Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipes

Steps:

• To make the filling, coat a large saute pan with 1/4 cup of the oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and lemon zest and stir until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the pine nuts and rice, saute for 2 minutes, stirring to coat. Pour in just 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and lower the heat. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 10 minutes. Scrape the parboiled rice mixture into a bowl and add the dill and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. Now on to the grape leaves.
• Bring a big pot of water to a simmer. Blanch the grape leaves in the hot water for 5 minutes until pliable. Drain then trim the stems and any hard veins from the leaves. Pat dry with paper towels.
• To assemble the dolmades, lay a grape leaf on a work surface, shiny-side down. Put 2 tablespoons of the rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up into a cigar ¿ it should be snug but not overly tight because the rice will swell once it is fully cooked. Squeeze lightly in the palm of your hand to secure the roll. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.
• Place the dolmades in a large Dutch oven or wide deep skillet, seam-side down in a single layer. Pour the remaining cup of broth, remaining olive oil, and the lemon juice over the dolmades, the liquid should reach halfway up the rolls, add some water if necessary. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dolmades are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm, at room temperature or cool.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender. Stir in rice and hot water to cover. Cover and simmer until rice is half cooked, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in tomato paste, currants, pine nuts, cinnamon, mint leaves, dill weed, allspice and cumin. Let mixture cool.
• Prepare a large pot by placing an inverted plate on the bottom; this protects the dolmas from direct heat when steaming.
• Rinse grape leaves in warm water; drain and cut off any stems. Place about 1 teaspoon of the cooled rice mixture in the center of a leaf. Fold in the sides and then roll into a cigar shape. Place in prepared pot. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
• Pour in just enough warm water to reach the bottom of the first layer of dolmas. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, or until rice is totally cooked. Check the water level often and add more as necessary.

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
• Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
• Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
• When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
• Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!

Steps:

• Add to the cooked and cooled white rice the parsley, white onions, lemon juice and olive oil and then blend. After blending these ingredients estimate adding a large tablespoon for each leaf.
• Lay the de-stemmed and rinsed grape leaf shiny side down, place portion of rice mixture in the center near the stem end and roll keeping stuffing close to end of leaf. Start folding in the sides and continue to roll keeping ends closed and stuffing secure inside.
• Lay "stem" down (the end of the roll) in a flat pan and continue doing so until each one is side by side close together, keeping them from opening when cooking. You can often place at least 2 layers if making large amounts, but more layering is not recommended. Pour over leaves enough water to reach top layer only and bring to a boil and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Add more water only if necessary, so as not to burn the leaves. Water should all be evaporated in this period of time if not, drain remaining water.
• Remove from burner and let cool for about 1/2 hour.
• Then transfer in single layers into flat pans and pour over a mixture of lemon and olive oil and place in refrigerator cool and marinate overnight or at least several hours before serving. Can be stored for at least 2 to 3 days in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Put the onions and oil in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. While the onions cook, peel the garlic cloves and mash them to a paste in a mortar and pestle. Add this to the pan along with the tomato, lemon juice, tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the rice. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dill. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
• While this is cooling, drain the grape leaves and carefully pull them apart. Put them into a bowl and cover them with cold water. Let them soak until you are ready to roll.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place a grape leaf on your work surface, shiny side down. Add 1 tablespoon of the rice mixture to the middle of the grape leaf. Fold the sides over the rice and roll the leaf into a small log shape, about the size of George's thumb. Repeat with the remaining rice, placing the stuffed leaves into a 9 by 9-inch baking dish. When the dish is full, cover the stuffed leaves with several layers of flat grape leaves and pour in 1 cup of water. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Serve cool.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the rice, onion, dill, and mint for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Pour in 1 quart of broth, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until rice is almost cooked. Stir in 1/2 of lemon juice and remove from heat.
• Take one leaf, shiny side down, and place 1 teaspoon of the rice mixture at the bottom (stem) end of the leaf. Fold both sides of the leaf towards the center, roll up from the broad bottom to the top, and place into a 4-quart pot. Repeat with all leaves, leaving no gaps as leaves are placed in pot (to prevent from opening while cooking). Sprinkle with remaining lemon juice and with olive oil.
• Pour chicken broth over all to cover grape leaves. Cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour (do not boil, because this will make the stuffing burst out of the leaves). Remove from heat, remove cover and let cool for 1/2 hour. Transfer to serving dish and serve.

Steps:

• Place ground lamb, rice, 1/4 cups olive oil, mint, currants, pine nuts, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and egg in a bowl. Mix together thoroughly with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Gently unroll and separate grape leaves. Rinse in cold water to remove brine. Drain. Reserve broken or less-than-perfect leaves to line pot.
• Place grape leaves on work surface with smooth side down (ribs of leaves up). Place a rounded tablespoon of lamb-rice filling near bottom-center of grape leaf. Fold bottom sections of leaf over mixture, fold over sides, and roll toward the top of the leaf into a firm cylinder. Don't roll too tightly or leaves may burst when rice cooks.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil into pot; line bottom of pot with 1 or 2 layers of reserved grape leaves. Place dolmas in pot by arranging them along the sides, then working toward the center to cover the bottom. Leave enough space between dolmas to allow for expansion, but close enough to hold their shapes when cooking. If necessary, stack another layer on top of the first so they all fit. Pour in lemon juice and 2 teaspoons olive oil.
• Invert a small plate and then a larger plate over the dolmas to weigh them down while they cook and prevent them from shifting. Pour in hot chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium-high heat. As soon as liquid is heated through and starting to bubble (2 to 4 minutes), reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and cook 35 minutes. Remove plates and check for doneness. Dolmas should look a bit puffed up, and a fork should pierce them easily. If not quite done, continue cooking without the weights: cover the pot and simmer until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
• Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with curls of lemon zest, if desired.

Steps:

• Filling:.
• Cook the rice. While it's cooking, mince the garlic, and chop the onions. Fry them in about two tablespoons of the olive oil, at a low temperature, in a large pan. Cook until the onions begin to turn golden brown. Chop the cranberries and the sunflower seeds finely. Mix the cranberries, sunflower seeds, and dried mint into the onion mixture and cook for about one more minute. When the rice is done, add it to the onion and garlic mixture. Mix it all together to ensure it's evenly blended, then remove it from the heat.
• To roll the grape leaves:.
• Lay a leaf out flat, with the protruded veins upwards. Scoop about one heaping tablespoon of filling into the centre of the leaf, and begin by folding the bottom two "flaps" over the filling (the flaps are on either side of the stem, at the base) Fold the sides in, and then firmly (but not too tightly, so as to avoid ripping the leaves) roll up the "top" flap of the leaf. Continue this process until all of the filling is gone. The amount of leaves you use, and amount of filling per leaf will depend largely on the size of the leaf. If you have some leaves with holes in them, or that are just too small to roll, you can overlap them so as to still make use of them.
• Lay the stuffed leaves into a large, flat skillet with a lid. Pour the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over them, and leave, with the lid on and the temperature very low, for about ten minutes, or until very warm. At no point should the leaves be cooking, we're just heating them up.
• Eat!

Steps:

• Wash& stem fresh grape leaves briefly to slightly wilt and drape over something.
• While drying make filling sauce.
• Mix lamb, rice, seasonings, lemon juice and butter.
• Stuff grape leaves with half of a tablespoon or more of the rice mixture.
• Put the mixture close to the bottom where the stem was at,fold and roll like you would a burrito.
• When done stuffing, line bottom of stock pot with torn or broken grape leaves then layer with stuffed grape leaves firmly packed with loose flap down in a 3 quart pot, in tight parallel rows, alternating each layer the opposite way (this will help to keep them from moving) when done line with more torn grape leaves on top, put flat plate on top of grape leave and a pitcher of water on top of the plate to help keep it down.
• fill pot with about 4 to 6 cups of boiled water, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a 1/2 cup of lemon juice and salt so that it is just above the grape leaves.
• Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 to 25 till done (check one to see if done).
• Remove grape leaves with tongs.
• NOTES: Save some of the juice for reheating in the mirowave, and cover.

Steps:

• In 1/3 cup hot oil in 12-inch skillet, saute onion and green onion, stirring until golden - 5 minutes. Add lamb; cook, stirring until lamb is no longer pink - 10 minutes. Add rice, nuts, dill salt, pepper and 3/4 cup water. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes, until water is absorbed.
• Remove from heat. Turn into bowl to cool 30 minutes before stuffing grape leaves. Meanwhile, separate grape leaves. Rinse well in cold water to wash away any brine. Dry well on paper towels. Use imperfect leaves for layering evenly in the bottom of the skillet.
• Lay leaves, shiny side down, on flat surface.Put 1 tablespoon lamb mixture in center of each leaf; fold sides over filling; roll up, starting from narrow end. Do not roll too tightly; rice needs room to expand. Fill skillet with closely fitted layers of stuffed leaves.
• Pour lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 cup cold water over them. Put heavy plat, upside down, on top to prevent leaves from unrolling. Bring to boiling; simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed - 30 minutes. Cool in skillet, if serving cold as an appetizer.
• With slotted utensil, lift out of liquid onto serving plate.
• If serving warm with egg-and-lemon sauce: In small saucepan over direct heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat; stir in 3 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix until smooth.
• Stir in 1 can chicken broth and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Cook over low heat, stirring, until boiling. In small bowl, beat 4 egg yolks slightly; beat in small amount of hot mixture. Slowly return to pan, stirring until thick. Remove from heat. Makes 2 cups.