Chick peas in the pod

And after shelling

Fresh Legumes

I love chick peas, a.k.a. garbanzos or ceci. So when I spied fresh chick peas in the pod at Iovine Brothers today, a grabbed them.

At $5.99/pound they are dear, and the yield of edible bean is only about 65-70 percent of the pod weight. Plus, since there are only one or sometimes two beans to a pod, a bit of work is involved in prepping; it took me nearly a quarter of an hour to shell five ounces of pods, which produced enough beans for one modest portion of 3-3/8 ounces before cooking.

When in doubt, I turn to Mark Bittman for cooking advice, which in this case suggested (for all fresh legumes) bringing the beans to a boil in water to cover, then simmering for 20 minutes before testing for doneness. (I added plenty of salt to the cooking liquid.) I pulled them after about 17 minutes cooking, and they probably could have been pulled two or three minutes earlier. Still, most of the beans retained the meaty mouth feel I associated with garbanzos as well as a fresh, more nuanced version of their characteristic flavor.

The salt in the cooking water, and a grind of black pepper over the drained beans, was a perfect seasoning, though there's no reason why you couldn't treat them like peas with some butter on top. I imagine they'd also do well mashed (a play on the Englishman's mushy peas) or pureed.

All in all this was a delightful vegetal treat to break up the winter root vegetable blahs.

Autumn at Headhouse

These Ying Yang dried beans from Culton Organics are just one of the many varieties of fall produce I found at Headhouse Square Farmers' Market last Sunday.

Tom also featured some delicious, though small, chestnuts. They roasted up perfectly (about 10 minutes in a 425 toaster oven; be sure to make a small 'x' on the flat side to avoid popping). Out of the first two dozen chestnuts I roasted, there were only two that were moldy/inedible.

Brussells sprouts have been making their appearance at local markets, too. Tom was selling his for $5 a quart. His white, purple or orange cauliflower and romanesco was $5 for medium-sized heads. Yellow string beans were $5/quart, sweet potatoes $2/pound. Among fruits, Tom had delicious Winter Banana apples as well as Asian pears; they were pricey at $1 apiece.

Pumpkins, as predicted in a previous post, are expensive this year. Blooming Glen's jack-o-lantern pumpkins were $8 apiece. Long Island cheese pumpkins, ideal for baking use, particularly pies, were $6 each; huge Blue Hubbard squashes were similarly priced. Butternut squash was more reasonable $1.25/pound, Delicata $1.50. Blooming Glen still had field tomatoes last Sunday for $3/pound. Potatoes, both all-purpose and small Russetts (baking) were $2/pound.

North Star Orchards' apples were all $2/pound, except the Honey Crisps, $2.50. Magness pears were $2.

Beechwood Orchards apples were $4/quart, $4.5o for Honey Crisps. Pears were $5/quart, chestnusts $6/quart.

Margarums also had potatoes, including $2/pound Russetts.