Tabouli the Lebanese Way

Mint grows as a weed in my garden in Franklin. During the summer I make a version of tabouli that is heavy on the bulgur and mint. When I got to Lebanon, I learned that tabouli is actually a parsley salad with a hint of mint and a bit of bulgur. It is actually less of a production to make than my American version of tabouli.

Ingredients: These measurements are an approximation. You can use as much or little that pleases you.

1 small handful of bulgur

1 cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped mint

1 to 2 chopped scallions

1 small tomato chopped into ½ inch pieces

Juice of ½ lemon

2 Tbl olive oil

Pepper

Soak the bulgur in a small bowl of water for about an hour until softened. Chop the herbs, scallions and tomatoes and put in a bowl with the drained bulgur, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper.

Swiss Chard Pie

Ingredients:

2 bunches of Swiss chard

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

½ cup crumbled feta

1 egg

Chopped parsley

Fresh dill or other herb

Ground pepper

Lemon juice from ½ lemon

1 tsp grated lemon rind

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ pound of phyllo

2 Tbl butter

1/4 cup olive oil

Wash, remove stems and veins of two bunches of Swiss chard. Wilt it in a pot of boiling water and rinse under cold water until. Chop and place it in a bowl.

Lightly sauté chopped onion and two cloves of garlic in olive oil so that it doesn’t brown too much and add to the bowl. Add crumbled feta, egg, parsley, dill, pepper, lemon juice, lemon rind, walnuts and mix it all together.

Melt butter and mix it with olive oil. Unpack a half pound of phyllo and lay it between two damp tea towels.

Brush the bottom and sides of a pie plate with oil mixture. Put in a sheet of phyllo and brush with the mixture and keep doing that until you have used approximately 8 sheets of phylllo. Do each sheet individually, by covering the phyllo you aren’t using with the tea towel. it can dry out easily.

Pour the filling into the pie plate and continue brushing each sheet on top folding it over itself using approximately 7 sheets of phyllo. Either roll up the sides or cut them off with a pair of scissors and brush the top with oil and butter.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 375 degrees.

Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bittman

Smashed Potatoes with Weeds

This recipe is based on a recipe that Mark Bittman had in The New York Times.

Ingredients: amounts are based on your own discretion

Potatoes

Water

Olive Oil

Greens such as arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, or in the summer dandelion greens from your yard

Garlic

Bread crumbs

Cup up potatoes and boil them with skins on. When done scoop them out of the pot with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl with some olive oil. Smash them with a fork or potato masher.

Meanwhile throw the greens into the boiling potato water to wilt them. Pull them out of the water. Blast them with cold water, wring them out, and then chop. (Even though the water may be dark it can be used for English muffins.)

Add the wilted greens, crushed garlic, and pepper to the smashed potatoes and mix up. Put it in an oiled heat proof pan, cover with bread crumbs and a sprinkling of olive oil and more pepper on top.

Bake at 400 degrees until the top is crispy.

If you have any leftovers they can be made into patties and fried in olive oil.

Oven Baked French Fries

I love French fries but they are such a bother to make and usually, especially because deep frying is usually the method of preparation, the clean up is an even greater bother. In the summers at home I like to pull purple potatoes from my garden and make blue potato chips anyway; there is nothing more delicious.  I would never, however, attempt to do this without a deep fat fryer. 

Here in my little kitchen there is no room for appliances or space for the bother. So I satisfy french fry cravings by making them in the oven which, as it turns out, is an easier method all around and, as a bonus, eliminates the need to dispose of all that oil.

Ingredients:

2 Russet or Idaho potatoes

2 Tbl. Olive oil

Pepper

Preheat the over to 450 degrees.

Slice the potatoes into good sized fries and place them in a bowl of cold water. I leave the skins on because I like them that way. Soaking the potatoes in cold water takes some of the excess starch out of them.

Pour out the water and rinse the potatoes in fresh water. Dry the potatoes and bowl, as best you can, with a paper tower. Pour in the olive oil, black pepper, and mix the potatoes around so that they are coated in oil. (I have tried this by putting the potatoes on a baking sheet and then adding the oil and mixing it around. It never works as effectively as doing it in a bowl.)

Lay the potato slices out on the baking sheet in a single row with air between each slice. This part is important. If the potatoes are too close together or on top of each other they will not get browned evenly and will end up soggy.

Pop the baking sheet into the over and bake for approximately one hour, though if you have laid out the potatoes with precision the baking time may be less.

A special warning: For some reason oven baked French fries seem to have a mind of their own. If I have planned out the timing well, the potatoes will be done earlier than expected. In that case I turn down the oven and let them sit until I’m ready. 

The conundrum comes when they take longer than expected, usually because they have been crowded onto the baking sheet. In that case a decision has to be made; hold up the meal and wait or serve them as a second course. I’ve learned to go with the second course so I don’t get too impatient and end up with soggy fries.