Cooking With Mom

For those who know me are well aware that I do not cook or even barbecue.  My wife does the cooking and the barbecuing. Yes I know, it is so unTexan. 

In fact when I move to Prince Wiliam County, VA, my wife cooked and froze several simple meals like spaghetti.  When the family came to visit, my wife cooked several servings of chili (winter is around the corner).  She would have prepared a more diverse selection for me, but my freezer is small.

Over Christmas I learned to cook a very tasty (and easy). It is Mujadara, a Lebanese dish of rice, lentils, and onions. I mixed Mujadara with Leban (plain yogurt). Leban is somewhat sour, but that is what I was raised on. 

My mother is an excellent cook. She makes the most delicious Lebanese food and desserts.

While visiting my parents in Midland, I got a cooking lesson.  She is a patient teacher and made learning fun. Measurements are used but are not exact.  I know the difference in green and brown lentils and adapting a recipe. In this case the every recipe called for several cups of water, she suggested using half broth and mix it with water. 

A side note. My sister also is a very good cook. My mother used to say she always knew when my sister was cooking, she called our mother several times.  I used to laugh at that and wonder how hard can it be to cook. Now I completely understand.  More on this later.

Back to the post. We read several recipes, discussed each one, measured, prepped, cooked, combined and feasted.  It was very enjoyable. What did I learn - I stirred the onions too much. I did not add enough olive oil when I sauteed the onions, I moved the rice (a definite no), how to see if the liquid boiled out of the lentils and rice, and the importance of tasting, and using smell as a barometer of seasoning.

Trivia:  Why do you wash the lentils?  Not so much because it is dirty, but more so to look for small pebbles.  I remember doing this years ago.

My entree? It was pretty good.

Now I am back home. I decide to cook Mujadara. First I go to the store.  I call my mother twice, to help me find where I should look for lentils and frozen onions.  Yes, I know, but I looked where I thought frozen onions would be.  Oh, why did I call her? Have you ever tried to find an employee to ask a question to in a discount grocery store?

That night I start to cook Mujadara.  I read the recipe or recipes (I had two to look at).  Before I even turn a burner on, two calls to my mother.  I start to cook, two more calls to my mother.  She is very patient.  One call to my sister, she is shocked I am cooking and delighted to help.

Final result - a very tasty and healthy meal. Next week another Lebanese dish and numerous calls to my mother before, during, and after I start cooking.