Quarantine Cooking
- Thread starter GreenDragon
- Start date
- Status
Making Dolmades (Yaprak; stuffed grape leaves)
A month or so back, I needed to prune some wild branches from my two grape vines. Rather than tossing these like yard waste, I saved the nicest leaves, pickled them in rice wine, and stored them in the fridge. So my batch of dolmades today is limited to the relatively small number of these home-grown leaves.
A dolma is not rolled like a cigar, but like gift wrap around a small cylinder. I began by mixing 1/3 cup of raw, dry, white rice with a similar quantity of raw, ground beef, together with ground pepper, oregano, dill weed and garlic powder. This is actually the hardest part, since in takes me about 10 minutes of pressing, turning and "stirring" of the ingredients to get a relatively uniform mixture. [I have made batches of these using ground lamb, which was wonderfully flavorful, but seemed overly greasy. When refrigerated after cooking, the lamb dolmades were stiff and unappetizing.]
[Turkish Yaprak may also contain currants. I've made this occasionally with dried raisins in the filling. What herbs and spices you use is your choice.]
One at a time, a leaf is unrolled, any stem remnant removed with the tip of a sharp knife, then laid with its underside (dull surface) facing up on the prep board. I am always tempted to place too much of the filling into each leaf. This is about one generous teaspoon of the filling. The goal is to keep it from leaking when the rice swells. If I wrap them too loosely, they just unwrap during cooking.
This is a truly small batch. When using a jar of purchased grape leaves, I can make enough dolmades to cover two layers in the bottom of a large pot.
I poured a tablespoon of olive oil into this 3 quart pot, then laid out the dolmades in a snug row (this is to keep them from unwrapping), found places for the remaining few, then made little balls of the leftover meat/rice filling. [That garlic clove came from the jar in which I had pickled the leaves.]
Next, I poured a small can of tomato sauce over it all.
The dolmades need to be held down with a plate, so they don't float away and fall apart. The largest that would fit in this small pot was a saucer, inverted so that it catches less liquid on top. My preference is to cook dolmades along with Great Northern Beans, so an undrained can of it went in. You can leave out the beans, and even the tomato sauce, then dress them however you like when they are served.
For additional weight, I added an inverted ramekin, to hold it all down. Before cooking, I added the same amount of water that my quantity of rice required (twice the volume of the dry rice--so 2/3 cup in this case), as well as adequate salt for the rice and the can of beans. The tomato sauce, water and salt will all mix themselves during cooking.
Bring it to a slow boil, then allow it to simmer with the lid on, until the water is absorbed (typically in the range of an hour).
You can also make these with any edible leaves, like squash leaves or nasturtium leaves, but the taste is not the same. Grape leaves contain natural tannin. That tends to keep the leaves from getting mushy during cooking. And the prior pickling (either commercial, which is usually citric acid, or your own, with any form of vinegar) adds to the expected, slight astringency.
These are great when served either hot or refrigerated.
Bob
A month or so back, I needed to prune some wild branches from my two grape vines. Rather than tossing these like yard waste, I saved the nicest leaves, pickled them in rice wine, and stored them in the fridge. So my batch of dolmades today is limited to the relatively small number of these home-grown leaves.
A dolma is not rolled like a cigar, but like gift wrap around a small cylinder. I began by mixing 1/3 cup of raw, dry, white rice with a similar quantity of raw, ground beef, together with ground pepper, oregano, dill weed and garlic powder. This is actually the hardest part, since in takes me about 10 minutes of pressing, turning and "stirring" of the ingredients to get a relatively uniform mixture. [I have made batches of these using ground lamb, which was wonderfully flavorful, but seemed overly greasy. When refrigerated after cooking, the lamb dolmades were stiff and unappetizing.]
[Turkish Yaprak may also contain currants. I've made this occasionally with dried raisins in the filling. What herbs and spices you use is your choice.]
One at a time, a leaf is unrolled, any stem remnant removed with the tip of a sharp knife, then laid with its underside (dull surface) facing up on the prep board. I am always tempted to place too much of the filling into each leaf. This is about one generous teaspoon of the filling. The goal is to keep it from leaking when the rice swells. If I wrap them too loosely, they just unwrap during cooking.
This is a truly small batch. When using a jar of purchased grape leaves, I can make enough dolmades to cover two layers in the bottom of a large pot.
I poured a tablespoon of olive oil into this 3 quart pot, then laid out the dolmades in a snug row (this is to keep them from unwrapping), found places for the remaining few, then made little balls of the leftover meat/rice filling. [That garlic clove came from the jar in which I had pickled the leaves.]
Next, I poured a small can of tomato sauce over it all.
The dolmades need to be held down with a plate, so they don't float away and fall apart. The largest that would fit in this small pot was a saucer, inverted so that it catches less liquid on top. My preference is to cook dolmades along with Great Northern Beans, so an undrained can of it went in. You can leave out the beans, and even the tomato sauce, then dress them however you like when they are served.
For additional weight, I added an inverted ramekin, to hold it all down. Before cooking, I added the same amount of water that my quantity of rice required (twice the volume of the dry rice--so 2/3 cup in this case), as well as adequate salt for the rice and the can of beans. The tomato sauce, water and salt will all mix themselves during cooking.
Bring it to a slow boil, then allow it to simmer with the lid on, until the water is absorbed (typically in the range of an hour).
You can also make these with any edible leaves, like squash leaves or nasturtium leaves, but the taste is not the same. Grape leaves contain natural tannin. That tends to keep the leaves from getting mushy during cooking. And the prior pickling (either commercial, which is usually citric acid, or your own, with any form of vinegar) adds to the expected, slight astringency.
These are great when served either hot or refrigerated.
Bob
stdly
Well-Known Member
Very interesting and looks delicious my saliva glands are working overtime.
Steve
Steve
I finally made a jar of cucumber pickles today, from my Little Leaf cukes. Instead of whole or wedges or slices, I cut them into chunks. These will be lactate fermented, using the enzymes within the vegetable tissue to carry out the fermentation.
For this 1 quart Mason jar, my brine consisted of:
- 1 pint of distilled water
- 3 Tbsp of pickling salt
- 1 tsp of distilled vinegar
In the jar, I placed:
- 1 head of Slovenian Anka garlic (peeled, whole garlic cloves)
- black peppercorns (maybe 1 Tbsp)
- dill seed (maybe 1 Tbsp)
I'll leave these pickles out on the counter for a few days to maybe a week, until bubbles of fermentation begin to show, then it will go into the fridge for a few weeks. This works best when the ambient kitchen temperature hovers in the 80°F range. Late fall pickles are really slow to get going, because of the cooler temp.
I don't use metal lids for pickles, unless they will be canned for storage on a pantry shelf (and these always use a primarily vinegar brine, for safety). The plastic lids are unsuitable for canning, but have the advantage of not rusting or corroding from the brine. I have to purchase the wide-mouth plastic lids. For a standard mouth Mason jar, the plastic lids from jars of mayonaise are a perfect fit.
Some pickled cukes, green tomatoes and peppers made using the same fermentation process have stored well in the fridge for several years. Occasionally, such an elderly jar will "catch" a yeast infection, and need to be tossed, but that is rare.
Bob
Oldfella
Well-Known Member
Copied and pasted to my recipe work book. Sounds yummy. I'll have to wait until the end of winter to get my plants going. I usually grow zucchini as they are versatile and I like them.
I finally made a jar of cucumber pickles today, from my Little Leaf cukes. Instead of whole or wedges or slices, I cut them into chunks. These will be lactate fermented, using the enzymes within the vegetable tissue to carry out the fermentation.
For this 1 quart Mason jar, my brine consisted of:
The brine was heated only enough to dissolve the salt, then poured warm over the contents of the filled jar. The tiny amount of vinegar is to start the solution slightly acidic, until the lactic acid starts forming.
- 1 pint of distilled water
- 3 Tbsp of pickling salt
- 1 tsp of distilled vinegar
In the jar, I placed:
Last to go in were the chunks of cuke. To prevent the vegetable from floating above the brine, I place a circular polyethylene grid, which can just barely be seen in the photo, on top of the cukes. The brine pours right on through the plastic grid. (These are sold in craft and fabric stores as a 4" "coaster"-size base for yarn craft projects. I trim them to fit the wide-mouth or the standard-mouth jars, always leaving a full-width tab extension on either side.)
- 1 head of Slovenian Anka garlic (peeled, whole garlic cloves)
- black peppercorns (maybe 1 Tbsp)
- dill seed (maybe 1 Tbsp)
I'll leave these pickles out on the counter for a few days to maybe a week, until bubbles of fermentation begin to show, then it will go into the fridge for a few weeks. This works best when the ambient kitchen temperature hovers in the 80°F range. Late fall pickles are really slow to get going, because of the cooler temp.
I don't use metal lids for pickles, unless they will be canned for storage on a pantry shelf (and these always use a primarily vinegar brine, for safety). The plastic lids are unsuitable for canning, but have the advantage of not rusting or corroding from the brine. I have to purchase the wide-mouth plastic lids. For a standard mouth Mason jar, the plastic lids from jars of mayonaise are a perfect fit.
Some pickled cukes, green tomatoes and peppers made using the same fermentation process have stored well in the fridge for several years. Occasionally, such an elderly jar will "catch" a yeast infection, and need to be tossed, but that is rare.
Bob
Thanks for the recipe
Old pickled fella
My wife just made the best peach cobbler I’ve ever eaten. Kudos Sweetpea. 
Bob
Is that mason jar ice cream?
Bob
No.
Please tell me those aren't the ones that fell behind the fridge
Bob
Oh, man! You guys can't just let a poor old fart enjoy some ice cream sandwiches on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day.
The ice cream came out of the bottom of a bucket of "This stuff has to be super cheap for some reason" brand ice cream. And yes, these cookies did sort of violate the 5 second rule, until they were rescued by Komperdell. I figured that the semi-toxic ice cream would counterbalance the scum and filth that I wasn't able to blow off the fallen cookies. Besides the one I just ate tasted mighty nice.
I actually made the photos to send to my son, to give him an idea for getting his kids out of his hair for a brief moment. Tactical redirection.
Bob
The ice cream came out of the bottom of a bucket of "This stuff has to be super cheap for some reason" brand ice cream. And yes, these cookies did sort of violate the 5 second rule, until they were rescued by Komperdell. I figured that the semi-toxic ice cream would counterbalance the scum and filth that I wasn't able to blow off the fallen cookies. Besides the one I just ate tasted mighty nice.
I actually made the photos to send to my son, to give him an idea for getting his kids out of his hair for a brief moment. Tactical redirection.
Bob
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
GreenDragon
Well-Known Member
Maraschino cherries (Bing and Rainer)
Equal parts sugar and water
Citric acid 1 tsp / quart
Pinch of salt
Juice and rind of one lemon
Splash of vanilla and almond extract
Boil water, sugar, salt, lemon juice and rind. Add extracts and pour hot syrup over pitted cherries. Let sit 3 days, enjoy! You’ll never by those artificially colored ones again.
Equal parts sugar and water
Citric acid 1 tsp / quart
Pinch of salt
Juice and rind of one lemon
Splash of vanilla and almond extract
Boil water, sugar, salt, lemon juice and rind. Add extracts and pour hot syrup over pitted cherries. Let sit 3 days, enjoy! You’ll never by those artificially colored ones again.
Those pork ribs look good!@tullius don't judge, I have grill envy
Had some pork ribs, bratwurst, and frozen cheese stick thingies on the grill along with some fries and garden salsa with chips to go with it. I still can't move and can feel my arteries clogging, but damn it was good
Salsa counts as healthy right
View attachment 32168
Note to self: Eat first, then look at these pictures.
They look and sound great! Next time I see washington or oregon cherries I'm doing this. Perfect for manhattans or rob roys..
Oldfella
Well-Known Member
Thought I would share this with you guys, if you have a sugar problem discretion is required.
I am gunna bake a cake.
Chocolate Mud Cake
If you can find it you will enjoy it. I did YUMMY
Cheers
Old chocyfella
I am gunna bake a cake.
Chocolate Mud Cake
If you can find it you will enjoy it. I did YUMMY
Cheers
Old chocyfella
I’m getting a little bit too big for my britches. Literally. Wife followed up the peach cobbler with my favorite ... sweet potato cobbler.
Brown Thumb
Well-Known Member
I hate sweet potatoes, what does that taste like.
Looks like apple pie.
Looks like apple pie.
- Status
