Mujudarra: Rice and Lentils

There is nothing "pretty" or food porny about Mujudarra, a Middle Eastern rice and lentil dish, but I do hope you'll try it anyway.

I've read numerous posts claiming it be one of the easiest, least expensive, common, humble and yet greatest side dishes ever, and you know what? That's not too far off the mark. I can't find anything negative to say about Mujudarra except that it's the ugly stepsister to a beautiful rice pilaf or cous cous dish. It doesn't make for a pretty presentation.

My version was so simple and fast because I took advantage of some staples from Trader Joe's which I'm never without: Frozen rice and Steamed Lentils. Those bags of frozen or jasmine rice are quite convenient, and while cooking lentils is not difficult, I really enjoy the lentils which are vacuum packaged after being steamed, fully cooked, imported from France. Delicious, and a fast protein source.

You will likely read the list of ingredients and wonder what all the fuss is about. I certainly did, but I'm telling you, all the bloggers are right: This dish is really perfect just as written. There is something wonderful which happens to these humble ingredients when you cook them together.

MUJUDARRA

1 large onion (your favorite type)

2 cups of cooked rice (your favorite type)

2 cups of cooked lentils (your favorite type)

Olive Oil

Chicken or Vegetable Stock

Salt and Pepper

Plain Yogurt (optional)

Coat a very deep skillet with a good amount of olive oil. Thinly slice an onion and add to the oil, slowly sweating and caramelizing until it is very soft, and fully browned. Don't rush this step -- the darker and softer it is, the sweeter it will be -- a key component to this dish. To the oily skillet, add 2 cups of cooked lentils and stir together. Add 2 cups of rice and stir together very gently. Add salt and pepper to taste throughout the process. When thoroughly combined, slowly add chicken or vegetable stock (approx 1/4 to 1/2 cup) until the dish is moistened, but not soupy. Heat the dish through. Serve the mujudarra with a dollop of yogurt, which is traditional.

Notes: I used 1 package of Trader Joe's frozen Jasmin rice, and added it to the warm onions and lentils, stirring just until it was no longer frozen, and then added the stock. For the lentils, I used 1 package of Trader Joe's fully cooked imported French Steamed Lentils. The first night I tried it, I skipped the dollop of yogurt because I forgot about it, but I was so taken with just easting this warm and comforting side dish, that I didn't miss it. A few nights later when I was having leftovers, I remembered the yogurt and tried a dollop of Greek Yogurt. It does add a nice tangy sour cream quality, but I found it just as good without. I also thought it was just as good cold as hot, and as good on day 3 as day 1. I'll make this again, absolutely.

I've seen variations on the spelling of this dish, and even some calling for wheat bulgar instead of rice. This is an excellent side dish, and I hope you'll try it in this traditional method first, and then go search for the types with all sorts of add-ins (proteins, nuts, berries) which are probably very good as well.

Here are some related posts:

The post which got me thinking I had to make this dish:

I take it back about not being pretty. Desert Candy makes her look much nicer:

http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2009/08/mujadara.html

A version by Orangette, where she cooks the lentils and rice from scratch if you want to go that route:

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/03/into-pantry.html

Another version which suggests Mark Bittman has done it before, too!

http://www.shecookshebakes.com/2008/06/dinner-mujadara.html

My favorite salad ever: Austrian Lentil Salad

I first tasted a version of this salad in 1990, when my boss's wife, who is from Vienna, Austria, brought a large container of her version to my wedding reception, because she said it's a traditional salad to serve at weddings and promises fertility.

She was pouting when no one ate the salad. I thought "What did she expect, she brought Lentils to my wedding reception!"

Fast forward nearly 20 years, and I had a chance to eat her salad again, and my tastes have matured to the point where I thought it was incredibly tasty. I became an instant convert. I updated and significantly improved upon her recipe (she only used 4 ingredients -- lentils boiled with bay leaf, a simple herbal mustard vinaigrette, and minced onion), and now, I am never without a container of this salad in my fridge. I make it every Sunday, and it lasts all week, holds up extremely well in lunches, and fortunately, did not make me fertile, which is a very good thing, because her recipe lasted longer than the marriage.

I don't know what makes a lentil dish "Austrian" but she claims it was a childhood dish she had many times in Vienna. My version is not likely Austrian, but is certainly inspired by hers.  I use Trader Joe's ingredients primarily, which included steamed and cooked lentils, but you can easily cook your own lentils and proceed with those after you've done so.

AUSTRIAN LENTIL SALAD

Base Salad

1 package of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils (from the refrigerated section)

1 package of Trader Joe's Beluga Lentils (from the pasta section)

1/2 very finely diced red or white onion -or- 1 shaved shallot (shown in this version)

1-2 very finely chopped carrots

Snipped Italian Parsley

The zest of one lemon (use all the juice, below)

Zest an entire lemon into a large bowl. Add both packages of lentils, the diced carrots and onions, and the parsley. Toss all ingredients thoroughly and set aside.

Dressing

The basic dressing is a lemon vinaigrette, but you should feel free to use your favorite oil & vinegar dressing, being certain to add the mucho lemon zest and lemon juice to it, to create the unique flavor. Here is my tried and true method:

1/2 cup of Trader Joe's Olive Oil

1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Seasoned Rice Vinegar (sometimes I use a bit of rice vinegar, and a bit of cider vinegar, when I want it tarter)

1 dollop of TJ's Dijon Mustard

The juice of 1 whole lemon

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all in a blender cup to emulsify, and pour over the lentil salad. Toss thoroughly, adjust seasonings to taste, and serve chilled. This salad requires no cooking (unless you've cooked your own lentils) keeps in the fridge all week, and makes a wonderful, healthy, high protein, high fiber very satisfying lunch.

In fact, I'd never once thought I'd say this about a salad, especially one with lentils, but I'll stand in front of my open fridge door at night and eat this salad right from the container, with a spoon. If I worked at a TJ's, I would make this easy dish and demonstrate it, to convert people to the wonder of lemony lentils as a salad.

Personal note to my sister, Weezie: Aren't you proud of me?! I finally figured out a use for my obsessive acquisition of vinegar and oil even though I've always hated oil & vinegar dressing!

Leek and Carrot Mashed Potatoes with Pot Roast on the Side

The simple supper above, Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes, and caramelized Leeks and Carrots, has spawned the best potatoes, EVER. What you see above was night one: I had a small knob of pot roast, cooked, to defrost and eat for supper, and a frozen bowl of leftover mashed potatoes. Perfect comfort food for a cold and foggy night. Brrr. I quickly heated the pot roast and potatoes, but I wanted the traditional veggies with it. I quickly shaved a carrot and a pre-trimmed and cleaned leek with a handheld mini mandolin (a $1.00 gadget from Daiso Yen Store in San Francisco -- the most beloved tool in my kitchen) into paper thin pieces, and roasted them with garlic butter in order to serve them along side my supper.

As I began eating, I quickly gobbled up the roasted veggies and ignored the pot roast. They were crispy and delicious. On top of the potatoes, they were sublime. This gave me the idea to recreate the specialty mashed potatoes -- Mashers with Leeks and Carrots -- the next night.

On night TWO, below, I mixed it up and the pot roast became completely secondary.

It was Potato Night! They were, in a word, spectacular. That's why it became "pot roast on the side" because by then, roast-schmoast. Pass the potatoes!

Using my mandolin, I shaved one leek and one carrot, paper thin, and sprinkled with seasonings, a knob of garlic butter, and a splash of olive oil.

I roasted the veggies at high temp until they were golden brown, black in some parts, and the leeks were crispy.

I heated and stirred my mashed potatoes until they were creamy and warm, and then gently folded in the veggies, mixing, but not beating or being too harsh, because I didn't want the veggies to break up. I wanted them to nestle inside the potatoes. And, just because I used butter and oil on the veggies, is no reason not to add more butter on top of the finished product. Whatyoutalk? Above, a macro shot of the best potatoes on the planet. I mean it. Serious, SmackDown Good.

Another shot, just because.

And another shot, with thyme, just because. Because it's so damn good. Make some and call them Kate's Potatoes. You'll thank me.

Fries? We don't need no stinkin' fries

We've got SALT POTATOES instead. Or, Syracuse Style Salt Potatoes, if you're from New York environs.

I first saw a recipe for salt potatoes, a sort of Tapa, in an IKEA 365 cookbook, of all things, while shopping for a cast iron dutch oven, needed so I could make the much ballyhoo'd Bittman No Knead Bread. Which I never made, incidentally.

Anyway, they seemed simple enough, and how can one go wrong with salt, potatoes, and butter? One can't, I'll tell you what (that's said in my best Hank Hill voice).

After I first made them and posted about them on Flickr, a friend of mine from the East told me this is very common fair in New York and platters of them are sold at fairs and festivals, called Syracuse Salt Potatoes. Indeed, there is a Wiki page for it, so no further investigation is required.

Step 1:
Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil, and I do mean heavily salted. This is about a 3 quart pan and I added at least 2 cups of Kosher Salt to it. Add small red potatoes which have been scrubbed, but not pierced or cut. After this stellar shot for those who do not know what boiling water looks like, I remembered I had a small bag of Russian Fingerlings going dodgy, so I added those as well and thew in more water and salt.


Step 2:
Boil those pupplies at a rapid boil for about 15 minutes. Resist the urge to pierce. You don't want them breaking or absorbing too much salt.

Step 3:
Boiling is done. Check for tenderness. They are done when the largest potato is fork tender. You'll have to eat that one for the good of the batch. Also, when the water level drops and the tops of some of the spuds peak out, you'll notice as soon as they hit the air, they begin to turn a little white. That's good. See how as soon as I take one out of the water, it turns white? That's the fine mist of salt clinging to it. That's good.

Step 4:
Drain the spuds thouroughly and allow to dry. The original recipe called for baking them at a high heat for another 10 minutes to throughly dry, and I did it the first time, but not thereafter. It's a non-essential step unless you want a crispier exterior. I think they are fine as is.

Step 5:
Melt some butter for dipping. The sprinkled thyme is my idea (those are the little dark clumps which have already sunk to the bottom of the butter). I love thyme on just about everything and I grow it in abundance, so in it goes. Dip the hot, salty potatoes in the melted butter. Comfort food at its finest, and, no deep fat frying required. Of course you ARE eating melted butter, so it's not exactly low cal, but just few will sate you.

How salty are they? No more salty than your standard order of french fries. By not piercing the skins, only the exterior is coated in salt water, and the white film is thin, thin thin. You're not going to get salt on your hands or anything. In fact, I think a slice of bacon is saltier than these potatoes. Your pan, stove, and lid WILL be white with salt, however. It gets everywhere.

Enjoy.

Prosciutto Spiral Focaccia

What I've made is a simple spiral focaccia to serve in place of sandiwch, along side soup. It's more than bread, less than a sandwich, although you'll find it rich enough to get by with one piece.

It doesn't escape my attention that this "cheater's focaccia" is something the love-to-hate Sandra Lee would make, but I rest more easily knowing she'd probably use Carl Buddig ham or bologna, and dried herbs from the .98 cent store, instead of proscuitto and fresh herbs.

With this version, I've used prosciutto and herbs, however, it's very easy to customize this recipe. Olives and Parmesan would be wonderful, herbs and cheese would be wonderful. I've even seen it with bacon and cheddar cheese (too fatty for my tastes), and pepperoni for a "pizza spiral."

Let's assemble the ingredients. Chopped fresh herbs of your choice (here I have diced thyme, scallion, sage, and parsley), an egg, a bit of butter, several slices of prosciutto, and a tube of ready-to-bake dough breadsticks. I've used Pillsbury Low Fat (don't worry, we'll fix that) Breadsticks.



Seperate the breadsticks and flatten each one slightly, so that you may spread ingredients on each piece. It isn't necessary to saute the herbs, but that is my preference. You could just sprinkle the herbs on the dough, but I melted a small amount (perhaps a tablespoon) of butter and quickly heated the herbs to release their flavors. I spread the herb butter on each breadstick.


Seperate the thin layers of prosciutto and tear into long shreds, laying a narrow piece on each breadstick. Complete coverage isn't necessary -- it's salty and flavorful, so a little goes a long way.

Coil up one breadstick, and place it in the center of a lightly buttered pie tin. Leave the tail of that piece exposed slightly, as you'll be continuing the coil. Take the second piece, and press the end very firmly into the first end of the coil, and begin to wrap that piece, as well.

As you coil each piece, it will begin to look like a large rose. It's important to make sure the ends are pinched together tightly as you affix each new piece, but, do not wrap them tightly. You want them to expand and cook fully throughout.

When the spiral is complete, use the rest of any herb butter, and brush over the top. Now, beat the egg and brush beaten egg over the top, as well. Be generous with the egg, you want it to dribble into any nooks and crannies to help seal the spiral.

Bake the spiral at 375 for approximately 20-25 minutes, until well-browned. Let cool a bit before slicing into wedges, and serve. Be sure to expand this last photo ... it's really sexy up close.

You know what I'm thinking? You could make one mondo cinnamon roll with this. Make your favorite filling, roll it up, glaze it with cream cheese frosting, and serve this extra large roll at the table. For bakers who are yeast whisperers and not afraid of making their own dough, you could also make your dough and roll it spiral style, for homemade focaccia in a new style. Hmmmm. The variations are endless.

P.S. Guess who's boyfriend bought her a new digital camera? He's such a keeper. No more cell phone blogging!

Copycat: Urban Fries

One of the popular side items at Jack's Urban Eats in Sacramento, California, are "Urban Fries." Essentially, they are nothing more than Buffalo Fries, with fries standing in for the missing chicken wings. They are insanely good -- and I don't like Buffalo Wings in any way, shape or form.

I made lunch for the BF this weekend and he wanted some crispy fries. The urban fries are not terribly complex and I had all the ingredients on hand, so I whipped up a copycat batch. Frankly, I think mine are better. First, because I've recently become addicted to Penzey's spice blends and I added a bit to the dish, and second, because I served the sauce on the SIDE, whereas, Jack's serves it doused over the fries. They get soft and cold very quickly that way. Mine stayed hot and crisp.



Method:

Bake a batch of your favorite crispy french fries. Shake a modest amount of Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle (it's basically garlic and herb salt) over them, and sprinkle with parsley. On the side (or over the top if you prefer), serve a dish of bleu cheese dressing which has been sprinkled with hot wing sauce and hot chili oil.

Verdict: Tasty as all get-out
Skill: None, but I should get credit for always having fresh parsley on hand
Repeat: You betcha, but I'll crumble some bleu cheese over it next time, because this isn't nearly calorie-dense as it should be.