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| Refrigerated stuffed grape leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack look a lot better on the package, above, than they do on the plate, below. Frankly Fresh Foods, the maker, says they are handmade and "ready to eat," but they're not very good cold. |
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By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
I was raised in Brooklyn eating grape leaves my mother grew in our garden, and stuffed with a mixture of rice and chopped meat.
She cooked them in a covered pot in water flavored with a thick tamarind sauce.
Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson makes a tasty version of stuffed grape leaves, but the ones I've eaten in Greek restaurants have been just OK.
The other day, my wife brought home Frankly Fresh Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.
A 2-pound package was $10.59, which seems a little high to me.
The package says they are "handmade with seasoned rice, tomatoes, onions and red peppers," and "ready to eat."
On Wednesday night, I added the stuffed grape leaves to a dinner salad of greens, beans and beets, and was underwhelmed.
They were dense and a little dry, and they reminded me of the bland vegetarian falafel I once bought at Costco.
But this morning, I plated stuffed grape leaves with Korean-style stewed pollock and organic quinoa with tomatoes, and heated the food in the microwave for 2 minutes.
I drizzled extra-virgin olive oil on the quinoa and stuffed grape leaves, as well as fresh lime juice (the stuffed grape leaves package shows a half slice of lemon).
The stuffed grape leaves came alive. They were moist and delicious, and I'm glad my wife brought them home.
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Chewy, whole-grain organic quinoa with tomatoes is a great side dish for a frittata.
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Stewed, wild-caught pollock from H Mart in Englewood with collaloo, center; and ackee and salt fish.
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Whole grain quinoa as opposed to non-whole gain quinoa?
ReplyDeleteThere is a whole grain quinoa produced by Inca Organics in Ecuador that is available in the US, England, and Australia. It is washed in a 3-step operation that thoroughly cleans the bitter saponin from the quinoa without removing any of the vital nutrients. It is then dried to a specific humidity and is ready to eat with no further rinsing. All other quinoa that is grown in Peru and Bolivia is mechanically polished by abrasion to take off the saponin. This produces a saponin powder that is used as an emulsifier in the pharmaceutical industry. The leftover quinoa is then sold as the grain quinoa~ but is not a whole grain. The polishing makes it a refined grain like white rice, white flour, or pearled barley. It is lower in protein, vitamins, and minerals and has half the dietary fiber as whole grain quinoa....just saying.
DeleteThe Tru Roots quinoa sold at Costco is organic, labeled 100% whole grain and said to come from farms " that use best practices and time-honored Andean tradition."
DeleteWhile the packaging should ideally state "Heat and eat", I never would think to eat these cold from the package. Most eat their stuffed Grape leaves hot as a rule. The great things here are- low points on WW, a hearty, rib sticking taste and they're super convenient. Hard to believe they are vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteWe are hooked on these. I am searching for more flavors from the same maker, which is what brought me here, in case the foreboding page title had any merit.
Thanks. Of course, stuffed grape leaves are served cold in Greek salads.
DeleteBut growing up, I always ate them hot cooked in a tamarind sauce my mother made at home.
You all are crazy. These grape leaves are delicious, and vegetarian grape leaves are usually served cold:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolma
They may usually be served cold, but taste better when heated.
Deletehello would love to have your recipe for your mother's tamarind sauce. Just bought these stuffed Grape leaves to serve for my Greek inspired book club later this week.
DeleteMy mother wrote a self-published cookbook. I'll look to see if she included a recipe. But you might find the prepared tamarind sauce in an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery.
DeleteA remember she used to make it in the finished basement, where we had a stove, refrigerator and freezer. She made it in an enormous pot, then transferred the tamarind sauce to mason jars.
It was an all-day process, starting with what I recall were branches of the fruit, that filled the house with the sour smell of the fruit.
My mother's recipe for making "temerhendy," which is Syrian for tamarind sauce, calls for 5 pounds of tamarind fruit, without the pods they come in.
DeleteYou are supposed to soak the fruit overnight completely covered with water. Next, day, remove branches and pits, and strain through fine cheesecloth.
Discard mush.
Wash pot or pail you used to soak fruit, add 2.5 pounds of sugar, half-cup salt, juice of one lemon or lime, and cook over medium heat for 5 hours or until you have half of what you started with.
Cool and put in jars. Store in a cool place.
That's it. Good luck. I'd buy it in a store.
On second thought... I will buy it in a store. thanks!
DeleteI'd look at the ingredients label, especially at the amount of sugar.
DeleteThanks for the ideas. I've been eating these since they came out at Costco. I like the ingredients list - nothing there I can't understand. I eat them right out of the refrigerator sometimes and I agree, pretty bland. Just letting them sit at room temperature for awhile will help a lot. I'm definitely going to try heating them after reading the ideas here.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, these will never be as good as homemade. However, the low sugar (1 gram) and low sodium is a welcome change to our usual fast food selections.
Thanks. Yes, my mother's were smaller but had no equal.
DeleteBought Stuffed Grape leaves from Costco yesterday.On the package it says ready to eat.Well the rice was raw,and tasted bland.I don't think
ReplyDeleteI will buy the product again or will even recommend it to my friends.
It's a waste of money and doesn't come cheap.
OK, thanks. I haven't seen them in a New Jersey Costco for a couple of years.
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