1. I don't stock a lot of products in our small kitchen, but, all the same, it's good to do an inventory on occasion and that's just what I did today along with vacuuming the round shelves that rotate. I found rice I didn't know I had; I found other grains I will build some meals around; I have a better sense of what spices I want to purchase.
2. Kibbeh is a popular dish of the Levant region of Western Asia, that is, countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Traditionally, kibbeh is a meat dish consisting of bulgur, ground lamb, lean beef, goat, or camel, minced onion, and spices. Kibbeh can be baked in a pan or made into balls or patties and cooked in various ways. I decided to try a baked kibbeh recipe from the cookbook Carol gave me, Salma Hage's The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook. I boiled four potatoes, combined them with a can of garbanzo beans and some olive oil and mashed them. Into this mixture, I added two grated zucchinis and added a cup of flour. I soaked bulgur in cold water for about 10-12 minutes and folded it into the mix along with chopped parsley and cilantro. I greased a baking dish and spread the mixture in it and baked it for an hour at 350 degrees.
I looked at some more traditional kibbeh recipes, ones with ground meat and minced onions, and, having made the vegetarian alternative, I wonder why Hage's recipe didn't call for onion or possibly garlic. I also wonder it didn't call for spices, thinking, hmmm, maybe cinnamon or allspice or cloves just wouldn't pair well with zucchini. My creation is bland. I also needed to either soak the bulgur longer or possibly boil and cook it. The bulgur grains are not as soft as I'd like them.
I'm going to make some hummus soon. Today, I made a small batch of tahini and all I need to do is combine the tahini with garbanzo beans, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in the food processor. I'm wondering if my bland zucchini kibbeh might taste better with a layer of hummus on top of it. I also plan on warming up a chunk of my kibbeh, frying an egg, and putting it on top. In my imagination, at least, this vegetarian kebbeh would taste good with a fried egg plopped on it.
So, one day I'll probably make this again with some changes and, on another day, I'll make a more traditional kibbeh (there are tons of recipes online). My guess is that kibbeh with meat and onion and cinnamon, allspice, or cloves will be really good.
3. I finished Lucy Cooke's chapter on penguins this evening. I had no idea that penguins were so sexually versatile, even indiscriminate. Now I know.
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