Mid-week falafel update!

Again, it's Thursday, but I'm treating it as part of my weekend.  Just wanted to bring you up to speed on the results of my DIY-falafel experiment, which in the end was a great lesson in "how NOT to make falafel".  Ahem.  This is also excellent proof that, contrary to the beliefs of some of my friends, not EVERYTHING I make turns out well (or, in fact, edible).

Mise en place, which I rarely do.  I usually know that I have all the ingredients necessary, so I just pull them out and put them back as required.  It looked like such a nice group of ingredients...
(As an aside, this is the last known location of my bottle of olive oil.  WHO, I ask, manages to lose a large 600ml glass bottle, with about a cup of product still in it?!  I do, apparently.  I blame the cats; they hid it just to toy with me, I swear)

Patties being made using fava beans (first problem), ready to be "nestled" into the crock pot (second problem).

I blame the epic failure of this experiment on two things: 1) the use of fava beans, per the more "traditional" recipe I came across, and 2) the size of my crock pot.  Sigh.  The fava beans were VERY moist and liquidy, even after rinsing and drying.  Chick peas are the better choice, in my opinion, unless you have an actual SELECTION of fava beans to work with instead of the lame Superstore variety.

*sigh* you all had such promise...

The second major problem was the crock pot.  Now, I trust Nemmie, so if she says that falafel can be cooked in a slow cooker, I believe her.  The recipe, however, was a touch misleading.  It stated that it didn't matter if the falafel were touching or overlapping.  So, I merrily stacked them five deep in my little four-cup-capacity appliance.  Um, no.  Bad Honeybee.  After three hours of cooking, I had a mess of glop that was cooked to a hard (slightly burned) crust on the outside  and was still raw in the middle.  My beautiful patties, lovingly shaped, had absolutely no structural integrity.  So, I did what all hungry recent graduates would do.  I ate the cooked bits, and then re-formed the gloppy centers into patties for a second time, then pan-fried them as Nature intended. 

This is where you'd normally see a picture of the

finished product.  Except this time, I was too

embarrassed to even get out the camera and

document my mess.  Perhaps next time.

So overall, what did I learn from the experiment? I learned that some things are best left to traditional methods.  Chick peas and pan-frying it'll be from now on.  On the upside, the "refried falafel" that I salvaged from the glop was really quite delicious.  I ate a bunch right out of the pan for dinner, then took the time the next day to wrap the remainders in pita with tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber.  To quote my favourite, crazy Disney chef, "Quel domage! Not a loss!  Here we go, in ze sauce!"  Overall, a repairable disaster.

Humbled by my first Winnipeg kitchen mishap,

-Honeybee

P.S.- Anyone who leaves a comment with the name of the above quoted character will win a prize... that prize being my undying adoration and a possible dedicated post! :D