Algerian Bouzgene Berber Bread

I love it when I find a recipe that is already vegan. Of course, I enjoy turning popular vegetarian or meat dishes into vegan ones – that is probably pretty obvious by now – but there is something more satisfying when I discover that a recipe is already free of milk, eggs, meat or fish. What is even better about it is when the recipe doesn’t exist to be vegan, the recipe just is what it is. Believe me when I say that those are some of the best recipes out there – they aren’t trying to be something they are not.

I recently came across just such a recipe. It intrigued me for two reasons – first, I didn’t have to change a thing in the recipe, and secondly it uses semolina flour for a flat bread. I have always associated semolina flour with making pasta, so I was surprised seeing it used in this way. I can tell you that it most definitely works, but the bread is heavy and dense. You’ll want to make this to be a meal in and of itself if making this for a handful of people, or as a side or appetizer at a party – there is so much bread to go around that it really can’t all be eaten by one or two people. Plus, it tastes best fresh, so be sure to make the bread the same day that it will be eaten, but the sauce can be made a day or two in advance if you want to save time.

Algerian Bouzgene Berber Bread with Roasted Pepper Sauce
This recipe is from Allrecipes.com

Sauce

• 2 red bell peppers
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• salt to taste

Flat Bread

• 2 pounds semolina flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 cups water, or as needed
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, for frying

Preheat your oven’s broiler. Place red bell peppers and tomatoes on a baking sheet, and roast under the broiler for about eight minutes, turning occasionally.

Roasting red peppers and tomatoes

This should blacken the skin and help it peel off more easily.

The skin should start looking like this

Cool, then scrape the skins off of the tomatoes…

Removing skins from roasted tomatoes

…and peppers, and place them in a large bowl. Remove cores and seeds from the bell peppers.

Removing the skins is really easy now - just be careful handling them as they might still be a little hot

Chop up your garlic.

Preparing the garlic

Chop up your jalapeños, discarding the seeds first.

Chopping jalapenos

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the jalapeños and garlic, and cook until tender, stirring frequently.

Sautéing garlic and jalapeños in olive oil

Remove from heat, and transfer the garlic and jalapeño to the bowl with the tomatoes and red peppers. Using two sharp steak knives (one in each hand), cut up the tomatoes and peppers to a coarse and soupy consistency. Stir, and set sauce aside.

Making roasted red pepper and tomato sauce

Grab your semolina flour.

You can use whatever brand you want, but I used Bob's Red Mill

Place the semolina in a large bowl, and stir in salt and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Gradually add water while mixing and squeezing with your hand until the dough holds together without being sticky or dry, and molds easily with the hand. Divide into six pieces and form into balls.

Mixing all the ingredients together

For each round, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Roll out dough one round at a time, to no thicker than 1/4 inch.

Rolling out the dough

Fry in the hot skillet until dark brown spots appear on the surface, and they are crispy. Remove from the skillet, and wrap in a clean towel while preparing the remaining flat breads.

Frying the bread

To eat the bread and sauce, break off or cut pieces of the bread, and scoop them into the sauce.

So hearty and delicious!

What are you doing with this summer’s last tomatoes and peppers?

Fried Green Tomatoes

Summer conjures up a lot of culinary tastes and images for me, from corn on the cob to peach cobbler to strawberry lemonade. It’s a season of indulgence and surprise as I rediscover loved fruits and vegetables from my childhood, especially since everything is dripping with freshness and none of it is vacuum-packed in plastic.

One food from my childhood that I had just yesterday was fried green tomatoes. If you have never had one, and if you are one of those people that do not like tomatoes, you’ll be amazed at the unexpected flavor and texture. Fried green tomatoes taste nothing like tomatoes – they are tart and lemony, and while they are tender after fried, they do not have the same mouthfeel as a ripe red tomato. It’s a treat that I allow myself only a few times during the summer, but only because I often cannot bear to take a tomato before its prime. Still, if you’re swimming in tomatoes, consider trying this as a new way to enjoy your bounty.

Fried Green Tomatoes

• 1 to 2 unripe, green tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Olive oil or vegetable oil

When you select your tomatoes, be sure that they are very firm to the touch and do not show signs of ripening. You can still fry them as they are just turning a tinge of pink, but it’s best to use them when they are not ripe at all.

Fresh green tomato

Slice your tomatoes thickly.

Slicing a green tomato

In a small bowl, mix together your dry ingredients. I usually just guestimate the amount of cornmeal and flour I’ll need, so do not worry if the measurements are not precise.

Mixing together the dry ingredients

Take a tomato slice and press it into the dry mixture, then turn it over and press again. Make sure that each side is well covered, but be sure to knock off any excess.

Coating the green tomatoes

Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon or two of oil. Once it’s hot, add your coated tomatoes to the pan.

Frying green tomatoes

Let them fry for a few minutes, then check to see how they are coming along. Once they are golden brown on each side, remove from the pan and put them on a paper towel-lined plate to get rid of some of the extra oil.

Checking the green tomatoes

Let the tomatoes cool for a few minutes, then serve.

Because tomatoes are naturally juicy, they will become a little soggy and tender, but they still are delicious. You may also find that you’ll need to add extra salt once they are on your plate.

YUM.

Have you ever had fried green tomatoes? Did you like them? And what is your favorite method of frying them up?

Pan con tomate

I don’t really remember if I have mentioned this before, but I spent my second year of college studying abroad in Spain. It was a life-changing and calorie-absorbing experience full of moments of feeling like an idiot for not saying Spanish words or phrases correctly, and learning to appreciate the Spaniards’ love of chocolate (they treat it like Americans treat their peanut butter). There were a lot of foods I didn’t like – not a huge fan of turrón (unless it’s made out of chocolate) – but there were many that I did enjoy.

Fresh summer ingredients

One such food that I fell in love with the moment I tried it was pan con tomate, meaning literally bread with tomato. It’s essentially a Spanish bruschetta, and is just as easy to make with only a handful of ingredients. Despite its simplicity, it is filled with flavor and perfect for those summer tomatoes, and in minutes you’ll be enjoying your own slice of Spanish deliciousness.

Pan con Tomate

• 2 pounds fresh tomatoes
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• Olive oil
• European-style bread (try making ciabatta bread)

First, you’ll need to grate your tomatoes. If you have a cheese grater, you can slice your tomatoes down the middle and grate them until you get to the skin (you do not want to include the skins in this dish).

If you're grating your tomatoes by hand, slice them in half.

Otherwise, what you will need to do is peel the tomatoes and roughly chop them up in a food processor. The way I am able to quickly peel tomatoes is to drop a tomato in boiling water for about 20-30 seconds (try not to cook the tomatoes!), take it out and run it under cold tap water, then pull the peel away. It’s really easy and you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Using boiling water to remove tomato skins

In my food processor, I used the grater attachment, and I quickly pulsed the tomatoes through.

Pulsing tomatoes

Once this is done, chop up or mince your garlic and add that and your salt to your tomatoes in a large bowl.

Mixing the garlic and salt with the tomatoes

Toast a slice of bread, then pour a little olive oil on top. Spread one or two spoonfuls of tomato mixture on top, and then sprinkle with additional salt (if it needs it). That’s it!

Pan con Tomate

You can also let your tomato mixture marinate and cool for a couple of hours in the refrigerator before serving to allow the flavors to mix together more. But if you can’t resist, then dig right in – you won’t regret it.

What is your favorite way to use summer tomatoes?

Stuffed Grape Leaves

I am not big on making New Year’s resolutions, and this year I have made only minor ones that I’ve already broken. That said, here’s one that I am confident I can keep up throughout the year. My resolution is to try to make more foods outside of my comfort and cultural zones. While I love the food I grew up on – the mashed potatoes, fried okra and apple pie, I think that it’s too easy to always fall back on those. It’s time to break out a little and try my hand at new cuisines.

One thing I have wanted to learn how to make for quite some time is stuffed grape leaves, also known as dolmas or dolmades, a food that can be found in many areas of Europe including Greece and the Middle East.* Because this is made in a variety of places, it can be made in many different ways, so this is just one recipe of many that you can try. (Quick note: not all stuffed grape leaves are meat-free. If you buy it from a store or order it at a restaurant make sure that you’re getting vegetarian [vegan] stuffed grape leaves.)

Stuffed Grape Leaves
Makes about 50 or 60 dolmas
This recipe is based upon My Own Famous Stuffed Grape Leaves found at allrecipes.com

• 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (I did not have fresh dill, so I used about 2 or 3 tablespoons dried dill)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 quarts vegetable or vegan chicken broth
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided
• 60 grape leaves, drained and rinsed
• hot water as needed
• 1 cup olive oil

Gather together and prepare your ingredients.

Preparing ingredients for making dolmas (stuffed grape leaves)

In a large saucepan saute your rice, onion, parsley and dill in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium to medium-high heat for about five minutes. Add half of your broth to the rice and turn down the heat, and let simmer for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Sauteing and cooking rice for stuffed grape leaves

Don’t allow the rice to cook completely, and once the 10 or 15 minutes is up, take it off the heat.

Undercooked rice

Stir in about half of the lemon juice and allow to cool for a few minutes. I used a strainer to make sure no small seeds were added into the rice.

Squeezing and using fresh lemon juice

Take one grape leaf, with the shiny side down and the protruding veins facing you, and add about one to two teaspoons of rice mixture close to the bottom of the leaf.

Grape leaf

Then proceed to wrap your grape leaf by following these steps:

1. First, fold the bottom left part of the leaf over the rice.
2. Then, fold the bottom right part of the leaf over the rice.
3. Fold over the top left portion of the leaf.
4. Fold over the top right portion of the leaf.
5. Roll up the rest of the leaf.
6. Done!

How to roll up a stuffed grape leaf

Place each stuffed grape leaf into a large saucepan, and make sure that they are placed tightly together.

Stuffed grape leaves pre-cooked

Once all of the stuffed grape leaves have been added to your saucepan, sprinkle the remaining lemon juice over them, then pour the cup of olive oil and remaining broth over them. Place a plate top side down on top of the stuffed grape leaves to weigh them down and keep them submerged.

Preparing the stuffed grape leaves to cook

Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook on medium low to medium heat for about 30 minutes (the original recipe calls for a full hour, but you may find that your rice is too mushy if you cook them for that long). Let these sit in the refrigerator for several hours overnight, then serve cold. You can serve these as an appetizer, a snack or with a salad.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

These are so easy to make, although I will say that I imagine that these would be easier to make with fresh grape leaves. The leaves I purchased were stuck together and if I wasn’t careful some leaves tore easily making them unusable. It also seems it would be better to select your own leaves because some were already torn or had holes in them. I would imagine that these would be a great thing to make when your herb garden and grapes are coming into their own in the summer, that way you can rely on your own backyard for ingredients.

Despite some frustrations with the grape leaves, I think that these turned out great and I’m impressed with how simple it is to make them. While they don’t taste exactly like what I’ve had from the store, they do taste similar and taste just as good. They are lemony and spicy, and I love how fresh these taste.

Have you made these before? If you haven’t made these, have you had stuffed grape leaves before, or are these completely new to you?

Yum.

*I had asked my Facebook fans what cuisine they wanted me to make next on Novel Eats. It was a tie between Greek and Middle Eastern, and as you can see, everybody won! Become a fan of Novel Eats on Facebook so you, too, can help me in times of culinary indecision. :)