Fresh Tart

Routine, Routine, wherefore art thou Routine?  Man, if you're stuck in a rut and need to shake things up a bit, may I suggest a household bout with the flu, close on the heels of acquiring a new puppy?  Actually, you probably already know these tricks - at the least the flu part - given how many of my son's classmates have also been down for the count.  None of us have felt great for almost three weeks now, with strange appetites and extreme tiredness.  The result?  (My definition of) moderation - cooking and eating relatively healthy food as well as accomplishing some form exercise most days of the week - has been chased right out the window.  (Not a shocker given my sparse postings here...ahem...)   Suffice it to say, we've eaten more take-out and Amy's Organics bean-n-rice burritos in the last few weeks than I'd like to admit.  Hopefully, we've turned a corner and are on our way back to fighting form.

And a normal routine!

I realize that I should follow that intro with an interesting, healthy recipe, an example of how to jump back in.  But I got nothin'.  The dinner plan for tonight is what we often have on Wild Wednesday nights, given limited time and wildly varying tastes (on Wild Wednesdays both kids have religious school, I take care of my three-year old nephew Cooper, and he and my sister Stacey join us for dinner).  Pasta, baby, make-your-own pasta.  I vary the shape (I'm currently digging a Whole Foods' brand of conchiglie/shells).  And the texture and spiciness of the quick tomato sauce (smooth and thin, chunky and thick, sometimes with a little cream stirred in).  And the add-in vegetables (tonight will be sauteed Swiss chard, other nights a pan of zucchini and mushrooms, or garlicky broccoli, or thinly sliced fennel and onions...).  And the protein source (pulled apart rotisserie chicken, simple ground beef, I've even set out strips of frittata, or spicy beans, or sauteed tofu, although those are less popular options).  You get the picture.  It's a relatively easy way to put a fast, nutritious dinner on the table; plus, if you go easy on the pasta, and load up on the veggies and lean protein, you can even call it "moderate."

Right now, that's the best I can do.

I posted a couple of months ago about chicken marbella, the classic Silver Palate cookbook recipe that my stepmom Susanna pulled out while we were visiting in Montana.  Man, I had completely forgotten about chicken marbella - chicken (thighs) marinated in and roasted with garlic, oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, and capers.  It takes oh, about 10 minutes to put together (the night before), and an hour or so to roast, and results in a beautiful casserole of crusty-silky chicken, a little sweet, a lotta garlicky, salty and fragrant and just damn good.

Looking up and posting the recipe got me paging through other Silver Palate recipes, fondly remembering past dinner parties I'd opened with tasties like sesame, ham and cheese bites, cheese straws, gougere, salmon mousse, phyllo triangles, or new potatoes with black caviar.  I'm such a sucker for food reminiscing, sigh.  Turns out, I'd really missed my old pal.

So when I offered to make a birthday dinner for Kim (aka The Maven of Mischief), I immediately grabbed the Silver Palate cookbook - having Kim & Suz over was the perfect reason to put together a retro-90s menu (yes, sigh, the 90s are retro).  I settled on a cold, steamed artichoke with tapenade dipping sauce, and hot, cheesy gougere (with a handful of minced, fresh herbs thrown in) to nosh with sips of champagne.  For our main course we had chicken marbella (but of course), with nothing but rice alongside.  To finish, we had lime mousse and strong coffee, in front of the fireplace, with a huge helping of chat.  All in all, a great night.

This afternoon, John and I attended The Tasting Panel Magazine's 3rd annual Tasting Panel Tour featuring the Double Gold Winners of the San Francisco International Wine Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  Hosted at The W Hotel by cool dudes Anthony (Andy) Dias Blue (who we know through our friends Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa), and David Mahoney (who we know through our friends Steve & Jen Katz), we had a great time tasting wines and meeting more cool dudes like Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (yay! big fan!) and Mollie Windmiller, and having post-tasting drinks with Ana & Rudy, Andy & David, Mollie, and Ralph Bashoum.  Bonus - it was nice to be home from a "night out" by 7:30 p.m.

It's officially cold, wet, and dark, pretty much all of the time.  My summer annuals are ugly withered sticks, mocking me for my fall clean-up procrastination.  The trees are turning - brown, not fall colors - the leaves falling in soggy, mushy clumps.  The flu is even working it's way through our home.  All a bit much for October, right, but there it is.  So imagine my delight in discovering that for some reason, my pots of parsley, chives, and mint are still going strong, despite being covered in snow a couple of times already, despite being tucked amongst pots of dead oregano, petunias, and tomatoes.  When I glimpsed that lovely, lush pot of parsley I thought...tabouli salad!  One of my favorites, which I don't think I made even once this summer, what a nice little post-summer treat.

Traditional tabouli is mostly chopped parsley with a small amount of bulgur, but I like mine a little grainier.  The key, for me, is for the bulgur to be squeezed of excess moisture - watery tabouli is unfortunately common and, well, smushy and yucky.  Kinda like those brown leaves...  I use one cup of (raw) bulgur to three cups of chopped herbs (mostly parsley, but also chives and mint).  Add lemon and olive oil, tomatoes and other raw veggies (peppers, mushrooms, cucumber, etc.), salt and pepper, and tabouli salad you will have (a little nod to Yoda there, sorry).

Tabouli Salad

Serves 4

1 cup bulgur

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (usually juice of one lemon)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions or chives

1/2 cup minced fresh mint

1 tomato, seeded, chopped

salt ground black pepper to taste

optional additions:

seeded, chopped cucumber

crumbled feta cheese

cooked chicken

cooked chickpeas

toasted pine nuts

raisins or currants

thinly sliced mushrooms

thinly sliced red or green pepper

Put bulgur and salt in a medium bowl. Bring water and lemon juice to a boil, pour over the bulgur, and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed. Using your hands, squeeze any excess water from bulgur, transferring it to a dry bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve at room temp or chilled.