Cafe Davis opens! May 2nd - Chickpea night

Wow, I was wholly unprepared for Cafe Davis to open. It wasn't even on my radar until late last night. I even had plans to meet my colleague to grade this evening until Cafe Davis reservations dawned on me last night. I went to bed resolved to have a productive day, beginning with getting up early this morning to clean the house. I rolled out of bed, however, at 10:30am. Whooops. Luckily I had time to get to the grocery store and Mike took care of the cleaning after his softball game. I promise I will have my act more together the rest of the month....

Tonight featured chickpeas. The menu was hummus crudite, seared salmon and chickpea salad, roasted apples and onions with thyme, and ginger garlic green beans. The hummus, I think, was the star of the meal, although the rest was definitely edible. I took pictures of the hummus evolution, so I'll include that here with the recipe:

Hummus (from www.epicurious.com)

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• two 1-pound 3-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2/3 cup well stirred tahini
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted lightly

Preparation

On a cutting board mince and mash the garlic to a paste with the salt.  In a food processor puree the chickpeas with the garlic paste, the tahini, the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the oil, and 1/2 cup water, scraping down the sides, until the hummus is smooth and add salt to taste. Add water, if necessary, to thin the hummus to the desired consistency and transfer the hummus to a bowl.

In the food processor, cleaned, puree the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the parsley until the oil is bright green and the parsley is minced. Transfer the parsley oil to a small jar. The hummus and the parsley oil may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Divide the hummus between shallow serving dishes and smooth the tops. Drizzle the hummus with the parsley oil and sprinkle it with the pine nuts.

 

Finished product!

The guests tonight were Kaitlyn and Oliver, two of Mike's debaters. 

Kaitlyn's roommate kindly made some half raw brownies for dessert, but we were able to firm them up with another half an hour or so in the oven. Sean, our ubiquitous Cafe Davis guest/roommate, took charge and turned the brownie sludge into a delicious end to a fun meal. Hanging out with the kiddos was a great way to start off the Cafe Davis season, and we're looking forward to seeing all of our friends over the course of the month!

Now onto some other non-Cafe Davis news... this is what Mike found in the flower garden yesterday when he returned from the Farmer's Market: 

Mike and Oliver both made the same joke - what kind of plant grew that?!? I told Mike that whatever it was, he should get a more mature plant next time and see if we can grow an SUV. Apparently the owner of this Porsche left it in neutral in the parking lot next door. It rolled out of the parking lot, across the alley, and into our yard. Mike said that the car didn't suffer any damage, despite rolling over some big rocks in our flower garden/weed patch. I just thought I would share because it's not everyday that one can say: huh, there's a Porsche in the yard....

That's it for now. I'll check back in for Cafe Davis #2 - Peppers!!!