{"id":1505,"date":"2007-03-19T23:41:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-19T23:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2007\/03\/19\/into-the-pantry"},"modified":"2007-03-19T23:41:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-19T23:41:00","slug":"into-the-pantry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2007\/03\/into-the-pantry\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the pantry"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love winter foods. You know I do. You\u2019ve been listening to me yap about them for a long time now. I\u2019m always trotting out some strange, frost-nipped something: a Brussels sprout<\/a> here, an old celery root<\/a> there, an unruly head of escarole<\/a> that no one else wants. It\u2019s what I do. I\u2019ve got a reputation to keep.<\/p>\n

But I have to tell you, this winter has rung me out. I\u2019m tired<\/i>. I\u2019m through. If I have to eat another cabbage, I\u2019m going to fall to my knees and cry. That\u2019s pretty much what I felt like doing at the market on Saturday morning, as I stared out over the sea of winter produce. Pretty though it was \u2013 so many shades of neutral, like a layout from Martha Stewart Living<\/i> \u2013 I could hardly muster the energy to pull out my wallet. I really tried hard to find the oomph. But there\u2019s no two ways about it: winter and I are over<\/b>. The only problem is that spring isn\u2019t quite here yet.<\/p>\n

Faced with such hard facts, there\u2019s not much for a person to do, I find, but seek refuge in the pantry closet<\/b>. For the past week or two, that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing, and I highly recommend it. It\u2019s oddly inspiring, in its way. I\u2019ve made two batches of scones with various dried fruits. I put a good dent our supply of crystallized ginger<\/a>. I even organized the rice area, which had formed a sort of impromptu sandbag levee, barricading the chilies into a corner. I also made mujadara<\/i>. Twice, in fact, in five days. That\u2019s another thing I recommend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photogenic it is not, but in the mouth, mujadara makes up for all misgivings. I\u2019m not sure how it should be translated, but for me, mujadara means an enviable meal made entirely from the pantry. It\u2019s a Middle Eastern dish comprised simply of lentils, rice, and onions<\/b>, with doses of olive oil and salt for good measure. Also called megadarra<\/i>, mejadra<\/i>, and a variety of other similar names, it most often resembles a moist pilaf, although sometimes it borders on porridge. Either way, it\u2019s nothing fancy, nor is it particularly pretty. What it is, however, is simple, fragrant, exotic<\/b>, and cheap.<\/span> That\u2019s a combination that doesn\u2019t come around too often. In my mental recipe archive, I file mujadara in the same category as Brandon\u2019s chickpea salad<\/a>, the category for things dead-simple, delicious, and made from ingredients often on hand. Mujadara takes more foresight and time, but it also makes your kitchen smell good enough to eat.<\/p>\n

I came upon it several years ago in Oklahoma, at the home of family friends Pam and Bill Shdeed. Pam makes a mean Lebanese meal. It was in her dining room that I had my first bite of mujadara, along with homemade labneh<\/a><\/i>, the spiced lamb patties known as kibbeh<\/a><\/i>, and chicken cooked under a mound of cinnamon-scented rice. Not long after, she gave me a staple-bound cookbook \u2013 with typewritten pages and a tan cardstock cover \u2013 called Our Favorite Lebanese Recipes<\/i>, by Julia Bayouth and Helen Jabara. Not long after that, I started making mujadara. Using the cookbook Pam gave me, as well as hints from Claudia Roden<\/a>, I worked up a formula that I liked. My boyfriend at the time was vegan, and he loved it. Mujadara was one of our staples. I made it all the time. But after we split up, I sort of forgot about it. It went the way of history, along with our hokey terms of endearment and other relationship memorabilia. It took until last week, when winter chased me into the pantry, for me to remember it again.<\/p>\n

This time, I won\u2019t be forgetting it so easily. It\u2019s the ultimate between-season dinner solution. It\u2019s not quite a lickety-split supper \u2013 those onions do<\/span> take their sweet time \u2013 but that\u2019s okay. It\u2019ll help pass the time until spring.<\/p>\n

Mujadara <\/b>(moo-jha-dra<\/i>)<\/p>\n

The key to this dish is the onions: they must be browned well, and with patience. Caramelize them to within an inch of their lives. Heck, burn them a little, even. In cases like this, it\u2019s almost impossible to overcook them. Their intense, deeply toasty flavor is the main player here, so don\u2019t rush it.<\/p>\n

As for serving, mujadara is often presented with a green salad. I like mine with a chopped romaine salad, something similar to this one<\/a>. It would also be nice with some labneh on the side, and flatbread.<\/p>\n

\u00bc cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions (about 1 \u00bd lb.), finely chopped
1 cup brown or green lentils, picked over for stones and other debris
\u00bd cup basmati rice
Water
1 tsp. salt, plus more for serving<\/p>\n

In a large (12-inch) saut\u00e9 pan or skillet or a Dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are deeply caramelized, a rich shade of amber. If they\u2019re burnt and blackened in spots, even better. This is a fairly slow process. Depending on your pan and your stove, this could take between 30 minutes and 1 hour in total. On my stove, it takes about 50 minutes.<\/p>\n

While the onions are cooking, place the lentils in a medium saucepan, add water to cover by an inch, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Drain the lentils, and set them aside.<\/p>\n

When the onions are ready, stir in the rice. Then add the cooked lentils, along with 2 cups of water and the salt. Stir to mix well, and bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the pan at a slow simmer, cover, and cook. Depending on the size and shape of your pan, this last stage \u2013 cooking the onions, rice, and lentils together \u2013 could take from 20 to 40 minutes. Basically, the dish is done when the rice is done. I use a 5-quart saut\u00e9 pan, which is wide and flat, so the rice cooks pretty quickly, in about 25 minutes. I used to use a Dutch oven, however, which was narrower, and the rice took 30-40 minutes to cook.<\/p>\n

After about 20 minutes, remove the lid, and give the pot a gentle stir. If there is still some liquid visible, replace the lid and keep cooking until it is fully absorbed. On the other hand, if there is no obvious liquid, take a taste. If the rice is tender, the mujadara is ready. If the rice is not yet ready, add another splash of water, replace the lid, and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. The mujadara is ready to eat when the rice is tender and there is no liquid left in the pan.<\/p>\n

Serve, with additional salt, if needed.<\/p>\n

Note<\/i>: Mujadara is even better on the second day, so if you can, make it ahead. Reheat before serving. I like to eat the leftovers for lunch, with a grapefruit for dessert.<\/p>\n

Yield: 4-6 servings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love winter foods. You know I do. You\u2019ve been listening to me yap about them for a long time now. I\u2019m always trotting out some strange, frost-nipped something: a Brussels sprout here, an old celery root there, an unruly head of escarole that no one else wants. It\u2019s what I do. I\u2019ve got a reputation to keep. But I have to tell you, this winter has rung me out. I\u2019m tired. I\u2019m through. If I have to eat another cabbage, I\u2019m going to fall to my knees and cry. That\u2019s pretty much what I felt like doing at the market on Saturday morning, as I stared out over the sea of winter produce. Pretty though it was \u2013 so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInto the pantry | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/2007\/03\/into-the-pantry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Into the pantry | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I love winter foods. You know I do. You\u2019ve been listening to me yap about them for a long time now. I\u2019m always trotting out some strange, frost-nipped something: a Brussels sprout here, an old celery root there, an unruly head of escarole that no one else wants. It\u2019s what I do. I\u2019ve got a reputation to keep. But I have to tell you, this winter has rung me out. I\u2019m tired. I\u2019m through. If I have to eat another cabbage, I\u2019m going to fall to my knees and cry. That\u2019s pretty much what I felt like doing at the market on Saturday morning, as I stared out over the sea of winter produce. 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