Tabbouleh Salad/ Tabouleh/ Tabouli

For this delicious and full of flavour salad we used:

100 g bulgur (we had medium)

3 tomatoes

2 bunches flat leaf parsley

1 bunch mint

1 onion

salt and pepper

olive oil 

lemon juice

Remove the parsley leaves from the stems and chop them finely. The same with the mint. Mix them.

Chop the onion (you can use the regular, yellow kind), sprinkle some salt on it and rub it. 

Also dice the tomatoes and add the prepared, washed and drained  bulgur in the same bowl. Mix the bulgur and the tomatoes, so that the bulgur can take on  the juice.

In a salad bowl mix the parsley and the mint with the onion and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper if necessary and drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on top. 

Enjoy,
Mrs. G.

It's Elementary! How to Cook Bulgur

Bulgur is a whole wheat grain that has been cleaned, parboiled and ground into smaller pieces.  It it one of the best known ingredients in Middle Eastern an Mediterranean cuisine, used in meat dishes, salads, soups or as a substitute for rice.  Because it is available in different grinds it may seem tricky to prepare.

The fine bulgur can be prepared as cous-cous, only by soaking it. Place the bulgur in a saucepan, pour boiling water over it, enough to cover the wheat, some salt, let it sit for 10-15 minutes to absorb all the water and then fluff it with a fork to separate the grains. You can also use stock for a greater taste.

Medium bulgur can be adden to boiling water and let to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then drain the water/ stock. Or, by soaking it, add the bulgur to boiling water, remove from heat and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Coarse bulgur can be boiled at low heat for 10 minutes with the lid on, then remove from heat and let it sit for another 20 minutes or just cook it for a longer time in other dishes, like you would with rice.

Be careful with your quantity, it usually doubles in volume. You can also add butter, oil or other spices to it.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. G.

Trout Noodle Stir Fry

Instant noodles, we all know them, they’ve been there for us on those hard, lazy nights or when we were pretty much broke, and that’s a thing that can’t be said about a lot of foods. So I wanted to cook  something to elevate those bad boys, and I decided to give things a mix with some trout meat and crunchy vegetables.

For the fish, I just fried 2 of them whole in 2 tbs of olive oil until the skin got a golden color, after which I let it rest before removing all the meat from the bones, resulting in 200 grams of trout flakes, that can be prepared a day before, or you can use some leftovers from other fish dishes (cod works nice here).

For the stir fry: 3 medium carrots, 4-5 cucumbers, both cut into strips with the veggie peeler, 3-4 spring onions, white part separate from the green, 50 grams bean sprouts (soy, pea, etc., visit your local supermarket for more info), garlic, diced, 1 piece of ginger, thumb size, grated, 3 packages of instant noodles (only use the pasta, throw away those other things in there). 

Get your wok (or other similar pan) nice and hot, pour in some peanut oil, add the carrots, beans and the white part of the onion, mix for 2 minutes, add the cucumbers, garlic and ginger, cook for another minute, then add the green part of the onions (those also cut in to strips) and a mix of grinded coriander, fennel seeds and pepper. Mix this whole thing, add the flaked fish, pour in 2 tbs of soy sauce and 1 tsp of fish sauce. After stirring this combo throw in the noodles (in this case, the packages suggested a 3 minute cooking time, so I just boiled them for 2 and cooked them in the pan for another minute), and give it a strong stir, to make sure the soy sauce covers everything (add more soy sauce  if you feel like the dish needs more salt).

Enjoy!
Mr. G.

Whole Chicken Roasted in Roman Clay Pot

Similar to other family recipes that we posted here, this dish isn’t much of a culinary innovation as it shows one of our favorite ways of cooking simple, great tasting and good looking food to be enjoyed by a whole family. Using the clay pot to cook things is a nice touch, and we tried to use different vegetables and herbs on different occasions, but we only cooked chicken in it. 

The result is a moist, very flavorful meat, and some nice, perfectly cooked veggies. This recipe is just about going crazy with the combinations you like while using the clay pot to ensure moist cooking. Just put the pot in water (both the pot and the lid) for 15 minutes and use it. Cook the meat with the lid on to be really moist, then in the end remove the lid to create a beautiful crust. By the way, my father-in-law uses a similar pot to slow cook some more elaborate and heavy dishes, and they work out very nice: pork leg and beans, smoked pork ribs with cabbage, and they taste amazing, especially on cold winter day with some mulled wine.

Enjoy!