back at it with baked chickpeas

I apologize for the lack of posts recently - sometimes life gets in the way.  Once we were done with chili cook off there was a brief hiatus away from cooking and some laziness took over... But I'm back in the swing of things and ready to get back to blogging.  In the next few days there should be a few new posts that are for some "real" recipes, but here's a quickie snack that I just made that is really easy and delicious to have around the house.  These baked chickpeas are a great snack to have on hand and go great with a nice cold beer.  You can feel good about eating them and eat even more.

Baked Chickpeas
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper
cumin
cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to approximately 300 degrees.  Place the drained chickpeas on a baking sheet in an even layer.  Drizzle the chickpeas with olive oil, and then liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on them.  Sprinkle as much cumin and cayenne pepper as you like on them - obviously the more you put the stronger flavor the chickpeas will have.  Bake in the oven for approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours, shaking the pan occasionally (every 25 minutes or so) to move the chickpeas around the pan (the chickpeas around the edge of the pan will cook faster than those in the middle so you want to move them around).  Taste the chickpeas as they cook and remove them when they are crunchy (some might be a little chewier than others but thats okay).

You can flavor the chickpeas anyway you like - other seasonings suggestions are chili powder, celery salt, or garam masala, but you can really use anything you like. 

another brunch favorite - egg bakes

As I've said before, I love brunch.  It's the perfect way to see friends and relax and then either have the rest of the day to do something, or nap like I did last weekend.  Egg dishes are always popular at brunch, but what you dont want to be doing when everyone is relaxing is hanging out alone at the stove cooking individual fried eggs or making scrambled eggs that need to be eaten immediately when they get off the heat.  For brunch, you want foods that can stand to sit out at room temperature and taste just as good, if not better.  Egg bakes are a perfect food to make for brunch. Easy to throw together earlier in the morning, and just pop it in the oven when people are close to arriving.

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Egg Bake
3 links of sausage (pork or chicken)
1 bunch broccoli rabe
1/2 large loaf of country or whole grain bread, ideally day old (you want it a little stale), cut into 1 inch cubes
8 large eggs, whisked
1/4 cup milk/cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt/ 1/2 tsp pepper

Take the sausage out of the casing and brown the sausage, breaking it up.  Once it is cooked through set it aside. In a large bowl whisk the eggs together with the milk or cream and add about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Blanch the broccoli rabe first. Broccoli rabe is a bitter green and blanching helps take some of the bitterness out of it.  To blanch the broccoli rabe, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil.  Heavily salt the water.  While the water is boiling set up an ice bath - a large bowl of water filled with ice.  Also heavily salt that water as well.  When the water is boiling, place the broccoli rabe in there for about 2 minutes (you don't want to keep it there very long and let it get overcooked).  Pull the broccoli rabe out of the boiling water and place it directly in the ice bath to cool off.

Once the broccoli rabe has cooled, drain it and wring out the extra water.  Chop the broccoli rabe into one inch pieces and set aside.  Add the broccoli rabe to the egg mixture.  Add the cubed bread, stirring as the bread starts to absorb the eggs.

Pour the egg mixture into a large baking dish (around 9 by 13 inches) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  I had a little extra mozzarella cheese that I needed to use up so I cubed it and threw it in the mixture as well.

Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the eggs are fully cooked throughout.  About 50 minutes into the cooking process the entire dish was cooked except for the very middle.  If that happens to you, turn the broiler on and broil the egg bake for a minute or so, keeping a close eye on it so that the bread doesn't burn. 

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product - it was all gone pretty quick.  So simple and delicious. Here's what was left.