Recipes Collection

Stuffing green leaves with ground meat, herby rice, or grains is a common practice in Turkish cuisine. Although not as popular as grape leaves, stuffed chard is a staple dish for both Black Sea region and eastern Anatolia. The two different types of stuffed chard I had had were with ground meat and cracked corn, so I was very excited when I found this recipe for stuffed chard in a book in Yasemins kitchen. The recipe is from Sahrap Soysal, a popular Turkish chef, food connoisseur and writer, whose book Bir Yemek Masalı won several Gourmand Awards in 2004 in Spain, including "Best Local Cookery Book in the World." I adopted the recipe from the English translation of this award-winning book, A Cookery Tale.















for four people
2 bunch green chard
1 cup fine bulgur
1 very generous cup of cottage cheese or ricotta
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1 big onion, grated
2 tbsp dry basil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp butter
salt

-Cut the stems of chard.
-Boil some water in a big pot. And cook chard leaves in boiling water for ~2 minutes four or five leaves at a time.
-Put the leaves on a colander and let cool.
-In a bowl put the bulgur and add 1 cup of boling water. Wait until bulgur soaks the water.
-Add the rest of the ingredients to bulgur except for butter and mix well .
-Place a chard leaf on a flat surface (kitchen counter, tray, plate, etc.) the veiny part up. Cut the big vein in the middle out-otherwise itd be hard to roll.
-Depending on the size of the leaf put 1-3 tbsp of stuffing on the top, not the stem, part of the leaf and roll like a cigar. Chard is much easier to deal with than grape leaves, and far more forgiving.
-Place the rolls side by side in an order in an oven proof dish.
-Place the small pieces of butter evenly on top.
-Pour 2 cups of hot water on top.  
-Bake rolls in a preheated oven at 385F for approximately an hour checking frequently after half an hour to make sure it still has some water.
-Serve rolls hot with yogurt, and even better, with garlicy yogurt (=1 clove of smashed garlic mixed well with 2 cups of yogurt)

  

A very decadently delicious dessert that once mastered Im sure youll be often making using many variations of  fillings, toppings, and sauces to your hearts desire...

Servings: (8 total = 2 ea.)
Prep: 30 mins. |
Stand: 30 mins. |
Cook: 30 mins.

Posted: by Sandra

INGREDIENTS

***Custard
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of kosher salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

***Filling
1 lb. container ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

***Blueberry-Cinnamon Sauce 
--[click here for optional: Apple Walnut Filling]
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

***Sweet Crepes
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch kosher salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup club soda
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, plus 3 tablespoons for cooking the crepes

METHOD

In a small mixing bowl, add the flour and salt and make a well in the center. Add the remaining ingredients, including 3 tablespoons of melted butter, and whisk together to combine. The mixture should be a loose batter. If the mixture is too thick, whisk in a bit of milk. Set batter aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the custard in a small saucepan, by whisking the sugar, cornstarch and salt together until well blended. Whisk in the milk and cook over low heat until almost boiling, then remove from the heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and vanilla until well blended. Add a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk from the saucepan and whisk to temper the egg, and then add the tempered egg mixture to the rest of the warm milk in the pan, whisking to combine. Cook over low heat until the sauce begins to thicken (do not boil). Let the sauce cool slightly while making the filling, sauce, and assembling the crepes.

For the blueberry sauce, whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients and stir with spoon constantly until mixture boils, and then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Set aside to let cool.

For the cheese filling, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, and set aside.

Melt the 3 remaining tablespoons of butter in a small glass bowl in the microwave. Place a small non-stick skillet over medium heat, and with a paper towel dip into butter and swipe lightly to butter skillet. Keep the buttered paper towel close by, as you will need it for making further crepes.

Begin making crepes. Fill a ladle, almost about 3 tablespoons full, with batter and pour it into the preheated pan, while tipping and rolling the pan to evenly coat the bottom. When the edges of the crepe begin to pull away from the edges of the pan and the bottom begins to brown a little, about 1 minute, use a spatula to loosen the crepe, and turn over to cook for about 1 minute more on the other side. Remove the crepe from the pan between parchment-lined squares stacked on platter to let cool. Repeat this process, until all the batter is used, wiping the pan with your buttered paper towel, as needed.

To make individual crepe desserts (allowing 2 per serving), spoon 2 tablespoons of the custard sauce on each dessert plate, spread 2 tablespoons of the cheese filling in a line down the center of each crepe with the same amount of blueberry filling and roll up, and place 2 crepes on top of custard. Drizzle remaining blueberry sauce over the crepes. Repeat until all 8 plates are finished, and serve. – Enjoy!