The Pacific Ocean was ‘a brewin’ the other day when we went on a drive along the Half Moon Bay coast.  The pictures you’re about to see DO NOT do these waves justice – the SF news channels were reporting 25-30 foot swells because of the storms that have been pounding the Bay area.

Yes, there is always the possibility of a wave large enough to crash over a 45 ft cliffs and destroy the town a mile away…?

Today was the first day I have opened my computer since getting to California (6 days).  I’m going to leave it open so that I will be more likely to quickly type up a blog more often than once a week.

Lins update:  Her INL levels have dropped from 4.6 to 3.2, which is the result of massive amounts of spinach.  I made her an extra spinachy Green Monster for breakfast, and she later had spanakopita for lunch, both packed with Vitamin K to get her clotting levels back to normal – they have had her on just a tad bit too much blood thinners and overshot the healthy INL range of 2-3.  To get her strength back, I made Quinoa Tabbouleh salad.

It is such a colorful and delicious meal packed with vitamins and lots of protein!

I love the “pop” you get when you eat quinoa!  It is one of my all time favorite grains!

Plans for tomorrow include putting away everything I unpacked (I moved my clothes from trekking bag/suitcase to floor…), go for a run if it is *cross your fingers* sunny out, and of course – do whatever Lins needs me to do as I am now her personal assistant.

Continuing on from my Tabbouleh post, is this recipe for Fattoush. Basically a tabbouleh with some crispy flat bread mixed through. Really refreshing, and the flat bread encourages you to eat with your hands. Such a lovely experience.

Ingredients

2 tomatoes, cut into small cubes

2 small cucumbers, cubed

1 shallot, or half a small red onion, finely sliced

1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

half bunch mint, roughly chopped

2 pita bread, or a box of (pita chips for cheats!) cup into 2cm squared, toasted till crispy

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon sumac

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

In a jar, put garlic, oilive oil, lemon juice salt and pepper and sumac. Mix well.

Mix the rest of the ingredients, except the flat bread in a bowl, and pour half the dressing over. Sit for 1/2 hour to soften.

Just before serving, mix through the crisp flat bread, and pour over the remaining dressing.

I could eat this for breakfast lunch and dinner.

My god. What an orgy of food and drinking (and drinking and drinking) the last few weeks have been. We have a tradition every year that the first month or two of the year is for good food to detox our body and soul. A staple of this for me is tabbouleh. Parsley is a great cleanser, is fresh and tastes great. I think EVERYTHING goes better with a squeeze of lemon, and tomatoes are great at this time of year. Put it all together, and you have tabbouleh! We grow herbs and tomatoes, so this is really really cheap as well.

I eat this for lunch with falafel and humus

Ingredients

1.5 bunch flat leaf parsley

large handful of mint

juice of 2 or 3 lemons

4 table spoons of couscous

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

salt, pepper

olive oil

2 large, very ripe tomatoes

Method

Pour lemon juice and about 4 tablespoons of hot water over the couscous and let it soften

roughly chop parsley and mint

Chop tomato into small cubes (about .25cm)

Once the couscous is soft, add everything together in a bowl, and mix up. Let sit over night for a lovely flavour.

After an intense debate, we settled on OZ Express which served a mouth watering menu of the “best of Lebanese, Kashmiri and Italian Cuisine”. We gawked at the pictures of various items on the menu and drooled for a while before ordering vegetarian Mezze Platter and vegetable Stroganoff . 

The Mezze platter had Hummus, Mutabbal, Tzatziki, Tabbouleh, Falafel, vegetarian Polpetts, Fatayer and Pita bread. Since we were unable to make out which was which, the chef explained each of them before we took away the platter. 

Hummus - Mashed chickpea dip
Mutabbal - Mashed baingan (eggplant) dip a.k.a Babaghanoush
Tzatziki - Yogurt, cucumber, garlic dip
Tabbouleh - Salad dish made of parsley, mint, tomato, onion etc
Falafel - Chickpeas patty
Polpetts - I guess these are marinated carrots and cauliflower, not sure
Fatayer - A kind of samosa
Pita Bread - Round leavened flatbread
 

We spread various dips and garnished each slice of Pita bread with Tabbouleh before gingerly taking a bite. I liked it best with Tzatziki. Pita bread, Falafel and Fatayer were in duplicates. The quantity was substantial and it took two of us to wipe the platter clean. 

The Stroganoff turned out to be a desi version of the classic Russian dish originally made of beef. This one had sautéed broccoli, carrots, celery, mushroom, bell pepper and chopped onions in a thick creamy yogurt based gravy served with rice and green salad. Finger licking delicious!

Cost for two: Rs.320/-
Vegetarian Mezze Platter – Rs.175 + 12.5% tax
Vegetable Stroganoff  – Rs.110.00 + 12.5% tax

We crowned this glorious meal with yummy double scoops of Coffee-Walnut & Black Currant ice creams from Giani’s. Total Rs. 80.00, a pittance compared to the wallet blasting rates of Baskin Robbins. 

Belly dance, anyone… 

Oz Express
3rd Floor, Food Court,
MGF Metropolitan Mall
Gurgaon
Tel – 9810165198

Oz Express Menu from foodie bay is available here: Link

By Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post, 11-19-09

The great Israeli disconnect is the chasm between what you experience living in Israel day to day and what you read about Israel in headlines day after day. Life in Israel is far calmer, safer, smoother and lovelier than the media coverage - pro or con - suggests.

The constant bleating about peace or war, Palestinians and Israelis, legitimacy or illegitimacy, religious and non-religious, fails to convey the realities most Israelis experience while living their lives. Even pro-Israel activists must be wary not to succumb to journalists’ and diplomats’ pathologization of Israel. It is far too easy to see Israel as a case to be defended, a society embattled by cruel Palestinian terror, biased UN reports, and absurd Shabbat riots. In fact, 68% of 500 adult Israelis surveyed last week by Sderot’s Sapir College deemed Israel the best place in the world to live.

For those from abroad who cannot hop on a plane and see, hear, taste, feel and smell Israel, in normal repose at work and play, try watching Israeli television via the Internet. But do it right. Resist the lure of the hypnotizing, “beep, beep, beep” that has conditioned Israelis and their supporters to turn on the radio or watch the news at the top of the hour. Instead, watch the second half of news shows, the lighter-than-air morning shows, and the sitcoms, reality shows and dramas cluttering the airwaves.

If, because of many Diaspora communities’ stunning failure to teach Hebrew, language is a problem, it is never too late to learn. Moreover, television is a visual medium usually programmed for easy viewing, transcending language.

Anyone watching Channel 10’s morning show this Sunday would have experienced an Israel unfamiliar even to many Israel jocks in the Israel advocacy community. The day’s big story was the wave of motorcyclists jamming the highways to protest the Finance Ministry’s license fee boost. I remember during the days of Arafat’s wave of terror how Israelis yearned for a time when traffic jams - or weather - would dominate their headlines.

One story, called “love without borders,” showed Israel has entered the Age of Oprah along with its sister democracies. It featured a wife 19 years older than her husband. She said they met when he was 17 and a half. He felt compelled to note he was only 17 and a month, but had already experienced three “very serious” relationships. As we would witness anywhere else today on Western TV-land, the pretty-boy-and-girl anchor duo mastered that Oprah-esque earnestness necessary to facilitate viewers’ voyeurism. The interviewers appeared sympathetic, even fawning, while leering at the spectacle and clearly hoping their empathetic postures would coax hotter revelations from the renegade lovers.

Another story covered the auction of some of Bernard Madoff’s possessions. Here, the anchors offered that characteristic media mix of apparent social criticism leavened by envy, greed and materialism. Cluck-clucking at each Rolex on display, at every indulgence now for sale, it was clear that they - and the viewers back home - understood their script. Social conventions demanded they disdain Madoff’s materialism, while secretly craving such luxuries. From a Zionist perspective, it was striking that the story did not mention that Madoff was Jewish. This was a deliciously non-neurotic moment, focusing on Madoff the amoral money-maker without feeling compelled to distance this crook defensively from the Jewish community.

My favorite story that day, however, covered the Israeli town of Shfaram’s effort to make the world’s largest tabbouleh salad. Tabbouleh is a wheat-and-herb salad of Lebanese origin. Treated on Channel 10 as simply a typical Israeli town, Shfaram consists of approximately 10% Druse residents, 35% Christians, and 55% Muslims.

Recently, rumors about a video disparaging a Druse leader triggered Christian-Druse violence. Two community leaders, seeking to heal, indulged in a form of culinary therapy. Hoping to get everyone working together, they decided to outdo the Lebanese, who recently made a three and a half ton tabbouleh salad. The result was a record-breaking tabbouleh of more than 4 tons - with 700 kilograms of cucumbers, 700 kilograms of tomatoes and vast quantities of bulgur wheat, parsley and olive oil.

The hundreds of residents who participated took this very seriously. The process was documented to the Guinness Book of World Records’ specifications - a decision is pending. All cooks wore gloves and face masks. Once they finished the salad, the residents ate about 3 tons of it - before donating most of what remained to charities.

This kind of conflict promised a taste of normalcy with just the right Middle East flavor. The town residents saw themselves as competing with the Lebanese on this - and on other, recent competitions - regarding the world’s biggest hummus and the world’s biggest kebbe (a mix of minced meat and cracked meat). The anchors expressed Israelis’ “national pride” in these citizens’ triumph - without ever calling these non-Jewish Israelis anything but Israelis.

True, the story of the more than 4-ton tabbouleh, like the other morning show segments, walked that fine line between depressing idiocy and charming normalcy. But this daily carnival of the offbeat was so refreshingly benign, so wonderfully non-political, it was downright therapeutic.

Despite the world’s obsession with the Middle East, few journalists reported this scoop of the great tabbouleh showdown. A Google search of the terms tabbouleh, tons and Shfaram yielded 25 hits; searching the terms weapons, tons, Israel and Iran yielded 1,610,000 hits - most referring to the Israeli navy’s recent seizure of 500 tons of Iranian weapons being smuggled to Hizbullah.

Journalists and citizens must monitor stories about serious threats like the arms shipments. But these stories must be put in context. The media is a great validator, not just a great magnifier. We should hear more about efforts at gastronomic diplomacy - and culinary showdowns - remembering that Israel is a normal, functioning state, not a state of siege.

Gil Troy is Professor of History at McGill University on leave in Jerusalem. He is the author of Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today. His latest book The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, was recently published by Oxford University Press.

These are not this week’s Powerball numbers folks, these are the temperatures for the last five days.  In MID-NOVEMBER.  In central MINNESNOWTA.  Hard to believe right?  Whoever said global warming was bad for the entire Earth is clearly mistaken – why can’t it have positive effects?  Such as a WARM Minnesota?  History suggests this area was once tropical according to fossils found in this region, but I won’t go into that right now…

I’ve been running outside every day, and I must say, this warm weather has boosted my confidence – I have set a new record time each day!  On my first record setting day, none other than Lance Armstrong himself congratulated my accomplishment – I laughed when it played over my iPod headphones.  I have been improving my runs by :30 – 1:00 min each day.  The day it hit sixty (in shorts and a T-shirt I must add!), I ran an extra 3 miles just because I was enjoying the incredible weather and didn’t feel like going inside to start my homework… =)

In other news, my roommate and I went to the Collegeville Apple Orchard and got pumpkins (I know, our schedules didn’t allow anyone to carve before Halloween) and instead of carving, we broke them open and made pumpkin seeds – a delicious snack for late night library sessions!

For dinner last night I whipped up a variation on a Middle Eastern dish called Tabbouleh.  Instead of the usual bulgar wheat, I used Inca Red Quinoa.  And I added a few dashes of cumin powder, half a cup of mint, and the juices of one lime + everything that usually goes into Tabbouleh;  here’s the mix:

• 1/2 c. Quinoa (or cracked bulgar wheat), cooked and cooled
• 2 c. finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced and diced
• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 3 tbls extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, squeezed
• 1 small lime, squeezed
• dash or two of cumin
• sea salt and pepper to taste

There you have it.  I also grilled up some marinated shrimp (on sale for 4.99 a pound at Coborns – I’d consider it a steal for shrimp!).  I marinated them in the juice of 1 tangerine, about 1 Tbls. of fresh minced ginger, a splash of olive oil and a few twists of my sea salt grinder.  The paring of these two dishes was so good!  The citrusy, slightly salty, and the savory came together perfectly!  It reminds me of a dish my sister and I made in DC – Coconut mango couscous with grilled ginger marinated shrimp.  One of my top five meals of all times!

What is the best meal you’ve ever eaten?  Or something that stands out as one of the best?

À tout à l’heure!

Jamie

Visiting my hometown, from which I’ve been away for almost 35 years, is always a special moment. Florianópolis is not only a very nice place worth visiting, but for me it’s also a wonderful bag of memories. In the early 70’s I was just a like any other teenager around the world, loved to listen to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Carlos Santana, among others, and enjoyed partying with friends. But differently from other kids anywhere else in the world we used to visit quite frequently a rather unique place, “Kibelândia” or, literally, the land of kibbe. “Kibelândia” was then a small joint (it was stablished in 1966), neglected by almost every grown up in town, a rather typical magnet for teenagers.

Kibbe, or kibbeh, is a Middle Eastern dish, and Lebanon’s national dish, found in many forms, the most common one a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. The basic recipe contains burghul (a kind of crushed wheat) and chopped meat to which spices like garlic, onions, cinnamon, pepper and mint may be added. The kibbes at “Kibelândia” were prepared and fried right before your eyes (you could even see when the cook licked his finger to open a hole in it were an olive was placed). I don’t know if because of this nasty habit or not, but the kibbes tasted great.

During my last visit to Florianópolis I was invited by my brother-in-law to have a kibbe with beer at “Kibelândia”, and for my surprise it still exists in the very same address (Rua Victor Meirelles, 98), right in the heart of town.

Kibbes from "Kibelândia", in Florianópolis/SC/Brazil

To my joy the kibbes were very good, even though you can no longer see if the cook still licks his finger (the olive was inside though).

One kind of kibbe I never eat outside my home is “kibbe nayyeh”, or raw kibbe, a type of steak tartare. At home we prepare it mixing ground beef or lamb with burghul (around 60%:40%). Add some cold butter (around 100 g for every 2 pounds of meat) and seasoning (we use lots of garlic and mint and a splash of Syrian pepper). The burghul should be soaked in water before combining with the meat (there is some controversy on that). Traditionally the fat used in Lebanon is “samma”, a kind of clarified butter, or the fat obtained from the tail of a sheep (I haven’t been able to find that around here yet).

The meat is then shaped like a loaf of bread, scored with a knife and drizzled with olive oil.

Kibbe nayyeh - Lebanese steak tartar?

Top left: kibbe bi saniyeh (kibbe in a tray). Top right: orange and lettuce salad (orange juice, olive oil and cinnamon dressing). Botton left: kibbe nayyeh (raw kibbe). Botton right: tabbouleh

You can also press the raw kibbe in a flat baking pan, which is then scored with a knife into diamond shapes about one or two inches in length, topped with olive oil and then baked in the oven until done (be careful not to let it dry). This is called “kibbe bi saniyeh” or “kibbe in a tray”.

At home we eat kibbe (usually two or three variations) with a very simple salad made with lettuce, slices of orange and walnuts, dressed with a mixture of olive oil, orange juice and cinnamon (try it, I’m sure you’re going to aprove it). Tabbouleh and pita bread are also mandatory presences.

Gooood eeeeevening *in dracula voice…* haha How’s everybody doin? I hope well! Happy Weekend and Happy Halloween! haha I have managed to mostly avoid candy, which I’m happy about. The stores were CRAZY today. I wasn’t even in “Halloween” stores and they were ridonculously  busy at like 3:30pm.

I ended up napping for a couple of hours this afternoon – I did NOT sleep well last night. I drank tea too close to bed, and couldn’t sleep — then I had some pretty gnarly dreams. Perhaps its the scary crap on tv, but they were not pretty.

Anyway, this afternoon, I made myself some Trader Joe’s Pomegranate White Tea and had some tabbouleh for lunch. I got it at Whole Foods this morning. I was torn between the tabbouleh and a quinoa salad…but they added sugar to the quinoa salad so I went with the tabbouleh.

I went out in search of some stuff to refill my fridge, and to use up a Borders coupon. I bought some more brown rice, some hummus, some flax seeds and some sunflower seeds. I also picked up “Barefoot in Paris” from Borders. I’ve always wanted the book; the recipes look delicious and the pictures are just gorgeous. Not everyday food, obviously, but special occasions…for sure!

I’m looking forward to adding flax to my meals.

When I got back, I immediately popped some popcorn and whipped out the Sabra that I bought. It smells like an everything bagel, yum. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have bought this flavor normally, but it was literally the last Sabra left. It’s really good though.

For dinner I made my normal soy sauce, brown rice, chili paste, etc. mix, and I mixed in about a cup of baby spinach. Mmm, mmm good. I also made myself some more tea. haha I’ve been a tea freak lately, huh.

Now, I’ve got to go get ready and all that jazz. It’s my one night this weekend to do something, seeing as I work Sunday. haha

TGIF!!! and Happy Halloween!

Peace, Love & Munchies.

There has been a lot of criticism towards the reasons behind this Guinness record, but, as frivolous as they may be, I’d rather see Lebanon making the headlines on such lighthearted grounds rather than news of bombings, wars and terrorism. That is why, regardless of the stubborn competitiveness of the Lebanese Industrialists Associations I say: “Make Tabbouleh, humus, kebbeh… or anything you may, but DON’t make war!” And maybe we all should look at it that way.

Our country needs the extra positive promotion, now more than ever, and despite all of our political differences, food always brings the Lebanese together.

The Tabbouleh

Yesterday, I passed by the Largest Tabbouleh, very shortly. I do not think Chef Ramzi was very proud of this Tabbouleh. The parsley was anything but finely chopped, and the remaining ingredients were floating inside the lemon, olive mix. Hence, I called it Tabbouleh Soup.

I can say that a lot of good ingredients went to waste, 1600 kg of parsley to start with. You can check out all the ingredients that went into the giant Hommos & Tabbouleh plates, as well as classical tabbouleh & hommos recipes here. What I did not understand how 1600 kgs of parsley plus 1500 kgs of tomatoes plus all the other ingredients, make for only 3000 kgs? Is there so much waste?

Some nice photos of the ‘making of ‘ on Star Scene.

Final Words of wisdom off the record

Waseet: It is great that you are planting trees, but its un-cool to distribute flyers, printed on virgin paper (without ecological certification) to promote it.

People: Littering is un-cool, even if you know there will be someone cleaning after you. Would you act like that in your homes?

a bowl full of hummus*

A battle always transcends the battlefield.

Any military strategy would be incomplete without the psychological blow. It creates the ‘us’ and ‘them’, it tells you that you are the ‘other’, the ‘lesser’, the ‘inferior’. It tears down the identities of the ‘other’ and spits on national pride. It desecrates every nationalistic sentiment and propagates an alternative (possibly skewered) vision. It’s propaganda at it’s very best.

The counter-reaction is much the same- tear down the ‘enemy’, a resurgence of national pride and reclaiming of what is ‘ours’ and separation from the ‘them’- to differentiate in any way possible. To go forth and proudly display who. you. are. It is dangerous ground to play in, this nationalism.

Food, as a cultural evolution, is not above this national spirit, this reclaiming. It’s a new battleground. People identify with food as a cultural phenomenon; a hand-me-down from generation to generation of ‘our’ peoples. It’s tradition and collective taste buds all mashed into the digestive memory. Our traditional foods rely on the land- a much fought over commodity. It relies on the resources and the specific make up of the things we grow. It is the most basic connector to the land we live in, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soul it nourishes. It defines who we are, what we eat and what we give the global gastronomic world. It identifies us almost as much as we identify it.

So when we come to a region ravaged by war and conflict, confused by history and lore, complicated by walls and suicide bombers- the issue of food isn’t just about ‘is there enough in a refugee camp?’, it is about ‘who owns this?’ ‘whose national pride is this?’ and most certainly, ‘who does the world thank for this pot of deliciousness?’ It is, in fact, a war.

Take Lebanon and Israel. A boundary criss-crossed by a savage history, tragedy and constant threat of explosion. And a land fighting over hummus and tabbouleh.

Lebanese chefs prepared a massive plate of hummus weighing over two tons Saturday that broke a world record organizers said was previously held by Israel — a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dip.”Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!” was the slogan for the event — part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.

Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli.

Does this reaffirm national pride? Does it suffuse the Lebanese with a sense of ‘us’ and further deepen the trenches of difference? The name of the weekend festival attempt to break the G records is telling, “Hummus and Tabbouleh are 100 percent Lebanese”

”Lebanon is trying to win a battle against Israel by registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese product, its part of our traditions,” said Fady Jreissati, vice president of operations at International Fairs and Promotions group, the event’s organizer.

The reaffirmation of what food means, how it is a matter of pride and national concern- a reclaiming of the traditional and new front against a war waged on land, on people and on memories.

As  I’ve said before- food is the great connector and the great divider. In this reclaiming of national dishes, the connection has been broken. It had immense potential to build upon the commonalities of two warring sides, eating the same food and loving the same tabbouleh. It could’ve built bridges- after all, if you can connect on the basic principle of food, you can find many, many other things to connect upon. To build.

This belies the most fundamental purpose of food: to nourish, to nurture, to grow.

To read more about Lebanon’s record-breaking attempts: New York Times and The Daily Star-Lebanon, have more.

The photo of hummus is from Exclusively Food; where you can find an excellent recipe for hummus. You can also learn to make Tabbouleh here.

p.s: Funnily enough, I was speaking with my half-Lebanese friend Abi about this claiming of identities via food- and used the example of hummus. I had no idea they were doing this. Interesting coincidence, huh?

No we don’t need hip hop
house or trance
Cuz this song about a salad
make you shake your pants

Welcome to day 2 of Vegan MoFo (though it’s almost over, it still counts!).  I’m posting late because my original idea didn’t work out:  I got done roasting the butternut squash for my cheezy potato boats and realized I didn’t have any potatoes, which are, um, sort of necessary for making potato boats*.  But then I started feeling ill and decided not to leave the house to buy more.  So, the potato boats will have to wait.

*You may ask why I would fail to realize my lack of potatoes if I had the intention of making potato skins.  I bought a 5 pound bag of potatoes earlier this week…no joke, probably Tuesday.  So any logical person would not expect them to be gone already.  I guess I underestimated how much we like potatoes in our household.

I’ll post as soon as I get more potatoes.  In the meantime, you can still enjoy Farmer’s Market Friday!

Today’s Secret Ingredient: Parsley

Tabouleh

I was recently invited to a Minnesota School Nutrition Association chapter meeting about the Farm-to-School program.  We were asked to bring a dish made using one of the recipes on the Farm-to-School website.

I made the Tabouli (tabbouli, tabbouleh, taboulli) recipe.  But then I changed it, because I know what real tabbouleh tastes like, and their recipe is nothing near correct (to their credit, the recipes are made with school kids in mind, and most grade school kids would not eat real tabbouleh).

Go ahead and make their recipe; it’s a nice base.  Then drizzle in some olive oil and lemon juice, and add more parsley and garlic.  Then add more parsley again.  When you’re done, add some more parsley.  Do you have any parsley left?  Toss it in for good measure.

Ah, that’s better.  Make sure to do a mirror check after you’re done eating as your teeth will most likely be full of parsley.

The tabouleh was really fun to make because it was all local save for the olive oil, the lemon juice and the bulgur, and those were all purchased in bulk from the co-op.  I got the tomatoes, parsley, cucumber, garlic, and onion from a local farmer, and paid about $4 total for it.  With the other ingredients, this recipe comes to about $6 total, or a mere 60 cents per serving.

So did the people at the meeting enjoy it?  I wouldn’t know, because my dear fiance ate all of the tabbouleh while I was out of the house, and it never made it to the potluck at all.  I did manage to get a bite and thought it was pretty good (after my additions, of course).  Give it a try; parsley is actually a pretty decent food despite its bad rap as a garnish.

Reason #2 for going vegan:  You’ve got an excuse to avoid your grandma’s fruitcake!

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.

(good breath salad…burning tongue plus garlic = bad breath…didn’t peel or esed tomatoes–seeds flavor…seeds don’t bother me allow worth removing if making tomato puree for pizza sauce or juice

–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.

Do you remember the good ol’ days when people traveled for hours to eat Zankou’s famous Chicken with garlic, Shawarma or other delicious food? When Tabbouleh tasted like tabbouleh and one couldn’t eat enough?

What happened?

Now you have mostly Mexican people running the show and try telling them that something isn’t right!

The Shawarma is no longer something to write home about; neither is the chicken – and El Pollo Loco is much better! As for the Falafel, don’t even bother. It’s just a grease-ball that is best served for baseball practice.

Enough said!

If you have an experience – positive or otherwise, at Zankou’s, we’ll be happy to post.

AA

Directions

1. On a work surface, using the side of a knife, mash the garlic with 1 teaspoon of salt to make a paste.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the stock with the water, shallot, thyme and garlic paste and bring to a boil.
3. Put the bulgur in a heatproof bowl and pour the seasoned stock over it. Stir, cover and let stand until the bulgur has absorbed all of the liquid and is tender, about 40 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig and stir in the lemon juice, olive oil, chives, mint and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Asparagus and Oyster Mushroom Fricassee

Oyster mushroom are delicious, but they are expensive. They go for 9.99 a pound at Central Market. Fortunately, they also weigh next to nothing, so enough oyster mushrooms for a hefty meal will only run you about five dollars. But if you can’t find oyster mushrooms, sub shiitakes or ‘bellas.

My new online friend Lily has decided to do her own version of Julie and Julia, Irish style. Instead of trying out the  524 complex French recipes of Julia Childs in 365 days that  Julie Powell attempted, Lily will attempt the 44 salad recipes of the Avoca Salads cookbook.

Her first experiment was Coronation Chicken with Tabbouleh and it looks and sounds like it has been a resounding success. It certainly made my mouth water looking at the pics.  Lily goes in to a lot of detail on what worked and didn’t work in this recipe and I would really recommend you check it out.

I am really looking forward to following Lily’s experiment and if you are interested, keep an eye on her always entertaining blog for more info.