Kurdish Meatball & Potato Soup

I bought a bunch of ground chuck that was on sale today. Not knowing exactly what I was going to do with it (besides freeze a bunch) I thought of what would warm me up on this dreary, rainy, gray day....It's been storming all week here and it's getting really cold, really fast. I mean last week it was in the 60s and now we're in the 40s! How does that happen? I long for a more moderate climate...maybe someday! When I really need some comfort food, something that just the smell alone warms my bones, I think of all the great soups and stews my mother makes. We always had some sort of soup or stew on the stove, alongside a big pot of rice, of course. In our culture, we serve almost all soups/stews over rice which seriously is not a bad idea. Next time you make your favorite soup, ladle it over some rice and you'll see what I'm talking about!

So what to make with pounds of ground beef....hmmmmm. Well, what came to mind first was a recipe where I could make two or three different things out of it. Hmmmmmm....I got it....MEATBALLS! I remember this meatball soup my mom used to make and it is so delicious! Plus, I could make enough meatballs to have some leftover to use as an appetizer for a party this weekend. Perfect!

Avesta's Meatballs:
2 pounds ground beef (or mix 1lb ground beef and 1 pound ground lamb)

1 small chopped onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 cloves crushed fresh garlic

2 teaspoons ground hot red pepper (optional)

salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together and roll into balls.
I don't use egg or bread crumbs in these meatballs. I don't like any fillers or binders when I don't have to use them. I don't have a problem keeping my meatballs together. If you find you're having trouble or you want a moister meatball, add two eggs to this recipe.

Place rolled meatballs on a pan-sprayed baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size you made them, check inside of one meatball to see if fully cooked).

This recipe should make about 30-40 meatballs.

Kurdish Meatball & Potato Soup:

20-30 meatballs

1 can chopped or diced tomatoes (with their juice)

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cans beef broth

1 small chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons lemon juice

pinch of sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

4 potatoes, peeled & cubed

salt & pepper to taste

1-2 cups water (depending on how thick you like your soup/stew)

4 tablespoons olive oil

Kurdish Meatball & Potato Soup

In a large saucepan, saute diced onions in the olive oil until just soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and parsley and saute for just a minute. Add the tomato sauce, beef broth, potatoes, sugar, cumin, salt & pepper and water and mix well. Bring to a boil for about 5 minutes and continue to mix. Lower the temperature, add the cooked meatballs and lemon juice and let simmer until potatoes are soft. You can also add other vegetables to this soup if you'd like. I've added green beans, garbanzo beans, okra, corn...whatever your fancy!

This soup served over rice is so delicious but since it does have potatoes in it, you could eat it alone in a soup bowl with some good buttered bread!

Hometown & Cooking with Mom

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!

Kurdish Style Boneless Beef Ribs

You've had your quick lesson on Kurdish cuisine...so let's go ahead and start cooking! I was really in the mood for some comfort food last night so I decided to make these short ribs that my mom always made for us growing up. It's a very simple recipe and the great thing about them is once you've made them, you can use the leftovers for other great recipes. Don't worry....I'll show you those, later.

Kurdish Style Boneless Beef Ribs:

3-4 lbs country style chuck beef ribs (I used boneless this time, but you can use bone-in if you prefer or substitute short ribs)

course salt (if you've got it) & black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 cups water

6 cloves garlic, (whole or chopped)

2 onions, (quartered)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper


1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

These ribs are a bit fatty but when you slow cook them you can let them cool and skim the fat off the top of the pot...but the fat is what makes them so good!
Season both sides of the short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sear both sides of the ribs until golden brown. Put the ribs in either a large dutch oven or slow cooker. Add all of the spices, garlic and onions and give it a little stir. Put your pan back on the heat and add the cups of water to deglaze. Use a wooden spoon to get all the goodies off of the bottom of the pan and mix until it just comes to a boil. Add the sauce to your dutch oven or slow cooker. If you're cooking in a dutch oven cook at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until meat is fork tender. In a slow cooker, cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for 7-9 hours. Once the ribs are done, serve with rice, couscous or potatoes. When you refrigerate the leftovers make sure to keep the broth because I will show you a couple recipes that you can make with this yummy sauce!This is what you'll have when it's all done!

I served mine with some red beans and rice (you can find this recipe in my archives) and fresh green onions (very typical in Kurdish cuisine). Once I put the ribs on the rice, I used a ladel to scoop up some of the sauce in the slow cooker and poured it over the ribs and rice.
It was delicious!
See how tender and perfect these ribs look.

A Lesson on Kurdish Cuisine

Map of Kurdistan

I've talked about being Kurdish and if you don't know a lot about the Kurds...well then you're probably asking "who are the Kurds and what exactly is Kurdish style cooking?"

Some typical Middle Eastern & Greek Foods that the Kurds make:

Baklava

Hummus (though we do not use lemon juice in ours)

Tabouleh & Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce

First, a little history about who exactly the Kurds are and where they are from. Kurds came thousands of years ago from the Kafkas mountains at the time when the big migration of humanity began from those mountains to the Middle East and Europe. According to research, the flow of the emigrants divided into two main groups. One of these groups settled in Europe and extended to the generations we see nowadays in Germany. The other group settled in the north of Mesopotamia (Kurdistan). Scientists believe that Kurds and Europeans descend from the same root, that is Indo-European (Aree) race. The brightest page of Kurdish history goes back to the year 860 B.C. Kurds at that time had a very powerful Empire called Media. This Empire extended to some parts of present Iraq and Iran in addition to all their land.

The Kurdish cuisine is a wonderful cuisine because it is influenced by so many cuisines as the Kurds are spread out throughout the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. I grew up eating so many different kinds of food and just thought that's how everyone ate. My mother made so many different kinds of dishes and it was always such a learning experience hanging out with her in the kitchen as she would tell us about the food she was making. She'd tell us stories of making her beans n rice while bombs were going off outside her home. She'd tell us about making yogurt for the Peshmerga (the Kurdish freedom fighters) before they had to leave for a mission, because it was good for them to help fight off infections.

The Kurds use lots of fresh herbs and vegetables in their food and soups are a staple. The soups consist of different vegetables and meats, primarily lamb and chicken. We eat a lot of burgul. I remember my dad lecturing us on how good it was for us, because we wanted our mom's white rice instead. And he was right....burgul is made of durum wheat and is very rich in fiber, protein and even potassium. I will make sure to post some burgul recipes soon! We eat most of our soups and stews over rice or couscous or burgul. Many of the soups and stews are tomato based and of course full of flavor.

Kurdish "yaprak" "yapragh" or "dolma" The Kurds stuff many vegetables, including onions, tomatoes, squash, etc when they make dolma as well as the stuffed grape leaves.
Kurdish Biryani, rice with spices and lamb.

Kurds eat a very healthy diet because even when they use meat it is almost always served with lots of veggies and no added fats are used in our cooking. Braising meats is the typical way of cooking meat which of course eliminates the necessary use of any oils or butter. The other thing that I think is very important is that we'd always end a meal with a big bowl of fresh fruits and hot black tea. We'd use honey for our tea and the fruit was our dessert. The Kurds love of fruit comes from the fact that most of the soil in Kurdistan is very rich and fertile, and long summer months allow for many fruits to grow. My mother's father had orchards of fruit and nut trees. He had pomegranate, apple, fig, and walnut trees as well as rows and rows of grape vines.

Kurdish clothing is very colorful and elaborate. Men & Women dance together in the Kurdish culture.
A young girl in traditional Kurdish clothing.

If you're really interested in the Kurds and want to learn more about them or see more pictures and get the latest on their plight to survive and thrive....go to:

http://www.krg.org/

Kurdish Wedding...Kurdish Food...WOW!

ENTRANCE OF THE BRIDE

CLAPPING AND DANCING AROUND THE BRIDE AND GROOM

All I can say about my weekend is WOW! I have to tell you....ethnic weddings are just over the top....over the top with emotion....food...love...dancing....I was so exhausted today! (and I was just a guest!)

My friend Tavan got married this weekend. She is Kurdish, from the same region my mother's family is from...northern Iraq. Her fiance is also from that same region...as they met because their families know each other and of course encouraged them to get married.

I felt very comfortable at the wedding as the Kurdish traditions make me feel very much at home and proud of my roots. I remember at my wedding, I incorporated both Kurdish and American traditions (as my husband is American) and it was so nice to be able to celebrate both cultures. I also laughed to myself several times this weekend because the drama and emotion are so high with family and friends of different ethnic backgrounds. As soon as my mother and I got to the reception, the sister of the bride was crying, screaming, having a panic attack...and noone seemed to think it was a big deal (as we all think this behavior is quite normal!) And not to mention that the wedding was 2 1/2 hours late, which also is pretty "normal" in our culture.

We fight, yell, cry, laugh out loud, scream with joy, and on and on....I know some of my American friends thought this was strange behavior when I got married...but it is quite "normal" for us to be this dramatic...and in the end....all we know is that we love our family and we have a damn good time no matter what the drama or stress that led up to the celebration.

The best part of the night was the dancing and the food. I can't believe the difference between going to an American wedding and a Kurdish wedding. None of the food was served in fancy platters or with any garnish or silver tongs....instead...it was just good food....served right out of the pots from the stove. There were four different kinds of rice, plain white basmati rice, brown rice, saffron rice and a biryani (spiced rice with cloves and all-spice). There was "yaprakh" or better known as "dolmada" or "dolma" grape leaves and onions stuffed with rice, dill, garlic, onions and in this case, lamb. My plate was filled by the men in the family and when I walked away from the buffet line, I couldn't wait to dive in to that pile of goodness.

Can you see the yummy goodness....

Now to the dancing....it was just amazing to see the different traditional Kurdish dresses all in a line. It's custom to do the folk line dancing at weddings and it's similar to Greek line dancing. One dance can last 20 or more minutes! My legs and feet are still killing me! But seriously...look at these fabrics, the jewelry, the details, and of course...the hair and makeup!

The most amazing tradition at Kurdish weddings is what we call the "gifts of gold." This is the tradition where the groom adorns the bride with layers of top-notch gold...we're talking 18k and 22k or 24k gold. The bride picks out some of the pieces and of course the groom is also expected to surprise her with some really expensive pieces...the more gold the bride gets...obviously the more money the groom has and in turn impresses the bride's family and friends. After she is covered with gold from the groom, the guests then take turns lavishing her with more gifts of gold and cards with money in them, this is all expected on top of the regular gifts that guests bring to a wedding. Boy do they make out!!! Wow...I should've told all my guests about this tradition!!!!

Presentation of Gold to the Bride

Check out all the Gold

Brides hands with all her new gold rings and of course the henna for good luck

At the end of the night, the cake cutting ceremony begins with the knife dance. This is where the bride's sisters and best friends dance with the knives that will cut the cake...but before they hand over the knives, they dance and tease the groom with the knives to remind him that they can "handle" knives and that he better take care of their sister/friend. It is a fun tradition and at my wedding, my sisters and friends really played the part and the guests loved it!

I get all sappy when I go to weddings, this weekend even more than usualy because it not only made me think about how amazing love is...it also reminded me of my amazing Kurdish culture.

My mother and I in our Kurdish attire

The Knife Dance