Stuffedgrapeleaveswarakeinab Recipes

MY OWN FAMOUS STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the rice, onion, dill, and mint for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Pour in 1 quart of broth, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until rice is almost cooked. Stir in 1/2 of lemon juice and remove from heat.
• Take one leaf, shiny side down, and place 1 teaspoon of the rice mixture at the bottom (stem) end of the leaf. Fold both sides of the leaf towards the center, roll up from the broad bottom to the top, and place into a 4-quart pot. Repeat with all leaves, leaving no gaps as leaves are placed in pot (to prevent from opening while cooking). Sprinkle with remaining lemon juice and with olive oil.
• Pour chicken broth over all to cover grape leaves. Cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour (do not boil, because this will make the stuffing burst out of the leaves). Remove from heat, remove cover and let cool for 1/2 hour. Transfer to serving dish and serve.

CHEESECAKE-STUFFED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• Beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl until smooth; spoon into a piping bag or a resealabe bag with a corner snipped.
• Fill cavities of cored strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Dip filled side of strawberries in the crushed graham crackers to coat.

GROUND BEEF STUFFED GREEN BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut each bell pepper lengthwise in half.
• Wash the insides and outsides of the peppers after removing the seeds and membranes.
• Cook the peppers in the boiling salted water for 5 minutes then drain and set aside. Cook and stir the meat, onion and celery in a large skillet until the meat is brown.
• Drain off the excess fat. Stir in half of the tomato sauce and the remaining ingredients, heat to boiling then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.
• Place the peppers, cut sides up, in an ungreased baking pan 9 X 9 X 2 or 8 X 8 X 2-inches.
• Spoon the meat filling into each of the pepper half evenly and then cover the pan with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 25 minutes then uncover and top with the remaining tomato sauce and bake an additional 5 minutes.

LEBANESE STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
• Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
• Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
• When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
• Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!