Hungry for the Holidays
Hungry for the Holidays
Imagine Christmas Day, and you’re playing with your new favorite toy. Your mom tells you to go get dressed in your favorite clothing gifts. You run back and everyone’s getting ready for lunch. Along with the classic turkey and American trimmings, you see your favorite dishes from your family’s culture. What would that be for you?
For me, it’s kibbeh, warak enab, and tabouleh. My family is part Lebanese on my mom’s side. My grandma would make the stuffed grape leaves (warak enab, pronounced wada aneeb), my mom did two kinds of kibbeh (raw and baked), and my aunt did tabouleh. My mom also made Syrian dressing with rice, lamb or beef, and pine nuts, but my favorites were the kibbeh and grape leaves.
Kibbeh has two versions, one raw and one baked. The raw version is finely ground lamb or beef, spices, and bulgur wheat. You put a serving on your plate, form a little hole for the olive oil, and eat it with pita. I guess you could call it the Lebanese answer to pâté, but the Lebanese refer to it as kibbeh nayyeh. Its cousin is the baked version, kibbeh saniyeh, which includes pine nuts and can be spread in a cookie sheet or formed into balls.
Tabouleh is bulgur wheat, mint and can contain parsley, tomato, cucumber, and other vegetables topped with olive oil and lemon juice. My aunt used to do a basic version with the wheat, cucumber, tomato, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. It was a nice light accompaniment to all the heavier holiday food. When I eat this salad now, I think of her.
My favorite of the Lebanese accompaniments to holidays would have to be the stuffed grape leaves. Until I recently saw it in writing, I never knew what Grandma was saying when she said the Lebanese name for this food that looks like a mini stuffed cabbage leaf. Now I have that much more of a connection with this, my favorite dish. It’s either a finger food or a utensil food, depending on how hot it is at the moment, and I have been known to eat them without warming them up.
Below is a recipe for warak enab. I also have included links for both kinds of kibbeh and tabouleh. The main difference between my family recipe and the following recipe is that my grandma did not do the chops with the grape leaves.
2 hr. 45 min
Prep
45 min
Cook
2 hr. 0 min
Yield:
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 jar grape leaves, or about 50 fresh grape leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound pork or lamb chops
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup lemon juice
40 garlic cloves
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/calling-all-cooks/lebanese-stuffed-grape-leaves-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback
Kibbeh nayyeh (I haven’t had this with nuts in it.) http://www.culeenary.com/?p=54
Kibbeh Saniyeh http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/607119/baked-lamb-kibbeh-with-onion
Tabouleh http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tabouleh-salad-recipe/index.html
I hope I have made you hungry for the holidays. This sure has me craving.
Imagine Christmas Day, and you’re playing with your new favorite toy. Your mom tells you to go get dressed in your favorite clothing gifts. You run back and everyone’s getting ready for lunch. Along with the classic turkey and American trimmings, you see your favorite dishes from your family’s culture. What would that be for you?
For me, it’s kibbeh, warak enab, and tabouleh. My family is part Lebanese on my mom’s side. My grandma would make the stuffed grape leaves (warak enab, pronounced wada aneeb), my mom did two kinds of kibbeh (raw and baked), and my aunt did tabouleh. My mom also made Syrian dressing with rice, lamb or beef, and pine nuts, but my favorites were the kibbeh and grape leaves.
Kibbeh has two versions, one raw and one baked. The raw version is finely ground lamb or beef, spices, and bulgur wheat. You put a serving on your plate, form a little hole for the olive oil, and eat it with pita. I guess you could call it the Lebanese answer to pâté, but the Lebanese refer to it as kibbeh nayyeh. Its cousin is the baked version, kibbeh saniyeh, which includes pine nuts and can be spread in a cookie sheet or formed into balls.
Tabouleh is bulgur wheat, mint and can contain parsley, tomato, cucumber, and other vegetables topped with olive oil and lemon juice. My aunt used to do a basic version with the wheat, cucumber, tomato, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. It was a nice light accompaniment to all the heavier holiday food. When I eat this salad now, I think of her.
My favorite of the Lebanese accompaniments to holidays would have to be the stuffed grape leaves. Until I recently saw it in writing, I never knew what Grandma was saying when she said the Lebanese name for this food that looks like a mini stuffed cabbage leaf. Now I have that much more of a connection with this, my favorite dish. It’s either a finger food or a utensil food, depending on how hot it is at the moment, and I have been known to eat them without warming them up.
Below is a recipe for warak enab. I also have included links for both kinds of kibbeh and tabouleh. The main difference between my family recipe and the following recipe is that my grandma did not do the chops with the grape leaves.
2 hr. 45 min
Prep
45 min
Cook
2 hr. 0 min
Yield:
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 jar grape leaves, or about 50 fresh grape leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound pork or lamb chops
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup lemon juice
40 garlic cloves
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/calling-all-cooks/lebanese-stuffed-grape-leaves-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback
Kibbeh nayyeh (I haven’t had this with nuts in it.) http://www.culeenary.com/?p=54
Kibbeh Saniyeh http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/607119/baked-lamb-kibbeh-with-onion
Tabouleh http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tabouleh-salad-recipe/index.html
I hope I have made you hungry for the holidays. This sure has me craving.