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!

Mantı (Turkish Ravioli)

Ingredients:
for the dough:                        for the filling:
2 glasses of flour                   250 gms. ground meat               1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 egg                                        2 med. onions ( minced )
1 teaspoon salt                          1 tsp. salt
lukewarm water                         1 tsp. ground black pepper

Methods:
We will begin with the filling ingredients.

Step 1. Mix all the filling ingredients in a clean bowl.

Step 2. knead the filling ingredients and set aside.

For the dough preparation:

Step 1. In a clean bowl, mix in all the dough ingredients.

Step 2. Knead and form into a ball.

Step 3. Flatten the ball with a roller pin, or if you do have like this pasta maker, it would be easier and faster to flatten them..into a half cm. thin.

Step 4. With a sharp knife, cut out the flatten dough into medium squares.

Step 5.  With the prepared filling, put in half tsp. to the center of each squares.

Step 6. This is how to fold the squares..bring all the 4 corners to the center and pinch to close.

This is how it will be when folded.

Step 7.  In a baking tray with wax paper, lay out all your mantı and bake in a moderate oven just to dry up the mantı and when dried, pack them in a ziplock and freeze them till the time you need them.

                                       

Step 8.  In a large pot, boil some water added with a tsp. of salt, put in your prepared mantı and stir occassionally. Cook until the mantı are all tender, approximately about 10 minutes, then drain and put them in the serving plates.

Step 9. To garnish your cooked mantı..

           Yoghurt with minced garlic and salt

            Red pepper flakes and dry mint sauteed in olive oil

Serve and Enjoy! :)

Arnavut Ciğer ( Albania Liver )

ARNAVUT CIĞER ( ALBANIA LIVER)

Ingredients:
500 grms veal or lamb liver                                       Garnishing:
1-2 tsp. salt                                                              2 onions, sliced
1 tsp. ground black pepper                                        2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. red flake peppers                                              sumak ( sumac)
1/2 tsp. cumin powder                                                nar ekşisi ( sour pomegranate extract)
cooking oil for frying                                                   lemon wedges
                                                                                  olive oil to drizzle

Methods:

wash the liver thoroughly, peel the membrane and cut into cubes.

sprinkle in salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes , cumin and mix

coated with flour, ready for frying

add in flour and swirl the bowl to coat each of the cubed liv

fry the cubed liver and drain in paper towel 

Garnishing: 

In a bowl, sliced onions, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, sumac, nar ekşisi, mix all together

after mixing them, drizzle with olive oil.

 Arrange the cubed liver with the garnishings as shown in the picture and add wedges of lemon along the sides. Serve.

                                            

Cacık ( Cold Yogurt-Cucumber Soup)

Cacık ( Cold Yogurt-Cucumber Soup )

Here's the step-by-step tutorial to make this appetizer that complements well to a meal.

Ingredients

1 cucumber cubed
2 cup yogurt
dried mint
salt
cold water

Procedures:

cubed cucumber

cubed cucumber with yogurt

mix well with the yogurt

add in water

whisk in with water

sprinkle dry mint before serving