Kube' - Home Version

One of the tastiest Middle Eastern foods is Kube' which comes in many variations, all including ground meat made with onions wrapped in a blend of Bulgar and spices.

It is one of the Mideast "fast food" although not as high ranking as the felafel and Shawarma in pita bread.In its fast food version it usually comes as a zeppelin-shaped patty.



In Maisoun's home version of Kube' you get this plate of goodie for breakfast and it makes you happy all day.



Bon Apetit!

What shall I cook tomorrow?

Steak with Rice

Delicious beef steak slowly cooked with mushrooms, 

served with rice,

topped with roasted, chopped almonds.

YUMMMMM!!!!

Kusa Ma`Laben

Zucchini in yogurt sauce

If you ever wanted to learn the art of 

perfectly emptying a zucchini so it looks like it grew hallow, 

you'd want to watch Maisoun closely as she perfects the skill 

with each vegetable she carves. 

In her hands, an end result is a very thin yet firm zucchini peel, 

waiting to wrap rice, meat and spices inside.

 

Stuffed with very small chunks of steak, 

mixed with rice and spices, 

sealed with a piece of potato 

to keep all the goodies from spilling out 

during the slow cooking in yogurt sauce. 

Look how thin the zucchini peel is...

 Can we say perfection?

Oh, and the taste... the combination of dairy, meat, rice and spice... yea, keep drooling, it is that good and then some!

Oh, what a mess!

Maklubi

When you need great comfort food, when family gathers together 

or just when it feels like it Maisoun makes a dish called Maklubi 

which in free translation means "a mess". 

The dish combines rice, cauliflower, onions, chicken breast and Maisoun's magnificent spices. 

When family gathers around the table, 

adults, children, extended family, neighbors and friends,

Maklubi is served with salad, pita bread, drinks 

and lots of family communication over simply good food.

Marah and baby Rose.

Bon Apetit!

Maisoun's kitchen. 

What shall I cook tomorrow? 

Dinner is ready! or, what shall I cook today?

 

It is not every day one is granted entrance to heaven while still alive. 

Maisoun's kitchen is no doubt a portals on earth.

Hidden in the beautiful Druze village of Ossafia on Mt. Carmel just outside Haifa (Israel), Maisoun Kayouf is the queen of her kitchen. 

When you pass by her house, you can smell a heavenly scent of spices mixed with daily ingredients and perhaps most impotently...with her love for cooking.

Being a traditional Druze wife, mother, daughter, sister and a friend, Maisoun brings her traditional culture to the kitchen table where her family and friends enjoy daily fresh creations. 

I`ve been privileged to be her neighbor and friend since I moved to live in Ossafia. That, as you can imagine, has granted me with endless culinary pleasures. Not only her food tastes like heaven, it is served (daily) with such grace that I couldn`t just keep it to myself, I had to share it with the world. 

Tonight I enjoyed stuffed zucchini, eggplant and something we call here Kara which is an inbreed between a squash and an eatable gourd. All filled with rice and meat, slowly cooked  for hours in fresh tomato sauce. 

The Druze people are known for their superb hospitality. 

"What shall I cook tomorrow?"

Stay tuned for surprises from Maisoun's Kitchen.