STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES (with ground lamb and ground beef)

Ouch!  I hurt my back doing yard work. That made it hard to get ready for Easter. By the time our guests arrived on Easter Sunday, I was thoroughly exhausted. I had been cooking for two days, plus planting flowers, plus setting tables, plus washing pots and pans, plus praying the Tylenol I was taking for my backache would work a little faster. Even though I was tired, all the preparations were so worth it! Once the company arrived, I felt brand new. Well, almost brand new. 

One of our visitors was an adorable two-year-old named Gracie, who (almost) possesses the vocabulary of a high school graduate. Actually, Gracie is something of a scholar, because, at the tender age of two she attends preschool. She saw a band-aid I had on my finger and asked me if I had a boo-boo. "Yes, I have a bad boo-boo," I replied. "Bad boo-boo?" She kissed my band-aid. How can one not fall in love with Gracie?  

Among the dishes we served were these grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice. Gracie, of course, wanted nothing to do with them. She stuck to lamb, potatoes and salad. Everyone else enjoyed them. Usually, but not always, grape leaves stuffed with meat have avgolemono sauce poured over them (avgolemono is a Greek egg and lemon sauce). I chose not to make it, but instead to add extra lemon juice to the cooking liquid. Why no avgolemono? Mostly for dietary reasons - some of our guests do not eat eggs. Even without the avgolemono, the ground lamb-stuffed grape leaves were very good!

Ingredients:

1 jar (16 ounces)  grapevine leaves
about 3/4 of a cup of olive oil

 2 onions, chopped

 4 cloves garlic, chopped

 1 bunch scallions, chopped, use as much of the green part as you can        

 3  tbsp fresh chopped parsley

 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

 1 teaspoon fresh chopped mint

 1 lb. lean ground beef 
 1 lb. ground lamb (if not available, use pork)

 1 cup raw long-grain rice

 optional: 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes (not canned)                      

 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese 

  the juice of two lemons

  salt and pepper to taste 

  2 tablespoons butter

  3 14-ounce cans low sodium chicken broth, plus water as needed

 

Directions:

• Remove the grape leaves from the jar and discard the briny liquid they are packed in. Soak them in water for at least four to five hours,  changing the water a few times in order to remove the saltiness of the brine. When you have desalinated the grape leaves, boil them in water for no more than 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the water and set the leaves aside until they have cooled. Keep them covered so they don't dry out as they are cooling.    
• Save all the stems and leaves from the herbs and scallions that you would otherwise discard. Make sure they are rinsed well.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onions, until they begin to soften. Add the scallions and garlic and cook for one minute while stirring. Turn off the heat, add the herbs and set the mixture aside until it cools.
• When the mixture has cooled, add the ground meat, rice, tomatoes if using, Pecorino Romano cheese, pepper, a touch of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 
• Line the bottom of a medium-sized heavy Dutch oven with the leaves and stems of the herbs you have saved. If there are any really tough grape leaves, instead of discarding them, arrange them in the Dutch oven. 
• Cut off the stems from the grape leaves and discard them; they'll be too tough to eat. Now comes the time to start filling them: set the shiny side of the leaf down, and place the filling on the duller-looking side where the veins are thicker. 
• Fill each grape leaf with about 1 tablespoon of the mixture. 
• Roll up the grape leaf once, fold in the sides of the leaf and continue rolling. As you are rolling, don't make the grape leaf bundle too loose, however, keep in mind that there is rice in the filling and it will expand during cooking. Therefore, don't roll the grape leaf bundle too tightly, either. 

I had lots of grape leaves to stuff, so I moved the show to our breakfast area, where we have a television set. I spread a few kitchen towels on the breakfast table. On top of the towels, I placed the Dutch oven, a bowl full of filling, and a plate of grape leaves. I sat at the table and turned on the TV. I watched some TV, I stuffed some grape leaves, and that was the easy way to go about it because stuffing those leaves is a tedious undertaking! On with the rest of the recipe:

• Fit the stuffed grape leaves, seam side down, on top of the herb stems in the Dutch oven. Pack them in tightly. Place a second layer on top, keeping the same pattern of layering. Keep the same pattern so that the cooking liquid can penetrate all layers.

Champagne and Geritol! Oh Yeah!!! I placed my trusty Dutch oven on the breakfast table. I sat down, turned on the TV and started stuffing the grape leaves. One by one, in they went into the pot. My mother was sitting next to me just so I could have a supervisor. She insisted the TV be set to PBS, and there was nothing wrong with her request ... or so I thought. But as it turned out, Lawrence Welk, her favourite musician, was on.  I'm referring to Mr Lawrence Welk, bandleader, the heartthrob of every octogenarian female!  I'd like to report that I survived the experience. Anyway, on with the cooking. ...  

• Sprinkle the rest of the olive oil over the grape leaves, then add the lemon juice, the butter, and enough chicken broth to cover. If during cooking you run out of chicken broth due to evaporation, just add water. 
• Take a plate that will fit into the cooking pot and wrap it in parchment paper.  Place it on top of the grape leaves. This will weigh them down to prevent them from floating around in the pot. Cover the Dutch oven with the lid.
• Cook in a preheated 350° F oven for two hours. Once in a while during cooking, check to make sure there is enough liquid in the pot. If the liquid level is too low, just add some more. The cooking time is long, but that's because the grape leaves have to soften and become as tender as the filling.
• Remove the stuffed grape leaves from the pot and place them on a serving dish. Don't let them sit in the cooking liquid. Any cooking liquid left can be discarded or used to make avgolemono sauce if needed. The recipe for the avgolemono sauce follows.
• The grape leaves can be served warm or at room temperature. I hope you make these and enjoy them in good health!

If you choose to serve them with avgolemono sauce (in which case they should be served warm), here's a recipe for avgolemono: 

1 egg

2 egg yolks

3 tablespoons cornflour

juice of one lemon

about 2 cups of the cooking liquid, cold or at room temperature; if less than two cups remain, substitute the missing amount with chicken broth.

2 tablespoons heavy cream
Black pepper to taste

In a saucepan, beat the eggs with the lemon juice. Very slowly so that the eggs won't curdle, add the cooking liquid. Over low heat and while mixing, slowly add the cornflour. Allow the mixture to thicken a little. Turn off the heat. Add the cream and mix. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Pour on top of the grape leaves and serve.   

Grape Leaves Stuffed with Rice

Grape leaves cooked with some type of stuffing have been around since antiquity. I guess you could say they were the first sandwich that was invented. I have been eating them and loving them since I was a child, and the recipe here is my maternal grandmother's.

In Greek homes, grape leaves with rice are served cold, usually as a first course or as part of an appetizer menu.

It's always nice to have fresh grape leaves on hand, but they are a luxury item here in the USA because they are not readily available. The solution is to get grape leaves in a jar. These are preserved in a brine solution and need to be thoroughly rinsed in order to remove excess salt. Rinse them several times. When I buy preserved grape leaves I always have my fingers crossed. Sometimes they'll be too tough with lots of veins, sometimes too small, sometimes torn. Of course, sometimes I am lucky and they are just right. 

Ideally, grape leaves should melt in one's mouth as they are being eaten. If they don't, that means they were too tough prior to cooking. One solution for softening them is to cook them in boiling water for about  30 to 40 minutes before stuffing them. If you like making stuffed grape leaves and don't have the fresh ones at hand, experiment with different store bought brands until you find the one that works for you. Even so, boiling the brined variety prior to cooking is recommended. Happy cooking!

Ingredients:

1 jar preserved grape leaves, drained

1 cup olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped
Pepper to taste, and a little salt to taste
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup long grain rice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons dill, chopped

1 teaspoon mint, chopped
2-3 tablespoons currants
1 cup pine nuts

1 cup of water

Directions:

• Carefully separate the grape leaves. To remove excess salt, place them in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let the leaves soak for about two hours and change the water a few times. Drain and rinse one last time. To soften them, boil them in water for about 30 to 40 minutes. Cut off the stems and allow the leaves to dry.  
• In a large saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil, add the onions, garlic and pepper, and cook over medium heat for about ten minutes or until the onions are translucent. 
• Stir in the rice and saute for about two minutes. Keep mixing so that the rice doesn't burn. Add the green onions and one cup of the vegetable broth  
• Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook the rice until the broth is absorbed, about 10 minutes or so. The rice will not cook all the way but will finish cooking inside the grape leaves. By following this method the end product will not have a mushy filling. Additionally, as the rice finishes cooking inside the grape leaf it expands, thus creating a firmer and well filled little bundle. 
• Transfer the rice to a large bowl and mix in the juice of one lemon, parsley, dill, mint, currants, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Don't use too much salt because the grape leaves are already salty.
• Place one leaf on a flat surface, vein side up, shiny side down. Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in the centre of the leaf, near the stem edge. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and then roll the leaf with the stuffing to form a nice bundle. You should now have a stuffed grape leaf. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling.
• Line the bottom of a heavy saucepan with leftover or torn grape leaves. You can also add any stems that are left over from the herbs used in the recipe. Arrange the bundles seam side down, packing them close together. Layer more bundles on top, keeping the same layering pattern so that the cooking liquid is able to surround them all. 
• Combine the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil, the rest of the broth and the lemon juice. Pour over the stuffed grape leaves. The liquid should just about cover them. Have a cup of water handy to use if more liquid is needed before the cooking time is up. You don't want your bundles to dry up, but you also don't want them swimming in liquid.
• To keep the bundles from floating around in the liquid add a piece of parchment paper on top and weigh them down with a heatproof plate. 
• Cover the pan and simmer over "low and slow" heat for about one hour, or until the leaves are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
• Allow the leaves to cool until they can be handled. Remove them to a container and allow them to chill. In other words, don't let them sit in liquid because the stuffing will become mushy. Some people love grape leaves cooked with extra lemon flavour. I'd advise that you use lemon juice rather than lemon wedges. Don't allow the grape leaves to sit in liquid which has lemon slices added to it because they will absorb the bitter taste which is derived from the pith of the lemon. 
• Grape leaves stuffed with rice are served cold.