Extra Schmaltz!

 There's a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin called Mediterranean Cafe. They have a combination of a small fixed menu (falafel, shawarma) and daily specials. My absolute favorite daily special was their Chicken Apricot Pie: a delicious casserole-square of creamy bechamel, sweet-tart apricot something, chicken and bulgur, served with yellow rice and a salad. The best part of the cafe is that everything is hot and pre-made, so you often would get your food before you found your table.  I've wanted to re-create this dish for years, but I've been going basically off of decades-old memories and vibes. I've had a Word doc (pre-Google docs ubiquity) going with multiple versions of it. The biggest breakthrough I had was stalking their Yelp page to find pictures of the dish, which helped me realize that it doesn't have a crust, it just has bulgur to soak up excess liquid.  The dish has a few parts: You're mixing cooked chicken with s...

This meal is hearty, chock-full-of-nutrients, and fairly quick. The meat recipe is one I picked up along the way and the bulghur recipe is from the Almost Turkish blog. The yogurt sauce on the side is optional but it adds a nice balance to the meat. If you want to make the recipes separately, the meat sauce can be served over rice or macaroni, and the bulghur would make a nice side to any meat dish. Feel free to get creative with spices on the meat sauce--I used a seasoning mix from Morocco last time I made it. Afghani Meat Sauce 1 1/2 lb. ground lamb or beef 1 medium onion, diced 3 Tbsp. tomato paste 1/2-3/4 c. hot water 2 tsp. salt, or to taste 1 Tbsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. black pepper 1 pinch red pepper flakes 1 clove garlic, crushed oil for cooking If you have a pressure cooker, use it to cook the meat. If not, a regular frying pan with a lid will work. Heat a little oil in the pan and add the meat. Break it up thoroughly while browning. Cook until excess moisture is gone. Add t...

Kibbeh is a combination of ground lamb and bulghur*, and is eaten throughout the Levant. It can be prepared in countless ways, from raw to deep fried. Here's my version of a baked style, made into a hotdish with potatoes and tomatoes. I have changed and refined this recipe, and it's very similar to Alex's kufta hotdish, the main difference being that this one contains bulgur. Both versions are delicious! Here's what you'll need: 1 lb. ground lamb 3/4 c. bulghur 1 small onion 1/3 c. chopped parsley + extra for garnish 1 medium russet potato, peeled and sliced very thin (1/8") 1-2 tomatoes, sliced thin 3 cloves garlic, crushed 2 Tbsp. salt 2 tsp. black pepper 1/2 tsp. allspice 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. cayenne 1 pinch cinnamon pine nuts for garnish (optional) Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a large, flat-bottomed baking dish or cast iron pan. Place the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pan and place the pan in the oven while preparing the other ingredi...

Delicious, easy, soothing, simple. What more could you ask for in a recipe? This is based on the one featured in the Almost Turkish Blog I linked to in the sidebar. I wasn't feeling well and wanted something nourishing but simple. The mint in the recipe is soothing on the tummy and the bulghur and lentils combine to make digestible protein. 1 onion, minced 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 tsp. red pepper flakes 1/2 c. red lentils (green or brown OK too) 1/2 c. bulghur 2 Tbsp. flour 2 Tbsp. tomato or red pepper paste 6 c. broth 3 tsp. dried mint flakes 2 tsp. dried thyme half-sharp paprika or red pepper flakes to garnish s & p 2 Tbsp. butter In a nice soup pot, saute the onions in the olive oil until they are almost translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute. Add the flour and stir well so that the onion is coated and the flour is distributed. Add the tomato or red pepper paste and stir so that the onions are coated and there are no paste globs remaining. Add the lentils, bul...