Jelly Belly Nonsense

oh shrimp knife oh oh oh i love this knife :)

bil 3afya il dolma .. why not roz bil laban with fostoq?

nooni: give me the recipe and I'll try it...bas a7eb al dolma coz feeni 3erj 3eraqi I guess ;)
allah yer7amha my grandmother was an excellent cook...I swear I wish I paid more attention to her when she was cooking dolma :(

Ya Allah I burn everything I cook :P, I wish I was a good cook too.

P.S#1: try singing another song, it might fix the dolma lol

P.S#2: I've been reading your blog for a while and really enjoying it :)

ancient: 7ayach allah 7abebty and you made my day that you enjoy my blog :D

and about cooking...listen sweetie we all had disasters in the kitchen before...but that's the only way to learn and perfect something ;)
I'm not going to claim that I'm an excellent cook but I'm not bad either...so don't give up in cooking ;)

about the song...hmmm don't ask me why but I love singing/listening to old songs while I'm cooking/cleaning! and these days my mood is Shadia ;)

tayha: oh intay nafs 7altee I hate cleaning the dishes after cooking...bas these days I have nothing to do...so I have been cooking a lot lately...o yal 3ayara damich it3arfeen itsaween dolma tell me where did I go wrong? :P

o 3ala 6aree the song...I love 7aga `3areeba...I think it's the best duet song that Shadia ever made...actually I think it's one of the best Arabic duets songs I haver heard...it's one of my old time favorites!! la la intay 6al3tay Dahya mo Tayha ;P

Dolma has always been beyond me. I tried it several times and I could never get it right. I even have Fatma Hussein's cookbook ;) I think it takes a lot of practice to get it exactly right. Keep practicing; I think it's definitely worth the effort!

I've never made Dolma but it looks very interesting.
I have made cabbage rolls which seem to be the American version,ground meat,rice,rolled into cabbage.Sometimes you need to really work the mixture with your hands to get it all to stick together just right.You will be able to tell if you squeeze a little in your hand and it makes a little ball that holds together.

Sarah: hahahahaha I have Fatama Hussain book too...I know I need to keep practicing to perfect my dolma and I know one day I will...hahahahaha...so Sarah what's your favorite dish to cook?

Tayha: allah yekon eb 3onich weya al diet...I know I should be on one too...bas I decided to give myself a little break this summer ;)
and about al dolma I did add oil and water bas just enought to cover it! ma adree maybe I had a lot of rice.
good luck dieting and hang in there :)

Christina: hmmm never had cabbage rolls but it sure sounds yummy! and it does seem smiliar to Dolma...thanks dear for the tip...but the thing is the mixture (rice and the ground beef) is cooked lightly before stuffing the grape leaves...so I don't think they'll be sticky like your mixture and hold together...but I'll give it a try any how...thanks dear :D

My "favorite" depends on what I'm craving at the moment. The most frequent one is kanafa, and sometimes basboosa or m'halbiya. On the non-sweet side, I love margoog and yireesh. I think I mostly crave them because I don't get to eat them too often. I am really horrible at cooking Kuwaiti food though (I can't even make good rice). I used to be able to get my mom to cook whatever I crave, but she's on some kind of low-carb diet now, so that's the end of that.

Did you ever have this Iraqi kufta-thing. . . it's a circle that's about 10 cm in diameter (if I remember correctly). . like the size of a medium Khubz Lebnani. . . I think it was crusty on the outside and had meat and maybe pine nuts on the inside. It was flat, but kind of puffed up when you cooked it. I think it was deep-fried. I think my parents used to buy it frozen and cook it at home. This was in the early 80's when I was little, and I haven't had it in maybe 20 years, but I'll never forget it!

Gosh I'm starving now, even though I just ate dinner. . . There are so many foods that I miss from Kuwait. I'm just glad that my local grocery store started selling Flake and Aero and "bu-asad" . . . I lived off of bu-asad when I was in elementary school. . . I do miss that za'tar buffak. . . . or those little pizzas from the jamiya that only had one olive and 3 shreds of cheese. . .

Mostly we eat "american" food at home, which to us means anything we can make in 15 minutes or less :) Lots of salad and broccoli and pasta. . . Today we splurged and had salmon with stir-fried vegetables. But I think tomorrow we're having either spaghetti or hamburgers. . .

Ok, this comment is getting really long, so I'll stop!

Yes JB,cabbage rolls are rice and ground beef both cooked as well as the head of cabbage(cooked also).You mix the rice which is a long grain and sticky and the meat(with spices)with your hands,as you work it it gets kind of starchy and makes everything stick together.You peel the leaves off and use them as the wrapping.You then cover it in a spiced tomato sauce and bake.I've only done them a few times and would need to look up a recipe.Sounds very similar.

first of all, stuffed grape vines are sarma, not dolma

dolma is stuffed koussa, wara2 3anab, batenjen, flefle.

when its just the grape vines its called sarma.

second, so that the grapevines wont fall apart, i suggest after u roll them, group 5 or 6 together and wrap them around with a thread. it should hold them together. this is beginners style until ur rolling improves.

try it and let me know how it goes

rampurple: those look like grape leaves in the picture. I didn't know you could stuff grape vines. How interesting!

Sarah: when was the last time you were in Kuwait?! it seems like you miss a lot of good home cooked meals! :)
I know the kubba you are talking about my grandmother used to cook it for us all the time...it's yummy...and about the chocolate...there is this British store which about 30 minutes away from where I live...I go there when I get my chocolate cravings...oh n don't worry about cooking so much... the life style here in the States makes you eat the 20 minutes meal...you just don't have time to cook...but since I have only one class this summer session and it's kind of slow...I have been in the mood of cooking :)

Christina: oh it does sound so familiar...maybe I should try it some time...and again thanks for the tip dear :D

Rampurple: hey sweetie welcome to my blog and thanks for your tips...I will try the thread trick :)
oh and I did cook dolma not only wara 3inab...I did stuff kosa and ba9al :)

Shopaholic: hahahaha why bother because I got sick from eating out...and believe me I don't cook all the time...just when I'm in the mood....o 3ala al `3naya and the movie I love that movie...ma amel min hal film after all ekfaya feeh Roshdi Abatha...akh ya galbi ;)

This is a very simple recipe that is very good and the leftovers can be frozen in zip-lock baggies and used as a delicious salad topping with ranch dressing and a little cheese.

4 split boneless chicken breasts
1/4c olive oil
1/2c Balsamic vinegar
garlic to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix the marinate and place chicken breasts into it.Let it marinate for atleast a few hours.The longer it marinates the better.Broil them until done,or better yet do them on an outside charcoal or gas grill.Enjoy!

Just to be clear....that should be 4 half breasts not 4 whole split!You can make really as many as you want just by doubling or tripling it.

Christina: I'm gonna try it for a 4th of July BBQ....Thanks dear :D

omg is that stuffing on a leave or a leave on stuffing :D


* too much stuffing
* is that stuffing cooked?

ok we have to set the rules straight i need you to fill me in the following & i will give you a recipe ...

do you want wrq 3nb eb zait or l7am?

the difference is the one cooked with zait (olive oil) can be eaten cold or hot infact a lot prefer it cold, the stuffing differs also! the one with l7am which they call "yabra2" is different in the stuffing contents & the way of cooking ... so here it comes two recipies

ورق عنب بزيت

:الحشوة:

عيش
(ما استوعب اكتب ارز او رز) على حسب جدرتج بكمل المقادير

طماط
(حبتين متوسطين مفرومين فرم ناعم .. نفس فرم التبوله)

بقدونس
(هم فرم ناعم حيل و الكمية تقريبا هذي الحزمه اللي يبيعونها مادري ظمه مادري شيسمونها بس
a handfull of bqdounes)

بصل
(بصله كبيره مفرومه فرم ناعم)

نعناع
(شووووية تقريبا 20 عرق هم مفرومين فرم ناعم)

ليمون
(ليمونتين متوسطين معصورين.. احتمال تحتاجين اكثر اذا تحبينه حامض)

زيت زيتون (خلج كريمه :> تحطين على الخلطة تقريبا 5 ملاعق طعام .. لما تحسين الخلطة صار فيها لمعه معقوله مو اللي تنترس زيت لانه بينطبخ بزيت بعد)

تخلط المقادير اعلاه و راح تلاحظين ان اكو عصارة وايد تحت مع العيش .. عادي حاول اتصفينها بقلاص و خليه على صوب

بالنسبه للحشو (ياريتني دريت قبل علشان اصور لج اشلون بالظبط .. احتمال اصور لج بوقت قريب حشو حي ) عموما لكل ورقة عنب كميه بسيطه تعادل تقريبا عرض حرف السكين اللي انتي حاطتها :> ادري فرق شاسع بس احسن علشان لا اتفجج بالطباخ و اللف تبدين بالطول لفه وحده من صوبج الى الداخل بعدين اتلفين الطرف اليمين و اليسار لي الداخل بعدين اتلفينها لي الداخل كلها على شكل اسطواني .. ما شرحت وايد لاني واثقه من كلامج انج اتعرفين اللف :> مو صعب وايد

بعدين اتقصصين بطاطة كبيرة على شكل شرائح مدوره تحطينها بقاعة جدرة الطبخ اللي اتصفينهم لين ايغطون القاعه

اتقصصين طماط دوائر نفس الطريقة و تصفينهم فوق البطاط

بعدين اتصفين ورق العنب المحشي فوقهم

اتغطينهم بغطى جدره اصغر من اللي انتي تستعملينها .. او بصحن .. و فوقه ثقل .. لازم اتحسين ان المقادير مؤمنه ماكو ولا شي منها ينحاش

بعدين شفتي القلاص اللي اول شي اللي متروس زيت و ليمون :> حطيه فوق الورق عنب و زيدي ربع قلاص زيت (لان كميتج قليله) و عصير ليمون اذا تحبين الحمض واضح .. و هم ماي لحد ما يرتفع لفوق مستوى الصحن بتقريبا
1 cm

و ياخذ ساعه بالطباخ و عليج بالعافية

اذا تبين ورق العنب بلحم قوليلي اعطيج الطريقة :> و فيني مشكله بالمقادير اني افظل النظري و الذواقه حزة الحزة علشان اقدر شنو حلو و شنو مو حلو :> فا هم استغلي حدسج و ذوقج

Shahayteen-na Jelly belladonna :)

Q8CG: 7abebeteeeeeeeeeeee thank you sooooooo much for the recipes :********
I will try them inshallah soon :D

Jewaira: yalla when I get back home I'm gonna cook some o a6resha lich ;)

How funny I am making me7shi right now and i am praying to the high heavens they dont break open. I'll let you know how it goes and what i did wrong or right from my experience!

Hey Janjoon I'm sorry I just noticed your comment!
welcome to my blog dear and I hope your ma7shi didn't break open? :)
keep me updated will you?
and bon appetit :)

jelly belly - thanks for the warm welcome. So, some of the me7shi broke open and some of them were alright. I didn't notice till after I finished that I had used expired waraq. Oh well. It tasted good anyway. Today I made kafta and it was probably the best kafta I've ever had in my life! lol