NIAGARA FALLS — Beshara Cobti recently led a small group of volunteers in rolling about 3,000 grape leaves with rice, meat and traditional spices.

Kind of a shame that some  of those who eat them will probably not even get to taste them, considering that the newest event at the 6th annual Mediterranean Festival is a grape leaf eating competition.

Cobti, a former restaurant owner, has been leading volunteers at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church to create some of the many dishes being served at the festival, including the grape leaves, each of which were hand-rolled.

His secret to rolling a grape leaf? Careful with the filling, because the rice expands when you cook it, Cobti said.

“It’s like rolling a cigar but not that big,” he laughed.

Cobti is going to be overseeing all the baking at the festival, which is being held from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Some of the foods being served include Lebanese favorites such as spanakopita, falafels, gyros, souvlaki, as well as baklava, homemade cookies and rice pudding.

“There will be a huge tent which will house all of the food making and the beer tent,” explained volunteer Dot Lombardi. “We also have a brand new pavilion that will be a place for everybody to relax and sit and enjoy the music and watch their kids at Kid’s Village.”

Lombardi said the Kid’s Village will include a bounce house, arts and crafts and special kid’s meals and snow cones.

There will also be live music, a garage sale, and basket auction with baskets donated by Niagara Falls Memorial Heart Center and Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston. A portion of the proceeds of the event will go to both medical centers, Lombardi said.

Some of the recipes being prepared for the festival include the following:



Kibbee

3 lbs. lean ground lamb or beef or a mixture

11/2 C finely ground cracked wheat (burghol)

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 large onions, chopped fine

2 tsp. dry basil

1/2 C cold water

1/2 C pine nuts

1 tbs. lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

 

Rinse wheat in a pan of water. Drain water from wheat by squeezing the wheat with your hands. Add to the wheat: 2 lbs. ground meat, 1 chopped onion, salt, pepper, cinnamon and dry basil. Grind all ingredients together twice. If a grinder is not available, knead ingredients together well. After grinding/kneading, add 1/2 cup cold water to soften and knead again.

 

Filling

Grease a 10" x 14" baking pan with vegetable oil. Moisten hands with water and spread half of the raw kibbee evenly over the bottom of the pan. Simmer 1 pound ground meat and 2 chopped onions in a frying pan. Add pine nuts, lemon juice and salt and pepper to meat and onion mixture. Spread this filling evenly over the layer of raw kibbee in the pan. Cover evenly with the remaining half of the raw kibbee. Score in triangles with a knife and loosen the edges slightly with a spatula. Dot the top generously with butter.

 Bake in a moderate oven 350 degrees until the bottom is golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Then place under the broiler to brown. Serves 8 - 10.

 

Taboulee

1/2 cup cracked wheat

3 bunches curly parsley

1/2 bunch fresh mint, (1/4 cup)

Juice of 3 lemons

2 bunches green onions

4 large tomatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

dash allspice (optional)

 

Soak wheat in water for a few minutes. Squeeze dry with your hands. Chop onions, parsley, mint and tomatoes very fine. Add wheat, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and allspice (if using).  Mix well. Serve with fresh lettuce leaves, grape leaves or cabbage leaves, used as a scoop.

 

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmathes)



Because fresh grape leaves are not readily available, imported jarred grape leaves are generally used.  This recipe is based on 1 jar of grape leaves.

Preparing the grape leaves:

Remove the leaves from the jar, unroll and separate them and rinse to remove the brine. Use only the smaller, more tender leaves, leaving the larger ones for lining the bottom of the pan. Put the leaves into a pot of boiling water and boil gently for 2 minutes.Remove frome the boiling water, drain and remove stems.

 Stuffing:

1lb ground beef, uncooked

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup finely-chopped parsley

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. black pepper

1 - 2 tsp. salt, to taste

Whites of 2 eggs

 

Mix together all ingredients and stuff the grape leaves as mentioned below.

Stuffing the grape leaves:

Place the grape leaf with the shiny side down.  Place a teaspoon of filling about 1 inch from stem end of leaf.  Fold up once, then fold sides toward center.  Continue rolling to the end.  the roll will about 11/2 inches to 2 inches long, depending on the leaf size.  Place the stuffed leaves snuggly together in a pan.  When the bottom layer is completed, start a second layer on top of the first.  Place a heavy, heat-resistant plate on top of the dolmathes to prevent unrolling during cooking.

 

Cooking the Grape Leaves:

Prepare a cooking liquid of:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 beef bouillon cubes, dissolved in 1 cup hot water

 

Pour this liquid over the pan of grape leaves.  Next, pour enough boiling water over the grape leaves to cover the plate on the grape leaves.  Cover the pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook slowly for 45 minutes.  Remove from the heat and pour off excess liquid into a saucepan.  Dissolve 2 teaspoons cornstarch in 1/4C cold water and then add to liquid in the saucepan.  Whisk and bring to a boil.  Beat the yolks of two eggs and very slowly add to the liquid.  Stir well .

To serve, place the grape leaves on a platter and spoon the sauce over them.  These may be frozen and reheated.