Bulgur Wheat with Tomato, Eggplant (Aubergine), and Lemon Yoghurt

The beauty of this Middle Eastern vegetarian recipe is that all of its elements can be prepared in advance, kept refrigerated separately, and then just warmed through and assembled when you are ready to serve it. My friends, I assure you that the bulgur and tomato is delicious enough to eat on its own if you wish. I have a tub of it in the freezer which was leftover, and it will be perfect when I need an easy side dish to eat. However, it is meant to be served with the aubergine (eggplant) and yoghurt as a main dish or as part of a selection of dishes. If you are happy to eat this as a vegetarian dish on its own, it will feed four people, otherwise it will serve at least 8 as a side dish. So easy to make, and I love that this dish can be prepared totally in advance and that it so creatively and deliciously uses up the eggplants (aubergines) which I always seem to have in abundance.

I am always so happy when I have fresh mint growing in a large pot which is the perfect garnish for this meal. Middle Eastern dishes and mint are the perfect marriage. This one could also be served as a side with a curry. It is a variation of another recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's book, aptly named Simple.

This week I have been doing a lot of cooking with vegetables, which I seem to have accumulated. How do I end up with so many? I'm not a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, I adore meat. However Winter is a wonderful time to cook with veggies, don't you think? I'll be sharing my Green Broccoli and Coconut soup with you shortly, it is so good and provides our bodies with a blast of nutrients, is great for the gut, and at the moment I have another batch of Green Cabbage sauerkraut on my kitchen bench waiting to be bottled for processing over the next few days. We are enjoying another cold snap here, well I call a minimum temperature of 7 deg. F. a cold snap, and with Spring just over the horizon, there won't be many more opportunities to make cool weather sauerkraut. This is my recipe for sauerkraut if you are interested in making a batch in the cooler climates.

If you feel challenged at the thought of cooking with bulgur please don't be. It can be used interchangeably with cooked rice, couscous or quinoa and is often used to make tabbouleh. It
doesn't require cooking though, only soaking, as it is a whole wheat grain that has been cracked and partially precooked for your convenience. It is a staple in the Mediterranean region and Middle Eastern countries, often used in grain salads, side dishes, soups, even green salads after it has been soaked. If you can't find it in your supermarket, try a health food shop or an Asian or Indian supermarket. It is nutty and delicious and makes a nice change to the usual grains we cook with.

Let's cook:

Ingredients:

2 eggplants (aubergines) cut into 3 cm chunks (about 500 g)
105 ml. olive oil
2 onions, finely sliced (320 g)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. ground baharat or allspice
400 g very ripe cherry tomatoes or 1 can of drained cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp. tomato paste
250 g bulgur wheat (preferably fine grind)
200 g Greek-style yoghurt
1 small, preserved lemon (25 g) skin and flesh chopped finely.
10 g mint leaves
salt and black pepper
Pomegranate Molasses (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 deg. C fan forced.

Roasting the Eggplant
Firstly we need to roast the chopped eggplants. Place them into a large bowl with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of pepper. Mix well together with your washed hands, then spread them out onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast for 35-40 minutes turning over halfway through, until the eggplants are caramelised and soft. Remove from your oven and set aside.

Cooking the Bulgur, Onions and Tomato
Add the remaining oil to a large frypan with a lid and set to a medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the onion and fry for 8 minutes, stirring a few times. It will become soft and caramelised. Add the garlic and Baharat and fry for another minute, stirring until the garlic becomes aromatic.

Add the ripe cherry tomatoes, and mash them with a potato masher to break them up. You might need to warm up the tomatoes first so that they break up easily. If your tomatoes aren't ripe enough to be mashable, use a drained can of cherry tomatoes instead.

Stir in the tomato paste, 400 ml of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and cook for 12 minutes.  Add the bulgur, stir so that it is completely coated in the tomato mixture and remove the pan from the heat. Set aside on your bench for 20 minutes, and the bulgur will absorb all of the liquid.


Lemon Yoghurt

In a medium bowl, mix together the yoghurt with the preserved lemon, half the mint and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

Divide the bulgur between four plates. Plate up with the yoghurt and a serving of eggplant on top, and garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining mint. If you have any pomegranate molasses on hand, I know that a splash of that on top would be the finishing touch, but that is optional.

Serve with a Curry or a Tagine for a perfect dinner.

Thanks for dropping by,

Best wishes

Pauline

Afghan Biscuits, a delicious New Zealand confection

Afghan biscuits have no connection to the Afghan people or their country of origin, which seems very strange. Surprisingly they originate from New Zealand, from over the ditch, and are their counterpart to our Anzac biscuit, according to the locals. However this is a delicious biscuit, and shouldn't just be enjoyed on Anzac Day. They are really a chocolate, butter and corn flake confection, although weetbix makes a very suitable substitute for cornflakes in this recipe. I had never heard of Afghan biscuits until last April, when  our good friend Christine invited us for coffee on the 26th April, the day after Anzac Day. She had made Afghan biscuits with weetbix which were absolutely delicious. Some New Zealand friends of her daughters make them every year and this is the recipe that she gave me. I have been wanting to make them ever since.
I don't really buy Corn Flakes just to eat as a cereal, as I can't see many nutritional benefits, however Mr. HRK is happy to eat a bowl of them whenever he is feeling like cereal. I bought these a couple of weeks ago to make these biscuits and here they are finally. I love the crinkly texture of these biscuits when I eat them. I made them with weetbix a month or so ago, and a young friend who was visiting said it was just like eating chocolate crackles, remember those? Great children's party food. Those ones weren't iced though. So I had to make another batch and ice them, and add the walnut, so that they look pretty for a photo. 

ICING TIP: I loved working with the icing for these biscuits. It came together beautifully and I adore chocolate icing, such a guilty pleasure. Here's just a small tip with icing these biscuits. I made the icing quite firm, whilst I was baking the biscuits and left it in the bowl until the biscuits cooled. I then added just a few drops of warm water which was enough to make the icing more spreadable. Then using an old tip from my Mum, I placed a bread and butter knife in a cup of hot water, and used the warm blade of the knife to carefully spread the icing on the biscuits. A hot knife makes icing much more spreadable and it doesn't drizzle off the biscuit. You don't want that. The trick is not to have runny icing for biscuits. This amount was perfect for 18 biscuits. 

These are the fastest biscuits to make. This batch took me 30 minutes from beginning to end, not including the icing. That's the beauty of baking biscuits.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C. (350 deg. F)

Makes 18 biscuits

200 g (7 oz.) butter, softened or melted

1/2 cup or (75 g, 3 oz) sugar

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa

2 cups cornflakes ( 50g or 2 ozs) or crushed weetbix

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate icing:

1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar

1 heaped tablespoon sifted cocoa (sift with the icing sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon melted butter

1-2 tablespoons water

18 walnut halves

Cornflakes added to mixture

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C. (350 deg. F.)

Prepare a large oven tray by greasing or spraying lightly with cooking spray, and covering with baking paper. I used a large one and a smaller one.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

Sift flour and cocoa. Stir into creamed mixture, and add vanilla essence.

Fold in cornflakes or weetbix. It will form into a ball.

Take tablespoon sized amounts and roll into balls and spread evenly on the tray. Flatten balls lightly with a fork or your finger.

Bake at 180 deg. for about15 minutes or until set. They will be a little soft when they come out of the oven but will crisp up. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Prepare the Icing:

In a medium bowl combine the sifted icing sugar and cocoa, vanilla and melted butter and mix.

Slowly add the water a little at a time until a firm consistency is reached. If you add too much water, just add some more icing sugar until the desired consistency/.

When cold, ice the biscuits and decorate with a walnut half.

Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

It's time for afternoon tea, so I am having a cuppa and one of these biscuits. Please take care during these difficult times.

Thanks for dropping by,

Pauline

p.s I just found this after I posted my first recipe. My friends, if you are running short of time and need to make an even faster batch of biscuits, this recipe for Afghans is taken from the Edmonds Cookery Book, New Zealand's no. 1 cookbook, first printed 1955.

Easy Afghans

1 packet Edmonds Chocolate cake mix
50 g (2ozs) Butter, melted
2 cups cornflakes
2 tablespoons water

Combine all ingredients to form a stiff dough. Drop teaspoons of mixture onto a greased oven tray. Bake at 180 deg. C (350 deg F.) for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. When cold, ice with chocolate icing if desired.

Healthy and Simple Vegetarian Quiche

This is a versatile and economical vegetarian recipe where the vegetables and herbs that I use are all optional dependent on what is in season and what I have on hand.

Lentil and Ham Soup

On cold Winter nights, and we have had a few lately, I think of soups and comfort food.This soup can be cooked long and slowly in the slow cooker, or in your pressure cooker, depending on what you prefer. Red lentils don't require any presoaking which is a bonus for busy cooks.

Roasted Eggplant (Aubergines) with Anchovies and Oregano, and a quick batch of Sweet Chilli Jam

"Anchovies and eggplant might sound like an unlikely combination but it's one that really works. The anchovies bring more of a salty depth to the dish (rather than anything really fishy.)" This is a quote from Yotam Ottolenghi's book, SIMPLE. I love this book, and there are so many practical and delicious Middle Eastern inspired recipes in it.

My friends who grow eggplants, often find themselves with too many to use and are always looking for easy and new ways to use them. Or if you are given some by a generous friend this recipe is also for you. I found myself in that situation when my Lebanese eggplant bushes yielded 1 1//2 kilos in one harvest. They stay fresh for days so I wasn't under too much pressure to cook them however  I tried out this new way of using them as a side dish which was delicious. I'm so pleased I harvested them when I did though, as two days later when Mr. HRK and I were checking the bushes, four of the eggplants had been eaten out, presumably by possums. I can't imagine how raw eggplant would be too tasty, however the texture is quite crispy and they are a mild flavour so I suppose it depends how hungry the possums were. I had to laugh though as we have Locky, our large chocolate Border Collie, sleeping very comfortably in his bed on the patio at night, just near this garden.  Need I say anymore, so much for being a watch dog, he is more of a big cuddly bear. He will bark though if he doesn't know our visitors just to alert us, but then the tail starts wagging.



Ingredients:

Serves four as a side

4 medium black globe eggplants or 1kilo of any other variety (sliced into 2 cm thick discs)
100 ml olive oil
20g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
5 g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper



I chopped the eggplant up into short pieces, however next time I think I will cut this variety into long thick pieces, more for presentation than for any other reason.The globe eggplant is best sliced lengthwise into 2-3 cm pieces

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 deg. C fan forced.

Place the eggplants in a large bowl, and mix in 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Then using your hands, if you wish, mix through 70 ml of olive oil to coat them all thoroughly. However if you don't like the idea of using your hands, transfer the eggplant slices to two large baking trays, lined with baking paper, and brush each slice on both sides with the oil. I think the first method is much quicker.

Bake for 35 minutes, and check after 20 minutes just in case they are cooked. Mine were because I was using much smaller slices. They should be cooked through and browned up.

Now for the delicious anchovy dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the anchovies, vinegar, garlic, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Slowly pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, whisking continuously, until combined.

Leftovers of this dish are even more delicious heated up or brought back to room temperature, and served the following day. This one isn't for freezing though. It's lovely as it is,  spooned on top of toasted sourdough and also works as a side dish to all kinds of mains.

 A batch Sweet Chilli Jam

It's time to start cleaning out my freezer and use up some of the frozen bags of chillies that I have squirrelled away during Summer when the chilli bushes are at their best. Frozen chillies worked perfectly this time. I left them in the frig overnight, and they were marginally softer than when freshly picked. They still minced up well in the food processor.

Ingredients and equipment: 
(A large batch)

30 medium mild red chillies (or any combination of other mild chillies you might have),including seeds
8 small Birds Eye chillies (very hot), including seeds
3 red capsicums
4 large brown onions
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 cups of white sugar
1 cup of white cooking vinegar
1 cup water
juice of 3 lemons or limes
2 teaspoons fish sauce
Pair of plastic gloves for hand protection
7-8 medium jam jars for this recipe

METHOD:

Wash the chillies and dry them.
Have your food processor ready to use on your kitchen bench.
(At this stage I generally have my small jam bottles on a short cycle in the dishwasher so that they will be sterilised and nice and hot when the jam is ready and I can just ladle in the hot, sweet and spicy finished jam. Or you may prefer to have them washed in soapy water, and ready to sterilise in a warm oven set to 120 deg F.)

I took all of the chillies, capsicums, and onions, 2 cutting boards and a couple of bowls outside onto my patio, made a cup of tea, and then sat down in a comfortable chair at our outside table in the sun and started chopping, enjoying the beautiful day outside.



Top and tail the chillies, and don't bother removing the seeds, except in the capsicums.
I chopped them all up roughly outside.



Place the chopped chillies, capsicums, onions and garlic in your food processor and blitz until they are chopped into small pieces.



Add the contents of your food processor to a large saucepan, add the sugar and other liquid ingredients.



Bring the jam slowly to the boil, which will dissolve the sugar. This is where you test the taste to check if it is too hot or not sweet enough. Very carefully take out a teaspoon of the jam, taste it, being careful not to burn your mouth, and if it is too hot and spicy, add another chopped capsicum. Or if it's not spicy enough for you, add another hot chilli.



Let the jam cook on a rolling boil for 45 minutes. To quote Rhonda from her Down to Earth blog, "a rolling boil is when the jam boils and even when you put a spoon in it to stir it, it continues boiling, but won't boil over". Very important.



After 45 minutes on a rolling boil and being stirred, the jam should be the right consistency.

Ladle it into the hot jars, put the lids on straight away and tighten them.

Leave them out on the kitchen bench to completely cool, label, and then store them in your pantry. The vinegar and sugar will act as very efficient preservatives. The jam should last for about 6 months in the pantry.

I always place a bottle in my frig straight away to use, as I will have already tasted it.

You might hear quite a few of the jar lids popping over the next few hours, ensuring the jars are well sealed.

This batch was just how we like it, suitable to eat as a condiment at anytime of day, with the taste of chilli but not too much heat. Add more Bird's Eye chillies if you like it really hot. You can find my original recipe for this jam here, and I changed this recipe slightly to an extra lemon and an extra capsicum as I always end up adding another capsicum to the original two anyway. The pectin in the extra lemon helped it to set even better than before.

These two recipes aren't mutually exclusive, as we ate this Eggplant dish as a side with my
Tuna Kedgeree, and a dollop of the Sweet Chilli Jam. Delicious. I think it's pretty hilarious and quite wonderful, that my daughter was telling me the other day that our son-in-law Daniel, has really taken to my Sweet Chilli Jam, and my Mango Chutney. More often than not, they will be sitting down to dinner, and he will say, "Do you know what would go really well with this dish, Pauline's Sweet Chilli Jam." So off he goes to the frig and comes back with a bottle and adds some to his plate. Needless to say they have now run out, so some of this batch will be heading to Cairns very soon.

Here in Queensland, we are feeling very relieved for the economy and everyone's mental health that it is almost back to business as usual, whilst southerners are chafing at the bit to get into Queensland, despite the borders being closed. We are all hoping and praying that there won't be a recurrence of the virus in Queensland and if everyone behaves themselves and remains vigilant there shouldn't be. However the staggering increase in daily infections, albeit all around the world,  is very sobering, and reminds us that we are not yet in the clear here in Queensland by any stretch of the imagination.

Stay well and happy,

Warm wishes

Pauline

Pickled Cumquats or Kumquats

Those were the days when most backyards had a cumquat tree. Nowadays, a lot of people keep their ornamental cumquat trees in tubs on patios and verandahs, however when grown in the open in the ground, the trees flourish and provide fruit for many jars of marmalade, as well as a beautiful screen and windbreak. One of my fondest childhood memories is of the bountiful, compact cumquat tree in our backyard, and then my industrious Mother making bottles and bottles of cumquat jam which always thickened and turned out perfectly. 

In My Kitchen - July 2020

I've been doing a lot of cooking this past week, as we have had a succession of visitors here since Friday. It's great to see Queensland travellers on the move in Queensland, travelling North up the East coast to Cairns, soaking up our sunshine, although yesterday was rainy, but that's okay. In addition to three lots of visitors, including my brother and sister-in-law, we had 11 friends from our tennis group for dinner on Friday  night, and then my Mahjong ladies were here Tuesday afternoon for cake and Mahjong, in that order, ha, ha. It was a lovely afternoon, with the lorikeets putting on a dazzling display around our bird bath.