NICE in my KITCHEN

Okay so maybe they aren't exactly like the Socca you would find in Nice but hey I am a Polish Italian American who has never been to France. I would love to travel to France and try some there. I took one year of French in high school and absolutely loved it. My mother strongly discouraged me from taking more years of it. Why you ask? She felt French was just not really spoken in the North East, save for Canada, Montreal, Quebec). She thought I should take Spanish or Italian. I listened to her advice and took Italian. I just wasnt into it. I did not continue and poor Genevieve never learned a language : ( Genevieve was my French name, oh I just loved how it sounded, the French way. So pretty. That's the thing about the French language, it's beautiful. And so are their pastries, wine and cheese.

I found out about socca in Patricia Wells book, The Paris Cookbook. I also read about socca on David Lebovitz blog. Both the book and the blog are very good reads. The recipe I made was kind of a combination of what I read and my own ideas. The family enjoyed it, so I guess I can call it a hit and well worth making again.

Socca
(based on Patricia Wells, The Paris Cookbook)

2 cups chickpea flour (available at health food stores and Indian markets)
2 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Whisk one cup of water with chickpea flour and slowly add remainder of the water in to avoid lumps. Stir in olive oil, salt and garlic powder. The batter should be the consistency of crepe batter.

Ladle mixture onto hot greased griddle and heat until socca is a nice golden color, flip and heat other side the same way.

Sprinkle with additional salt if desired. A great snack or accompaniment to almost any meal.