Rosie Makes Tabbouleh.

 I have this lovely pot of mint on my deck and a garden full of volunteer parsley plants. 

And I'm thinking --- I must make tabbouleh! 

It's bright.  

It's fresh.  

It's herbaceous.

It's vibrant.

It's zesty. 

It's earthy.  

It's refreshing. 

It's a perfect melange of flavors.

 

 

 

 

 

When making tabbouleh, there's no set recipe when it comes to amounts.  Just grab your ingredients and start mixing. 

 

 I started out with 1 cup of bulgur wheat and forgot how much cooked bulgur that makes (4+ cups), so you might want to scale back a bit on the grain.

 

 

 

As for the ingredients, I'm offering guidelines.  The amounts are not etched in stone.  Taste test as you go along and adjust for your own preferences.  For example, I only had a half cucumber in the fridge. I thought it needed more so I bought another one the next day and added it to the mix.  And you may prefer more mint, tomatoes, and/or onions.  Again, TASTE TEST!

 

Here's what I'll be using:

1 cup bulgur wheat

1 big bunch parsley

1/2 as much mint

3 large tomatoes

1/2 cucumber   

4 scallions

red onion

 

Place raw bulgur wheat in a large bowl and pour 3 cups boiling water over, cover, and let soak for a couple hours.  Drain off any excess water.

Chop parsley (3-4 cups) and mint (about 2 cups).

Peel and seed tomatoes, then dice.

Mince the scallions (about 1/4 cup) and the red onion (about 1/2 cup). 

Peel the cucumber and dice.

Add parsley, mint, tomatoes, scallions, onion, and cucumber to the bulgur and mix well. 

(The next day, I bought more cucumber and added that to the mix.) 

 

For the dressing:

juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 

I used Corto Truly extra virgin olive oil.  Can't find it in stores here, so I order it from Amazon. It's one of my favorite extra virgin oils.  Oils vary tremendously in flavors, so I'd recommend going to an olive oil shop where you can taste test before you buy and pick out something you really like.

 

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 

 

Juice the lemons and gradually whisk in the olive oil. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Pour in the dressing and toss to combine well.

 

 

Choppy.  Choppy.

Dicey.  Dicey.

Slicey.

 Choppy.

 

  

 

Artfully arrange the layers.

Stand back and admire. 

It's so pretty!

Start on the dressing.

Pour dressing over the tabbouleh mixture.

Toss and stir to combine.

 

 

 

To serve, you can use chips or a lettuce wrap or pita 

or a big spoon for a big mouth. 

It's deliciously herbal and fresh.

Enjoy. 

Rosie Makes A Quick Banana Bread.

 I'm having fun cleaning out my freezer.  I have bunches of frozen bananas, so I'm making ... YES ... another banana bread.

 

 

Quick Banana Bread 

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup) 

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

Heat oven to 350°.

Butter a 9 x 5-in. baking pan 

In a medium bowl, add flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Whisk until well-combined.

Place stick of butter in large bowl and nuke until melted.

Add bananas to butter and mash with a fork.

Add vanilla and egg to banana mixture and stir until completely combined. 

Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and fold with a spatula until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake about 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out fairly clean.

 

 

Bananas ready to be mashed into melted butter in bowl on left. Vanilla and eggs go in next.
Dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt - ready to be mixed in bowl on right.

 It always helps to have a cup of coffee and acrossword puzzle to work while you're making banana bread.

Mash the bananas into the melted butter.  Ooooh, this smells good!

Add in the eggs to the banana and butter

Pour in a generous amount of vanilla.

 Add the dry mixture to the banana mixture.

Fold in until just mixed.

Pour batter into buttered 9 x 5 inch baking pan.

Bake at 350° until perfect.

It's got a nice crumb.

Buttered and toasted and buttered-again, banana bread is a wonderful thing.

Dee-licious!

You know what would make this even better?????

Drizzle some honey on it!

Perfection!

Enjoy.

Rosie Makes Sweet And Sour Chicken

 

 

 Time For Sweet And Sour Chicken

Sometimes you just want something simple, yet more.  Take chicken, for instance.  It's simple enough.  But is it enough just by itself?  Sometimes, not.  Sometimes, you want ... more. 

 Enter:  Sweet and Sour Chicken.  It's simple, yet... more.

 

 

 

Here's the game plan:

 

I'm making rice first.  Either basmati or jasmine. I'm going with the jasmine with the sweet and sour chicken.  Both are fragrant, long-grained rices, but the jasmine is a little more floral and sweeter flavor-wise, as opposed to the nuttier and earthier basmati.  The jasmine tends to be a little stickier and clingy and will absorb sauces easier than the basmati, which is firmer and has a more chewy texture.  

 

Secondly, I'll make the sweet and sour sauce and let it sit while I prepare the chicken and vegetables. 

 

Next, I'll batter and fry up the chicken.

 

Lastly, I'll quickly stir-fry the vegetables so they'll be crisp and fresh, and then I'll plate everything.

 

For the rice:

As I said, I'm using jasmine rice, but I'm upping my game a bit.  Follow the directions on the package of rice, but instead of cooking the rice in just water, I'm using  orange juice.

I had a blood orange and a Mandarin orange and I used the juice of both in addition to the water.

 

Next, I made the sweet and sour sauce:

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup sugar

3 TB brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1 TB balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 TB soy sauce

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, stirring, until sugars are dissolved.  Keep warm. 

 

 

 

 I prepared my vegetables for stir frying.  I have carrots, onion, and red and orange peppers, all neatly chopped.

The pineapple chunks and juice are going into the mix also. 

 

Prepare the chicken.  Cut into bite-sized chunks.

Here's my 3-part station for the chicken, from left to right:

1)  Coat the chicken in cornstarch. 

2)  Give it a beaten egg bath.

3)  Have a bag with a mixture of flour, gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes), and salt and pepper. I like the flavor of the gochugaru.  It has a natural sweetness with a hint of smokiness and a punch of spiciness.

 

Have all the chicken battered and ready to fry.

Pour about 1/2 inch oil in a skillet and heat to about 375°.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place chicken pieces in, one at a time.  Do not crowd the pan.  Fry in batches.  This way, you maintain the temperature of the oil and you'll get crispy, not greasy, chicken bites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fry about 2-3 minutes first side,  then turn over and go another minute or two.  You want golden brown.

 Drain chicken on a rack.

 

Finally, prepare the stir-fry.          

 

  Heat about a tablespoon oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.  Add in the vegetables and cook, stirring, for a minute.

 

                               

Pour in the pineapple chunks and juice and heat through.  Serve immediately 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.