What's Cooking?

[joeD]

All your beautiful work undone by sauce, molasses based no less. I can barely see pork through my tears. No slaw? Oh, the humanity...

[rps]

I have been dealing with leftovers from the relatives visiting this last weekend.

Tonight I sauteed  onion, celery, carrot, and mushroom with garlic in butter and then added flour to make a roux to which I added white wine and chicken stock. Of course, I had added the chicken, some cream,  plus green peas and corn. I cooked the pasta in the fluid mixture and called it dinner.

[ness]

Alright, here we go on a project tonight. I may have posted something similar a few years ago -- can't remember for sure where I did that, might have been here, might not.  Sorry if this s a repeat. It's ness, so there's a story

My maternal grandparents came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s from Lebanon. My grandfather's WWII draft registration card said his place of birth was 'Mt. Lebanon, Syria'. I've never researched the history of that location, but family says they came from Lebanon. We all know the borders over there tend to change every few years, right? What I know now is, it was what's now Lebanon. They settled into a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania with a lot of other immigrants, mostly eastern european, especially Poles. It was a tight-knit community of families that supported each other. They were tight, for decades. 

My mom didn't really carry down any of the old family recipes, but my beautiful aunt Mary did. She was an editor of medical text books, and to say she had to have it 'just so' is a BIG, understatement. Her highly detailed, hand-written recipe cards for 'stuffed grape leaves' is not only a treasure to me, but a window into her personality to anyone who reads them. She passed away last summer at the age of 91, precise, feisty and opinionated until dementia robbed her of her brilliant mind in her later years.

I have researched a little, and I don't find the Lebanese name for a dish called 'grape leaves', though a lot of you might know the Greek word 'dolmathes'. (Greek food is very similar to Lebanese food). My mother's family always used the Lebanese words for their traditional recipes (falafel, kibbeh, labneh, tabbouleh, etc. ), but grape leaves were just grape leaves. Tonight I made Aunt Mary's grape leaves recipe for a middle-eastern dinner we'll have at church on Thursday. I'm doing it in her honor, and in the memory of all the wonderful members of the Mansor family.

So, first you get your grape leaves:

Gotta rinse the brine off the leaves. 

Not much to it, but the labor. Leaves, ground beef, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper. Tomato paste was late to the photo shoot.:D

...then the labor...

Rough count, about 120 of these. Did it in a little more than an hour. Solo. My back hurts

Just cover with water, bring to a boil then simmer 45 minutes. Serve with labneh. 

What's labneh you ask? Back in the day, to make labneh, I'd buy plain yogurt and pour it into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Let it sit in the fridge for a day or two to let the liquid drain off, condensing the yogurt into a sour cream-like consistency the Lebanese call labneh.  Now the same thing is on the grocery store shelves, it's just called 'Greek Yogurt'. Those darn Greeks!!

This whole dish is an acquired taste, but it's not too hard to acquire. The briney, leafy taste of the grape leaves is what is hardest to get used to. The filling has a little different flavor from what we're used to -- solely because of the cinnamon. But it's tasty. Anybody that's had dolmathes at a Greek restaurant has had this. My favorite version in town (at Tasso's) comes with a lemon dill sauce, and it's excellent!! But, I'm doing it the way aunt Mary wanted it done.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I have always been curious about this. It always looked good. But have to admit the cinnamon could be a deterrent.

[rps]

5 hours ago, ness said:

Alright, here we go on a project tonight. I may have posted something similar a few years ago -- can't remember for sure where I did that, might have been here, might not.  Sorry if this s a repeat. It's ness, so there's a story

My maternal grandparents came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s from Lebanon. My grandfather's WWII draft registration card said his place of birth was 'Mt. Lebanon, Syria'. I've never researched the history of that location, but family says they came from Lebanon. We all know the borders over there tend to change every few years, right? What I know now is, it was what's now Lebanon. They settled into a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania with a lot of other immigrants, mostly eastern european, especially Poles. It was a tight-knit community of family the supported each other. They were tight, for decades. 

My mom didn't really carry down any of the old home recipes, but my beautiful aunt Mary did. She was an editor for medical text books, and to say she had to have it 'just so' is a BIG, understatement. Her highly detailed, hand-written recipe card for 'grape leaves' is not only a treasure to me, but a window into her personality to anyone who reads them. She passed away last summer at the age of 91, precise, feisty and opinionated until dementia robbed her of her brilliant mind in her later years.

I have researched a little, and I don't find the Lebanese words for a dish called 'grape leaves', though a lot of you might know the Greek word 'dolmathes'. (Greek food is very similar to Lebanese food). My mother's family always used the Lebanese words for their traditional recipes (falafel, kibbeh, labneh, tabbouleh, etc. ), but grape leaves were just grape leaves. Tonight I made Aunt Mary's grape leaves recipe for a middle-eastern dinner we'll have at church on Thursday. I'm doing it in her honor, and in the memory of all the wonderful members of the Mansor family.

So, first you get your grape leaves:

Gotta rinse the vinegar brine off the leaves. 

Not much to it, but the labor. Leaves, ground beef, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper. 

...then the labor...

Rough count, about 120 of these. Did it in a little more than an hour. Solo. My back hurts

Just cover with water, bring to a boil then simmer 45 minutes. Serve with labneh. 

What's labneh you ask? Back in the day, to make labneh, I'd buy plain yogurt and pour it into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Let it sit in the fridge for a day or two to let the liquid drain off, condensing the yogurt into a sauce-like consistency the Lebanese called labneh.  Now the same thing is on the grocery store shelves, it's just called 'Greek Yogurt'. Those darn Greeks!!

This whole dish is an acquired taste, but it's not too hard to acquire. The briney, leafy taste of the grape leaves is what is hardest to get used to. The filling has a little different flavor from what we're used to -- solely because of the cinnamon. But it's tasty. Anybody that's had dolmathes at a Greek restaurant has had this. My favorite version in town (at Tasso's) comes with a lemon dill sauce, and it's excellent!! But, I'm doing it the way aunt Mary wanted it done.

 

 

 

 

Big Bravo on this one Ness!

In addition to Al Saab's and Mrs. Gawey's Lebanese grape leaves I have had both Greek and Egyptian versions. The Egyptian version I had was more rice than meat and very lemony. Al's version was lamb based, but Mrs. Gawey's was beef.

I could stand 10 or so right now.

[ness]

2 hours ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

I have always been curious about this. It always looked good. But have to admit the cinnamon could be a deterrent.

The cinnamon isn't really very prominent, but it's there. I think it's 3 tsp. in 4 pounds of beef. The grape leaves themselves are what most people have trouble with. 

[ness]

2 hours ago, rps said:

Big Bravo on this one Ness!

In addition to Al Saab's and Mrs. Gawey's Lebanese grape leaves I have had both Greek and Egyptian versions. The Egyptian version I had was more rice than meat and very lemony. Al's version was lamb based, but Mrs. Gawey's was beef.

I could stand 10 or so right now.

I've had them with a lot of lemon and rice. The lemon is a good compliment to the leaves, which are kinda bitter. Really, the lemon/ butter/dill sauce at Tasso's is excellent.  I asked Tasso about it once but he wasn't talking. You don't want to push Tasso too far I found a lemon dill sauce online that looks close. I'm gonna try it, maybe tonight.

Think I'll have a couple for breakfast ? 

[BilletHead]

    Looks tasty Ness,

Guess we could wrap seasoned meat in our abundant tomato leaves since we have toooooooo many.

BilletHead

[MOPanfisher]

There is a Lebanese resturant in Spfld.  I have had the stuffed grape leaves and they were foos, different but good.  The memory of the coffee however will never leave me.  Strong doesn't begin to cover it.  I need to go back there.  Owner was a super nice guy and former Army Ranger.

[Mitch f]

Super cool Ness! We've got a bunch of Lebanese in STL. Our own Zipstick actually. I can't seem to place a good Lebanese restaurant in STL. Need to ask around! I'm sure Zipstick or JoeD would know.