Stuffed Grape Leaves - Appetizer-Style with Meat (Dolmadakia me Kreas)

Stuffed Grape Leaves - Appetizer Style

with Meat

 (Dolmadakia me Kreas)

Cook time: 1 hour Prep: 1 hour Makes: 75- 85 pieces Dolmadakia with the ending “akia” means “small one”. These stuffed grape leaves are made on the smaller side to be served as an appetizer, hot or cold with a squeeze of lemon juice. Instead of using dried onion soup, you may use chopped onions, bunches of fresh mint and dill in the meat mixture. The rice will not explode when cooked this way as long as you roll your grape leaves tightly around the meat mixture.    3 pounds 73% lean ground beef Salt and pepper, to taste 1 cup long grain white rice 1/2 cup water 2 packages dried onion soup mix 1 16-ounce jar grape leaves 2 tablespoons dried mint 1 lemon   Thoroughly mix ground beef, rice, onion soup mix, mint, salt, pepper and water. Cut stems off grape leaves. Place glossy side down with vein side showing. Place a heaping teaspoonful* of meat mixture on the wide end of leaf and roll it up like a cigar, folding outer edges inward as you roll. Layer the stuffed grape leaves in an 8-quart pot (may add leaves to bottom of pan to prevent the stuffed grape leaves from burning) and enough water to almost cover them. With lid off, bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for one hour with lid on. Drain the liquid. Place cooked stuffed grape leaves on a serving platter and drizzle with lemon juice, to taste. May be eaten hot or cold.   *Depending on the size of the leaves and how large you make them, the amount of meat needed may vary.  A wise man once said “when you think you have enough mint, add some more…”

This past weekend I made the stuffed grape leaves recipe which I know by heart because it was my mom's recipe.  This appetizer was always my contribution for family dinners.

The grape leaves are preserved in brine water which some people will wash off before using to remove the saltiness. I don't wash them because we like the salty taste of the leaves.

 

One time when I made stuffed grape leaves, the leaves were very tough. Hours of boiling them did not make a difference. So, I decided to take them to work the next day thinking someone might like them. It turns out one of my colleagues just loved them and to my astonishment, I learned how could that be? He heated them in the microwave for a few minutes which probably tenderized the leaves - learned something new.

Sous chefs William and Freya taste-testing 

 

 

Lia Kakaris came over and we finished rolling the grape leaves.  It takes about an hour for one person to finish rolling the entire jar of leaves.  This time, we had leaves left over and usually we have meat left over. 

Hint: if you should want to use fresh grape leaves, blanche them first in boiling water. Many years ago, we wanted to plant fresh grape leaves and on the excellent recommendation of Mrs. Cleo Andrews, we planted green grapes. The fresh grape leaves made the best stuffed grapes leaves that I have ever tasted.

  

6/7/22 Update

 I tried making stuffed grape leaves with fig leaves.  They tasted ok, but I prefer the grape leaves.  The leaves were a bit tough and they have a distinct taste, almost like a burnt taste.  I made a big mistake and cooked them with the stuffed grape leaves which took on the flavor of the more dominant fig leaves.

 

 

Cutting stem off

Putting a Small Amount of Meat Mixture on Grape Leaf

Rolling Grape Leaf with Meat Mixture

Boiling Stuffed Grape Leaves

Check at about 45 Minutes to see if Meat is Cooked 

Tips:

1.     I use the Orlando leaves from Fresno, CA because they are nice and soft. Other brands are o.k., too.

2.    Can easily pull leaves apart by holding them by their stem to easily pull apart. 

3.    Don't forget to cut stems off grape leaves and to place glossy side down with vein side showing before rolling leaf with meat.

4.   May line the bottom of an 8-quart pot with grape leaves to prevent the stuffed grape leaves from burning on the bottom of the pan. I don’t and haven’t had a problem.

5. Placing a plate or a lid on top of the rolled grape leaves prevents separation with the rice popping out. I don't typically do either. 

6.  If the grape leaves are tough once cooked, place them in the microwave for about a minute or so to soften. Once I had very tough leaves and I continued to boil them for another hour or more to no avail. Only by accident I learned the microwave tip.

7.  The higher fat content meat makes for tastier stuffed grape leaves. I figure that is o.k., since this is not something I eat on a regular basis.

8.    May wash brine off of the grape leaf before using (I don't).

9.   If you have leaves left over, you may freeze them to use later. 

10. If you have meat left over you may freeze the meat for later to make stuffed grape leaves or make it it into meatball/lemon soup (youvarlakia avgolemóno).  Check out URL below for soup recipe.

11. I use Ben's rice original long grain rice which use to be marketed as Uncle Ben's. I have used other brands of rice, but find Ben's to be the best. It is already parboiled and holds its texture without becoming mushy.

12. Drizzling lemon juice on the stuffed grape leaves is very good, but you may, also, make an avgolemono sauce to drizzle on top which is often done when making larger, stuffed grape-leaves for dinner.

One More Thing:

I joke that my mom used a 1950's secret ingredient, dried onion soup mix. It really isn’t a joke because it is so good and so easy. You can use fresh dill, mint, and chopped onions in place of the soup mix, but I find the mix handy with added flavor.  Dried herbs can be very flavorful.