Conference turris::cooks

	My wifes family is a fanatic about these..  We have them
	every time my wifes grandmother comes over....

	Simply its...		

	1 lb Hamburg..
	1 Cup Rice.
	Salt/pepper

	Mix Together
	Roll in a grape leaf (Fold sides in, then roll..)
	Place in a big pot (depending on how many your cooking)
	add a 16 oz can of tomatoes and water almost to covering.

	Bring to boil and simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours...
	Serve with bread to getup the juices...

    While the recipe given earlier might suffice, if your in the Salem
    area go to Gourmet Take away, in Alexanders (formerly Kealeys)...
    and try their food, including stuffed grape leaves.....the seasoning
    in them is special.....and its made with lamb, now beef....totally
    different taste.
    
    Rick

    If you are going to use fresh picked grape leaves, becareful when
    you pick them. Apparently they are only "good" when they are
    young and tender. Otherwise you will be getting very stringy
    and tough leaves. I don't know when the right time to pick the 
    leaves is, but I would imagine early Spring.  At my previous
    job, we watch an elderly woman stop across the street every other
    day for about 2 weeks and finally she came one day with the
    family and their plastic bags and proceeded to gather up a
    large amount of grape leaves. She was obviously waiting for
    the prefect day!!!!
    
    Stick with the jarred. They work well.

    1 lb jar of grape leaves (40-50 leaves)
    3/4 c long-grain rice
    1/2 lb ground lamb
    1 tomato, skinned and chopped
    1 small onion, finely chopped
    4 T finely chopped parsley
    4 T finely chopped celery leaves (optional)
    (salt)
    black pepper
    2 1/2 T tomato paste (optional)
    2 sliced tomatoes (optional)
    2 cloves garlic, slivered
    juice of one lemon, or more
    
    
    Pour boiling water over leaves if preserved in brine.  Let soak
    20 minutes.  Drain and rinse twice in cold water.  This will remove
    excess salt.
    If using fresh leaves, parboil a few at a time until limp.
    Soak and wash rice in boiling water and rinse with cold water.
    Drain well and mix with meat, chopped tomato, onion, parsley, celery,
    (salt), pepper, and tomato paste (if used).
    Place a leaf on a plate vein side up.  Place one heaping teaspoon
    of filling in the center.  Fold sides toward the middle and roll
    up, starting from the stem end.  Squeeze lightly.
    Continue rolling leaves until filling is used up.
    Line the bottom of a large saucepan with a layer of tomato slices
    and/or leftover leaves to prevent sticking to the pan.  Pack the
    stuffed leaves in tight layers on top, sticking slivers of garlic
    in here and there.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and about half a cup
    of water.  Some people add saffron to the water (makes the rice
    yellow).
    Cover pan and cook over low heat for two hours or until tender,
    adding water as it gets absorbed.
    Serve hot.
    
    Variations:
    Add 4 or more cloves of crushed garlic and 1 T dried mint with a
    little water 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
    (I sometimes add some mint to the filling.)
    Add 1/2 t ground cinnamon to the filling (I often do this).

    1 lb jar preserved grape leaves (40-50 leaves), drained
    3/4 c long-grain rice
    2-3 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
    1 large onion, finely chopped, or 5 T chopped scallions
    2 1/2 T finely chopped parsley
    2 1/2 T dried crushed mint
    1/4 t ground cinnamon
    1/4 t ground allspice
    (salt)
    black pepper
    2 tomatoes (sliced) - optional
    3-4 cloves garlic - optional
    1/2 c olive oil
    1/4 t saffron (optional)
    1 t sugar
    juice of one lemon, or more
    
    Parepare leaves as in previous recipe.
    Soak rice in boiling water, then rinse under cold water and drain.
    Mix with tomatoes, onion or scallions, parsley, mint, cinnamon,
    allspice, (salt), and pepper.
    Stuff leaves as in previous recipe.
    Pack tightly in large pan lined with tomato slices or leftover leaves,
    sometimes sticking in a whole peeled garlic clove if desired.
    Mix olive oil with 1/2 c water and saffron (if used).  Add sugar
    and lemon juice and pout over the stuffed leaves.
    Cover and simmer for at least two hours until thoroughly cooked.
    Add more water a cup at a time as it gets absorbed.
    Cool in the pan.
    Serve cold.
    
    Variations:
    Add 2 T chopped dill and 3/4 c seedless raisins or currants to the
    filling.
    Soak 1/2 c chickpeas overnight, crush and add to the filling, and
    use 1/3 c less rice.
    Add 1/3 c pine nuts.

    Freezing dolmas doesn't seem to be a problem.  I freeze them after
    I bake them, and then heat them up in the microwave oven.

    Well, if you *did* want to make the dolmas from the fresh leaves, you
    would need to blanch them a bit in order to be able to roll the leaves
    up - same idea as making stuffed cabbage.  I have never used fesh grape
    leaves, though.  The ones in the jars (when I can find them!) are
    rolled up and pickled in brine; I have to soak and rinse them a lot
    because we do not normally use salt in cooking and so the pickled
    leaves taste VERY salty to us otherwise.  Dolmas freeze fine, though,
    if you want to devote the freezer space to them.  I wonder what would
    happen if you blanched the leaves, then packed them and froze them?
    I don't think you would want to really pickle them because you would
    cook them so long that they would be pretty soggy, which makes me
    wonder how they do the commercially-bottled leaves?
    
    /Charlotte

  I just pack them neatly in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer.
  When defrosted, they come out *slightly* wilted - which is what you want, in
order to roll them. Even so, I found I still needed to soak them in boiling
water to get them soft enough for use. I would not blanch them before freezing -
they may become *too* soft when defrosted. It is easier to control if you
blanch them later.
   If you have more leaves than can be used at once, I suggest you freeze them
in "packets", each containing enough leaves for one pot. That way you can easily
defrost the right amount of leaves (they don't freeze-defrost-freeze-defrost
very well...).
   Pardon the question - but where would you pick grape leaves in this 
season (or are you planning ahead)?

    I am looking for the recipe for stuffed grapeleaves. I am looking for
    ones that are stuffed with "rice" only and have a lemon juice sauce
    that goes over them. I want to make them for my brother who is coming
    home for Christmas and he is a Vegan (a vegetarian who does not eat
    dairy products). 
    
    Also, if you have any other appetizer type foods that would accomodate
    his diet I would appreciate the recipes for those.
    
    Thank you.

    Try the Vegetarianism notesfile  SAFRON::VEGETARIANISM
    
    I am a Vegan and have found lots of good food there.
    
    Anne

    Check out 2868.20.
    
    I have made them with and without meat.  Also, the original recipe
    that I saw said for the Dolma's to be baked in a casserole dish
    and covered.  However, the first time I made them I forgot that
    part and put them on a cookie sheet and smothered it with lemon
    slices and juice...and they sort of 'fried'.  My family preferred
    them better that way - they were a bit crunchy.
    
    There are also some other notes in here regarding Dolmaithes...if
    I have time I will look them up and enter the numbers for you.
    
    

    Another good source of Vegan recipes is "The Cookbook for People who
    Love Animals", available in health food stores.

    This has been a favorite in our family for years.
    It's easy and proportions are not critical.  It
    takes some time.
    
Turkish Stuffed Grapeleaves

1 lb. ground lamb, or ground lamb-beef combined
1 jar grape leaves (from Greek section of supermarket,
  where imported olives are.  I have seen two sizes of
  jars.  If you get the larger, you may or may not have
  some leaves left over, depending on how fat you make
  the stuffed leaf rolls.)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup rice (cooked, to make about 3 cups)
1 t. dried mint, crushed
1 t. dried dillweed
black pepper to taste (no salt, as the leaves are
  very salty; you may wish to rinse them lightly -- NOT
  thoroughly -- when you take them out of the jar.)
3 T. lemon juice
1 T. tomato sauce or ketchup
A little plain yogurt (optional; recommended, if you like yogurt)

Sit at table (this is tedious and sitting will save your
feet).  Mix up everything except the leaves in a big
bowl.  Stuff the leaves and roll them up.  (It helps to
judge amounts by dividing the leaves into about 4 piles,
and using 1/4 of the stuffing for each pile of leaves.)
Stack the stuffed leaves in a very large frypan (I use my
electric wok).  Completely cover with water, with
a little more lemon juice in it.  Put a heavy big plate on
top to hold the stuffed leaves in place, then cover the pan.
Boil and then cook on low for 30 minutes or so.  Check to 
make sure it isn't drying out on top.  If it is, add water.

Serve with lemon slices and dollops of plain yogurt, if
desired.

Serves 3-4 generously as a main dish.
    
    Mary Alice

    Thanks for reminding me to make stuffed grape leaves, Mary Alice!  I
    haven't done it in ages.  One thing I do is blanch the grape leaves in
    boiling water for 30-60 seconds to get rid of some of the brine they are
    packed in.  Also, I try to find people who grow grapes at home so I can
    have fresh grape leaves.  These I blanch also.
    
      *Susan*
    
    
                                                       

    Stuffed grape leaves!  This week-end.  Thanks for the recipe.
    
    Carel

    Yumm!  I never tried putting dill in them, but we often add pine nuts
    (pignolas).  They do take a while to make.
    
    /Charlotte