May 13, 2007 By Jennifer Harr 5 min read

Donna George always has loved to cook. The Uniontown resident, who also cooks Italian fare with ease, said she felt fortunate to marry into a Lebanese family and learn a whole new way of cooking.

During a recent cooking demonstration and luncheon at the Uniontown Public Library, George showed the class how to make the traditional Middle Eastern dishes of stuffed grape leaves, hummus and tabbouleh, an herb-infused, light-tasting bulgur wheat salad.

Hummus is a chickpea-based dip or spread, but George said she had difficulty getting the proportions just right. At the class, George used a friend’s recipe that she felt is perfectly proportioned to combine the taste of the chickpeas, garlic, lemon and tahini.

“You just need a hint of all these spices and herbs,” George said.

Tahini is a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds. The seeds can be either roasted or raw, and it’s a staple ingredient in hummus and other Middle Eastern dishes.

George said tahini is readily available in the ethnic section of local grocery stores.

The recipe is fool-proof, and requires minimal kitchen effort because the food processor does most of the work.

After the ingredients are ground together in a food processor, George said the final step is to stream in a good quality olive oil.

She said she’s made hummus one or two days in advance, and noted that it will last about one week in the refrigerator.

Stuffed grape leaves can be made with either ground sirloin or ground lamb, said George, but her family prefers sirloin.

Most grape leaves come jarred in salt brine, so George said it’s important to wash them thoroughly. She said she drains the leaves and separates them and then fills up the sink with water to wash away the brine. George said she repeats the process until the leaves are clean.

A one-pound jar typically has about 50 leaves in it, she said.

One of the components to the filling for the grape leaves is cumin, a smoky spice that is prevalent in Middle Eastern cooking, George said.

She also adds room temperature butter to the meat filling. That adds richness to it, and helps to glaze the cooked leaves, she said.

George said it’s important to use white rice – not brown, because the latter cooks at a different rate.

In all of her cooking, George said she uses Kosher salt, which is coarser and less bitter than table salt.

“Once you start using this, you’ll never go back to regular table salt,” she said.

George said she tastes as she cooks to make sure seasoning are just right.

“That’s why I’m never hungry when dinner’s served. I’m always tasting,” she said.

The fun part comes with the rolling. In her family, George said they sit and the kitchen table and roll them together.

“You have some really good conversations when you do that,” she said.

Before stuffing the leaves, George said it’s important to check to make sure none of the stem remains attached to the leaf. Those stems are too tough to eat, and must be cut off with a knife. She said that trying to rip the stem off could result in a ripped leaf.

To roll a leaf, you put the vein side up, and add about one tablespoon of filling. The bottom of the leaf is pulled up over the filling and the sides pulled over to make an envelope-type package. George then rolls the leaf, tucking the filling to make a tighter package.

While others make different filling or roll the leaves a different way, George said this is the way she was taught to do it. And though the first couple may be tedious and you get the hang of it, “Once you get the rhythm going, you go really fast,” she said.

The rolled leaves are placed seam-side down in a pot, she said, to keep them from bursting open as the rice cooks and expands.

George said she lines the bottom of the pot with broken leaves to keep the rolled ones from scorching. She noted that it’s also important to pack the rolled leaves close together to keep them from unfolding as they cook.

Once in the pot, the leaves are covered with liquid, George said.

It’s equally important to make certain that the leaves are weighted down properly before the cooking process starts – otherwise they could float up and start to unravel.

George uses a plate, but indicated other weight the plate down further with a measuring cup full of water.

With any leftover filling, George recommended using it to stuff a pepper or a zucchini.

When George serves her stuff grape leaves, she said she likes to do with a little homemade yogurt.

George said she has used fresh grape leaves before, but said their difficult to find, and usually in season around early June. The fresh leaves can be frozen if you’re lucky enough to get them, she said. To use the fresh leaves, George said there is no need to pre-cook the leaves, just add the filling and roll as you would with the brined ones.

Stuffed grape leaves also are a great make-ahead dish, George said. She indicated she’s rolled them ahead of time, and frozen them, uncooked. The rolled leaves won’t freeze together, although they must be defrosted before they’re cooked, she said.