Wednesday, July 01, 2015

For Z

My husband cooked this batch earlier in the week.

Stuffed koosa:



Stuffed grape leaves:



Yum.


16 comments:

messymimi said...

Stuffed grape leaves are so good! My grandmother used to take us in the yard to her grape vines to pick the leaves, then she would wash and stuff them. Great memories!

cube said...

The grape leaves are delicious. My husband's grandmother taught us how to make them. They are delicious. We don't grow enough of the leaves so we end up buying them, but they're still very good.

The koosa is basically a squash that we core and stuff with meat, rice, onions, and spices.

Sandee said...

May I come over for some? I would love this. Had a buddy back in the day that was Greek and she make some awesome ones too.

Have a fabulous day. ☺

cube said...

Sandee: You are most welcome to come over and share them with us. These grape leaves are delicious. We were taught by a master, my husband's Site (pronounced Sit-tee), which means grandmother in Lebanese. We serve them with Greek yogurt and fresh pita bread. I'm sure you'd love them. My oldest daughter's boyfriend never had them before in his whole life, but once he tried them, he keeps hinting that we should make more. Too bad he was at Camp Lejeune this time and missed out on this batch.

jan said...

I've never heard of any of this, but the ingredients sound wonderful. Except grape leaves. Is that an acquired taste?

sue hanes said...

Cube - You are lucky to have a husband that cooks

The stuffed grape leaves look delicious.

cube said...

Jan: When I married into my husband's family 32 years ago, I was hesitant about the food (grape leaves? seriously?) but all it took was one bite for me to get hooked. The ingredients are wonderful and so is the food. I wish I could FedEx some to you because the latest batch of stuffed grape leaves we bought from a local Syrian bakery were not as good as the ones we made at home.

cube said...

Sue Hanes: Yes, we're two sides of the same coin. We're lucky to have each other.

And yes, the stuffed grape leaves are delicious. My daughter's boyfriend never had them before and now hints at how we should make them more often.

Z said...

Lebanese? I thought your hubby was Armenian? !
I have never heard of Kousa...we make "dolma," which is pretty much the same thing only not in a soupy broth, but cooked with lemon juice squeezed over it.
The grape leaves look so good!
I grew up with grapevines along the fence in the back of our yard but I think Mom bought the grape leaves in bottles...
GOOD STUFF!!

Z said...

I have very rarely had grapeleaf dolma that was good in a restaurant or store, sadly. It's often turned cold.
I guess your hubby made it with meat inside?
They usually have it in stores with rice and refrigerating them can make the rice hard...not good!

cube said...

Z: He's both. On his father's side, they're of Lebanese descent and on his mother's side, they're Armenian. So we get the benefit of both of their cuisines. I thought "dolma" referred to the grape leaves, but my husband's family stuffed the "koosa" which is basically a zucchini and stewed it in a tomato based sauce.

The grape leaves were delicious. We have grapevines, too, but they don't give us enough leaves to cook 3 lbs. of meat. We have to use bottled leaves as well.

Isn't it always the same? You tell people how good something is, but the restaurant version is never as good as homemade. That's why you have to invite them to your house and treat them to the good stuff.

Z said...

Oh, yes! Lebanese/Armenian..right! I'd forgotten. Great food on either side, and very close cuisines.
Ya, Armenians refer to DOLMA as hot and usually the whole bunch of steeped veggies stuffed with lamb, rice, etc..peppers, zucchini and grape leaves.
The rice filled ones (My mother's the queen on this one)are called Yalanchi. But, you know, even within Armenians, different regions call the same foods different things sometimes. That's even true in Germany, by the way...big time.

Always On Watch said...

I love stuffed grape leaves!

Where I grew up, Mom and Dad had a grapevine. We often had stuffed grape leaves. Mom was an outstanding cook!

cube said...

Z: I've never heard that word, "Yalanchi". I'll definitely ask my mother in law. I'm married into the culture so I'm not that well versed in the language, but we always stuffed grape leaves, koosa, and fatayed using a meat and rice mixture.

I hope you're not offended by this, but I've often teased my husband about not knowing where his people were from was from because some of the boundaries changed throughout history.

cube said...

Always On Watch: I hear you. That is so sweet about your mom. I certainly would've loved her grape leaves. Our measly grape vines don't provide enough leaves to stuff three pounds of ground beef so we use bottled leaves. I would love to just use our own because they're so much... softer, if that's applicable. They don't have the tough lines that go through some of the bottled leaves. Basically, it's better than nothing.

Unknown said...

ugg boots
kobe 9
ugg boots
fitflops sale
adidas nmd
oakley sunglasses
michael kors purses
ugg boots
ralph lauren uk
ugg boots