IB Kitchen Club

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Stuffed Grape Leaves with Olive Oil

Known as dolma or sarma in Turkey. My Iraqi friends make these sometimes (they call them as dolma).



For the Stuffing:

2 cups rice
½ white or yellow onion (chopped)
½ cup pine nuts
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint (or 2 tbsp dried mint)
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat leave parsley (or 2 tbsp dried parsley)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 lemons

For Rolling & Cooking:

1 jar grape leaves or as much as it takes to finish the stuffing above
½ lemon
2 sprigs fresh mint
2 garlic cloves (sliced)
2 tbsp olive oil
Water (as much as it takes to fill ¾ of the pot)


Preparation:

Mix all the stuffing ingredients together. The stuffing should look like this:



If you are using a pickled grape leaves, remove from the jar and run under cold water and squeeze to let all the water out.



Take one grape leaf and place on a cutting board or well cleaned counter. If your cutting board is white, it will turn to a greenish/brownish color from this because of all the juices as you can see in the pictures Make sure to place your leaf the smooth side down, facing the board. When you roll it, the smooth side of the leaf will be on the outer side.



Remove the stem. Place some stuffing on the leaf.



Start rolling the grape leaf by first making one fold forward and then folding both sides in.



Keep rolling forward until the leaf is completely rolled.



Place neatly in a pot. The first round of placing the sarmas in the pot looks like this:



When the pot is full, the sarmas should look like this:



Once all the grape leaves are rolled, place the fresh mint leaves on top along with sliced garlic. Pour ½ lemon juice on top and drizzle the olive oil. Add water enough to cover ¾ of the pot.



Place small plates on the sarmas to put weight on them so they do not open during the cooking process. Cover and cook on medium heat until water boils. Reduce the heat once the water boils and start cooking on low for 45 minutes. Make sure the water does not dry out before cooking. I always take one sarma and taste it before I decide if the rice inside has cooked or not. Enjoy warm or cold.

Note: You may also use the stuffing (with meat) used in the Karısık Dolma recipe. You may also use the vegetarian stuffing for making dolmas with eggplants, zucchinis or bell peppers.

This is one of my favorites:

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Bottom:
170 g unsalted butter
75 g pecans
170 g flour
1 tbsp powdered sugar

Melt the butter. Chop the nuts finely. Combine everything and spread into a buttered springform pan, lined with a round of parchment paper or cut out teflon sheet. (You can attempt to do this without lining, but I wouldn't dare.)

Bake at 175° for 22-25 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove and let cool completely in the pan.

Filling:
200 g cream cheese
300 g white chocolate
25 g sugar
500 ml (2 cups) heavy cream (35-40% fat)

Melt the chocolate. Mix sugar and cream cheese and add the chocolate to this. Beat the cream until it holds soft peaks - don't overbeat it. Fold in with the rest. Pour into the pan, and smooth the top. Refrigerate for at least three hours.

Topping:
500 g strawberries

Trim the strawberries to a fairly even size, and decorate the top of the cake.



Here is now best season of fresh strawberries... planning to make this at next weekend. Yummy!

Homemade Fruity Candies

200 gr dried fruits (apple, pineapple, papaya, raisins, apricot)
50 gr candied cherries
50 gr dried orange peel
50 gr pine nuts
150 gr ground almonds
3 dl sugar
125 gr butter
¾ dl light syrup (molasses)

Cut the fruit into small pieces and mix together with pine nuts and ground almonds.

Melt the sugar in a saucepan at low heat, add butter and syrup and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Add the fruit-nut mixture to the saucepan and again allow it to simmer for a while.

Cover a baking tray (25cm x 25cm) with greaseproof paper and pour the mixture on it. Cut into small squares before the mixture hardens.

format_quote Originally Posted by King of Nines

So, are you supposed to eat the leaves of that grape leaf rice thingy?

Sure. It is yummy.

format_quote Originally Posted by King of Nines

So it's like a cooked salad then. Interesting.

You can also use meat with rice.

Stuffed vegetables:



Vegetables:

10 small thick eggplants
8 small zucchinis
6 red small bell peppers
2 large green bell peppers
1 large tomato

For the Vegetables:

Full pot of water
1 tsp salt
1 juice of lemon

For the Stuffing:
1 lb ground beef (96% lean)
3 cups of short grain white rice
2 large ripe peeled tomatoes
¾ cup finely chopped parsley
½ cup finely chopped mint
1½ tbsp chopped garlic (about 3 very large cloves)
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp red pepper paste
1 diced long green pepper or 1/2 cubanelle pepper (optional)
2 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
1 juice of lemon
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp cumin

For Cooking the Dolmas:

Juices of 2 lemons
4 cloves of garlic
2-3 stems of mint
1 ½ cup water

Fill a large pot with water and add salt & the juice of one lemon. This will be used to keep the eggplants from turning brown and to give them a salty lemony taste to the vegetables after being carved.

To carve an eggplant without creating a hole can be challenging. There is a tool that is especially used to carve an eggplant or a zucchini in Turkey. I know that they are definitely available here in the States in Middle Eastern stores. That little tool makes carving a lot easier. After washing the vegetables well, remove the stem from the eggplant and cut a 1/2 inch from where the stem was. Do not discard the ½ inch stem as it will be used for covering the stuffing later on. This will allow the carver to have enough room to go inside the eggplant. Stick the carver once and remove.



This will look like a half moon. Stick the carver on the opposite side of the previous location and this will look like a round shape. Turn the carver around that area and remove. You will see that the heart of the eggplant will come out nicely. From there, you can start carving easily until the inside of the eggplant is hallowed. Be careful not to poke the eggplant in places so that there are no holes.

Once the carving is complete, add the eggplant to the salty and sour water.

Repeat the same process until all the eggplants are carved. Now, start carving the zucchinis the same exact way. The zucchinis tend to get unwanted holes in them more than eggplants, so be extra careful. Scrape the zucchinis with a knife or with the carver (some carvers have a scraper also) after you carve them. Remove the stems from the peppers and remove any seeds that may be inside them. Repeat the same thing with the tomato.

To prepare the stuffing, mix all the stuffing ingredients very well in a large bowl.

Now, fill each of the carved vegetables one by one with the lemony, salty water in the pot, shake very well and pour the water back and set aside. Do this one by one. This way, the lemon and salt will get inside the carved vegetables nicely.

Start filling the vegetables with the stuffing.



Fill up to the top and leave a ½ inch space on top and cover with the ½ inch piece you cut up before you began the carving process. This will close the vegetable so that the stuffing will stay inside the vegetable rather than swimming around in the pot while cooking. Repeat the same process with all the carved vegetables. Arrange the vegetables in the large pot. Make sure they are not loosely arranged. They need to be as tight as possible so they have no where to move in the pot.



Try not to overfill the pot. If the vegetables do not fit the pot, split them into two pots. Assuming you have one large pot, spread 4 crushed garlic cloves, fresh mint leaves and the lemon juice on top of the arranged stuffed vegetables.



Then pour 1 ½ cup of water and put some weight on the vegetables. There is a special weight tool that is made out clay that is put inside the pot on the vegetables in Turkey. Since that is not available to me, I put in 3-4 small plates to put some weight on the vegetables so that they will not be swimming in the pot. Put on the stove until the water inside starts to boiling and then turn to low heat for 1.5 hours. After turning the heat off, let the pot sit covered for 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm. This dish goes very well with plain yogurt.

Easy and fast:

Coconut Cookies

2 egg whites
3/4 cup flaked coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 190 C (400 F). Beat the egg whites using an electric mixer until foamy. Add the coconut flakes, flour and sugar, and mix again. Put parchment paper on the oven tray. Place spoonfuls of the mixture on it. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the crust turns to a light golden colour.

Turkish Lemon Cake



125 gr unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon zest
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg whites, beat until they are stiff

You can use any kind of Cake mold, I used one with a hole in the center.

Beat the butter with sugar until creamy using a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Add in the egg yolks one by one, mix. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and milk, continue to mix. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in an another bowl and add slowly into the egg mixture. Mix until the batter is creamy. Slowly add frosted egg whites into the batter, stir using a metal table spoon.

Oil the mold first, then sprinkle 1 tbsp flour in it. Pour the batter into the mold equally using a tablespoon.

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Place the mold on the middle rack. Bake for 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Wait for 15 minutes, then place the cake on the wire rack to cool it down. Serve Lemon Cake with whipped cream and any kind of berries.

Mushroom Pie



125 g butter
200 ml coarse wheat flour or about 250 ml fine wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
about 150 g peeled, floury potatoes

filling:
2 large shallots or 2 small yellow onions
about 600 - 650 g chanterelles and/or mixed mushrooms — fresh or frozen
200 g (low-fat) crème fraîche
2 eggs
1 tsp potato flour or cornstarch
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp (or less) salt
100 ml grated mozzarella cheese
100 ml grated sharp Emmental cheese
(sesame seeds)

First prepare the crust. Bring the butter to room temperature. Boil the potatoes until tender and let them cool thoroughly. Grate the potatoes very finely, there should be about 150 grams of grated potato. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Pour the flour mixture and the grated potatoes over the soft butter in a bowl. Rapidly mix the ingredients together to form a dough. Do not mix or knead the dough more than it is necessary to get the ingredients mixed. Flatten the dough, wrap it in plastic and place in refrigerator to rest and harden. You can do this on the previous day.

Prepare the filling. Clean the mushrooms and chop them in small pieces. If you are using frozen mushrooms, let them thaw partially in refrigerator before chopping. For the filling, you can use solely chanterelles or replace part of them with wild or cultivated mushrooms, like boletes, funnel chanterelles, champignons and shiitake mushrooms. If using funnel chanterelles and shiitake mushrooms, remove their fibrous stems and use the caps only.

Chop the onions extremely fine and slowly sauté them in a little butter until soft and translucent. Set aside. Fry the mushrooms on high heat in dry skillet, mixing continually, until most of the moisture has evaporated. Reduce the heat, add some butter and slowly cook the mushrooms until tender, stirring every now and then. Note that softer mushrooms, like boletes, cook much quicker than harder mushrooms, like chanterelles.

When the mushrooms have softened, mix in the cooked onion. Set the mixture aside. Soften the dough and roll it out into about 5 mm thick, flat disc. Butter the bottom and sides of a springform cake or pie pan (Ø 26 - 28 cm). Lift the dough and place it in the pan, pressing it against the bottom and sides. The sides of the dough should be high enough to hold the mushroom filling. Cover the pan with plastic and place in refrigerator to harden.

Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the filling. Pour the crème fraîche in a bowl and stir until smooth. Add the eggs, potato flour, pepper and salt and mix. Set aside.

Prebake the pie crust. Prick the crust with a fork and line it with a piece of buttered foil. Fill the foil with baking beans, dry peas, rice etc, to help the crust hold its shape while baking. Bake the crust in the lower part of the oven at 225 °C for about 10 minutes, or until it feels firm enough to hold its shape without collapsing. Gently remove the foil and the beans and continue baking for about 2 - 10 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown around the edges and on the bottom.

Take the pan out of the oven, and fill the crust with the mushrooms. Drizzle the cream filling on top. Using a fork or a knife, help the cream run between the mushrooms to make the filling more even. Sprinkle the mixed, grated cheese on top. If you like, you can brush the edge of the pie with egg and sprinkle it with some sesame seeds. Bake the pie at 200 °C for about 30 minutes, or until the filling has set.

Let the pie cool and set for a few minutes before loosening and removing the rim of the pan. Lift the pie on the serving plate, cut in wedges and serve while warm.

Vanilla Biscuits

1 1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
sugar powder for dusting

Combine all ingredients expect sugar powder, knead by hand until smooth and homogeneous dough, refrigerate for 1 hour.
Fill biscuit dispenser and shape as preferred into ungreased tray oven.
Bake bisuit into hot oven at 170c for 20 minutes, cool.
Dust biscuit with sugar powder, serve with tea.



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Toffee Cupcakes

8 pcs. vanilla cupcakes

Toffee sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs. butter
1 cup cream

Prepare toffee sauce by melting sugar over heat without mixing, add butter and cream, stir over heat until it becomes golden color.
Pour 1 tbs. toffee sauce over each cupcakes, garnish with nut/almond crumbs, serve with tea or coffee.

Cheese crackers



125 g flour
100 g finely grated cheese (sharp Emmental, Gruyère or Parmesan)
90 g butter
40 g thick cream or crème fraîche
pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix the flour with the grated cheese. Add the soft butter, cream and pepper and mix by hand until smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 3 hours in refrigerator.

Roll out the dough into a thin sheet. You may use pasta machine to do this. Cut out crackers of different shapes. Lift the crackers on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Brush the crackers with egg, prick them with fork and bake at 225 °C for 5 - 9 minutes, depending on the thickness of the crackers. Do not let them become very brown. Serve the crackers warm or cool to accompany bouillons, soups, cheeses etc.

You may also sprinkle the crackers with sesame or poppy seeds before baking them.

Cocoa and coffee brownies



This recipe produces cake-like, rather soft and light-textured brownies.

batter:
200 g butter
150 ml sugar
3 eggs
250 ml flour
100 ml cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
100 ml freshly brewed strong coffee, preferably espresso
(100 ml chopped almonds)

icing:
1 portion of cocoa and coffee icing
First brew the coffee and set it aside to cool thoroughly.

Beat the soft butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and vanilla sugar and add to the batter through a sieve. Stir gently to mix, using a spatula or a balloon whisk.

Stir in the chilled coffee (and the almonds). Line a square-shaped cake pan (about 22 cm × 30 cm × 3 cm) with parchment paper, pour in the batter and spread it evenly in the pan with a spatula, smoothing out the surface. Bake at 200 °C for 15 - 25 minutes, or until a cake tester/toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool.

Frost the cake with cocoa and coffee icing and let it set at room temperature. Cut the cake in pieces and serve with vanilla ice cream, vanilla sauce, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream, strawberry, raspberry, mango or other fruit sauce, etc.

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COCOA AND COFFEE ICING
25 g butter
25 ml freshly brewed strong coffee, preferably espresso
200 ml icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar
Mix together the icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla sugar. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and mix in the coffee.

Add the dry ingredients through a sieve and mix until thoroughly blended. Immediately spread or pour the icing on a cake, brownies, muffins, doughnuts, pastries, etc, and let cool until set.