Listen & Be Heard Network Arts News

Yesterday, June 27th, after working around the house, and in my kitchen garden, (after having a no tomato year last year, because, I think of the dearth of bees last year,) I was delighted to see the good crop of tomatoes that is coming in. I always hope for a good crop, not only because I love to eat tomatoes, but also, when I get a good crop, I always make and can enough tomato sauce to carry me through the winter.

But, when I finally started to think about making myself some supper, I realized that I had neglected going shopping earlier in the day, so I didn’t have any fish in the house or much else. But, I did manage to throw together a delicious vegetarian dinner. There are some things that I never run out of because they’re part of almost everything I come up with, EG: A variety of onions, plenty of garlic, plenty of xv olive oil, and an assortment of green vegetables, in my reefer, and a great collection of herbs, both fresh and dried, and a small collection of canned goods. Here is what I came up with.

KOVENS VEGETARIAN DINNER
1 medium red onion, sliced & chopped.
4 cloves of garlic, peeled & chooped together with the onion.
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/8 inch slices.
1 small can of tomato sauce. (I found a can of bamboo shoots, that I usually use in my chinese dishes.) I opened the can and drained the liquid. I took out about 1/2 of the the cans content, put the remainder in an airtight bag and stored them in my reefer to be used another day.
I cut the bamboo shoots I was going to use into i/2 inch pieces and set them aside.
I also readied the herbs I was going to use, Oregano, 1/2 Hot Hungarian Paprika, Basil, (from my window planter) some ginger and Adobo, (a Mexican herb mix.)
Salt & pepper & a couple of Tbls. of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.
(Of course I also made myself some of my great golden rice.)

THE METHOD
After getting all the things I needed together, I put 2 Tbls. of xv olive oil in my wok, added the onions and garlic, and sauteed them until they began to show signs of softening. Then I added the zucchini and the bamboo shoots. I tossed the mix well; when the zucchini and the bamboo shoots looked as though they were softening, I added the tomato sauce, the sun dried tomatoes and the herbs, lowered the heat on the pot to a simmer, covered the wok, and stirred it from time to time. I allowed it to simmer for about 25 minutes. OOPS! I forgot to mention that I had also put up my long grain rice to cook, (1/4 cup of rice in 1 cup of h2o, in which I had added 2 Tbls of my achiote sauce,) which gives the rice such a great color and taste. It takes about 20 minutes for the rice to cook over a fairly low flame. The veggies and the rice are usually ready at the same time. By this time the veggies are well cooked and integrated. Put the veggies into a fairly large bowl and the rice in a smaller bowl. Put them on the table; pour yourself a glass of Chianti; ladle some of the rice onto your dinner plate. Cover the rice with a good ladle of the veggie conglomeration. (Oops, I forgot to mention that I also put some grated parmigiano cheese on the table,) and when I was ready to dig in, I added 2 good Tbls. of the cheese to top the dish off with. Then it was time to dig in. Also early on, I put together a good simple salad to follow up the meal with. ENJOY.

BOOK REVIEW

THE HUNGARIAN COOK BOOK, published by The Culinary Arts Insitute.

When I first found this book, I was attracted to it because of the fact that when I was a young teenager, one of my close friends came from a Hungarian family which had emigrated to the U.S right after WWI. My friend Izzys mother was a wonderful cook, and she invited me to stay for dinner with them many times. I loved her cooking. Especially strong in my memories is the wonderful “Gefilte Fish” she used to make. Back in the 1980s, my companion Sharon and I spent a couple of months exploring Hungary, The Czeck Republic etc. etc. Once again, I found myself enjoying the cooking of Hungary. This book covers all of the different aspects of Hungarian cooking, everything fron entrees to desert. The book also has great drawings and photos delineating the different dishes. I’m sure that if you find the book, you’ll treasure it.