How Do You Chop Water?

The other day, I received a text message from a friend. He asked if I had ever made Tabbouleh. I replied that while I love this fresh salad offering at Sanaa's 8th Street Gourmet, I had never made it myself. "Why not?" he asked. I really had no answer for him. I almost always have all of the simple ingredients on hand, and I own one of Sanaa's fabulous cookbooks (Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cooking) that includes her recipe. Why not? Why not NOW?

My friend and I made a pact to recreate this flavorful, healthy salad and submit dueling blog posts. I assured him that even with limited cooking skills, he could do it. "It is just boiling water and chopping," I said. "How do you chop water?" he asked. Oh boy. I *hoped* this was a good idea.

As it turned out, it was a GREAT idea, Jonathan created an incredible salad that "fills my mouth with flavor and my stomach with complete satisfaction" and posted an awesome blog post about the process. I Think I Burnt The Salad even includes the video of Sanaa making the gluten-free version of Tabbouleh.

The Tabbouleh that I prepared is a variation of the traditional recipe that includes bulgur wheat. While not gluten-free, it is still packed with the gusto of the bright flavors of the parsley, onion, and tomato. I could hardly wait to drizzle it with a little olive oil and fresh lemon juice and gobble it down. My hearty, but healthful lunch of Tabbouleh, Roasted Garlic Hummus, and (purchased) flat bread was one of the best ideas ever On My Plate.

 Tabbouleh

(Adapted from Sanaa Abourezk) 

 1/2 cup Quick Booking Bulgur Wheat (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup water

4 cups finely chopped ripe tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped onion

5 cups finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (really, fresh is so much better than bottled stuff)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Bring water to a boil.
Add the bulgur wheat; stir.
Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until tender.
In a salad bowl, combine the cooked bulgur with the tomatoes, onion, and parsley.
(Can be prepared ahead to this point and dressed just prior to serving.)
Drizzle with the lemon juice and olive oil and toss to coat. (6 servings)

Fridge Friday: Episode 10

Hey! It is Fridge Friday! Did you think that I forgot about giving you little peeks into my fridge? Never. I may have neglected your inquisitiveness, but I didn't forget. I am back this Friday with a gem.

Check it out. That is my hotel room fridge. We have all the basics: water, wine, leftovers, and a Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat. What could I possibly blog about from that fridge, you ask? Honestly, nothing. Or, at least nothing that I would want to eat when combined and heated in the little in-room microwave.

Instead, I am going to tell you that when we left home, Hubs had his mind made up that we were going to eat Mexican food. All day, I salivated at the thought of perfectly seasoned and grilled shrimp folded inside a warm corn tortilla with some creamy coleslaw to make the most awesome shrimp tacos. I wanted. I wanted badly. With beans and rice. Then, we got to the big city and Hubs decided he wanted pasta. So much for Mexican food. *shrug*

However, that doesn't mean that I couldn't still share a great Spanish Rice recipe with you. I have been making Denise's Spanish Rice for several years and pairing it with Spicy Black Beans whenever I serve a spicy Mexican/Tex-Mex themed meal. It is, in my opinion, excellent. Why wouldn't it be? It has bacon. Everything that includes bacon is good. Period.

So...it is Fridge Friday, and I have just a miserable hotel room fridge, and I didn't get Mexican food, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't jump at the chance to have Denise's Spanish Rice On My Plate.

Denise's Spanish Rice

6 strips bacon

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel...mild or hot, your choice)

2 cans roasted green chiles

1 cup long grain white rice (I use Jasmine)

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy.
Set aside on paper towels to drain.
To bacon grease, add the butter and melt.
Add the onion and peppers, sauteing until the onions are translucent.
Add the garlic and cook until soft, being careful not to burn.
Add the tomatoes, green chiles, and chicken broth.
Simmer about 5-10 minutes to blend flavors.
Add the rice, cover and simmer approximately 20 minutes, until tender. (May need to add more liquid.)
Before serving, crumble bacon over the top of rice. (Serves 4)

A Hit and A Miss

Today, I made my first pot of from-scratch baked beans. 

Reporting this accomplishment produced shock waves among some friends. They knew that I made baked beans. They knew that some family members are in love with my beans. But now my true secret is out. They are not from scratch. (I am sorry...but not really.) My usual creation always starts with a can of Bush's, adds onion, garlic, bacon, ground beef, brown sugar, molasses, dry mustard, and other seasonings along with a variety of pre-cooked beans. I love the calico look of combining butter beans, navy beans, black beans, and pintos all in the same pot...but they really aren't homemade baked beans. (Again, I am sorry...but not really. They ARE good.)

Not even knowing that I wanted real, homemade baked beans, I was intrigued by a recipe on Phoo-d's Blog for Bourbon Bacon Baked Beans. Real, homemade, from-scratch baked beans. The ingredients were collected, and today, I sauteed and simmered and simmered and simmered. The aroma of molasses and bacon wafted through the house during the 6 hours of cooking time. My stomach growled in anticipation of these slow-cooked, from-scratch baked beans. And, when they were finally ready, I was...slightly disappointed.

Don't misunderstand. The recipe is good. It just wasn't quite what I want in baked beans. I loved the smokiness that came from the bourbon and the coffee, but the combination of the pineapple and brown sugar was just too sweet for me. I also like more of a kick to my beans, and only a pinch of hot pepper flakes didn't make my taste buds sing. While I did create a perfectly serviceable pot of from-scratch baked beans, in the future, either this recipe will be tweaked or I will try something new. It wasn't a hit for me.

Anyway...after I had dropped all of the ingredients into the pot for the beans, I realized that I had focused so intently on the fact that I was finally making real baked beans that I didn't have anything planned to serve with them. Duh. Something told me that regardless of how the beans turned out, dinner would be a miss for the Hubs if it was only beans.

An informal poll on Twitter came away with suggestions for corn bread, ribs, and sausages. While I did defrost a couple racks of lamb ribs to be smoked at the farm tomorrow (and served up with the leftover baked beans), it was sausages that won the chance to appear on my plate beside the beans tonight, simply because they could be defrosted easily. However, just because the sausages were a second thought, didn't mean that they got second rate attention. I pulled a sure hit recipe from my files for my kielbasa.

Sausage Sandwiches with Sauteed Pepper and Onion Sauce are a blend of flavors that do make my taste buds sing. How can you go wrong with onions and pepper fried up in olive oil? Generally, I wouldn't have thought to pair red wine and kielbasa, but it works. Really. No disappointments. It isn't a miss with Sausage Sandwiches with Sauteed Pepper and Onion Sauce On My Plate.

Sausage Sandwiches with Sauteed Pepper and Onion Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced

3 bell peppers, cut into strips

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 pound kielbasa, cooked and cut in half lengthwise and cut crosswise into 6-inch long pieces

1 cup red wine

2/3 cups sliced black olives (kalamata are even better)

4 hoagie buns or other firm rolls, toasted

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over med high heat. 
Add onions and sauteed until onions are soft. 
Stir in peppers and saute until peppers are lightly browned. 
Add sugar and paprika and stir to coat.
Transfer mixture to a plate but leave drippings in pan. 
Add remaining oil (1 tablespoon) to skillet.
Add sausage and heat until browned and heated through. 
Transfer sausage to plate with onions and peppers. 
Add wine to skillet and heat until reduced by half. 
Return sausage/pepper/onion mixture to skillet and stir in olives. 
Cook until heated through. 
Fill each toasted bun with sausages; top with onions and peppers; spoon juices over.
(Can also make open-faced and top with Provolone cheese and heat under broiler until bubbly and melted.) Serves 4

Why Just Blogging Is Enough

I hear it all the time from the real bloggers: "This is not a hobby, it is a business."

I hear it all the time from well-meaning readers and friends: "You should have a restaurant/cafe/catering business/cooking show or classes."

Thank you. It is very flattering that you all think that I am capable of making this fun little venture into something more. It is awesome that you look to my future and see big dreams for me. You are wonderful. It is great to have such total support.

But, the reality is that this IS my hobby. This is an effective release for me. I like cooking. I like sharing it. End of story.

I am happy letting this all be fun and games. I am happy with good food On My Plate and still some of my menus being flops. I am happy with typing silly, little stories and sharing recipes. Maybe someday, I might want to expand my horizons. Maybe someday, just blogging for fun might not be enough for me. When that day comes, I will take the next step. But, for now, I just want to cook and eat and share and enjoy. 

I love your support. I love your comments and praise. Who wouldn't? But my ego gets kept in check within the reality of my kitchen. I am a real cook (not a chef or in any way a professional) that screws things up and honestly can't follow a recipe to save myself. I am an amateur with a cheap camera that often takes fuzzy photos in bad lighting. I get too wordy in most of my posts and discover embarrassing typos nearly every time AFTER I publish. But, I like to share what is On My Plate. I love to hear that you enjoy the posts, made the food for your family and friends, and even appreciate knowing when things don't quite work out.

Pasta with Zucchini, Bacon, and Goat Cheese fits that theme of ego check. I have made this meal no less than 4 times since recently pulling the recipe from an old Bon Appetit magazine. We heart veggie and pasta dishes, and this is a variation of something that we have prepared for years. Using ingredients that I usually have on hand (goat cheese being the only specific item that I would have to add to the shopping list), it fit very well into our menu rotation. I haven't yet shared it because I can't seem to get a good pic. The first time I made it, Hubs didn't get home from the farm until after 10pm...no light for a photo then. The second time, I seriously overcooked the zucchini and while the dish was still tasty, it was U.G.L.Y. Both the third and fourth times this dish graced our table, I should have checked the forecast because cloudy weather prevented good photos. 

I snapped a pic anyway. I am sharing it anyway. If I was blogging for a sponsor, that wouldn't work. If I was serving the dish to the public, the less than perfect presentation wouldn't work. The pasta is still delicious. We still ate it and will eat it again. We love good food and Pasta with Zucchini, Bacon, and Goat Cheese is the kind of good food that makes just blogging more than enough On My Plate.

Pasta with Zucchini, Bacon, and Goat Cheese

12 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups chopped red onion

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

3 cups pasta (use your favorite shape, rotini works well)

3 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half-moons

1 1/2 cups chopped tomato (seeded)

1/3 cup chopped fresh oregano

1 cup soft, fresh goat cheese (crumbled)

Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. 

Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. 

Pour off all but 4 tablespoons drippings from skillet.

Add onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. 

Add zucchini and toss with onion and coat with bacon dripping, saute lightly. (It should be tender, but still crisp.)

Add wine; boil until reduced by 1/3, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until slightly underdone. 

Drain.

Add pasta, bacon, tomatoes, and oregano to zucchini and onion in skillet. 

Toss over medium-high heat until sauce coats pasta, about 3 minutes. 

Add cheese and toss until beginning to melt, about 2 minutes. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. (Serves 6)