On Sunday night, I returned, exhausted, bedraggled and wanting to burn everything in my suitcase, from Russia. This week I am showing up at the office as only a jet-lagged shell of my former self, and then moving to a new home on Saturday, because that’s precisely what the doctor ordered. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot going on, and I thought that because of that another week would go by without a blog post. But today I found myself really pondering the lessons learned on this trip and how that relates to food, and so here I am, back earlier than expected.
Russia is nothing short of extraordinary – surprising, breathtaking, frustrating – and has inspired in me some contradictory and also very unoriginal thoughts that I’m going to share with you now. First, the world is an enormous place. There are so many places we need to see and experience, because they’re different than what we know and they challenge us to grow. Different alphabets, confusing allegiances, difficult histories, goals we might not understand. Russia hasn’t exactly been the poster child for peace, prosperity or playing by the rules lately. Despite this, the world is also much smaller than we think. Somehow, even though we speak different languages and have different senses of humor and beliefs, we find a way to connect with a place or the people there. Joining in a standing ovation at the opera. Witnessing the baptism of a baby into a religion that’s not yours. Sharing a cup of tea with strangers on a third-class Siberian sleeper train that you booked by accident. Letting a server know that you love their country’s food and have consumed literally hundreds of dumplings in a single week. The shared experience of food is so often the easiest way to accomplish this.
And so, I’m going to leave you with this incredible recipe for grape leaves, which has exactly nothing and everything to do with the rest of this post. Obviously they’re not Russian – this is a Lebanese recipe – but I came across them many times on menus in my trip, thanks to Russia’s neighbors Georgia and Armenia. Grape leaves aren’t from just one place, everyone has their own riff on the dish that makes it unique to that country or region, but they are in some regards almost universal. They are also best made by a group of people, as a coming together in the preparation of food. It gets a little tedious rolling tiny packages of meat, but it’s quick work when you’re surrounded by friends or family. Foreign but familiar, and best shared with the people you love? That’s the point.
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 190g medium-grain rice
- 4 oz. / 1/2 cup / 60g salted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 lb. / 450g ground lamb or beef (80 percent lean)
- 80 to 100 grape leaves, medium size, fresh or from a large jar
- 2 lamb or pork neck bones or ribs, 2 bone-in pork chops or 6 chicken wings (optional)
- 2 lemons
- 4 cups / 950ml chicken stock, vegetable stock or water, plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- First make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the rice, melted butter, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Add the meat to the rice and mix well with your hands to combine everything thoroughly.
- Rinse the grape leaves thoroughly. Soak jarred leaves in cold water, or fresh leaves in hot water, for 15 minutes. Prepare a deep pot with a lid by lining the bottom with the pieces of meat, which will impact great flavor to the rolls. Spread 3 large leaves over the top of the meat, or line the bottom of the pot with the leaves if you're not using the meat.
- Place as many of the grape leaves facing vein-side up as will fit on a large work surface. The wider, stem-end of the leaf should be toward you. Trim each stem completely from each leaf, taking care not to cut into the leaf itself. Drop a heaping teaspoon of filling across that stem edge of the leaf. Shape it into a long finger, leaving enough leaf on either side to tuck the sides of the leaf in. Fold each side, right and left, of the leaf over the meat like an envelope, and then roll from the center, securely, away from you. Repeat with all of the leaves and filling.
- Arrange the stuffed leaves, seam-side down, in rows in the prepared pot. Alternate the direction of the rows with each layer of stuffed leaves in the pot. Slice one of the lemons into 1/4-inch / 0.5cm slices and lay them on top of the rolls. Top them with a salad place face-down over the top of the rolls, to hold them down while they cook.
- Fill the pot with chicken stock, vegetable stock or water up to the plate. Add the salt to the cooking liquid. Cover and bring slowly to a boil. After about 20 minutes, squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon into the broth. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes longer, or until the rice is tender when you bite into a roll. Remove the plate and allow the grape leaves to cool for 20 minutes before removing them from the pot.
- Serve the stuffed grape leaves with the cooked lemon slices as a garnish, along with some labneh as a dip or sauce. They are delicious hot, warm or room temperature.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2016/06/08/grape-leaves-with-lemon/
