Dolmades

i am still going Greek with my recipes, this week:

Dolmades

(Stuffed Grape Leaves)

1 jar preserved grape leaves

( i have made my own in the past from Concord grape leaves in the area, but jarred is easier)

1 lb ground lamb
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 tablespoon dry spearmint (crushed)
the juice of 3 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

 

• brown the lamb making sure that it is crumbled and set aside
• use the lamb fat for the rice and add the crushed mint when cooking, let cool
• mix the lamb and rice and add onion, salt, lemon juice from 2 lemons and 2 eggs
• Boil 8 cups water in a large pot. Remove the grape leaves from the jar, and unroll them. There is no need to separate individual leaves yet; just unroll/unwrap the batch from the jar. Place the leaves in the pot, reduce the heat to medium, and cover the pot. When the water boils again, turn off the heat, and let the leaves sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Remove the leaves from the pot. Empty out the pot, and replace the hot water with cold water from the tap. Put the leaves in the cold water and set aside.  This removes bitterness.
• separate the leaves and remove any stems
• I like to use a specific area for the leaves (about 5 square inches) and will use more than one grape leaf per dolmade and add 2 tablespoons of filling and roll in a way that the filling is sealed inside.
• place in a baking pan with olive oil and bake until the leaves are just crispy (about 30 minutes at 350 F)

Cool and squeeze the remaining lemon juice on top.