I don't know how many stuffing recipes in Turkish cuisine. If we stuff a vegetable we call it dolma, if we put the stuffing on some kind of leaf and roll it we call it sarma. If the stuffing is meaty we serve them hot as a main dish, if the stuffing is vegetarian we serve it warm or cold, especially in winter as a side dish. So we stuff everything. Wine leaves, aubergines , peppers , whole cabbage, cabbage leaves , leeks , potatoes, artichokes , tomatoes , courgettes , even their flowers ..
I found celeriacs in my local Lidl with their leaves on. So not alien looking like they did in Asda...They are another divine earthy food for me... I love to smell them when and after cooking. But this recipe especially important for me. I adapted it from my families old cookbok and every time I eat it reminds me of Istanbul with it's colour and aroma.
First prepare celeriacs. In this part you have to use your artistic side. Remove the skin being more careful for the bottom part, slice horizantally. All the slices must be as same thickness around 2 cm. Try to give them oval shape with trimming off the edges, carve with spoon. Keep this little boats in water with added flour and lemon juice.I had 10 palm-sized celeriac cups.Stuffing : 300 g mince meat, 1 large onion - finely chopped, 100 g long-grain rice, 1 small clove of garlic, handful of dill and parsley - finely chopped, salt, 1,5 glass of water, little bit olive oil. Mix them well.
Drain celeriacs and season well, fill with stuffing, pour more olive oil on top, loosely pack with greaseproof paper, put them in a saucepan, add 2 glasses of water, put the lid on, on a moderate heat cook until they get soft. You can cook them in the oven but you have to cover the tray with foil very well. Don't forget to add water.Using greaseproof paper is a bit old fashion. Next time I will wrap them with wine leaves like she did here with artichokes.
I served it with Turkish ( Greek ) style yoghurt. But I can strongly recommend hummus, or tarator sauce, maybe tahini sauce..Their nuttiness goes very well with celeriac.
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Etli Kereviz Dolmasi
Once kerevizleri hazirlamaniz gerekiyor. Bir tasa 1 kasik un ve 1/2 limon suyu ve kabugunu atip suyla doldurun. Bu su kerevizlerin kararmasini engelleyecek ve piserken sekillerini korumalarina yardim edecek. Ellerinizi limonla ovup kerevizleri guzelce soyup yikayin. Yanlamasina ikiye bolup kenarlarini biraz daha traslayarak duzgun bir sekil elde edin. Bicagin ucuyla 1 cm iceriden bir hat cizip ortada kalan kismi yemek kasigi yardimiyla ovun.Boylece bir kereviz tasi elde edeceksiniz. Hemen unlu-limonlu suya atin. ( Buradaki kerevizler o kadar buyukler ki iki tanesinden 2ser cmlik dilimlere ayirarak 10 tane kereviz tasi elde edebildim, varin siz tahmin edin.)
Etli ic : 300 gr kiyma, 1 buyuk sogan - ince kiyilmis, 100 gr pirinc, 1 dis sarimsak,, kuru nane, bloca dereotu ve maydanoz- incecik kiyilmis, tuz, 1,5 bard su, biraz zeytinyagi. Iyice karistirin. ( 10 tane kereviz canagi icin )
Kerevizleri suzun, (dibini cok havalandirmadan 2 bardagini muhafaza edin) tuz, karabiber gezdirin. Icle doldurup tekrar zeytinyagi gezdirin. Yagli kagidin bir kosesine koyup birlesme yerleri alta gelecek sekilde siki olmayan bir paket yapin. Cok ustuste gelip birbirlerini ezmelerine izin vermeden tencereye dizin, o ayirdiginiz 2 bard suyu ve biraz tuz gezdirip agzi kapali, orta ateste kerevizler yumusayana kadar pisirin. Tepsiye dizip suyunu ekleyip ustunu iyice kapatarak firinda da pisirebilirsiniz, ama uyarayim biraz daha uzun surer.
Zeytinyagli Kereviz Dolmasi
Hazirlanmasi, pisirilmesi ayni, yanliz et yerine baglayici olarak yumurta aki kullaniliyor ve her zeytinyaglida oldugu gibi ic onceden pisiriliyor.
Zeytinyagli ic : 300 gr pirinc, 300 gr sogan, tuz, seker, karabiber, nane, dereotu, maydanoz, 1 yum. aki ( istenirse cam fistigi, yenibahar, kus uzumu...)
Sogani kiyip zeytinyagda biraz cevirin, yikanmis pirinci katin, 1,5 bard su, tuz ve seker ilave edip suyunu cekene kadar pisirin. Soguyunca yesillikleri ve yum. akini katip iyice karistirin. ( 10 kereviz canagi icin )
EK........
- Ilk zamanlar annemin 60lardan kalma yemek kitabinda tarif edildigi sekilde boyle yagli kagida sararak pisirdim . Ama sonralari Hatice'nin burada yaptigi sekilde asma yapragina sararak pisirmeye basladim ki iste o zaman tam bir ziyafet yemegi oldu.
- Artan kereviz yapraklarini tencerenin dibine dizebileceginiz gibi soklama (once kaynar su, sonra buzlu suya atma) metoduyla hazirlayip incecik kiyarak, sogan, limon, zeytinyagi ile bulusturup salata-sos seklinde servis edebilirsiniz.
- Kereviz yerine enginar, patates, hatta benim favorim olan portobello mantarini doldurmayi deneyebilirsiniz. Ama asma yapragiyla sarmayi unutmayin.
- Yaninda yogurtla servis edebileceginiz gibi humus, tarator ya da tahin sosuyla da servis edebilirsiniz, cunku kerevize cok yakisiyorlar.
