theme: Turkish (Türk Mutfağı)

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Stuffed Vine Leaves – Authentic Turkish Dolma

(Mine didn’t look exactly like this but pretty close 🙂 – And it wasn’t a lack of effort

 

TOTAL TIME
2hrs 30mins
PREP 1 HR 30 MINS
COOK 1 HR

“Dolma” in Turkish translates to any vegetable stuffed with a rice-based mixture. Lots of spices are used for the stuffing. For me, the most important one is the lemon salt. It gives a nice aromatic taste, which can not be replaced by the combination of lemon juice and table salt. If you can not locate any lemon salt, don’t forget to replace it with only half the amount of kosher salt (two tbsp will be too much) and juice of half a lemon. The process may be a little confusing, you can check out step-by-step pictures at my blog here: http://cafefernando.com/?p=42

INGREDIENTSNutrition

1040 dolmas

DIRECTIONS

  1. Dice the onions and sauté with 1/4 cup of olive oil.
  2. When they turn translucent, add the pine nuts and sauté for 5 more minutes.
  3. Add rice and stir constantly for 5-10 minutes until the rice is translucent.
  4. Add the spices (dried mint, cinnamon, lemon salt, black pepper, dried currants, sugar and allspice) and chopped parsley.
  5. After another quick stir, add 1/2 cup of boiling water and simmer on low medium heat for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice mixture.
  6. Take off heat and let cool.
  7. And now, here comes the fun part. Traditionally, you would put a spoonful of the cooled mixture in the center of the top part of the leaf, fold the sides inwards and then roll the leaf like a cylinder. But since I have “The Ultimate Dolma Machine” (follow the link mentioned in the description section), I just placed a leaf on the rubber compartment of the machine, put a tbps of mixture in the middle and with a single slide, there comes my dolma from the other side of the machine. The process was a breeze. It took me only 10 minutes to roll nearly 40 perfectly shaped dolmas. Below is the process fully photographed.
  8. As the final step, spread a layer of vine leaves on the bottom of a large and heavy pot (to prevent the stuffed leaves from burning).
  9. Lay all your dolmas side by side and tuck very tightly.
  10. Transfer the remaining 1/4 cups of olive oil, juice of half a lemon and 2 cups of boiling water, cover with a plate upside down (so that the dolmas don’t move around in boiling water) and bring to a boil.
  11. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until all the water is absorbed (roughly 45-60 minutes).
  12. Transfer to your serving dish and let cool.
Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Turkish Coffee

turkish coffee foam

Notes

Many instructions on how to make Turkish coffee use the term “boil,” however those who have properly prepared it would never use this term. Unfortunately the instructions I followed not only used the term, but had me boil the coffee 3 separate times. This caused the lovely foam to evaporate and die. YOU BASTARDS!

If someone serves you Turkish coffee without foam, throw it in their face.

Ideally, Turkish coffee will have a layer of foam on top as pictured above. If desired, sugar is added at the brewing stage as stirring the coffee would break down the foam layer. Also, Turkish coffee is to be served in demitasse cups, not mugs. I obviously had no idea what I was doing.

When it comes to Turkish coffee, if someone had said it was my ‘first rodeo’ they’d have spoken a double entendre. What I prepared was more Cowboy Coffee than actual Turkish coffee. Here is a better-researched version of of how to prepare Turkish coffee.

Equipment

  • Ibrik/Cezve (Turkish coffee pot) or a small saucepan
  • A metal spoon
  • Demitasse cups
  • Thermometer (optional)

Ingredients

Serves 2

  • 6 oz cold water
  • 1 Tbsp extra-fine (powder consistency) ground Arabic coffee
    (finest burr grinder setting, or ask for Turkish grind at your grocery store or roaster)
  • 1 tsp sugar (optional)
  • 1/8 tspn ground cardamom, or 1-2 cardamom pods (optional)

Directions

  • Add water (and sugar) to the pot and heat on medium high, but do not boil; if using sugar, the water is ready once the sugar has melted
  • Remove from heat, add coffee but do not stir– allow grounds to float on top
  • Return pan to burner set to medium-low (temperature should never exceed 158°F)
  • When the grounds sink, stir several times; eventually a foam will form on top
  • When the foam begins to rise (will look like a boil-over), remove from heat
  • After it has completely settled down, return pan to burner
  • When the foam returns, keep it foaming for as long as possible. Once a second rise/boil-over occurs, remove from heat
  • First, pour some coffee fairly quickly into demitasse cups; then do a second, slower pour, allowing an equal amount of foam to transfer to each cup. Do not stir (sugar should be added at brewing step) as this would break down the foam
  • Allow ~30 seconds for the grinds to settle before consuming