Recipe of Chickpea Snacks - Food Recipes

From Paul Prudhomme's book "Fork in the Road". Additional comments at the end. Chickpea Snacks (Takes 2-3 days) Ingredients for the seasoning mix 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon turmeric 3/4 teaspoon white pepper 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne Combine all of the above in a small bowl. Other ingredients 1 packet artificial sweetner (1-gram) 1/2 pound dried chickpeas 5 cups water 1 cup apple juice 1 cup vegetable stock Combine 1 TABLESPOON ONLY of the seasoning mix with the artificial sweetener and set aside. Place the chickpeas and water in a container, add the rest of the UNsweetened seasoning mix, and soak overnight in the refrigerator. The peas will be more than double in volume, so make sure the pot is big enough to hold them. The next day: Place chickpeas and the (seasoned) soaking water in a 5 quart pot over high heat. Add apple juice and cook 20 minutes. Add vegetable stock and cook until peas are just tender, 40 minutes. Remove from heat, drain peas in colander, rinse well, and drain. Sprinkle peas evenly with reserved sweetened seasoning mix. Now you can cook them one of two ways. 1. Use a food dehydrator. Spread evenly around the trays and dehydrate until peas are dry and crunchy, about 20-22 hours. 2. Use an oven. Spread peas on cookie sheets or sheet pans and cook at 150 degrees until dry and crunchy, about 20-22 hours. COMMENTS: I didn't have white pepper so used 1 teaspoon black pepper total. I tried this recipe both with and without the artificial sweetner and it's better *with* it. Regular sugar doesn't work at all. Did not have a dehydrator, dryed them in the oven. It took 15 hours one time, 20 hours another. Must have been the number of times I opened the oven door. You have to move the pans from one shelf to another and turn them every couple of hours or they won't dry evenly. I did not stir the peas.