What to do with veggies? Stuff them.

It's amazing how sometimes you have one small item and you end up building around it a whole meal, something like having a button in your hand and sewing a whole suit for it. This is what happened to me yesterday. Remember the one zucchini I had two days ago when I fried it with the cauliflower? Well, I kept thinking what should I do with it, and decided to stuff it. But in our tradition stuffing vegetables is not an easy thing. It's a whole production, and traditionally the day someone decides to stuff some veggies, it's the only thing he'll be doing that day. So, stuffing vegetables is what we're doing today. Usually you have to make a mixed stuffed vegetable dish: zucchini, peppers, eggplant, cabbage and vine leaves. In Turkey it's called Dolma, in Egypt it's Mahshi, and it's almost the same, there might be some slight differences in the seasoning, but the dish is the same and probably it goes back to the days when the Ottoman Empire covered all that region of the world.

Of course as you will see, it is almost impossible to stuff all these vegetables at once, especially that the stuffing is a bit different from vegetable to vegetable. So, today we'll be stuffing only peppers, zucchini (the whole reason for this project) and some grape leaves. The reason is simple: I couldn't find eggplants and cabbage was too much work.

STUFFED PEPPERS

                                                 

Usually it's bell peppers, but when I first made them, they were so big that nobody could eat anything else. So I tried the smaller long peppers, still, too big. And for a while I didn't make any stuffed peppers, actually I didn't stuff any veggies at all until I found these adorable mini sweet peppers. I bought them and decided to surprise my family by stuffing them. It will be for sure a nice "something different" as mom always wants to have. It's easier to prepare filling for several veggies, and this is why when someone decides to cook Mahshi, this is the only thing he'll cook, and probably the only thing he'll eat for a couple of days to come. So I'll give you the recipe for different kinds of Mahshis, it will make work easier and get the best result in a shorter time. You'll need for 3 kinds of veggies:

4 cups of rice (I use long grain)

3 large firm tomatoes

1 onion

7 to 8 garlic cloves

1 bunch each flat leaf parsley and dill

1 and 1/2 lb ground beef, browned

4 tbsp butter or ghee (I actually used about 4 tsp)

Salt and pepper

Chicken or vegetable stock

2 lb small sweet peppers

First let's prepare the filling: in a food processor, chop the onion, garlic, dill and parsley until they become almost like a pulp. Transfer to a large bowl. In the same food processor, give the browned ground beef a couple of pulses to make sure that there are no lumps of meat left. As usual I brown about 3 to 4 lb of ground beef and keep them to use as needed. (Just add some onion/garlic mixture to the meat, stir frequently to avoid lumps from forming, add salt and pepper and keep cooking until it absorbs all its liquid). Add the meat to the bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half and drain their seeds and liquid by gently squeezing them. Chop the tomatoes as small as you can and add them to the bowl. Add salt and pepper and mix to combine. Reserve about 1 and 1/2 cups of the mixture in another smaller bowl: this will be the base for the zucchini filling. Rinse the rice several times and drain it thoroughly. Add the rice to the mixture in the big bowl, reserving only a good handful to the other smaller bowl. Mix well. You may test the mixture for seasoning by just putting a couple of rice grains on the tip of your tongue, your taste buds will let you know if you need to add some more salt or not. Now add the butter (kept at room temperature) to the mixture and mix again to incorporate.

Prepare the peppers by cutting the top of each one with the stem, and carefully removing the seeds and the white veins inside. (If you are using the big bell peppers carefully cut around the stem to keep the rounded edges on, they will keep the rice from overflowing).

Start stuffing the peppers by taking some of the rice mixture and slightly pushing it with your finger inside the pepper. The idea here is to make the rice reach the tip of the pepper. Make sure that the rice does not reach the edge of the pepper and that you don't over stuff it, or else it will burst while cooking. Arrange the stuffed peppers in a nonstick pot. I use a large and somewhat shallow skillet to have a larger surface to allow for quicker and more even cooking. Arrange them horizontally tip to tip and opening to opening. When you finish the bottom layer, add another one, and another one depending on the size of your pot. You don't need to add any butter, it's already in the filling. Heat the stock and add it to the pot, only halfway. Remember all the vegetables have liquid in them and the rice will not need as much liquid as it says on the package. You can always add more liquid if need be. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest, use a heat diffuser if you have one and let cook covered until the rice is tender. Add more liquid if you need to, but usually half the pot is enough.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

                                                

This was the main reason of this whole operation: the leftover zucchini I had from the other day. I got 2 more almost the same size, I think they'll be enough. So rinse them, pat them dry and let's go to work. We have already the stuffing mixture from above, and we'll add to it something extra. So, cut both tips of the zucchini, and then cut them in 3, each part about 2 1/2 inches high: you'll get 9 pieces. With a small peeler (photo on bottom), carve the zucchini pieces by removing some of its flesh going around it several times. Be careful not to pierce the bottom of the piece, and making sure that you have some kind of uniform walls all around. Don't discard the flesh that you removed: add it to the filling mixture after finely chopping it. Start filling the cavity of each zucchini piece with the mixture, making sure that the filling doesn't come all the way up to the rim of the zucchini. We need some space for the rice to plump up while cooking. Arrange the zucchini pieces in a small nonstick pot standing up. Add stock to the middle of the pot, cover and bring to a boil, covered, over high heat. Reduce heat to the minimum and let cook until the rice is done.

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

                                                         

I have to admit: this is the more difficult and time consuming stuffed vegetable. But the result is delicious. Actually it's the only stuffed vegetable I eat!! Since forever, when they made stuffed veggies I used to peel the outside vegetable and only eat the filling. When they tried everything to convince me not to do that, they finally accepted my "strange" taste and just cooked some filling rice for me the day they made the stuffed veggies. But grape leaves are another thing altogether, they are delicious. We used to have a big grape tree in our old yard. My grandma used to send me pick up the leaves for her: she taught me how big they should be, and how to pick them, with the stem attached. They should not be very big or dry, pick only the tender mid-sized leaves. Of course now I don't have this choice, so I get the leaves in a jar from a Middle Eastern grocery store. They are California grape leaves in a 1 lb jar. Carefully remove them from the jar, they usually come in 2 rolls in the jar, discard the liquid and rinse each roll under running water. Then carefully separate each leaf and rinse separately and keep them in a bowl. Make a work station: on the left place the pot you'll use to cook the grape leaves, in the center place a clean cutting board, on the right the filling bowl and the leaves bowl. Take one leaf, spread it open, smooth side down over the cutting board, cut the little stem on its end. With a small spoon take some filling and put it crosswise where the stem was. Depending on how large the leaf is, you may use 1 spoon full or a little more. To give you an idea I used a regular plastic tsp and usually used one heaping tsp or one and a half to stuff the leaves. They were rather large, and to save time I stuffed them as is. My grandma would kill me if she saw that, because when she happened to have large leaves, she would cut them in half to get a stuffed leaf the size of a cigarette, not more. Sorry grandma!

                                       

 Flip the sides of the leaf over the rice, then roll it while tightening it slightly. Bring the sides of the leaf to close the roll that you just made and complete the roll. Make sure that it is firmly but not very tightly rolled: you have to leave room for the rice to cook and plump up or else the roll will burst. Arrange the rolls around a wide pot, I used a sauteuse. Some like to add a clove of garlic between the rows, I don't. Also you can use an upright nonstick pot, it will help when you serve the stuffed leaves. Just get a serving dish bigger than the pot, cover the pot with it and turn it upside down. Remove the pot and voila: you'll have a "cake" of delicious stuffed grape leaves. But today I'm cooking just for us, so the sauteuse will do. When all the leaves are stuffed and arranged in perfect rows in the pot, add some stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook covered until they are done. When it comes to a boil, you'll notice that the leaves have plumped up and grown in size, so take that into consideration when you arrange your rows: they should not get to the rim of the pot, give them at least 3/4 inch space to grow.

Serve with Yogurt salad.

YOGURT SALAD

                                                      

A very easy side dish for the stuffed veggies. After all this work, you cannot afford to make anything else. It's also very refreshing. You'll need:

16 oz Greek plain yogurt (1/2 of a large container)

2 small cucumbers

A pinch of dried mint

1 tsp garlic powder, optional

Salt and pepper

Peel the cucumbers and cut them in 4 long strips, then in small slices (like small triangles). Put them in a bowl, add the yogurt, salt and pepper and garlic powder if using it. Mix well. Crush the mint leaves between the palms of your hand and sprinkle them over the salad. You're done.

 TIP: You can make this dish completely vegetarian simply by omitting the ground meat. If you want to go vegan, use oil instead of butter or ghee.  
NOTE: If you have the possibility of using fresh leaves, rinse them and then boil them for a couple of minutes in hot salted water. Remove promptly when they become tender and use as above. If you have the whole stems, just cut them after boiling the leaves and arrange them in one layer in the bottom of the pan. They will prevent the stuffed leaves from sticking to the pan. Remove them from the platter before serving.                                           

Let's have something delicious and naughty

Every now and then my mom decides that she wants to eat something "different", as if all the menus we have every week are not "different" enough! In those days, she just announces that for dinner we're having fried cauliflower. Of course it's understandable that every now and then one might have some cravings, so I let it be and make her what she asks for. We used to have a neighbour who actually spoiled mom by making it for her almost every week, but since I'm not easily convinced of frying things, even vegetables, every week, I can do it for her when she asks for it. So, let's get spoiled for a day and have something fried.

FRIED CAULIFLOWER AND ZUCCHINI

                                                

It is a very easy dish to make, my only problem with it is that it is fried. But as we said, having it every now and then is not that bad, and if it makes people happy, that's a bonus. For years we depended on our neighbour who likes to fry things and give us some of her products. To tell you the truth, I never ate her fried veggies, simply because I prefer my own cooking. She uses a batter that she makes from scratch. Usually when mom asks for this dish I simply beat an egg, dip the veggies in it, then coat them with bread crumbs and fry them. For some reason today I decided for the first time to make it with a batter. Why? I really don't know, maybe because I had some dill on my kitchen table and remembered the batter that our neighbour used. I really can't tell for sure. I also fried some zucchini. I actually had placed an order from the grocery store and asked for 2 zucchini. They sent me two alright: one of them was huge, something like a baseball bat, so I used this one only. The second is still in the fridge. You can use as much as you want, the only thing that matters is how you slice it. You'll need:

1 head of cauliflower

2 green zucchini

4 to 5 tbsp flour

A few sprigs of dill

1 egg

1/2 to 3/4 cup of skim milk

Salt, pepper and cumin to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

In a deep bowl mix the flour, egg and milk. Start with half a cup and add more if needed. The batter should be more fluid than that of pancakes. Finely chop the dill, add it to the bowl, plus salt and pepper. Mix to make sure that there are no lumps. Set aside. Cut the cauliflower into florets (don't throw away the core, you can peel it and nibble on it later, it's very tasty). In a sauce pan bring some water to a boil, add salt and the cauliflower. Bring again to a boil and promptly remove from the heat. Drain and let cool. The idea is to make the cauliflower a little tender to make sure that it will be fully cooked when fried. You may also add a pinch of cumin to the boiling water; it's up to you. While the cauliflower is cooling, rinse the zucchini and pat dry. Cut both ends of the zucchini and then slice them in 1/4 inch slices on the bias to have a larger slice. Dip the zucchini slices in the batter and one by one carefully drop them in the heated oil. When they are golden brown on one side turn them once, then remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Taste one, you may need to sprinkle the zucchini with some salt and/or cumin while they are still hot. Dip the cauliflower in the batter and fry in batches. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and adjust seasoning if needed. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

EASY CHEESEBURGER

                                                             

Only vegetables for dinner? I think not. So, since we're having something different today, we'll go all the way. I'm thinking cheeseburgers. I had the dill and parsley on the kitchen table, so I decided to make the burgers. It's my basic recipe with a small twist. It's easy and can be done in minutes. You may make a big batch, use what you need and freeze the rest for later. That's what I did. I also made two sizes: one the size of the whole slice of cheese and the other the size of half the slice. It depends on the people you are feeding: if they are all grown ups, go ahead and make the big patties, for children or elderly I prefer the smaller ones. They can always get another serving instead of leaving a half eaten burger on their plate. You'll need:

3 lb lean ground beef

1 egg

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 small onion

3 to 4 garlic cloves

1/2 a bunch each dill and flat leaf parsley

1 tbsp skim milk, optional

Slices of provolone cheese

Salt and pepper

In a food processor chop the onion, garlic and herbs until very smooth, almost pulverized. Add some of the ground beef and give it a spin. Transfer to a bowl big enough to hold all the beef. Keep working with the food processor until you've given all the ground beef a second grinding to make it smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients to the meat in the bowl and mix them thoroughly with your hands. If you feel that the meat mixture is a bit dry, go ahead and add the tbsp of milk. Form the patties by taking one ball of meat in your hands, roll it several times between your hands, then press it between your palms to the size of the cheese slice, and about 1 inch thick. To make the smaller burgers, take half of the amount of meat, roll it between your hands, then shape it in an oval patty and press it lightly between your palms to get the perfect shape we need. Heat a griddle over high heat, arrange the burgers over it and let cook for 3 minutes. Turn with a spatula on the other side and let cook for another 3 minutes. Put one cheese slice over each burger, cover the griddle for 2 minutes to allow the cheese to melt. Remove to a platter. If you're making the smaller burgers fold the cheese slice in two and place over the burgers. Serve with a salad.

More soup, please..

Weather is really getting crazy. After the cold, we're back in the 50s in New York. Still, this is not an excuse to stop having soup, at least for lunch. It's January after all!!

The best thing about soup, is that you can have it as a complete satisfying meal, even if it doesn't contain actual pieces of meat or chicken. You can have it alone for lunch, or as a starter in dinner. Sometimes I even have it as a hearty snack in the afternoon, instead of a cup of hot beverage and a cookie. It is easy to come up with delicious recipes for soup using what you have in the kitchen, or even some leftovers in your fridge. For my next recipe I actually used the cooked Lima beans in tomato sauce we had at dinner one day before, since I was sure that nobody was going to eat the same side dish again soon. But that will be our little secret, I'll give you next the "official" recipe for the soup.

THREE BEANS SOUP

                                                

It's a hearty soup that I like to serve as a one pot meal. It has everything you need: proteins (beans), carbs (orzo or pastina), lutein (tomatoes) and vitamins and nutrients (vegetables). I always make a big pot, even if I am serving 2 or 3 people, soup is always welcomed in my house. Also I try to make it early in the day so it can be ready for lunch, and the pasta in it will be fully plumped. You'll need:

3/4 cup orzo, or any small pasta like stars

1 (15.5 oz) can each cannellini and chick peas

1 package frozen Lima beans

3 to 4 celery stalks

1 handful baby carrots or 1 large carrot

1 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

1/2 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

Stock, chicken or vegetable

In a 5.5 qt pot wet the orzo with the oil and stir on high heat until light golden brown. The idea here is that when you brown the pasta this way, it will keep its shape and size, even if the soup is reheated several times. When you drop the pasta in the soup, it will keep absorbing the liquid and grow in size. Add the onions and stir for a minute. Add the Lima beans, even if not completely defrosted, and stir to completely defrost. Add the crushed tomatoes and the stock, up to the handle of your pot. Bring to a boil and keep the cover ajar. Chop the carrots into bite size and add them to the pot. Slice the celery and add it to the soup. When the veggies are almost done drain the cannellini and the chick peas, rinse them in cold water and drain them again, then add them to the pot. Stir everything together, adjust seasoning and serve.

BASIC SOUP

                                                 
I just realized that we've been talking about soup without mentioning the obvious: basic soup with pastina. I've already gave you my basic recipe for stock, chicken, meat, duck or even rabbit (Boil the meat first, discard the water, rinse and boil again in a clean pot adding one small onion, salt, pepper, ground cardamom, mastic and celery salt until the meat is tender). Sometimes, when it's really cold, I'm satisfied with just a cup of hot clear stock.
My favorite chicken soup ever, was the chicken rice soup I used to have at school. Nobody could replicate it until now. I don't know why. Our cook tried, my grandma tried, I tried several times, still, it was not the same. Maybe it's a childhood thing that is gone forever!!
So, I usually go for my second best: chicken and orzo soup. It's a very easy recipe. Actually you don't need a recipe at all. All you have to do is brown the orzo (or any small pasta: starts, shells, alphabet, or even rice) in a drop of oil, add the stock, stir and let cook on medium high until the pasta is done. How easy is that?
Browning the pasta adds some color to the soup and keeps the pasta from swelling excessively. The soup in the picture is actually a rabbit stock I had made two days ago to serve as Melokheya, and this was the leftover soup.
NOTE: Another favorite soup is what we call the HALF AND HALF SOUP. Just boil some water, add one cube chicken stock and one cube beef stock. Break a couple of spaghetti into 1 inch bits, add to the pot and cook until the pasta is done. This was our favorite late night snack while studying in high school.