Posts Tagged ‘tabbouleh’
Take the Tabbouleh, Corn Pudding-Stuffed Acorn Squash, and still Pesto a Plenty
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.
Portobello Burgers, Tabbouleh and Mexican-Style Grilled Corn
The "burgers" and corn.
I’m like a child learning to cook for the first time, running into the arms of fresh ingredients after a month away from the kitchen. Time to fire up the grill. Luckily, my father-in-law could help us with that task tonight. I’m a grilling amateur but plan to buy a charcoal chimney starter as soon as I get home and still make use of that $5 used Weber Grill. Lighter fluid scares me.
But on to the meal. A recipe from the NYC-based foodie site Serious Eats inspired the main course. And no, the portobellos and avocado sauce weren’t local. But the bright-red Hanover tomatoes (that meant local tomato growing up) were.
The new Edible Blue Ridge publication caught my eye this week in Charlottesville. It’s Mexican-Style Grilled Corn recipe provided the perfect way to prepare fresh from the farmers’ market silver sweet corn. If you don’t have queso blanco, just use parmesan.
Chances are you’ve run across one of these colorful Edible Communities magazines, featuring delicious photos, earnest features and recipes that promote local farms and foods. In this network are now more than 30 “Edible” publications in cities and regions across the country. Anyone can start up a publication as a franchise, if you pay them for the name and some editorial support. Edible Cheseapeake emerged during my time in Baltimore. And Edible Portland cheerily covers Oregon’s expansive food scene.
Then tabbouleh provided the perfect side dish to round out the meal. It’s a salad that’s hard to screw up. We threw together soaked bulgur wheat, chopped tomatoes and cukes, chopped parsley and mint from the garden, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Simple. Yet what could be better?
The summery tabbouleh.
BaltimOregon to Maine 