Bulgur Stuffing With Brussels Sprouts And Dried Mushrooms Recipes

GREEK BULGUR WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Steps:

• Trim brussels sprouts and quarter, or if very small just cut in half.
• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a deep, lidded skillet or a wide, lidded saucepan. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add brussels sprouts and cook, stirring often, until coated with oil and beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add paprika and tomatoes and cook, stirring often, for another 5 minutes, until tomatoes have begun to cook down and soften a bit. Season to taste.
• Add bulgur and stir to coat with the tomato mixture. Add water, more salt to taste, parsley and dill and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until water has been absorbed.
• Remove from heat, uncover and quickly stir in lemon juice. Place a towel across the top of the pan. Return lid and let sit for 10 minutes. Serve hot, with the remaining olive oil drizzled over the top.

BULGUR STUFFING WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND DRIED MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• In a bowl pour boiling water over mushrooms and soak 30 minutes. In a 4-quart saucepan sauté onion in 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in bulgur and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes.
• Trim and quarter Brussels sprouts. In a large non-stick skillet heat remaining 6 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until foam subsides and sauté Brussels sprouts, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Remove mushrooms from water, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. Rinse mushrooms to remove any grit and coarsely chop. Line a sieve set over a bowl with a dampened paper towel or coffee filter and strain reserved soaking liquid into bowl. Chop parsley.
• In a large bowl toss together bulgur mixture, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, 1/2 cup strained soaking liquid, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and cool completely. Stuffing may be made up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring stuffing to room temperature before proceeding.
• For cooking stuffing inside poultry:
• Any frozen poultry destined for stuffing should be completely thawed, and the stuffing itself brought to room temperature before it's put into the turkey. Do not stuff your bird the night before you cook it; such a seeming time-saver can have dangerous results. Instead, it is best to loosely fill the bird's neck and body cavities immediately before roasting. And always use a meat or instant-read thermometer: The meat is done when the temperature of the thickest part of the thigh (be careful not to touch the bones) reaches 180°F.; the stuffing baked inside the bird is done at 160°F.-165°F. After roasting, let your stuffed poultry stand 15 to 20 minutes, a double assurance that the requisite temperatures for food safety have been reached.
• For cooking all or part of stuffing outside poultry:
• In a shallow baking dish bake stuffing, covered, in a 325° F. oven 40 minutes (do not uncover during baking).

BULGUR WITH WILD MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Soak dried mushrooms in hot water to cover.
• Heat butter in a skillet large enough to hold all ingredients. Saute onion and celery until soft.
• Meanwhile, clean and slice fresh mushrooms. When onion and celery are cooked, push them to side of pan and saute fresh mushrooms until they begin to color, 4 or 5 minutes.
• Squeeze liquid from dried mushrooms and stir them into the pan. Reserve mushroom-soaking liquid.
• Stir in bulgur and cook over medium heat until bulgur begins to color.
• Stir in beef stock and 1/4 cup of mushroom liquid. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 10 minutes, until bulgur grains soften. Season with salt and pepper. Add more mushroom liquid if needed. Freeze if desired.
• To serve, defrost and bring to room temperature. Reheat in 350-degree oven, covered, about 20 minutes, until steaming. Stir in toasted pecans and decorate with parsley.