Dolmas! (stuffed grape leaves)

A wonderful spring treat when grape leaves are picked fresh!

24 fresh grape leaves

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic smashed  

1 cup jasmine rice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mace

3 tbsp. Tomato paste

1 tbsp each. Fresh chopped mint, parsley, and oregano from my garden.

1 cup ground beef (you can add more if you want to do all the rolls with meat)

1/4 C pine nuts
1/4 C currants

¼  olive oil (for cooking onions and garlic and storing)

Blanche grape leaves by placing them in boiling hot water for about 30 seconds, then plunge immediately into cold water to stop the cooking process. Set on a tea towel to dry.

Cook rice according to package directions but only cook til about ½ done. Approximately 10 minutes.

Sweat the onion and garlic with a little olive oil in a hot pan. 3 - 4  minutes.  Turn off heat. 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl or two bowls if you are doing half vegetarian, as I did with this recipe.

Put about 1 tsp to 1tbs of filling on the bottom part of the leaf. (shiny side down) Fold leaves in and roll from the bottom up. Place rolls on a steam rack and steam for 30- 45 minutes till rice and meat are cooked thoroughly.

You can eat these hot or store them for up to a week with a bit of olive oil in the fridge.

Cucumber dip for dolmas

1 cup plain yogurt.

¼ cup of grated cucumber 

1 tbsp. Dill

Grate cucumber and squeeze out excess liquid. Combine all ingredients. Place in fridge to let flavours meld. Serve with dolmas.

I will have to go pick some more as they are good blanched and frozen for up to 6 months, that way I will have some at Christmas time that I can stuff with dried cranberries and apples! MMM… so tasty!

You can buy grape leaves canned in a store or as I like to do, pick them fresh in the late spring early summer when they are still young and not too tough and chewy. I wanted them fresh so that I knew where they were coming from and know that they are not sprayed with all kinds of pesticides as any type of fruit bearing plants typically are.

My friend brought me 24 beautifully shaped leaves, stems attached and no holes. I then blanched them, immediately plunged them into cold water and set them on a tea towel to dry. I left the stems on so that they were easier to work with and to keep them from tearing. The leaves are quite delicate, so some care is needed when handling them. 

Shiney side down, lay them flat then carefully clip off the stem. Add your stuffing, (I made 12 vegetarian and 12 with meat) fold in the sides then carefully roll them up. Place on a steam rack and steam for 30-45 minutes. Tada! You're done! You can serve them hot or cold. I like to serve them with this dip.

It seemed strange to me that the recipes I read all said to cook the rice until  it was only half done, but when you are steaming them the rice gets fully cooked and not mushy. 

You could take the basic recipe and add cranberries instead of currants and walnuts instead of pine nuts and I think they would still be very good with all the spices.