You say Tabouleh or tabouli, or tabbouleh, or tabbulah even...

Well rather a strange title but rather fitting for my post. It goes under several different names and many different ingredients. I think the best bit about this dish is that anything goes really. I saw it in a magazine (although I have a number of variations in my cookbook collection) and thought, that sounds easy.

So off to the kitchen I trot to make me some and how great it was. I'm always looking for something that is good, easy and doesn't take a lot of effort when you've worked all day. This recipe is just the answer. It doesn't cost a lot either since if you have a glut of one thing - just add that and skimp on the something else. Who is to know? Isn't the best part of making salads putting in what you have more of orr less of what you don't like?

I only decided on this recipe (aside from the ease of it) to help me overcome my fear/loathing of couscous. Yes, tabbouleh is traditionally Bulgar wheat but you can put what you have - I have done both Bulgar wheat and couscous. The fear/loathing - reason well I won't get into it here - suffice to say it isn't a pretty sight!

So now for the recipe - and remember you can adjust or delete or add things you like. I just happen to like this combination.

1 cup Bulgar wheat
2 cups stock (any kind you like - I used vegetable) or water

Pour boiling stock or water over Bulgar wheat which has been placed in a bowl. Cover with cling film and let sit for 30 minutes to soak up the water/stock. After the 30 minutes test to make sure it is softened enough. Leave longer if needed or drain in a fine-meshed sieve if done.

Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Coriander (large bunch)
Juice from 2 lemons
Zest from said 2 lemons
3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Halloumi - several slices, cubed
Black olives - chopped (or kalamata olives if you have them)
Pine nuts - toasted
Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes into quarters and place in a big bowl. Cut the cucumber into small cubes (you can de-seed it if you like - I didn't because I didn't want to waste it) and put those into the bowl with the tomatoes. Roughly chop the coriander and put that into the bowl. Add the olives, halloumi and zest. Add the drained Bulgar wheat.

Pour over the lemon juice and olive oil and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in pine nuts and have a final stir. Serve at room temperature. If you don't eat it all it will keep for several days and gets better! Pull out 30-45 minutes before dinner if it have been put into the fridge.

I did the above but also with couscous which I used 300 grams of couscous to 600 mls of stock. I found this seem to work well (as I always get it too water logged!). I at least now enjoy couscous - and you might too! Enjoy!

Falling behind...

Well again a long time between posts as I have been super busy. Do what you may ask? Well cleaning and getting ready for the summer. You know the house faeries don't just come and clean for me because I'm a nice person. What? You mean they should? I knew it! Well until they come I guess I'll carry on - it has to be done.

Last week I made some home-made granola bars. I saw a recipe for energy bars and I thought - yeah easily done and not a lot of expensive ingredients. So I set about to make my own with of course my own twist.

I brought them into work the next day for one of our meetings and everyone thought they were pretty good. I didn't make them very crisp (although I like crunchy things) but I did find them crunchy and soft enough. So here is the recipe for those of you wanting to give it a go.

MysticBunny's Granola Bars

300 grams Rolled Oats (not porridge oats!)
100 grams flaked almonds (or any other nut you prefer - I just happen to have this kind)
100 grams pistachio nuts (see note above)
75 grams dried berry fruit (cherries, cranberries, etc. work well)

Put all of the above into a bowl and toss to combine.

100 grams unsalted butter
175 grams honey (use something neutral)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Melt all of the above in a small saucepan until it is melted and amalgamated. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place on a shallow oven tray that is lined (parchment or greaseproof work well). Flatten out to the edges of the pan so that it is even. Please into a pre-heated oven at 180 C or 350 F and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until it is a nice toasty brown colour.

50 grams dark chocolate, melted

Melt chocolate and once bars come out of the oven score and cut them. Then to make your bars and then drizzle the melted chocolate over them. Allow to cool to room temperature and store in a tin.

Really you can use just about anything you want nut or dried fruit wise. The recipe is very adaptable and that goes for chocolate - if you like milk more than dark or white - use that. I just happened to have used what I had in the house. Now I'll begin to make these rather than buy those things at the store...just more of a reason for you to get into the kitchen! Enjoy!

Marinating and inventing...

I got an organic leg of lamb the other day at the store (reduced of course!) and was stuck for something new to do with it other than roast it like usual. So quick inventory of the fridge and larder yielded some possibilities and I soon got to work.

I decided to marinate the meat since it was a work night and I don't have time to do much when getting home but put dinner in the oven and get it quickly to the table. So decided that I had a few lemons - always good for juice and zest. I also had some garlic and a bit of onion. Again just chopped it roughly - pretty doesn't matter in a marinade. I then got out the olive oil - an essential! Then some fresh herbs from the window sill containers - some chervil, parsley and coriander. Oh yeah, and some dried herbs too - oregano (my fresh kind has only just come up), some ground coriander and finally a few coriander seeds as well.

So into a zip lock bag goes the leg of lamb, juice of three lemons and zest, some garlic, onions, good few glugs of olive oil, and herbs. All get put back in the fridge for the day (I did this in the morning before work) and turned at lunch time (yes, I work so close to home I can often come home for lunch!).

When I got home it all got dumped into a dish and into a hot oven for about 80 minutes or so and it was lovely. The lemons did their job and it was permeated throughout but not in a over-powering kind of way. Lamb is usually quite tender but roasting it usually if done too well is tough. this was just right.

My point in all of this is - there was no recipe. I see people all the time (telly especially) going through a recipe and such and really it is about your own tastes and what you like. I just put together things I thought would work - worst case is you have a crap dinner - but you learned!

I have had only one real disaster - the fruit disaster (see previous post). Others might have more - I do too I just don't always reveal them. But that you try and can laugh (usually at a later date!) then that is half the battle. I might recount some day the petit four disaster - but it was an editable disaster! I'm not quite at the laugh stage!

BTW, earlier in the week I went with the librarians who buy our promotional items for the libraries. Our title for this month's promotion was 'Food for Thought' - quite apt. Anyway, I went as 'cookery book' advisor. Translated that meant I got to pick the cookery books. I also got to help getting some of the fiction stock as well. I had a blast going through the books and deciding what was good/bad. I only wish we had more money - but alas we made do. Enjoy!

How does your herb garden grow?

Well it has been a while without posting but time flies when you are so busy. I have a few pictures though to keep you interested. I took a few of the herbs that I planted. However, since these were taken they have grown mighty big. I have already begun to harvest them and use them.

This one is coriander which I love to use in just about everything!

This is my parsley which again is used everywhere imaginable. They rather look the same but they are different!

I have also sown a few more since taking these. I planted chervil, lovage, basil (two kinds), and some oregano. The lovage however, is not co-operating and refuses to grow. I will give it another week and then pick something else. I'm not sure why the seeds didn't take.

Anyway, that's all for the moment...more soon!

Oh my quiche and men who eat them!

A few nights ago I made a home made quiche. I don't make them often simply because I tend to find them reduced every so often. However, the other day I got a load of free-range large eggs reduced so thought I'd make a quiche to help use up some of the eggs. On this same day I got some shrimp along with some asparagus, again reduced. Hmmm....sounds like a plan!

Of course I mentioned in an earlier post about getting some pastry flour that M&S supposedly use for their items. I had used it once in the past but for whatever reason it was difficult to work with. This time though I used a bit more water and it was actually quite easy to work with.

I was a bit lazy with the crust as I normally let it hang off the edges and when blind-baked I then just cut off the excess. But this time I just folded it in and that was it. I didn't want to waste one bit of the crust.

I popped it into the oven with my ceramic baking beads in some parchment paper for about 15 minutes. I then removed the beads and baked for another 5 minutes to crisp the inside crust. I then just mixed up some eggs, salt, pepper and milk and had that ready to go. The shrimp was already peeled - so no messing there. I just had to trim the asparagus and I cut them in half so that it would fit nicely into the pan. I also grated some double Gloucester cheese for the top.

Pan comes out and I arrange shrimp and asparagus on crust and pour over egg mixture. I then arranged some of the tips on top to make it pretty and then the cheese. Popped back into oven for about 40-50 minutes and presto - quiche.

Pictures to prove it!

This is the whole quiche - lovely!


This is a slice of the quiche on one of my vintage Pyrex plates. I got them 'new' as in never used before with the stickers still attached! You can hate me later!

Dress that salad!

Hard to believe it but I used to eat salad dry. Yup, no dressing for me - remember I hate most condiments. Well at least the kinds you buy.

About two summers ago in a heat wave (well one hot day!) I made my usual plate salad. For me this is anything that I have left in the fridge and in it goes. So if I have some steamed veg, in. I might have some hard boiled eggs or left over bits of cheese - in. I also toss in some pasta usually small shapes that I can quickly cook on the hob in minutes without adding heat to the flat.

But we were stuck for dressings - no bottle in sight and J would not have this. I eat salad without mostly because I don't like mayo - most dressing have this in them. So off I trundle to cookbook shelf in search of something I can make that is easy and that I have the ingredients to hand. Up comes a gem of a recipe for maple dressing. Looked rather easy and with the heat looming it wasn't much of a bother either.

So that's how it began and we have since moved on to other delights. So I suppose I have to take it back that I hate condiments but I won't because I still do. I only like those that I make!

So what was the recipe you ask? Simple.

Maple Dressing

1 clove garlic (peeled and cut into quarters)
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
pepper to taste

In a jar combine all ingredients and shake well. Let stand for 3 hours to develop the flavours or overnight is even better. If you really like garlic up it to 2 or 3 cloves. If you can stand to keep it in the fridge for a few days the garlic is pickled (for lack of a better description) and is lovely on your salad - but not on the same day as you make it! Makes about 3/4 of a cup dressing.

This is a great dressing for most anything and it also is a good marinade too as I found out!

Parmesan dressing

1 clove garlic crushed or minced finely
juice of one lemon (throw in zest if you like too!)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/2 Parmesan cheese
pepper to taste

In a jar add the olive oil, vermouth, and lemon juice. Shake and then add your cheese and garlic. Shake again and season with pepper (you can add salt too but I find it doesn't need it) and let stand several hours or overnight for flavours to develop. This one again is better when it stands in the fridge for a day or two. This makes about a cup of dressing which for us lasts about 2-3 side salads.

Blue Cheese Dressing

2 tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Crumble cheese into bowl. Add sour cream and mayonnaise and stir until blended. Depending on the cheese and veining it can turn a light grey colour - don't worry - it will be lovely. This is enough to top two side salads or one large bowl.

Now, I can hear you all saying - but you hate mayo! I know I said I hate mayo but this dressing even for me is an exception (you will soon learn I'm full of contradictions and exceptions!) as I cannot taste it when mixed with the cream cheese. And if you are lucky to use Stilton then this too adds to the flavour. But I also only use Hellmanns as it is the only one I will tolerate all others are rubbish!

Next I'm going to try my hand at making Caesar dressing so I'll keep you posted but that's only if I don't keep finding blue cheese reduced! It seems since making this I find it now all the time! Makes like much more interesting as we have tried just about all of the major brands at a fraction of the cost.

So off you go - you know you have these ingredients in your larder. You now have no excuse - dress that salad!! Enjoy.

Corn Tortillas - an update

Well tonight's dinner was enchiladas. While I didn't admittedly make the sauce (it was reduced though) I made the corn tortillas that I wrapped all the stuff in.

It has long been a goal to make my own. I got a press from America that would do all the pressing (not that I cannot roll it out but thought it would make them more even - which it does!). The goal came rather like most out of frustration. The frustration was borne because one cannot in this island get anything that is near an authentic corn tortilla.

A long time ago (not really but it sounded good!) while shopping for the usual food stuff I wanted corn tortillas. Of course here they only seem to sell them in a 'set' meal - meaning high cost for corn tortillas, a packet of spices and a pouch of sauce. Well in my usual fashion thought 'Nope, I'll make my own'. That will teach me!

So had to first find a tortilla press - check. This admittedly took the longest because I wanted a cast iron one (durability issue) and could find none on sale here in the UK. Only the US was open to me and it seemed everyone was interested in gouging me for shipping. Finally found a one at a reasonable price and shipping too was reasonable.

Then had to find the masa harina - check - see previous post below. This was easier - not sure why really. Then had to season cast iron pan for cooking said tortillas once made (before preparing them into dinner) - check.

So finally culmination is today - enchiladas. I found a recipe that gave me directions on how to make the tortillas and then how to use them in the press. Quite helpful but as usual I have a few tips.

One, don't use cling film for the press. I found parchment paper worked much better. I was able to flatten the dough and remove it far easier than cling film. I cut the paper so that I could fold it over and have one end that was closed. I used that end closest to the press handle.

Two, the recipe said to use a tea towel to keep the tortillas in while cooking them. This should probably be a slightly damp towel as I thought a dry one didn't keep them moist enough. Next time I'll wring it till almost dry and use it that way. Because when trying to roll them and tuck them into the dish they started to crack (not unsightly you understand but I wanted them to remain moist).

Otherwise I could find little to improve upon. The dough was quite easy to handle and only required a small sprinkling of water to get it to the right consistency of 'soft cookie' dough.

Sadly, no pictures but it was lovely. Although I'm not a condiment person (this applies to sauces, gravies, just about anything that spreads or is a liquid!) I must admit I enjoyed the dinner. Now off to find how to make sauce.