The Bulgar Bugle

Anyone of a culture that derives from the American South knows the absolute importance of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.  Here’s an easy and very tasty way to start the New Year out right that is a bulgarish twist on the traditional “Hoppin’ John recipe.

Before you go out to party on New Year’s Eve, take out your crock pot, and fill it with:

• 1 lb dried black-eyed peas
• 1 cup uncooked bulgar
• Ham bone or chunks of ham or a hamhock or two or some bacon and/or enough broth or stock to fill the pot
• Seasonings to taste — I always add sauteed garlic and onions and my infamous Habanero sauce.

Turn the crockpot on low, cover, and leave it on overnight.  In the morning you wil have wonderfully seasoned, tender, black-eyed peas and bulgar.  If you have some frozen cooked greens in your freezer, heat them up and stir them in with the cooked peas and bulgar and you will double your abundance in 2009, since greens are another Southern tradition for New Year’s eatin’.

This possibly could be the ultimate comfort food for a cold winter night.

• 1-1/2 cups cooked salad bulgar (bulgar that has been cooked in fruit juice),
• 2 cups milk, divided 1-1/2 cups, and 1/2 cup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2/3 cup dried fruit (I used raisins and cranberries, if you use a larger fruit like apricots, chop into small pieces)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla exrtact
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Put the cooked bulgar in a saucepan with 1-1/2 cups milk.  Add the dried fruit and honey.  Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.  The fruit will plump and the mixture will become a bit creamy.  In a cup or bowl, beat the eggs with 1/2 cup milk.  Add to the rest of the ingredients, stir well.  Heat until it starts to bubble, then for 2-3 more minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, add the butter, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Serve hot or cold.

I pulled the ingredients for this soup out of my freezer and pantry and it has simmered to the point delectibility.

• 1 pint beef broth
• 1 pintcabbage broth
• 1 pint bean soup
• 1 quart package of cooked stew meat (left-over from the last stock-making day)
• 1 cup bulgar
• 1 can rotel
• 2 cans diced tomatoes

I add the frozen ingredients to the pot while still frozen, poured in the rotel and diced tomatoes, and turned the burner on low.  I added some garlic and onion powder.  A couple of hours later. . . Voila, cheap, easy, nutritious, and oh-so-tasty soup.

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.