Tabbouleh!

After some really heavy meals last week, I want to come into the holiday season eating healthy, and I will try to eat mainly vegan or vegetarian until Thanksgiving. While this may sound like a challenge, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines offer many flavorful vegetable dishes.  

I chop my parsley in a food processor. 

It only requires a few pulses to have

roughly chopped herbs.

Tonight I am serving Tabbouleh (Arabic: تبولة‎ tabūlah), which is a seasoned salad originating from the mountain regions of Syria, and Lebanon. It is popular throughout the Middle East, with countless regional variations. Traditionally, tabbouleh is made of herbs (usually parsley) and bulgar.  This variation uses barley.

Tabbouleh

Skill level: 

Ingredients

1/4 cup barley

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 Roma tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped cucumber

1 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

fresh ground pepper (10 turns, or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup finely chopped mint

juice from 1/2 lemon

Preparation

1. Boil water, and add barley.  Boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender.

2. Drain barley, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
3. combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine.

4. Chill for at least one hour to allow flavors to combine.

Tabbouleh, served with hummus garnished with olive oil and paprika, sliced and toasted pita bread, and olive orzo salad.

Fall Canning; TOMATOES!

Last week, my sister and I went to my mom's house to can tomatoes.  This was my second year doing it, and tomatoes are outstandingly easy to preserve.  

Canned tomatoes can be used to make marinara (and other tomato based sauces), make a great addition to stews and soups, can be used to make marinades for beef, pork and chicken, and can be a great addition to casseroles.  Best of all, they lack the chemical additives found in store brands.

Canned Tomatoes

Skill level: 

Yields roughly 16 quarts. (This will vary, based on tomato variety, meatiness, and water content.)

Ingredients

1 case of "meaty" tomatoes (typically, we use Roma)

Salt

Preparation

1. Boil water in a large pot.
2. When the water comes to a full boil, add 6 to 10 tomatoes.  Allow tomatoes to remain in the water until the skins split, usually, this will occur in 3 to 5 minutes. (Too many tomatoes will cool the water too much, and tomatoes will not split nicely).

3. Remove tomatoes from the pot, and immerse in very cold water. (We usually just fill the kitchen sink with cold water.)

4. Peel the skins off of the tomatoes, and cut any stem attachments and blemishes from the tomatoes.

5. Stuff tomato meats into quart jars, leaving a bit over 1/2 inch from the top of the jars. (If using pint jars, the same stuffing method applies).
6. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the top of each quart hat. (If using pint jars, reduce to salt to 1/2 teaspoon.)

7. Put filled jars in a warming oven, or hot water bath, to keep jars from breaking while canning.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7, until all tomatoes are used.
9. Check each jar to make sure the openings are clean, and free of ant tomato bits, and grains of salt.  A clean opening is critical for a good seal.
10. Figure out how many jars will fit in your pressure cooker. (In our case, it was 6.)
11. Based on how many jars can fit in your pressure cooker, work in batches, and put enough jar lids in boiling water as one batch in the pressure cooker will yield. Boiling the lids softens the rubber seal on the lid, allowing for an easy seal.  Allow to remain in the boiling water for a couple of minutes.
12. Using tongs, place a lid on each jar going into the pressure cooker.
13. Put jars in a pressure cooker.  As pressure cookers vary, follow the instructions which come with the pressure cooker. (The one we used would hold six jars, allow to boil for 10 minutes, place the lid on the cooker, allow it to come to pressure, and then pressure cook for 10 minutes, and allow to cool completely, remove the lid, and transfer the jars to cooling area.)

14. Repeat steps 11 though 13, until all jars have been cooked and canned.
15. Allow jars to cool completely to room temperature.  On occasion, some jars are not 100% sealed when they come out of the cooker, and will seal, and create a vacuum in the jars as they cool.
16. Test the lids for seal. Immediately use, or discard any jars that are not sealed. 

New American Meatloaf

Meatloaf has been an Ameriacn staple for generations.  As I child, I simply loathed meatloaf (and casseroles), and refused to eat it in my adult life.   Meatloaf seemed a messy concoction, with a bizzare assortment of ingredients, usually bland in flavor, and seemed to resemble cat food, far too closely.  Also, I think the catsup baked (and crusted) on top of the meatloaf tasted weird, and seemed an oddly sweet topping.

In recent years, I began experimenting with meatloaf, as I needed something I could eat for a few days, as I was working extremely long hours, and did not have time to cook.  Over time, I came up with this flavorful recipe, featuring hints of traditional meatloaf, with new twists.  The catsup is replaced by sun dried tomatoes, and there are plenty of herbs and spices to add flavor, texture, and color to the mix.

New American Meatloaf

Skill level:

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup roughly chopped green peppers

2 gloves of garlic, peeled, and roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

2 heaping tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes (I prefer the oil pack variety, but any kind will work nicely)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon beau monde seasoning

4 saltine crackers (or 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs)

1 green onion

1 pound of hamburger or ground chuck roast

1/4 cup parmesian cheese (optional)

1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

1/3 cup shredded cheddar (optional)

Preparation

1. Put peppers, garlic, parsley, egg, salt, pepper, rosemary, sun dried tomatoes, oregano, and beau monde seasoning into a food processor, equipped with the blade attachment.  

2. Pulse the food processor a few times until contents are combined, and resembles salsa.

3. Chop the green onion and stems (discarding the roots).

4. Put the meat into a bowl.
5. Using your hands crush the crackers over the meat. (Sustitte plain bread crumbs, if you like)

6. Add the chopped onion to the meat and cracker mixture. Optional: Add pine nuts, and parmesian cheese.

7. Add the egg and spice mixture from the food processor to the meat.

8. Using your hands, squeeze all of the ingredients together until uniformly combined.

9. Shape the mat loaf mixture into a log, roughly 9 by 3 inches.

10. Roll the meat loaf log in baking parchment, and then twist the ends tightly against the end of the log, so that the wrapped meat loaf resembles a giant tootsie roll.
    
    

11. Tuck the ends under the log, and place on an edged baking sheet (seems down, to allow for drainage).

12. Bake in the oven (I just use my taster oven, as the meat loaf is not too large) at 375, or 55 minutes to 1 hour.  Note:  I usually use a cooking thermometer, poked through the parchment, to make sure the center is a minimum of 160 degrees. 
13. Remove from oven, and using an oven hit, untwist one of the ends of the twisted parchment.  using the oven hit, grab the remaining twisted end of the parchment, and gently shake the meat loaf log out of the paper covering.  Usually, it will just slide out.
14. Optional: When the meat loaf is done, sprinkle shredded cheddar over the length of the log, and return to the oven, until the cheese begins to melt.

15. Using a serrated knife, cut into 8 slices, and serve.

Gazpacho!

Gazpacho, garnished with yogurt, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, and olive oil,
served with cornmeal shrimp, and toasted bread.

It is going to be hot, hot, hot, in the Willamette Valley this weekend, making me not want to spend time in the kitchen tomorrow.  With that in mind, and summer vegetables readily available, I thought it was time to make this "make ahead" summer treat.

For those not framailiar with gazpacho, it is a chilled tomato soup, originating Andelucia region of Spain.  There are infinite variations to the recipes available, but I like this simple recipe.

Skill level:

Ingredients 

3 garlic cloves 

1/2 large cucumber, (not peeled) 

1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded 

3 large tomatoes 

1 yellow onion 

3 cups tomato juice 

1/4 cup white wine vinegar 

1/4 cup good olive oil 

2 teaspoons kosher salt 

1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 

1/2 cup chopped parsley 

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (if you do not have smoked, regular works well) 

Directions 

1. Roughly cut the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions into 1 inch cubes. 
2. Put tomato juice,garlic, and 1/2 of the tomatoes in the blender. Blend two to three minutes, until smooth. 
3. Put the cucumbers, onion, peppers a food processor and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. 
4. Add remaining tomatoes, vinegar, oil, salt, paprika, black pepper, and chopped vegetables to the tomato juice mixture in the blender. Blend until vegetables are small, like one would find in salsa. 
5. Pour mixture into an air tight bowl, and add the parsley. Stir until combined. 
6. Place lid on container, and chill at least 2 hours 

Note: The longer gazpacho chills, the more the flavors develop. 

Garnish with fresh mint, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, yogurt, sour cream, or cilantro

Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese Balls

I have made several different recipes of fried macaroni & cheese balls, all of which have been flavorful.  What I have not liked about the recipes that I have tried, is that they are not super creamy, so I decided to experiment, resulting in this recipe.

There are seemingly a lot of steps, but each step is quite simple.  

As you work, the mac balls start off looking very rough and crude. These are very creamy inside, so the rounds require several steps of rolling, coating, and chilling to get the shape.  When you are ready to fry them, they will have a nicely rounded shape.  I seldom roll mine perfectly round, as I like them to have a slightly rustic, and homemade appearance.

When complete, these have a lightly crunchy crust, and very creamy interior.  These are a great as a side dish, or an unusual appetizer. When serving as an appetizer, I like to call these "fried pasta au gratin croquets." 

Recipe

Prep time, including freezing and cooking, 1 hour. (Half of this is waiting time, so it really is not as long of a process, as it seems).

Skill level:

Ingredients 

Macaroni Balls 

1 1/4 dry, uncooked macaroni (I prefer fusilli) 

1/2 teaspoon of salt 

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter 

3/4 cup sour cream 

1/4 teaspoon of rosemary, very finely chopped 

1/4 cup milk 

2 teaspoons flour 

1 tablespoon parsley, roughly chopped 

8 turns of a pepper grinder (1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper, if you do not have a pepper grinder) 

1 cup (heaping) of sharp cheddar or Gruyère cheese 

1 egg 

1 tablespoon milk 

1/2 cup flour 

1/2 cup breadcrumbs or Panko (I prefer seasoned & herbed bread crumbs) 

Cooking Oil 

Tomato Wine Sauce (optional)

1 tablespoon butter 

2/3 cup red wine 

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 

1/4 cup of tomato paste 

16 turns of pepper grinder (1/2 teaspoon black pepper) 

1 tablespoon of honey 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

pinch of salt 

Preparation 

Macaroni Balls


1. Boil water, and add salt and macaroni. Cook macaroni to minimum cook time suggested on the package.
2. While macaroni is cooking, and in a separate sauce pan, brown 1 tablespoon of butter. (If you are not comfortable browning butter, melted is fine).
3. When butter has browned, add 1/4 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of flour, black pepper, and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Bring to light boil.
4. Reduce heat, and add 1/2 cup of the cheese, stirring rigorously.
5. When cheese has melted and mixed with the milk mixture, remove from heat, and set aside. Sauce will be quite thick.
6. When macaroni is done cooking, pour into a colander, and rinse with cold water. This stops it from cooking. Allow to drain.
7. Add macaroni to the sauce mixture.  

8. Add rosemary, and parsley to the macaroni and sauce mixture. 
9. Using the back of a large spoon, pack macaroni and cheese flat in the bottom of the pan, and put in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, to set the macaroni.
10. When macaroni and cheese is cool, and the sauce begins to “harden” add remaining cheese and sour cream. Stir until combined, and cheese shreds are visible in the mix.
11. Again, pack down, using a large spoon, and return to the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
12. At the end of the chill, roll pasta balls in your hand, like rolling a dough ball, and then roll in the 1/2 cup of flour after each is rolled in the flour, re-roll with your hands. If the balls become sticky, just roll in the flour again. When each ball is rolled, return to the freezer for 5 more minutes. At this step, you may feel ice crystals, or a slight "crunchiness" to the balls as you roll them.  That is fine, just do not allow the mixture to completely freeze between steps 11 and 12.

13. At the and of the chilling, using a scoop or tablespoon, scoop the macaroni and cheese onto roughly formed balls (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches across) onto a plate lined with parchment or waxed paper. You should be able to make 8 to 10 mounds with the mixture.
14. Using your hands, pack the macaroni balls a bit. and return to the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not worry is the pasta balls are rough looking, we are not done with the rolling process.
15. While the balls chill, heat coking oil in a deep frier to 325 degrees. (If you do not have a fryer, fill a tall sauce pan with oil, until oil is roughly 3 inches deep. DO NOT OVER FILL PAN).
16. Remove the floured pasta balls from the freezer.
17. Mix the egg, and remaining tablespoon of milk. Whisk until combined, and eggs are not streaky. One by one, dip the balls in the egg mixture, and immediately roll in the 1/2 cup of bread crumbs.
18. Each ball should be nicely coated. Using your hands, roll balls again to smooth the shape. If there are sticky spots on the balls, re-roll in the breadcrumbs.

19. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
20. About 15 minutes before you want to serve, remove the pasta balls from the refrigerator. (I like to give the pasta rounds one last quick roll at this point).

21. Drop 1/2 of the batch (4 to 5 balls) in the hot oil, and cook for about 5 minutes, until deep golden brown.  (If you have a very large deep fryer, these can be cooked all at once, skipping the remaining steps, other than draining on a paper towel).
22. Drain on paper towels, and keep warm in 350 degree oven while you wait for the last half of the batch to fry.
23. Fry remaining balls in the oil, as above, for 5 minutes, until deep golden brown.
24. Drain on paper towels.
25. Remove balls from the oven. Serve while hot/warm with a drizzle of the sauce (see below).

Sauce (optional)

This can be made while waiting for the balls to chill, at Step 11

1. Brown 1 tablespoon of butter. (If you are not comfortable browning butter, melted is fine).
2. When butter is lightly browned, add (all at once) the wine, balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir over high heat until combines.
3. Add the pepper, and bring to a rapid boil.
4. When boil is achieved, reduce heat to medium high, and reduce mixture by 1/4 to 1/3 (stir occasionally), and has the thickness of chocolate syrup.

 
5. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm on the stove. Stir occasionally to keep from scalding.

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For a simpler recipe, using mac & cheese leftovers, I have made this version as well: http://norecipes.com/blog/fried-mac-cheese-balls-recipe/. Frankly, I like my recipe better  ;)

Attention Gazpacho Lovers, Try Making Chilled Tomato Bisque Soup!

One of my favorite summer treats is gazpacho; I absolutely love it on warm summer evenings. I make a couple of batches every summer.

Chilled TomatoBisque Soup, garnished
with olive oil and balsamic vinegar,
served with toasted French bread.

Last year, while searching got new gazpacho recipes, I found this recipe for Chilled Tomato Bisque Soup, which is extremely easy to prepare. I absolutely love this tomato delight, and have added it to my summer cooking rotation.

The creamy texture of this soup is fantastic, and comes from the cashews. It is really amazing, as if dairy products were included in the recipe! 

Like a good gazpacho, this recipe is great alternative on hot summer days. It is completely raw, requiring no time in front of a hot stove.  It is also both vegetarian, and vegan!

Skill level:

Chilled Tomato Bisque Soup 

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, de-seeded 

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours 

1/2 cup water 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 clove garlic 

1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)

1 teaspoon agave syrup 

2 tablespoons fresh basil, roughly chopped 

Place all of the ingredients in the blender and blend for 2-3 minutes, until creamy. Serve immediately or store in a tightly covered container (for up to 3 days) in the refrigerator. 

Serves 3-4 

Additional Notes:

• I do not mind traces of tomato seed in my soup, so I often skip deseeding the tomatoes.  A good blender will reduce most of them, anyway.
• If you do not have agave syrup, substitute honey or brown sugar.  It just adds a bit of richness to the soup.
• I garnish my soup with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It looks pretty, and really accents the flavors.
• If you do not have time to soak the raw cashews, boil them for about 20 minutes.  Soaking is preferable, as it gives the best creaminess, but boiling works well, too.
• I store left over soup in the refrigerator, in the blender container.  When ready to serve, I just but the blender container back on the motor base, and give the soup a couple of quick pulses to recombine any ingredients which may have separated.

Insalata Caprese

Prepared Insalata Caprese

It is summer, and the garden vegetables are beginning to ripen. Inspired by the freshness of summer vegetables, tonight I made a simple (and mostly uncooked) salad.  

Insalata Caprese is an elegantly uncomplicated dish, originating from the Campania region of Capri.

Traditionally, it is served as a side, but I serve it in the North American tradition, as a starter. It can be made a number of different ways, but this is my favorite preparation of the salad. The ingredients are simple, assembly is easy, and takes less than 20 minutes to prepare.

Skill level:
Serves six.

Ingredients:

4 (to 5) Large Roma Tomatos

10 to 12 Basil Leaves (Large)

1 Pound Fresh Mozzarella

2/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Preparation: 

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Discard the stem end and the small ends of the tomato.
2. Slice Mozzarella into thin slices, preferably 1/8 inch thick; one slice, per slice of tomato.
3. Roll groups of three to four basil leaves into a loose cigar shape, and slice into 1/8 inch slices. Fluff cut leaves, so that they are easy to handle.                             
4. Put Balsamic Vinegar in a sauce pan. Heat on medium high setting on your range. Whisk frequently, and reduce boiling mixture to just over half. It should thicken as it reduces, and will become syrupy as it cools. Set aside vinegar reduction to cool.
5. Drizzle vinegar reduction on a plate. If the reduction is too thick, and does not drizzle and spread well, add a bit of water, one tablespoon at a time, until it flows nicely. Note: You can also drizzle the vinegar reduction on six small plate, should you wish to serve the salad individually, as I did. in the pictures that follow.             
6. Assemble by putting one slice of cheese on each tomato slice, and add a pinch of the basil. 
7. Stack prepared slices loosely on a plate (or divide slices on six small plates). In the event that you have too many tomato slices, just tuck remainders under the matched stacks, or just set aside for another use.                                   
8. Drizzle lightly (or to taste) with olive oil, and dust with pepper. Serve!