I'm home in Ohio this week. It feels so good to be where you feel comfortable. I've spent some time in Columbus and some time in my hometown of Logan, Ohio. Logan is a small southeastern Ohio town in the Hocking Hills region. It's bittersweet. All the memories. Driving down 93 South between the orange and red filled trees. Fall in these parts is like no other. I remember thinking this town sucks when I was a teenager. I longed for city life. For more to do...but now I am so glad I grew up here. I am so glad that I can "come home" to Logan, Ohio and feel so comfortable.
When I'm in Logan I stay at my brother's house and we cook so much. My mom and I cook all kinds of food and my sister-in-law Jamie helps and we have so much fun talking and catching up....and of course nibbling on all the food we make.
My all time favorite food my mom makes is what we call Kuba. These are rice ball that are filled with a ground beef, almond and raisin mixture. I am amazed how perfectly my mom forms these balls. It's not as easy as it may look. It takes years to perfect and my Kuba still don't look as nice as my mom's. Here's some pics from our Kuba making today!
The mixture is basically lean ground beef sauteed with finely chopped onion, parsley almonds and raisins with some cumin, salt and pepper.
The rice has to be perfectly boiled. It can't be too soft or hard. It is drained & cooled then mixed with a few eggs, turmeric and a little salt.
You can form the Kuba into round balls or if you can master the real Kuba shape, they are supposed to be more in this oval shape. To shape the Kuba, you have to make sure that your hands are wet so the rice doesn't stick to your hands.
Kuba gets deep fried until the rice is nice and crunchy. Be careful when you first bite into one, the inside is hot! Let them cool a bit first, though I burn my mouth every time my mom and I make Kuba. I just can't wait to eat one!
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