Well, that certainly came out nice!

I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. I
made mine about even on bulgar/green.

My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. She says "a half
hour". No way! At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
and I'm using fine bulgar. Nor at one hour. To get perfectly soft
bulgar takes a couple hours at least. I think I went four, the first
time. Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? Probably does, as
the pressure at altitude is less.

After draining, I liked the texture, but the bulgar ended up totally
saturated and the added lemon juice jes shared the bowl with the
it. Perhaps she purposely stopped soaking early knowing the the
bulgar would continue to absorb liquids, so wanted to soak up the
lemon juice completely. Or perhaps she liked it al dente, with a
tough center, like not fully cooked steel cut oats. I'll be playing
with that. Still, it came out great!

I jes drained the water off a new larger batch at about 1-1/2 hrs and
doused with lemon juice. It should suck that up thoroughly and still
come out moist, yet fluffy, as it's right at or jes a hair past al
dente. I put it in fridge to set.

I'll attack hummus a bit later. Got all the fixins ready, including
my new virgin FP. I can't find grape leaves for dolmas at a decent
price, online. Even got some pita bread. No lamb. Here, lamb is
either outrageously expesive when in season or prohibitively expensive
when not in season, if available at all.

nb

notbob wrote:
> Well, that certainly came out nice!
>
> I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. I
> made mine about even on bulgar/green.
>
> My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. She says "a half
> hour". No way! At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
> and I'm using fine bulgar. Nor at one hour. To get perfectly soft
> bulgar takes a couple hours at least. I think I went four, the first
> time. Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? Probably does, as
> the pressure at altitude is less.

I always assumed she counted on the juices from the tomatoes are taken
into consideration for additional liquid. Those are added early on so
they have time to work on the grains too.

On 27 May 2011 19:46:02 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>Well, that certainly came out nice!
>
>I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. I
>made mine about even on bulgar/green.
>
>My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. She says "a half
>hour". No way! At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
>and I'm using fine bulgar. Nor at one hour. To get perfectly soft
>bulgar takes a couple hours at least. I think I went four, the first
>time. Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? Probably does, as
>the pressure at altitude is less.
>
>After draining, I liked the texture, but the bulgar ended up totally
>saturated and the added lemon juice jes shared the bowl with the
>it. Perhaps she purposely stopped soaking early knowing the the
>bulgar would continue to absorb liquids, so wanted to soak up the
>lemon juice completely. Or perhaps she liked it al dente, with a
>tough center, like not fully cooked steel cut oats. I'll be playing
>with that. Still, it came out great!
>
>I jes drained the water off a new larger batch at about 1-1/2 hrs and
>doused with lemon juice. It should suck that up thoroughly and still
>come out moist, yet fluffy, as it's right at or jes a hair past al
>dente. I put it in fridge to set.
>
>I'll attack hummus a bit later. Got all the fixins ready, including
>my new virgin FP. I can't find grape leaves for dolmas at a decent
>price, online. Even got some pita bread. No lamb. Here, lamb is
>either outrageously expesive when in season or prohibitively expensive
>when not in season, if available at all.
>
>nb
>
Did you maybe use cracked wheat instead of bulgar? Bulgar is
parboiled and should soften up easily.
Janet US

On 2011-05-28, Janet Bostwick > wrote:

> Did you maybe use cracked wheat instead of bulgar? Bulgar is
> parboiled and should soften up easily.

It said bulgar. Got it from bulk at a health food store. I'll call
and ask.

nb

On 2011-05-28, notbob > wrote:
> On 2011-05-28, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>
>> Did you maybe use cracked wheat instead of bulgar? Bulgar is
>> parboiled and should soften up easily.
>
> It said bulgar. Got it from bulk at a health food store. I'll call
> and ask.

Bingo, Janet!

Apparently, I'm getting unprocessed bulgar, or "cracked bulgar wheat".
They also said it's coarse, although I can't imagine something finer
than what I have. So, I guess that's why it takes a couple hours to
hydrate and still has the mouthfeel of brown rice. Not complaining,
mind you. I actually like it. I did see a box of tabbouli in the
mrkt, which was labeled "Ingredients: bulgar". I guess that's the
processed stuff. I didn't buy it cuz it was $2.20 fer 6 oz! If
that's what I gotta pay fer processed bulgar, I'll stick with the
bulgar wheat.

nb

On 28 May 2011 21:20:24 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2011-05-28, notbob > wrote:
>> On 2011-05-28, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>>
>>> Did you maybe use cracked wheat instead of bulgar? Bulgar is
>>> parboiled and should soften up easily.
>>
>> It said bulgar. Got it from bulk at a health food store. I'll call
>> and ask.
>
>Bingo, Janet!
>
>Apparently, I'm getting unprocessed bulgar, or "cracked bulgar wheat".
>They also said it's coarse, although I can't imagine something finer
>than what I have. So, I guess that's why it takes a couple hours to
>hydrate and still has the mouthfeel of brown rice. Not complaining,
>mind you. I actually like it. I did see a box of tabbouli in the
>mrkt, which was labeled "Ingredients: bulgar". I guess that's the
>processed stuff. I didn't buy it cuz it was $2.20 fer 6 oz! If
>that's what I gotta pay fer processed bulgar, I'll stick with the
>bulgar wheat.
>
>nb
You know why I queried that, don't you??? I did it myself the first
time I made tabouli. )))
Janet US

On 5/27/2011 3:46 PM, notbob wrote:
> Well, that certainly came out nice!
>
> I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. I
> made mine about even on bulgar/green.
>
> My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. She says "a half
> hour". No way! At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
> and I'm using fine bulgar. Nor at one hour. To get perfectly soft
> bulgar takes a couple hours at least. I think I went four, the first
> time. Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? Probably does, as
> the pressure at altitude is less.
>
> After draining, I liked the texture, but the bulgar ended up totally
> saturated and the added lemon juice jes shared the bowl with the
> it. Perhaps she purposely stopped soaking early knowing the the
> bulgar would continue to absorb liquids, so wanted to soak up the
> lemon juice completely. Or perhaps she liked it al dente, with a
> tough center, like not fully cooked steel cut oats. I'll be playing
> with that. Still, it came out great!
>
> I jes drained the water off a new larger batch at about 1-1/2 hrs and
> doused with lemon juice. It should suck that up thoroughly and still
> come out moist, yet fluffy, as it's right at or jes a hair past al
> dente. I put it in fridge to set.
>
> I'll attack hummus a bit later. Got all the fixins ready, including
> my new virgin FP. I can't find grape leaves for dolmas at a decent
> price, online. Even got some pita bread. No lamb. Here, lamb is
> either outrageously expesive when in season or prohibitively expensive
> when not in season, if available at all.
>
> nb
>
>
I made tabbouli today too. I soaked my bulgur for about 10 minutes. I
poured about 3 cups of boiling water over one cup of bulgur. I covered
the bowl with plastic. It was still just a tiny bit al dente.

I made mine a day in advance knowing it would absorb the olive oil and
other juices.

Tracy

On May 28, 7:42*pm, Tracy > wrote:
> On 5/27/2011 3:46 PM, notbob wrote:
>
> > Well, that certainly came out nice!
>
> > I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. *I
> > made mine about even on bulgar/green.
>
> > My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. *She says "a half
> > hour". *No way! *At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
> > and I'm using fine bulgar. *Nor at one hour. *To get perfectly soft
> > bulgar takes a couple hours at least. *I think I went four, the first
> > time. *Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? *Probably does, as
> > the pressure at altitude is less.
>
> > After draining, I liked the texture, but the bulgar ended up totally
> > saturated and the added lemon juice jes shared the bowl with the
> > it. *Perhaps she purposely stopped soaking early knowing the the
> > bulgar would continue to absorb liquids, so wanted to soak up the
> > lemon juice completely. *Or perhaps she liked it al dente, with a
> > tough center, like not fully cooked steel cut oats. *I'll be playing
> > with that. *Still, it came out great!
>
> > I jes drained the water off a new larger batch at about 1-1/2 hrs and
> > doused with lemon juice. *It should suck that up thoroughly and still
> > come out moist, yet fluffy, as it's right at or jes a hair past al
> > dente. *I put it in fridge to set.
>
> > I'll attack hummus a bit later. *Got all the fixins ready, including
> > my new virgin FP. *I can't find grape leaves for dolmas at a decent
> > price, online. *Even got some pita bread. *No lamb. *Here, lamb is
> > either outrageously expesive when in season or prohibitively expensive
> > when not in season, if available at all.
>
> > nb
>
> I made tabbouli today too. I soaked my bulgur for about 10 minutes. I
> poured about 3 cups of boiling water over one cup of bulgur. I covered
> the bowl with plastic. It was still just a tiny bit al dente.
>
> I made mine a day in advance knowing it would absorb the olive oil and
> other juices.
>
> Tracy

This topic got me hungry for tabouli so I made a batch today as
well. I used quinoa instead of bulgar wheat since I'm staying away
from wheat. It is in the fridge for its overnight soak. It's quite
tasty, the quinoa has a nutty flavor not unlike the wheat and a
similar texture. I cooked the quinoa and added half of the dressing
into the hot quinoa and let it cool before putting the rest of the
ingredients in and finishing it with the rest of the dressing.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88800793096626

https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88848158724034

I love the little circles that quinoa makes when it's cooked.

On Sat, 28 May 2011 21:24:46 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> wrote:

> This topic got me hungry for tabouli so I made a batch today as
> well. I used quinoa instead of bulgar wheat since I'm staying away
> from wheat. It is in the fridge for its overnight soak. It's quite
> tasty, the quinoa has a nutty flavor not unlike the wheat and a
> similar texture. I cooked the quinoa and added half of the dressing
> into the hot quinoa and let it cool before putting the rest of the
> ingredients in and finishing it with the rest of the dressing.
>
> https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88800793096626
>
> https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88848158724034
>
> I love the little circles that quinoa makes when it's cooked.

Great idea to substitute quinoa for bulgur! I'll try that this
summer, thanks.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Sat, 28 May 2011 21:24:46 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> wrote:

>On May 28, 7:42*pm, Tracy > wrote:
>> On 5/27/2011 3:46 PM, notbob wrote:
>>
>> > Well, that certainly came out nice!
>>
>> > I followed Leila's recipe, making my own adjustments to ratios. *I
>> > made mine about even on bulgar/green.
>>
>> > My only comment is about her suggested soaking time. *She says "a half
>> > hour". *No way! *At a half hour, it's still not even remotely al dente
>> > and I'm using fine bulgar. *Nor at one hour. *To get perfectly soft
>> > bulgar takes a couple hours at least. *I think I went four, the first
>> > time. *Does altitude apply to soaking times, too? *Probably does, as
>> > the pressure at altitude is less.
>>
>> > After draining, I liked the texture, but the bulgar ended up totally
>> > saturated and the added lemon juice jes shared the bowl with the
>> > it. *Perhaps she purposely stopped soaking early knowing the the
>> > bulgar would continue to absorb liquids, so wanted to soak up the
>> > lemon juice completely. *Or perhaps she liked it al dente, with a
>> > tough center, like not fully cooked steel cut oats. *I'll be playing
>> > with that. *Still, it came out great!
>>
>> > I jes drained the water off a new larger batch at about 1-1/2 hrs and
>> > doused with lemon juice. *It should suck that up thoroughly and still
>> > come out moist, yet fluffy, as it's right at or jes a hair past al
>> > dente. *I put it in fridge to set.
>>
>> > I'll attack hummus a bit later. *Got all the fixins ready, including
>> > my new virgin FP. *I can't find grape leaves for dolmas at a decent
>> > price, online. *Even got some pita bread. *No lamb. *Here, lamb is
>> > either outrageously expesive when in season or prohibitively expensive
>> > when not in season, if available at all.
>>
>> > nb
>>
>> I made tabbouli today too. I soaked my bulgur for about 10 minutes. I
>> poured about 3 cups of boiling water over one cup of bulgur. I covered
>> the bowl with plastic. It was still just a tiny bit al dente.
>>
>> I made mine a day in advance knowing it would absorb the olive oil and
>> other juices.
>>
>> Tracy
>
>This topic got me hungry for tabouli so I made a batch today as
>well. I used quinoa instead of bulgar wheat since I'm staying away
>from wheat. It is in the fridge for its overnight soak. It's quite
>tasty, the quinoa has a nutty flavor not unlike the wheat and a
>similar texture. I cooked the quinoa and added half of the dressing
>into the hot quinoa and let it cool before putting the rest of the
>ingredients in and finishing it with the rest of the dressing.
>
>https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88800793096626
>
>https://picasaweb.google.com/Sitara8...88848158724034
>
>I love the little circles that quinoa makes when it's cooked.

K. that does it. I'm making tabouli also, that looks sooooo good.

koko
--
Food is our common ground, a universal experience
James Beard

www.kokoscornerblog.com

Natural Watkins Spices
www.apinchofspices.com