Dolma

Friday January 20, 2012

Elemental Custard

Cooking is one of those things that I love so much, that even if a dish takes a bit more prep work, I don't mind. I enjoy having that extra time to myself to think and do mindless work like chopping and mixing (not that chopping is mindless... Since I am accident prone in the kitchen I have to concentrate on not cutting myself accidentally- that would be terrible).

On to the 2nd last Armenian dish of the month- Dolma!

Dolma is like an Armenian comfort food. I used to get so excited when my grandma would make it for me, although it was never often enough. Since those days I have figured out that if I learned how to make it myself, I can have it on a much more regular basis... Genius.

Dolma is basically vegetables stuffed with ground meat. It is a mixture of ground lamb and beef mixed with spices and herbs and can be stuffed into zuchinni, eggplant, tomatoes or peppers... and of course smothered in a thick yogurt/garlic mixture. It is delicious.. and what makes it better is that we traditionally serve it on a bed of buttery rice pilaf. YUM!

Recipe: Dolma

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Filling:
2 lbs ground lamb
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion finely chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
3/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp cayanne pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup short grain rice

Vegetables:
6-8 firm tomatoes (roma/plum tomatoes work well)
8 zucchinis
8 peppers
2 tbsp tomato paste mixed with 2 cups of hot water

Topping:
1/2 cup balkan yogurt mixed with 2 cloves minced garlic

Method:

Add boiling water to the rice to plump it and set aside for 5 minutes. Mix the first 9 ingredients together in a large bowl (I find it easiest to get your hands in and do the mixing that way). Add the drained rice and mix until it is well incoporated. Set aside.

Tomatoes: Cut tops of tomatoes off 3/4 of the way so that the top is still attached like a hat. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes leaving a border around the outside. Strain 1/4 cup of the tomatoes juices into the meat mixture and reserve the rest of the liquid that came out of the tomatoes. Stuff the tomatoes with meat mixture and cap with the tomato lid.

Peppers: Follow same steps as tomatoes leaving a pepper hat and removing the middle section (de-vein and remove seeds). Stuff with the meat mixture.

Zucchini: Score the sides of the zuchinnis with a zester or peel the zuchinnis completely (this is just for asthetics). Cut the ends off the zuchinnis and cut in half so you are left with 2 pieces of zuchinni for each one that you started with. Hollow out the middle of the zuchinnis with a corer and stuff with the meat mixture.

Layer stuffed vegetables in large pot. Keep the zuchinni in the bottom and leave tomatoes and peppers on top as they are more delicate. Add 1-2 cups of the reserved juice from the tomatoes and tomato juice/paste mixed with some water (you wont have 2 cups of liquid from the tomatoes so mix tomato paste and hot water to reach the 2 cup mark).

Cook on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn doen temperature to low, cover and let cook for 40 - 60 min. Serve with rice pilaf and yogurt/garlic mixture.

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