BaltimOregon to Maine

Tabbouleh.

I haven’t blogged much lately or made much headway on the canning or cooking front. But at least I have an excuse. This week, I returned to the classroom, in a paid position, for the first time in six years. Not that that will stop me. Cooking is my release.

Too bad the end-of-harvest bounty now is staggering. I want to snatch it all up before it goes away for the long, gray winter. I didn’t know what I was missing last year. So I’ll recommend some simple recipes for what’s in season before it’s too late.

Still have tomatoes and cukes, not to mention mint and Italian parsley, still hanging on the in the garden? Make some tabbouleh. Don’t bother to skin or peel your tomatoes, especially if they are fresh from the vine. Mint and the parsley promote good breath and help you digest your meal. I used a recipe from the Cooking Jewish bible, a tome I had reviewed for The Baltimore Sun’s cookbook column.

Surprise nearly October garden-fresh (literally) cukes for the tabbouleh.

Malca’s Tabbouleh (Serves 4 to 6)

from Wendy Altman Cohen

1/2 cup fine bulgur

1/2 cup (packed) chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 bunch ( 6 to 8 ) scallions, white and green parts, chopped

2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 medium-size cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves

1. Prepare the bulgur according to the package directions (see note). Fluff the grains with a fork and allow to cool completely.

2. Mix the bulgur with all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well and allow to sit for 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

Note: If you buy your bulgur loose from a bin, here are the cooking instructions: Combine the bulgur with 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer until tender and the water is completely absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes. Then fluff the grains with a fork and allow the bulgur to cool completely.

—From Cooking Jewish by Judy Bart Kancigor

I also recommend this “Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash” dish. Next time, I would ratchet up the pudding’s flavor by tossing in chunks of salty country aged ham. And this week’s NPR Kitchen Window sings of the carnal pleasures of corn pudding. It really is revelatory. I didn’t grate or blend the kernels I sliced off the cob. Would that bring out their sweetness? I did make a salty-sweet corn and oyster pudding two years back while reviewing the Bake Until Bubbly cookbook, also for Then Sun. It was pretty sublime.

Corn Pudding in a Squash Bowl.

Roasted tail-end of a zucchini, candy-sweet.