The Bulgar Bugle

Turkey - potato - carrot - onion - cabbage — bulgar - whole wheat

So I took a cup of whole wheat flour, added a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, then 3/4 cup of yesterday’s soup (it was a thick, not a thin soup), plus 1/4 cup yogurt. 1 egg, and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  I heated up the deep fryer (bought for $2 at a garage sale) and dropped the mixture by spoonfuls into the batter and fried them until they were done.  Very tasty, kind of like a hush puppie.

Since the first batch was a success, I added some diced turkey (a farmer gave me a turkey recently, which I cooked last week).  Voila!  Turkey - potato - carrot - onion - cabbage — bulgar - whole wheat fritters!  If you fix these, people will write home to your mother and thank her for raising such a wonderful person.

The consistency of the batter, by the way, is thicker than a thick pancake batter, but it is not like a biscuit dough. 

I suppose if I added more yogurt, and made a runny batter, it would make “turkey - potato - carrot - onion - cabbage — bulgar - whole wheat” funnel cakes, but that will be an experiment for another evening.

It’s been a cold and damp day.  I helped deliver food parcels at 5 public housing locations today.  Got home tonight, no particular plans for supper.  It’s a Friday in Lent, so let’s see what I have.  Potatoes, carrots, cabbage. . . and bulgar of course.  So I shredded two carrots and chopped half an onion, and put them in the electric skillet with a dab of olive oil.  I put some water on to boil, added 1 cup bulgar, 4 finely chopped potatoes (unpeeled), and about half a head of finely chopped cabbage.  About then the onions and carrots were done, so I put them in along with some black pepper and garlic powder and once it was boiling, I turned it down to a slow simmer and read email and worked on the delivery lists for Saturday’s food deliveries to the poor.  After about an hour,  I checked the soup, it seemed ready, so I took the mixer and blended it up a bit, added some milk and shredded cheese, warmed it back up, and had a very satisfying and simple evening meal with some rye bread toast.

I’m thinking that Saturday the leftovers will make a nice sauce for a casserole.  The bulgar added a very tasty texture to the soup.

I already have a bulgar and brisket recipe here, but this is another variation on the theme.

• 3 cups uncooked bulgar
• 3 cups beef stock
• 3 cups water
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• chopped mushrooms
• left over brisket, chopped in chunks
• Small can of tomato sauce

Put the onion, mushroom, caraway and cumin seeds in a skillet in 2 tablespoons of olive, saute until the onions are starting to clear, then add the uncooked bulgar.  Continue to cook until the bulgar has started to change color (a little darker) and it smells a bit like roasted nuts. Put the stock and water into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Put the bulgar/onion/mushroom mixture into a baking pan, add the chunked brisket and the boiling hot broth.  Add a small can of tomato sauce.  Cook in a 350 oven for 30-45 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.  Voila, bulgar and brisket!

This is a great tasting and nutritious dessert that is based on a traditional baked rice and custard pudding.  Use “Salad Bulgar” — which is bulgar that has been cooked in fruit juice (like orange or apple juice instead of a meat or vegetable stock).

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 c. milk
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 c. cooked bulgar
• 1/2 c. raisins (dried cranberries are nice too)

Combine all ingredients.  Pour into a 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Set this baking dish in a larger pan of water in the oven. Bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour. After first 30 minutes, insert spoon at edge of pudding and stir from bottom. Bake until knife inserted near center of pudding comes out clean. Don’t overbake, the over-baked custard yields a bit of water when spooned into a serving dish.  Serve hot, warm or cold. Serves about 6 to 8.

First the terminology.  Stuffing is what you get when you stuff stuffing ingredients inside the bird.  That’s never been a tradition in my family, and some recommend strongly against it.  Dressing is the same type of dish as stuffing, only cooked separately from the bird as a side-dish.  That’s what this recipe is about.

Ingredients

• 9-10 slices of dry whole wheat bread, cubed.
• 2 cups of leftover bulgar (I used 2 cups of left-over cream of broccoli/bulgar soup that I made.
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Finely chopped fresh sage and some thyme, to your personal taste.
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 2 cups stock

Saute the onions and celery, and for the last minute or so, add the fresh herbs (or dried herbs if you don’t have fresh growing in your yard).  In a bowl, combine the cooked veggies with the bread cubes, left-over bulgar, and eggs.  Add 2 cups stock.  I used juices from the turkey and a bit of broth from simmering the turkey’s neck, giblets, heart, and liver.  Bake for one-half hour at 350 degrees.

I made a great chili today –

• 1 lb grassfed ground beef
• 1 lb local ground pork
• 4 cups beans (soaked overnight in water)
• 4 small cans tomato sauce (8 ounce cans)
• 1 cup uncooked bulgar
• Chopped garlic, onions
• Cumin, chili powder, cayenne, plus 1 tablespoon of Bob’s Hotter Than Hades Habanero Sauce

I browned the pork and ground beef with the garlic and onions, added the spices and poured it into a large crockpot.  Then I added the bulgar, beans, tomato sauce, and filled it the rest of the way with water.  I turned it on high for the first hour, then down to low. . . 8 hours later, hotter than hades chili with bulgar.

Bulgar is turning out to be a great meat extender.  I could probably have made this with one pound (or less) of meat and doubled the uncooked bulgar.

Preview of Tomorrow’s Attraction — cream of bulgar with Bob’s Hotter than Hades Habanero Sauce.  I can’t believe I haven’t tried this yet!  Plus hmmm. . . a dash of honey and of course yogurt. That’s a breakfast that will break a sweat and stick to your ribs.

This recipe is ONE MORE REASON why you should ALWAYS make extra bulgar!

• 4 cups cooked, mashed winter squash,
• 2 cups left-over bulgar pilaf (for this recipe, I used some left-over bulgar pilaf with cooked greens,
• 2 cups very dry bread crumbs
• 4 cups thin gravy (whatever kind you have handy or can make, it will thicken while cooking)

Put half of the cooked squash in the bottom of the casserole pan, layer half of the cooked bulgar, bread crumbs, and gravy.  Then put on the rest of the cooked squash, and top with the rest of the bulgar and bread crumbs, and last of all, pour the rest of the gravy on top.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes (if the gravy was hot when you poured it on), 45 minutes (if you are using cold, leftover gravy).  With cold left-over gravy, you should probably add a cup of broth or water to thin it.

There I was, coming home late, no plans for dinner, no energy for big cooking (I know, it’s a shocking thought, but this happens even to me).  Fortunately, there in the chest refrigerator was some left-over bulgar pilaf, and some left-over brisket, and some left-over yellow squash.  Wow, it was like finding gold.

So I chopped the brisket quickly, put it in the electric skillet with the left-over bulgar and yellow squash, added about 1/2 cup water, warmed it on medium heat, and voila, dinner in less than 5 minutes.  Very good and nutritious dinner too. 

There are three important lessons here:

+ Always make extra bulgar.

+ Always make extra brisket.

+ Always make extra squash.

If only true love were so simple.

Do you maybe have a finicky eater in your household, who looks at bulgar with suspicion and disdain as a “new food”?

Try mixing uncooked rice and uncooked bulgar in equal parts.  Cook it like a pilaf, with 2 cups rich and seasoned broth per cup of uncooked grain.

This is a great way to introduce bulgar to people who are habitually suspicious of “new foods”.

How American is this? We had frozen home-made “TV dinners” tonight, which included bulgar pilaf. There was a bottle of ketchup sitting on the counter, and I thought, “Why not?” So I dashed a good portion of ketchup onto the pilaf, mixed it in, and it was very good.