Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I just made this tonight http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato- ... -chickpeas

A very sexy version of tomato soup, if you ask me. The recipe did not say how to prep the garlic so I chopped it for the soup and made thin slices for the roasted chickpeas. I think when I make it again I will sub diced Spanish chorizo for the ham which was a little list amongst the big flavors. Either that or leave it out.

Mary

Mary,

Hmmmm. I could just to roasted chickpeas as a topping for my regular tomato soup ...

That would work. I also suggest adding the smoked paprika to your tomato soup, it really brings it up a notch.

The roasted chickpeas are amazing. I think they would be great as a salad topping, especially if you made your dressing with a bit of smoked paprika.

Mary

Thanks Mary, it might just be on the menu tonight if I can find a sub for the ham.

Alina,

If the ham is there for texture ... which it sounds like it is ... substitute sun-dried tomatoes.

Thanks Josh. Missed the part below about Spanish chorizo which I always have.

Mary, dumb question but is that regular or kosher salt?

I used regular in the soup and sprinkled some fleur de sel over the chickpeas. I think I a. Going to make this when I host my cooking club on the 31st. That and the pumpkin spaetzlis.

Mary

Mary,

That reminds me ... I gave in and bought a spaetzle maker (it was only $6 on Amazon). So, please tell me how the pumpkin ones turn out.

Good job! I loved the pumpkin ones (made with sweet potatoes, go figure). The taste was subtle, I used Penzey's baking spice mix instead of the separate spices but they were similar. I thought they went very well with the game but they would probably also be nice in a gratin or as a side for salmon or maybe even a mushroom dish. The friends I invited for dinner went nuts over them and I will make them again. Probably next Friday for my cooking club, just need to figure out a main dish to go with them.

And now that you will be making spaetzlis on a regular basis, try ramps when spring rolls around.

Mary

Mary,

Oddly, nobody here seems to sell ramps except maybe one week at the expensive farmer's market. No good reason, they just aren't much of a "thing" in CA. The only ones I ate last year were from my MIL's garden.

Kenji is in for a rude shock when spring rolls around.