OCC!

I cannot deny it – I am definitely OCC – an obsessive compulsive cook – my hope is that the bits and pieces that irritate me irritate you too!

For example - are a devotee of chick peas but don't like the outer husk which is not terribly pleasant to eat.

Here's my answer – shuck your chick peas. You can do it the old fashioned way – sit with two bowls and do it using the “pea” by “pea” method if you prefer – if not, then drain and rinse the chick peas and lay them on a tray lined with two sheets of kitchen roll - cover with another two sheets. Gently roll your hand over the top sheets three or four times. Remove the top layer of kitchen roll and this is what it looks like :

You can see the husks - they are easy to remove and discard. Repeat the process and this is what you finish up with :

It's strangely therapeutic – like taking the outer casings from broad beans.

The reason I did this in the first place was because I'd come across a recipe for a vegetarian burger that I quite liked the look of – with appropriate tweaking of course – that contained chick peas.

Guess what's coming next?!