Etli Yaprak Dolması

Grape leaves stuffed with meat

On our second trip to Istanbul, my brother, Spencer, and I took a cooking class at a cooking school/restaurant called Cooking Alaturka (www.cookingalaturka.com). It was a great learning experience and an enjoyable time. The owner, Eveline, and her assistant, a Turkish chef named Feyzi, guided us through the preparation of five classic Turkish dishes, all the while giving us specific cooking tips and an overview of Turkish cuisine. We savored the meal in the restaurant with Angela and Sera, who joined us for the eating part, and with our cooking companions who hailed from Finland and Canada.

Spencer and I wanted to recreate one of these dishes while we were still in Turkey, so we took the ferry over to Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul to a strip of great food shops, which I had discovered on my last trip to the city. We bought a stack of grape leaves and red pepper and tomato pastes from one shop and had our lamb ground-to-order at another. We picked out the herbs and veggies from a corner stall and the rice from yet another grocer. Meanwhile, we had bought numerous Turkish delicacies from roasted hazelnuts, to dried mulberries, red chili flakes, olives and cheese-stuffed peppers. We found an ordinary restaurant supply store and went wild, buying bags full of spice grinders, tea sets, serving trays and more – durable, inexpensive and oh so Turkish. Because it caters to the average, everyday Istanbuli, the Asian side of Istanbul is my favorite place to shop.

That evening Spence and I worked shoulder to shoulder in our cramped Beyoğlu apartment preparing the dolmas. Even with limited space and cookware we did a pretty admirable job on our first solo attempt. And though we made about thirty fat dolmas, they didn’t last long. This recipe is basically the one we took home from Cooking Alaturka (thanks Eveline) with only a few minor alterations. Unlike the smaller dolmas that many of you have had served cold as an appetizer, this version is a Turkish main course served hot.

Ingredients:

· 40-50 preserved grape leaves, soaked in 3 washes of water for one hour each, or if you have fresh ones, blanched for a few minutes to soften. Alternatively, you can use blanched leaves of Swiss chard

For the filling:

· ¾ lb ground meat (lamb, beef or a combination of the two – we used 100% lamb)

· 1 small onion, chopped fine

· 2-6 cloves of garlic (depending on their size and your taste), chopped fine

· 1 bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped (about ¼ c.), reserve the stems

· 1 bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped (about ¼ c.) reserve the stems

· 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped (about ¼ c.) reserve the stems

· Seeds from 2 tomatoes (see below)

· 1 t coarsely chopped pepper

· 2 t salt

· 1 T tomato paste

· 1 T bell pepper paste (this ingredient made from sun-dried red bell peppers is a staple of Turkish cooking. It can be left out, but you should make an effort to find it, if at all possible.)

· 1 T olive oil

· ½ c. medium-grain rice such as baldo, not soaked, or long-grain rice, washed, soaked, and drained

And the remaining ingredients…

· 1 small onion, chopped w/ skins

· 1 carrot, cut into large chunks

· 2-6 garlic cloves

· 1 t whole peppercorns

· Herb stems (see above)

· 2 tomatoes, skinned, seeded and cut into large chunks (keep the seeds to add to the stuffing)

· ¼ c. olive oil

· ½ c. water

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients for the filling in a bowl, except for the rice. Add all or part of the tomato seeds to the mixture for extra moisture (you want the mixture to be moist but not too liquid).

2. Carefully fold in the rice.

3. Remove the stems from the leaves and lay them on a flat surface, shiny side down and the tips facing you. You can put any torn leaves to the side to be used later.

4. Place filling on the top part of the leaf (near where the stem meets the leaf). The amount of filling should be the same for each leaf. I used smaller leaves and stuffed them with an amount roughly equivalent in amount and shape to a thick thumb.

5. Roll the dolma up into a tight package by first folding in the sides and then tightly rolling toward you, base to tip, like a burrito. Press out all air. Stack dolmas with the seam down until all are rolled.

6. In a wide saucepan, prepare a bed of chopped carrot, onion, garlic cloves, and then cover with the stems of the herbs.

7. Completely cover the bed with a single layer of grape leaves, and then tightly pack the dolmas, seam-side down on top of this layer. The dolmas must be tightly packed in order to keep them from unraveling.

8. Spread the chopped tomatoes over and between the dolmas and then drizzle with olive oil.

9. Cover with another single layer of grape leaves. Stack several small plates over the top to keep the dolmas pressed down in the pan: you don’t want them to float (and then unravel) during cooking.

10. Add the water and cover. Bring to a boil and then cook gently for 40 minutes.

11. Turn off heat and let the dolmas sit in the pan for an additional 10 minutes. Serve with the cooking liquid and thick yogurt.

Afiyet olsun! Bon appetite!