Dec 04

There are many different vegetables you can use to create Dolmeh’s. One of my favorites is Dolmeh Felfel (stuffed bell peppers)! I used green, red, and yellow bell peppers to mix up the flavors a bit and bring some color to my plate :)

Ingredients (for 6-8 Felfel Dolmehee (Bell Peppers)):
approx. 1 lb (500 grams) ground beef

Dolmeh Felfel

Dolmeh Felfel

approx. 350-500 grams Sabzi for Dolmeh — Mint, Parsley, Tareh (if available otherwise use more green onions), Green onions, and Tarragon —- amount of sabzi used not to exceed amount of meat, but can be less if you desire
1 cup rice
1 small onion
salt/pepper
turmeric
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Lemon juice –desired amount
1 tablespoon sugar (if desired)

Directions:
Heat up some oil in a frying pan or small pot. Chop up the onions and add to the pan. Add the ground beef to the pan as well, then add turmeric, salt, pepper, and stir the contents until the water from the meat is mostly evaporated/withdrawn. Mix the tomato paste with 1 cup water and add to the meat. Let the meat cook on medium-low heat until most of the water is fully evaporated. Note: you can choose to keep some of the meat stock to use when cooking the Dolmeh’s.

dolmeh-step1

You want to clean and wash all the sabzi and then finely chop them up. I used a food processor to chop up my sabzi, it makes the job a lot easier. In a frying pan add about 2 tablespoons oil and fry the sabzi (greens) within the pan for a few minutes.

Remove the meat from the burner and add the sabzi (after you have fried it) to the meat and mix the contents together.

dolmeh-step2dolmeh-step4

dolmeh-step3
In a small pot heat up some water and pour in the rice and add some salt. Allow the rice to boil and then use a strainer to empty the contents and drain the water. Add the rice to the meat and sabzi mixture and mix well. At this point you can add the lemon juice and if you choose the sugar as well. If you feel the mixture doesn’t have enough tomato paste you can add a bit more (it depends on how much tomato paste you desire). Also, if the mixture needs more salt and/or pepper now would be the time to add it. Set the mixture aside.

Felfel Dolmeyi Stuffed

Felfel Dolmeyi Stuffed

Stuffed dolmeh Cooking

Stuffed dolmeh Cooking

To prepare the bell peppers you will need to cut out the top in a circular shape. After cutting out the top empty out the contents inside and remove all the seeds (as best as you can) from the inside and then rinse the bell peppers. In a pot (that can fit all the bell peppers) place all the bell peppers inside and add some water and salt. Allow them to cook for awhile until they are soft. Once they are ready and a bit tender you can take them out.

Stuff each of the bell peppers with the mixture and then place the bell pepper top (the one you cut out earlier) on top. Place all the bell peppers into a pot (or the same one after you empty out the water it had in it) and pour in some water, meat stock, or a combination of the two (especially if you didnt save a lot of meat stock). Allow the Dolmeh’s to cook for 20-30 minutes on medium heat.

Enjoy :D

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Nov 10

I finally got around to making Koofteh Berenji, which is a very tasty Persian recipe that mixes ground beef, aromatic green vegetables, and rice!

Koofteh Berenji

Koofteh Berenji

One thing to note is that some of the aromatic green vegetables (Sabzi moatar) are not easily found (i.e., Reyhan and Tareh). I used a bit of Cilantro in place of Reyhan since I didn’t have dry or fresh Reyhan. And as I have mentioned in other recipes, in place of Tareh you can use the ends of green onions. But if you happen to have these ingredients definitely use them :)

Ingredients (makes 6 large Koofteh Berenji’s):
1 lb ground beef –lean ground beef (kam charbi) is better
1 lb aromatic green vegetables : mint, Reyhan (if you have it), Tarragon (Tarkhan), Green onions (the ends in place of Tareh; unless you have Tareh), and Parsley. I used Cilantro in place of Reyhan.
2 onions — 1 to be grated and added to the ground beef, the other to be chopped up for Piaz dagh (fried onion)
1 cup rice
1 cup split yellow peas
3 eggs
turmeric
salt/pepper
lemon juice
1 tablespoon tomato Paste
1/2 teaspoon (or less) baking powder or baking soda
zereshk (barberries)
crushed walnuts

Mixing the ingredients for Koofteh Berenji

Mixing the ingredients for Koofteh Berenji

Forming the Koofteh Berenji

Forming the Koofteh Berenji

Directions:
Boil some water in a small pot and add the rice. Once the rice boils use a strainer to drain the water. In a small pot boil water and add the split yellow peas and allow them to boil and then use a strainer to drain the water.

Chop up all the Sabzi (green vegetables), you can use a food processor to chop them up as well. In a large bowl, mix in the grated onion, turmeric, salt, and pepper with the ground beef. Add the rice, split yellow peas, and the green vegetables to the ground beef and mix all the ingredients. Add the baking powder (or baking soda) and the three eggs and mix the ingredients. If you desire you can add a bit more salt and pepper.

In a pot go ahead and saute the chopped onion. Once the onion has turned a golden color take out half the onions. Add 2 cups of water into the pot and set the stove top heat to medium. Mix some zereshk (barberries) and walnuts with the fried onions you took out of the pot. Once the water boils begin forming large round balls and insert bits of the zereshk, walnuts, and fried onions mix into the center.

Insert zereshk, walnuts, and fried onion into center

Insert zereshk, walnuts, and fried onion into center

Cooking the Koofteh Berenjis in water

Cooking the Koofteh Berenjis in water

Note: you can poke a hole to the center of the ball and add the mixture of zereshk, walnut, and fried onion then cover over the hole.

After all the Koofteh Berenji’s are formed and in the pot add the tomato paste and some lemon juice. Make sure the Koofteh Berenji’s are covered with water, if needed add more water to make sure they are all covered. Place the lid on the pot and allow it to cook for 45 minutes.

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Oct 30

Kookoo Sabzi

By Persian Recipes Kookoo 1 Comment »

This is a simple Kookoo Sabzi recipe…there are a few different ingredients that can be added to vary the Kookoo Sabzi. Kookoo is considered a souffle and Kookoo Sabzi is a vegetable souffle with various green vegetables mixed in with eggs (and a few other things) and then cooked.

Kookoo Sabzi

Kookoo Sabzi

Ingredients:
2 packages (baste) Parsley
2 packages Cilantro
1/2 package spinach
2 packages green onions –only use the ends where it is green in place of Tareh
1 - 2 tablespoons dill (dry or fresh)
Garlic — finely diced or grated
4 eggs
Turmeric
Salt/pepper — dont add too much salt because it can become bitter
a pinch of Baking powder
oil

Directions:
After cleaning and rinsing the sabzi (vegetables) you want to chop them up…can use a food processor to simplify the task. Note: I typically let the vegetables soak in water for at least 30 minutes before rinsing them to make sure all the dirt is removed. In a bowl add the chopped vegetables, garlic, turmeric, a little salt, pepper, baking powder, and then the eggs. Mix all ingredients well.

Kookoo Sabzi

Kookoo Sabzi

In a frying pan (that has a lid) pour in a good amount of oil. Put on the stove on a medium- high heat and once the oil is heated add the mixed ingredients and flatten out in the pan. After a few minutes bring the temperature to medium and place the lid on the frying pan. After about 15 minutes you want to cut up the Kookoo Sabzi into 4 or more pieces and then flip it over for the other side to fry as well. You should notice a darker green color to the side that is fried…if needed you can allow it to fry a bit longer before flipping it over. When you flip it over you will cover the frying pan with the lid again and allow it to cook another 15 - 20 minutes.

You can serve the Kookoo Sabzi with bread or with Sabzi Polo. In fact many times I have eaten Sabzi Polo ba Mahi and Kookoo Sabzi. Very tasty :)

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