Bulgur (or Barley) and Mixed Mushrooms with Zhoug

 

This combination of earthy mushrooms and chewy bulgur makes a tasty vegetarian meal or a flavorful side dish for meat-lovers. The mix of mushrooms adds nice depth of flavor, but what really makes the dish sing is the zhoug. I gave you the recipe for that two weeks ago, and you can find it here. Zhoug is like a zesty pesto made with cilantro, so if you’re cilantro-averse, regular pesto will be a good substitute. 

When I took the pictures, I forgot to get one of the finished dish before we gobbled it up. So now, if you look closely at the serving on the plate, you’ll see barley in place of the bulgur, and you won’t see the oyster mushrooms that appear in the ingredients picture. When we made the dish the second time, so that I could snap a photo of a serving on a plate, we’d run out of bulgur and also had to substitute white button mushrooms for the oyster mushrooms. Everything tasted just as good, though, and that experience proved the versatility of the dish.

Bulgur and Mixed Mushrooms with Zhoug

(adapted from The World in a Skillet by Christopher Kimball)

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 pound mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, and shitake, thinly sliced (If using shitakes, remove and discard the stems. They’re woody and tough and won’t soften with cooking.)

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup coarse bulgur (Barley is a good substitute for coarse bulgur, although you’ll have to adjust the liquid and cooking time accordingly.)

2 cups water

Zhoug

  

Directions

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Stir occasionally until onion is golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. 

Add to the skillet, remaining tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and salt. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until liquid released from mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms are browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to bowl with onions.

 

Add bulgur to the skilled and toast over medium, stirring often, for about 1 minute. Add the 2 cups water and bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Reduce to low, cover, and cook undisturbed until water has been absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

 

Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the bulgur with a fork, then stir in the onions and mushrooms and about 3 tablespoons zhoug. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve with remaining zhoug on the side.

 

  

Here's something we discovered on Thanksgiving - a dollop of zhoug on a deviled egg is astoundingly delicious! 

Zhoug is a beautiful green, too, like the green cover of Argyles and Arsenic, book 5 in my Highland Bookshop Mystery series.

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

 

Zhoug – A Lively Sauce from @MysteryMacRae #Thanksgiving #giveaway

 

Zhoug (pronounced zoo-g) is a recipe that makes me thankful for taste buds. Similar to pesto, zhoug is a middle-eastern sauce made with cilantro, olive oil, and large amounts of lovely, zingy seasonings. It's a fabulous addition dolloped in soups or on any dish you want to brighten up. We’ve had it in the red lentil soup I posted in October. We’ve also had it in a delicious bulgar and mixed mushroom dish I’ll post in a couple of weeks. I'm also thankful that zhoug is easy to whirl up in a food processor or blender. Now I'm imagining it on roasted Brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving!

Zhoug

(adapted from The World in a Skillet by Christopher Kimball)

Ingredients

4 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped

2 medium garlic cloves

2 serrano chilies, stemmed, halved, seeded

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon each of Kosher Salt and ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

 

Directions

So easy! In a blender or food processor, combine the cilantro, garlic, chilies, coriander, cumin, cardamom, salt, pepper, and water. Process until roughly chopped, about 20 seconds. Add the olive oil and process until smooth, another 30 seconds or so. Transfer to a small bowl with a spoon for dolloping to your heart’s delight.

Zhoug on red lentil soup. Yum!

Readers: What’s your favorite sauce or condiment for waking up your food? I’ll send three commenters copies of Quartzing Trouble, the latest book in the Museum of Mysteries series from Annie's Fiction for which my alter-ego, Margaret Welch, writes.

About Quartzing Trouble:

As Reed Museum of Art and Archaeology head curator Scarlett McCormick is preparing for her latest exhibit, a curious package addressed to Quartz Sutton—someone she doesn’t know—arrives at the museum. Her head of security voices concerns about the contents, prompting Scarlett to hand over the cryptic box to the police.

Soon, Scarlett is clued in about Quartz’s identity. The mystery man is an unexpected guest of Hal and Greta Baron, docents at the museum. Quartz intrigues everyone who gets caught up in his tall tales of missing black pearls, sunken ships, and hidden mines.

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

Have you read this far? Thank you! Here’s a bit of book news: I’m starting a new series for Kensington Cozies! I’m excited, and I’ll give you more information about it in the spring, but here’s a clue—Ocracoke Island. And, as a reward for reading all the way to the bottom of this post, if you mention Ocracoke Island in a comment, you’ll have another chance to win a copy of Quartzing Trouble.