbread and press into the dough with a sheet of plastic. Use one sheet of the plastic wrap to cover the dough as it rises. Repeat for the remaining balls.

Let the flatbread rise in a warm place for one hour. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

I never get as far as freezing them, but you could.