h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Akshully - the onions come from Vidalia, GA - a town named for the Vidal dynasty. I learnt about the onions from a documentary about Gore Vidal in which he attended a family reunion there.

How about a properly-made tabbouleh also - possibly to go with other Lebanese dishes such as Baba Ghanouj. Contrary to popular belief, tabbouleh is *not* soggy bulghur with bits in it. It is a herb salad containing bulghur. A perspective shift is required!

Take a tomato or two. Dice.
Ditto a cucumber. In the UK, our supermarkets only sell long, watery Dutch cucumbers. Peel and dice. In the US, at least you have the short, far kind. Ideally I'd go for the smaller Jordanian ones stocked in ethnic stores (and I'm reliably informed that many of these are in fact illegal Palestinian imports: another plus.
And some mild onions.
Toss together with a good, bounteous couple of handfuls of flat-leafed parsely, very coarsley chopped. Ideally also add vigorouse quantities of coarsley chopped mint (ideally spearmint), rocket/ roquette/ ruccola/ aragula and coriander/ cilantro.
Pre-soak some bulgur, preferably slightly toasted. Toss a little into the mix. How much? Well - to taste. But not to much.
A squeeze of lemon. A drizzle of olive oil. Some sea salt. Maybe a sprinkling of ground sumac - and you're done.

Anyone have a nice variation on Cauliflower Cheese?

I have a big fat cauli in the fridge, some cheese and a few other bits and bobs...

Instead of making a chese sauce...mix some sharp cheese (Swiss, Cheddar) and some parmesan with some fromage frais or creme fraiche. Toss the cauliflower in it. Bake in a hot oven until bubbly.

Alternately - use the cauliflower to make a curry (add some frozen peas for a contrasting sweetness).

Or - a middle-eastern cauliflower omelette thing. A bit like a Spanish tortilla:
Cook the cauliflower. Saute some onions in olive oil until sogt and begining to go golden. Add the cauliflower (in florets) and lots of garlic. If available, also some parsley and/or dill. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep on frying it up.
Now bung in some beaten eggs and stir the whole lot together. When it seems set on the bottom, put the pan under a grill and lightly brown the top.
Remove the whole shebang onto a plate. Serve sliced, at room temperature.
Brilliant for picnics and lunchboxes.

ooooo I like the sound of the middle eastern cauli thingy Yup that's what were're having tonite

Ed

>Akshully - the onions come from Vidalia, GA - a town named for the Vidal dynasty.<

Knew that the onions came from Vidalia, Georgia. I've in fact bought bags of them driving through on my way back to Chicago from Florida in years past.

Didn't know that Vidalia was named for the Vidal family, though. I learn something new here nearly every day. Thanks for the info, Edward!

I'm going to try that Cauliflower recipe, too. I love Middle Eastern cooking, and I make a wicked Baba Ghanoush.

A wicked what now?

That sounds like some kind of voodoo curse...

~waves~ at Pc, have to pop off now and shop for a nice new top for my interview on Thursday, can't get away with wearing the same shirt I think

Vix:

First catch your aubergine/ eggplant.

Now: Do you have gas in the US? If not, grease it lightly, prick it with a fork, then put it under a hot grill. Cook until charred - yup, charred - all over, turning as necessary.
Or - if you have gas, put it straight on the lit ring. (and no need to grease).

When cool enough to handle, peel off as much of the charred skin as you are able (but needn't be too fastidious). Chop the flesh finely. Blend with some olive oil, crushed garlic, a little salt and a dash of lemon juice.

(Optional - add a little finely chopped onion and parsley)

Scoop it up with bits of warm pitta bread.

You can eke it out by adding a good, creamy yoghurt (eg Total) - in which case it becomes the Greek dish, Melitzanasalata.

(Habemas papam, it seems. 'Testicula habet et bene pendente'.)

Here's my "recipe". Edward's technique sounds awesome! I'm gonna try it that way next time. (Some of us have gas ranges in the US, depends where you live, and sometimes it's personal preference. I have a gas range. Most apartments in Chicago seem to be fitted with gas. Which is just as well, as IMO, electric ranges don't cook things properly. )

1 eggplant
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini (you can use store bought, or I can post a recipe)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lighty grease (I use extra virgin olive oil) a baking pan (or cookie sheet).

Place eggplant in baking pan, piercing the skin in several places with tines of a fork. Bake for 30 or 40 minutes, turning frequently, until flesh is soft. Remove eggplant from oven, and immerse in bowl of cold water. Remove from water and peel awayMix eggplant, skin.

Mix eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic with hand mixer (or in blender) until pureed. (I prefer mine a little lumpy!) Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer mixture to a glass bowl, and stir in olive oil. Refrigerate for two to three hours before serving.

I have added roasted red peppers, or dried red chillies, on occasion, and have been pleased with the results.

The asparagus season is upon us! I shall be gorging on as much of the stuff as I can afford.

The best way to cook it:

Move one of your oven shelves to the top slot and turn the oven up to eleven.
Toss some asparagus spears in a little good-quality olive oil. Lay them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt.
Blast them on the top oven shelf for about 15 minutes.
To serve: drizzle a few drops of lemon juice and garnish with a little coarsely grated parmesan or (preferably) pecorino.

Or...if you can get the German-style blanched spears (lovely ones, about an inch thick), steam them, serve with boiled new potatoes, gallons of melted butter and a soft-boiled egg. (We don't get them in the UK, though)

Also...here's a soup I knocked up for the kids yesterday - but I reckon it would be good enough for a dinner party:
Some sweetpotatoes
An onion.
A can of tomatoes
Some fresh ginger
Boil, with the addition of a couple of stock cubes and a good dash of orange juice.
When the sweetpotatoes are soft, blend until very smooth.
(optional) a little garam masala.

I love Garam Masala. Especially on sweet potatoes.

I'm a little short on funds so I won't be doing too much fancy cooking for a few more weeks. But keep the suggestions coming, so when the weather warms up again (it was 82 here last Monday and 34 on Friday! Gotta love Chicago!) I'll have lots of ideas that don't require using the oven.

Last night I had a one pound bag of edamame for dinner, and nothing else!

Guess who likes edamame?

I've only tried them a couple of times, in a noodle bar. I didn't much see the point.

However, I - and my daughter - can get through whole bags of raw, fresh peas.

For tonight I'm thinking of thinly sliced asparagus lightly stir-fried with thin rice noodles, sesame and chilli. I've never had it before - but it sounds about right.

Did you have the stir-friend asparagus last night?

We had quesadillas. Yummo!

No idea what we'll have tonight: I think we're ordering in. I have a taste for a felafel sandwich and am feeling much too lazy to make felafels right now.

In the end I stir-fried the asparagus/ noodles with some thinly-sliced shitakes and some mangetouts. I think sesame would have been a better idea.

Can you not by Telma instant felafel mix in the US? Mind you - deep frying anything is a bit of a fankle (unless, as my parents and many other UK parents did, you keep a chip pan permanently primed). Sometimes I undergo 'pakora frenzy' and mix everything in sight with gram flower before deep frying it in a big wok.

(fankle: Scots for 'palaver' )

I think it'll be bean burritos tonight - although quesadillas also sound attractive.

Billy Connolly:
'It doesn't matter what you order in a Mexican restaurant, you always get the same thing - just folded differently!'

I've setled on this year's summer drink. Last year it was Campari and soda, the year before, Weinschorle (ie spritzer - dy white wine and sparking water) garnished with a sprig of mint, the year before it was Pimms and lemonade (with cucumber, of course). One year, in a fit of perversity it was Punt e Mes.

This year it's...Vermouth-Cassis.
One part creme de casis to about six parts Noilly Prat vermouth. I also like to add another two parts or so of iced water, which gives it a less sticky mouth feel, and also cuts down the 18% alcohol. But don't add ice! Just chill the bottles.

I first came across this drink in Graham Greene's 'The Quiet American' where it was the daily lunchtime aperitif of the Head of the Saigon Gendarmerie.

I've never tried any of those, though I have done spritzers before. I wouldn't mind having a reasonably "light" summer drink. K doesn't drink except for the occasional beer, so I haven't been drinking as much myself. Something light and refreshing that smooths the rough edges without actually intoxicating me would be lovely.

Which of the others you mentioned would be best for me, if I wanted something light, refreshing, not *too* sweet, and not *too* intoxicating?

Incidentally, the need for summer drinks isn't as pressing as it would normally be this time of year. We're having a cool spell, down into the 30s nights and only in the lower 50s during the day. Though I'll take this over the mid-80s of the last couple weeks of April, any time!

I always like Pimms as a summer drink..haven't seen it here tho.

Another summer it was red vermouth with tonic. That might do it.

Vermouth-Cassis is sweetish but with a grown-up bitter edge. It really does work best with the addition of iced water to lighten it.

Or there's pink gin (a bit strong, though): Gin, Angostoura bitters and iced water. Preferably Plymouth gin.

I've a chicken breast, leek, mushroom onion celery and a couple of potatos to use up might do a soup but it'l have to be a 'chunky' soup as I do't haave a blender or anything

I'm going to do stuffed mushies tomorrow.

Was wondering what to stick with them..perhaps some wild rice or something.

I take some mushrooms a tray sized amount in fact, take the insides out put aside for later in a dish liberally wiped with butter.

Chop some onions finely, fry in butter gently with indecent amounts of crushed garlic and add the innards of the shrooms a few minutes later fry until golden.

Frantically remember to crumble two slices of bread before the shrooms and onions burn and add that to the mix along with some cheese about a handful - I have small hands, that I grated earlier...I hope..mix it to a sticky mush and dollop in the shroom heads and bake inna oven.

Geo is always in a good mood after these