ARMENIAN RECIPES AS REQUESTED

Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
January 13, 2010 Wednesday

This morning we’ve got calls for help in shopping and in cooking.

* "A.C." of Lookout Mountain reported that one can find Marshall’s
biscuits at Pruetts on Signal Mountain, and then asked if you could
tell her where to find Sara Lee’s Pecan Coffee Cake. "Failing that,
I would like a recipe for coffee cake that calls for toasted pecans."

* Liz Kennedy of Tullahoma worked at Erlanger from 1966 to 1971 and
remembers the spice doughnuts. Now, she’s looking for the recipe.

* Finally, an anonymous reader threw away a bottle of balsamic
vinegar because it had a gelatinous mass in it. "Can you still use
the vinegar after removing it?" the reader asked, adding that he or
she would also like a recipe for old-fashioned vinegar pie."

Now to today’s recipes. Terry Keister provided two authentic Armenian
recipes, as requested.

Armenian Rice Pilaf

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 handful thin spaghetti, broken into pieces

1 can long-grain white rice (measure it in the consommé can)

1 can consommé

1 can water

Melt butter in saucepan. Add the pine nuts and broken spaghetti pieces,
and sauté until slightly browned. Add the rice, and stir until coated
completely. Heat consommé and water, and stir. Bring to a simmer,
cover tightly and cook 20 to 25 minutes.

Note: You may use bulgur (coarse ground wheat) instead of rice to
make Armenian Bulgur Pilaf.

Stuffed Armenian Grape Leaves

1 jar grapevine leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

3 medium onions, finely chopped

11/2 cups long-grain rice

Juice of 2 large lemons

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 teaspoons dill

2 teaspoons mint

1/4 cup minced parsley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Water (about 1 cup)

Olive oil (about 1 cup)

Rinse grape leaves thoroughly in cold running water to remove brine.

Drain. Select 4 or 5 heavy leaves and line the bottom of a Dutch oven;
set aside.

To prepare filling, heat 1/2 cup olive oil in medium skillet. Add
onions and cook until translucent. Remove with a slotted spoon.

In a saucepan, parboil rice in 1 cup water until liquid is absorbed.

Combine rice, onion, lemon juice, pine nuts, dill, mint and parsley.

Season with salt and pepper. Cool.

To fill grapevine leaves, place a leaf, rough side up, with stem
facing toward you. Use about a teaspoon of rice mixture at the base of
a leaf. Lift the bottom sides of the leaf up onto the filling. Fold
both the right and left sides of the leaf over the filling and roll
up. Tuck edges in.

Place grape leaves in Dutch oven, side by side, to cover bottom,
then start second layer and continue until done.

Add water and olive oil to cover and then put an inverted plate on
the grape leaves. Bring to boiling and then cover; lower heat and
simmer 1 hour or so. Test to see if the rice is tender.

Allow to cool in the liquid. Remove carefully and store in the
refrigerator 24 hours before serving. Serve cold.

Marilyn Soehl serves these muffins on a cold day.

Marilyn’s Apple-sauce Muffins

1 cup butter (no substitute), softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons allspice

1 teaspoon cloves

2 cups applesauce

2 teaspoons soda

1 cup raisins

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and mix until combined. In a separate
bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

Mix together applesauce and soda, and add alternately with flour
mixture to the first mixture. Add raisins, and bake in greased and
floured muffin tins in a preheated oven at 375 F for 15 minutes,
or until done.