Stuffed Grape Leaves

Siren's Feast an Edible Odyssey by Nancy Mehagian is a culinary memoir. Really. There is a genre called culinary memoir. I've read a few, including Tender At the Bone by Ruth Reichl, (no recipes) and Pat Conroy Cookbook, (loaded with recipes). Good reads. So when it was announced that Nancy Mehagian would speak to the local writer's club, I was there early to get a front row seat.

Nancy Mehagian is an attractive woman in her late fifties or early sixties. She had a comfortable way about her, the way she stood, the way she dressed, her infectious smile. As she spoke, giving us a hint of her life, I knew that she had led a spiritual life, searching for adventure and truth. She read us the introduction to her book, about growing up Armenian in Arizona. About the large family gatherings where food was the star. She told us about traveling to Spain in her early twenties, falling in love with the country and opening a vegetarian restaurant there. She read us the chapter about her trip to the famous Amarnath cave in India, she hinted at a stay in prison in England. She was a hit. You know you are a hit when the audience begs you to read another chapter, so she did.


After her talk, we were invited to meet her at the back of the room. Smart lady, she brought two large plates of Stuffed Grape Leaves for us to sample. This woman knows how to sell a book.

A large jar of Grape Leaves has gathered dust in my pantry for about nine months. I think fear kept them there. I looked and looked at recipes. Most of them had raisins and cinnamon in them. I couldn't taste them - you know, how you can read a recipe and know it will be good.

Nancy Mehagian's stuffed grape leaves were delicious. I can't tell you for certain what convinced me that I needed to buy her book, the story or the recipe. I needed that recipe.

I made a few changes (in red) to her recipe. The finished product was delicious, but not as pretty as hers. It takes practice to wrap a perfect Grape Leaf, and after wrapping about 40, I got better. I love them, and I love the idea of gathering friends and family to prepare stuffed Grape Leaves together before a celebration. Like Mexican tamales, and Scandinavian stuffed cabbage, Stuffed Grape Leaves are a labor intensive project, made pleasurable when shared with friends.

Most of the Grape Leaves I made went to a solar eclipse party on the top of the Santa Monica Mountains. How appropriate. Sorry, I don't have a picture.

Stuffed Grape Leaves  

Makes a lot - 30-40 

1/3 cup olive oil (sunflower oil)

3 large onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried dill weed

1 tsp dried mint leaves (3 tablespoons fresh mint)

1/2 tsp paprika

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (cilantro)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup white rice

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 cup water

1 jar of grape leaves, 16 oz

1 cup water

1 lemon + 1 lemon, sliced at serving time.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onions and garlic in oil until translucent.

Add next ten ingredients and cook for about 10-15 minutes. The rice will not be done, but on it's way.

Stuff the grape leaves as shown HERE, putting about a teaspoon of rice mixture in the center of the leaf.

Arrange the stuffed grape leaves in the bottom of a dutch oven, pour 1 cup of water and the juice of one lemon over the grape leaves, cover and bake about 20 minutes, until rice is cooked.

Cool. You can serve these hot or cold. I prefer cold. 

Serve as an appetizer with fresh lemon wedges. 

Tiz The Season To Be Busy; So Dinner Must Be Easy

I don't know about you, but at my house it always seems that Christmas falls on the woman in the family. Perhaps I'm wrong. But around here it was me who made the cookies and cakes, shopped for all the gifts, wrapped every package, planned Christmas dinner, shopped for all the food, then cooked all the food, decorated the tree (all but the lights, hubby put those on) and then got out a step stool to get all the good dishes down from the top cupboard where they resided most of the year.

I was the one who hollered for help to put all the leaves in the dining table, then by myself, I set the table with the good dishes I'd drug out and washed and the good silverware I'd dug out and polished and the crystal glasses I'd taken down from a top shelf and scrubbed till they sparkled. Hubby's job consisted of putting up outdoor lights and heading out on December 24th to find me a present. Oh, and putting the star on top the tree, simply because he could reach it and I couldn't.

Now I don't know how you do things, but Christmas at my house was exhausting. Even now that I'm alone, what with kids married and hubby graduated to heaven, this time of year is still busy. And while my daughter has taken over my duties and is having dinner at her house, there is still a lot for an old lady to accomplish. Gifts still need to be conjured up, purchased, and wrapped and, in some instances, mailed off to other places. Considering that I'm not a young chick any longer, the things I have to do are enough for me.

Busy as I was, I cheated on my cooking this week and will likely be cheating till after the first of the year. I can't seem to find time to create another vegan recipe and accomplish everything else I have to do. Having a few vegan cookbooks on my shelves comes in handy. Tonight I began with an offering from Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon.  I love black-eyed peas, and once I saw the recipe, I looked no further. I made a couple of changes in the original recipe and next time, I'll make a few more. But just as it is, it has lots of flavor, fills the tummy, and is quick to make. I labeled it just right for those times of the year when dinner has to be fast or none at all.

CARIBBEAN PEAS AND RICE

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch green onions

2 celery stalks, minced

1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

4 fresh thyme twigs (1/4 tsp. dried)

1 1/2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce

2 tsp. jerk seasoning

1 cup brown rice (I used white rice as it's faster cooking.)

2 Tbs. ketchup

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 bunch kale, chopped small

1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

In a large saucepan, pour a layer of vegetable broth and saute the onions, celery, garlic, ginger, thyme, hot sauce, and 1 tsp. of the jerk seasoning. Cook over high heat until the celery is soft. About 3 minutes. 

Add the remaining jerk seasoning and stir to coat. Stir in the black-eyed peas. Cover and move the pot to a back burner to simmer and let the spices meld. Do not let the pan go dry. Add more broth or water as needed to retain moisture but not to drown. In all, you'll likely use about 1/2 cup of the broth.

In a small saucepan put:

2 cups of vegetable broth, the ketchup, and turmeric. Stir to combine.

Add the rice. Bring to a boil and cover. Turn heat down to very low and ignore it for 20 minutes. (If you use brown rice, cook for 45 min.)

About 10 minutes before serving, add the kale to the black-eyed pea mixture. Cover and cook till the kale is wilted.

To serve, place big serving of rice on a plate and top with the black-eyed pea/kale mixture. Sprinkle with some green onion tops if desired.

I used Swiss chard instead of kale because the chard looked fresher. Any green would work. Your preference.

The fresh ginger was too strong for my palette. Next time I'll cut it by half.

Jerk seasoning is available in the grocery store's spice aisle. Buy it and make your life easy. Otherwise you'll be mixing this and that and twelve other spices together to get what someone has already bottled up.

Dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes. Can't beat that for a busy day.

This Christmas season, share your table with someone less fortunate than you. I don't remember a holiday as a child growing up when there were not strangers at our table. Sometimes it was a teacher who was alone or a couple from our church who had no one and once we moved to CA, there were always two or three marines who were far from home who ate with us and thanked my parents over and over for allowing them to be part of a family on Christmas Day.

Clean Out The Frig Stir Fry

This stir fry is so good
it can be eaten as is
or with the teriyaki
sauce poured over top.

I love nearly every ethnic cuisine. You've seen me post veganized Mexican and Italian dishes but not many Asian ones. I particularly learned to appreciate Asian food when we had a Filipina nurse who took care of my husband with his advanced Parkinson's Disease. She is likely one of the best nurse/cooks we ever employed. Her recipes were awesome. Little wonder. Her mom is a caterer in the Philippines and whenever Maryann wasn't sure of an ingredient, she'd call her mom for advice.

I learned much just by watching as she stirred things together. So yesterday, when I decided I once again needed to use up leftover things hiding in the frig's deep recesses, I purposely put an Asian twist on them by doing no more than creating a sauce that screamed Chinese, Japanese, or Philippine. At least that's my opinion. Whatever I named it, the resultant product was decidedly delicious--or so the people I served it to said. Let me know what you think.

VEGGIE, SEITAN, AND TOFU STIR FRY

Boil 2 cups of water or vegetable stock in a saucepan. Add 1 cup of jasmine rice. I used white because I was out of brown. Bring everything back to a boil, cover, turn the burner to its lowest point and  let the rice steam for 15 minutes. DO NOT PEEK. Lifting the cover will destroy the steam build up that will cook the rice. Follow these instructions and you will end up with fluffy rice that's soft and tender. This recipe works every time. You do not need the expense of a rice cooker.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients for stir frying.

1 cup carrots, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup broccoli florets, in bite sized pieces

1 cup of sugar snap peas, left whole

3 green onions, chopped, both green and white parts

1/2 cup seitan, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup extra firm tofu, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 of a small jalapeno, diced, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 of a small red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

Stir fry the above ingredients in 4 Tbs. neutral oil in a large wok or skillet, adding the vegetables in order of their cook time. I began with the carrots and added the rest in increments, ending with the seitan and tofu. Cook the mixture till everything is lightly brown. To serve, put a large amount of rice in a bowl, top with the stir-fry ingredients. Drizzle the sauce over the top, as much or as little as you like.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

Into a small bowl, put:

1 Tbs. corn starch

1/2 cup water

Mix together and set aside.

Mix together in a small saucepan:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup mirin

1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

1 garlic clove, grated 

1/4 cup agave nectar as a replacement for honey

Place the saucepan on a burner and bring to a low boil. Add the corn starch slurry, beating as you add it in. Continue stirring until the sauce thickens. Don't leave it unattended or you'll have a lumpy teriyaki sauce. Place the sauce in a gravy bowl so those who want it can pour on the desired amount. 

Serves 2

You can use any vegetables hanging out in the refrigerator. I added the seitan and tofu because it was there and needed to be used. It was a good choice because the stir fry had the mouth feel of meat in it.

Curry Rice and Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

Teachers and children weep, while parents rejoice that school is back in session. I have dabbled in the teaching profession off and on over the years. So when I don't work in a school I feel like I am playing hooky. I feel mostly relieved, actually, not to be involved anymore. Now my year doesn't revolve around school holidays. Traveling is easier and much cheaper when school is in session. While having lunch with my best friend, who, by the way, created the above floral arrangement, we both dicided to make curry rice for dinner. Both our families loved it. I will follow up with how she did hers in the future. Here is my recipe.

Fried Curry Rice

1 cup Jasmine rice

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup raw slivered almonds

1/2 teaspoon yellow curry spice

1/2 teaspoon red curry spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup coconut milk


Make rice on stove or in rice cooker according to package directions. When rice is cooked, heat skillet and add oil. Fry the almonds a few minutes, then add spices and continue cooking for another minute or two, careful not to burn, stirring constantly. Add the cranberries and coconut milk. Stir until it is mixed well, then turn off the heat. Combine this mixture to your cooked rice, serve immediately.


I made a fresh salad to go with, while my husband cooked some freezer ready chicken to go on his plate. Marriage is about compromise, right? We both enjoyed the nutty curried rice very much. Yes, you can easily substitute golden or regular raisins for the cranberries. Super easy to do. There was so much left over, because I made a double recipe, that my brother ran with it tonight, and made a lovely sweet and sour stir fry to go with. This paired so well that I asked him if I could share his recipe too:


Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

3 tablespoons oil

1 large carrots, sliced thinly

2 onions chopped

3 bell peppers any and all colors chopped

1/2 a cauliflower or 3 stems broccoli chopped

(Or what ever feature veggie you want-eggplant-zucchini?)

1/2 cup plum jam or preserves

1/4 cup sweet chili sauce ( Mae Ploy brand was used tonight)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons corn starch


Whisk together the sauce first and set aside. In a bowl, mix together plum jam, chili sauce, vinegar, and spices. In a small cup, whisk or beat the corn starch into cold water before combining it to the plum jam mixture.


In a heated wok or heavy large skillet, pour oil in pan, continue heating for a minute. Add carrots for 2 minutes. Throw in chopped onions continue frying one minute. Add the cauliflower or what ever main vegetable you decided on, continue stirring another minute. Lastly add the bell peppers and cook for another minute or so. Never over cook your stir fry. The veggies should be crisp yet hot and half way tender. Add the sweet and sour sauce heating until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately. The picture was from the first night's dinner.