Cooking Persian Recipes with Eye Swoon
One of the highlights of my summer was visiting with Athena Caldrone who is the creator of the gorgeous blog Eye Swoon. Athena an exquisite beauty is a multi-tasker and multi- talented. She cooks with finesse, decorates interiors beautifully, is a fashion muse, photographer, and now novice surfer. I was thrilled to stay a night at her beautiful home in Amagansett where we got to know each other through cooking a Persian meal. We decided to cook something that I was familiar with, and these recipes have been my quick Persian/California dishes for years now. I had to carry the grape leaves all the way from California, since I wasn’t sure I could find them in Amagansett, but now they carry the ones I like on amazon California Grape Leaves – by Orlando 
What better way to get to know a fellow foodie and fashionista! Hopefully soon a proper interview with the Goddess Athena! The Persian recipes for the dishes below.
See more all-natural and healthy recipes from The Local Rose.
Stuffed Grape Leaves (Persian/California Style)
Ingredients:
Fresh grape Leaves (Most middle eastern stores carry them in jars.)
1/2 cup brown or basmati rice
1/2 cup yellow split peas
1/3 cup red currents
1 onion
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup summer savory
1/2 cup fresh dill
1/4 cup tarragon
1/2 cup mint
1 cup chopped fresh flat parsley
2 limes juiced
sea salt
pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
For the cooking mixture
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sugar (optional)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1) heat the over to 350 degrees. Cook the split peas and rice separately or together in a saucepan according to directions or in 3
cups of water. Add some salt.
2) Place a layer of grape leaves with stems down on an oiled oven proof dish to be used.
3) In a frying pan sauté the chopped onion, when golden add the rice, peas, all the herbs, currents, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and then
lime juice.
4) Place a grape leaf on a chopping board with the veins up, and start to fill it with 1 table spoon of rice/pea mixture. Roll up the leaf, as you do
manipulate the filling so it goes towards center of the leaf as you roll it in. Try to lay the stuffed leaves close together so they support each other
while cooking.
5) Mix the mixture of olive oil, sugar, and vinegar and drizzle most of it over the dish.
6) Cover with foil and bake in the over for an 45 minutes.
7) Check and add some more of the mixture and cook another 15 minutes.
Chicken Kebab
Ingredients:
Free range, organic chicken parts (we used breast)
1 cup fresh lime
1 teaspoon saffron dissolved in a few drops of hot water
1 teaspoon sumac (persian spice)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 TBS olive oil
1 large onion
Cherry tomatoes
Pepers
Sea salt
1) Marinade can be made night before and chicken can marinate in the fridge until cooking day. If not a few hours before is fine.
In a large bowl mix half the saffron water, lime juice, sumac, 2 TBS olive oil, onions and salt. Add the chicken and place in fridge to
marinate.
2) Start placing tomatoes, peppers and chicken on skewers
3) With extra marinade add to chicken and vegetables squeezing extra lime and salt before grilling.
4) grill until crispy on the outside.
Traditionally all Persian meals are served with a platter of fresh green herbs Persian bread or nan, and feta cheese.
The herbs and greens include radishes, tarragon, mint, and basil. The bread or nan wrapped with feta, walnut and mint
is so delicious and a great accompaniment to the grape leaves and kebab.
Everything about this…pure delight. Thank you! Especially excited for the kebabs with saffron, sumac and turmeric, it all looks Om-azing!
What a lovely pairing of dishes! she is a beautiful fashionista. Thank you for sharing her with us!
love this 🙂 want to make this for my mum (she loves persian meals)