Two recipes

Tabbouleh with Mint, Cilantro and Chives

I’ve had tabbouleh in restaurants and I’ve made it from a box, but I’d never made it from scratch. Turns out it’s very very easy to make. If like me, you consider bulgur a kitchen essential on par with rice, you should start thinking about tabbouleh as a great variation on the basic kasha. I ate mine while it was still warm, but it would be a great cold breakfast. I don’t recommend storing it overnight, though. It can become soggy and the flavor skews too strongly towards lemon.

Ingredients

1. 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
2. Kosher salt
3. 1 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
4. 1 cup water
5. 1 small shallot, minced
6. 1 thyme sprig
7. 1 1/2 cups coarse bulgur wheat (1/2 pound)
8. 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
9. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10. 2 tablespoons minced chives
11. 2 tablespoons minced mint
12. 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
13. Freshly ground pepper

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.

Ingredients

1. 2 pounds asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1 1/2-inch lengths
2. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3. 1 1/2 pounds oyster mushrooms, large stems discarded, large caps halved
4. Salt and freshly ground pepper
5. 1 shallot, minced
6. 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Riesling
7. 1/2 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
8. 3/4 cup heavy cream
9. 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
10. 1 tablespoon minced chives
11. 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped chervil or 1 teaspoon minced tarragon

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch the asparagus until bright green, about 2 minutes. Drain, refresh in a bowl of ice water; drain again.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms in an even layer, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Stir the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 4 minutes longer. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock and asparagus and simmer until the liquid has reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer over low heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley, chives and chervil, and serve at once.

Blue Turns To Grey

Besides their own successful records, in the early sixties the Stones were also invading the charts by selling their songs to other artitsts. Not with the same amount of success that Lennon/McCartney enjoyed, but pretty successfully anyway.  Like As Tears Go By, this song was deemed not to fit their image, then when it became a hit for someone else they decided to make put their own version out there. In this case it was a hit someone called Dick & Dee Dee and also for The Mighty Avengers in 1965. Then it was a hit  for Cliff Richard (perhaps in repayment for Keith emulating Cliff’s name spelling?) in 1966. It appeared on December’s Children in 65. Listen carefully to Dick and Dee Dee’s performance and you’ll notice that the Stones themselves are singing in the background. That’s because Dick and Dee Dee and the Mighty Avengers both used the same backing track the Stones originally recorded. The December’s Children track has a new, less cheezy instrumental backing, and Cliff Richard’s version had a different backing track as well.  Apperently, this was common practice in those days.