Etli Yaprak Sarma ( Stuffed vineleaves with meat)

Etli Yaprak Sarmasi

(Stuffed vineleaves with meat)

Good day everyone! It's nice to be back again after those summer holiday hassles..tho it was fun, but I do miss my computer and most specially to all of you my readers. Once again am back here sharing recipes and giving out phototutorials for easy understanding of my recipes.  Let's begin now with my stuff vineleaves.

Ingredients:
250 gr. ground meat with little fat                  blanched fresh grape leaves
1 *teacup rice, washed and drained              or preserved vine leaves
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. red pepper paste
1 tbsp. dried mint
Salt, ground black pepper to taste
1 *teacup water
* please refer to my turkish measurement table.

Methods:

these are the ingredients..mix everything in a bowl except for the leaves.

mixed filling

the rough surface of the leaf must be the one facing you 
place a heaping spoon of filling onto the leaf

bring up the 2 down petals of the leaf

bring the 2 sides of the leaf to the center

roll up to seal.





Cooking the stuffed vine leaves:

In a casserole, I usually lay out my remaining vine leaves on the bottom, to prevent my stuff vineleaves from sticking at the bottom in case it runs out of water.

Arrange the stuff leaves side by side in circular layers.

Place weight on top of the last layer of stuff leaves, as shown in the picture, you can also use any ceramic plate in a reverse way, to ensure that the stuffed leaves will not move around while cooking.
Pour around 2 glasses of hot water, just covering the leaves, pour in 1 teacup of olive oil too. Olive oil adds the shiny look in the end product.
Simmer for 40 minutes in a low heat, or until rice is cook.

Serve with lemon wedges or with yogurt. Enjoy!

Stuffed cabbage rolls ( Etli lahana sarmasi)

Stuffed cabbage rolls

Ingredients:

Filling:

500 gms. ground meat                                     cabbage (one head)

2 tomatoes

2 onion

 bunch of parsley

1 glass rice

1 tbsp. dried mint

2 tbsps. tomato paste

2 tbsps. butter or 1 teacup vegetable oil

salt / black pepper

Methods:

Filling

In a clean empty bowl, put in chopped onions, ground meat, rice, tomatoes, parsley, dried mint, 1/2 tbsp. tomato paste, salt , black pepper and 1/2 glass of lukewarm water and mix everything. Set aside.

How to separate cabbage leaves:

Wash and rinse the exterior of teh cabbage head. Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head of cabbage in a large pot filled with salted boiling water. Cook while rotating with pronged fork for 3 minutes or until softened enough to pull up individual leaves. 

When leaves are cool enough to handle, cut away the thick stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through. 

Wrapping:

Place about 1/2 tbsp of filling on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the filling. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side, which would now look like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.

Cooking:

The remaining cabbage leaves that you wont use can be place in the bottom of a casserole dish. Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour the tomato paste mixture, then top with butter or vegetable oil. Cover and cook in a low heat for 30 minutes.

Garnish with yogurt in serving.