- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Score Board
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- SEC Score Board
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves (recipe w/ pics)
Posted on 1/11/15 at 12:15 am
Posted on 1/11/15 at 12:15 am
Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves are one of my favorite foods. They require some time in the kitchen, but they freeze well, so you can make a double batch and save them for later.
Here are some pics of the process, followed by my recipe for them, fine tuned over the years, plus recipes for zatziki and a fresh dill sauce that are good to go with them.
We made them tonight with tzatziki, and they were damned good. My wife did the rolling. She has more patience than I do for detail work.
The one little teaspoon of cracked red pepper adds a nice kick to them. It's amazing how far it goes.
Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmades)
Ingredients:
1 cup onion, diced very fine
1/2 cup green onions (scallions), diced very fine
1 pound ground round or other good ground beef
8 or so tablespoons uncooked rice (I use Zatarain’s)
8 or so tablespoons uncooked bulgur (I like Arrowhead Mills organic bulgur wheat)
1 Tbsp or so of olive oil
1 can tomatoes, drained and seeded, diced very fine
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
30 or so bottled large grape leaves (may need part of another jar depending on brand)
Cooking spray
About 4 cups of chicken broth (I make it with Better than Bullion)
1 large lemon, juiced
Instructions:
1. Dice/chop onion and green onion very fine, or use food processor to mince. Combine with beef, rice, bulgur, tomato, black pepper, red pepper, salt, and oil.
2. Rinse grape leaves under cold water; drain and pat dry with paper towels. Remove hard stems, and discard.
3. Rolling Technique:
A. Place leaf flat in front of you with stem-stub at bottom and pointed up. Place about a tablespoon of meat mixture near lower center of leaf and form mixture into a cylinder shape that fills about ½ to 2/3 of width of the leaf.
B. Fold 2 opposite side points of leaf inward toward center, over the filling. Fold bottom of leaf up and over filling. Roll leaf upward, keeping the wrap snug and tucking edges in as needed to keep a snug wrap, jelly-roll fashion. Repeat procedure with remaining grape leaves.
4. Place stuffed grape leaves close together, seam sides down, in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray.
5. Add chicken broth and lemon juice. If you have leftover grape leaves, place them over the stuffed leaves like a cover. They are good to eat too. Slowly bring to a simmer.
6. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes. Carefully remove stuffed grape leaves with tongs and place on serving platter.
Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients:
32 oz. container of plain yogurt
Cucumber: peeled, seeded, and diced fine (salt and drain in sieve to reduce water)
Mint leaves, chopped fine
Garlic powder (to taste)
Black pepper, fresh cracked (to taste)
Kosher salt (to taste)
Olive oil (about 2 Tbsp.)
Lemon juice (about one squeezed lemon)
Directions:
Drain the yogurt in refrigerator for about an hour, using a sieve and paper coffee filter or paper towels over a bowl. Discard drained water.
Add other ingredients and whisk together.
Taste to get oil and lemon juice balance to liking.
Let sit in refrigerator for ½ hour or so; adjust seasonings
Dill Sauce (if you ever get tired of tzatziki)
Keep broth in Dutch oven after you remove dolmades
Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water
Whisk cornstarch mixture into broth; bring to a low boil; cook for 1 minute.
Stir in about 6 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Here are some pics of the process, followed by my recipe for them, fine tuned over the years, plus recipes for zatziki and a fresh dill sauce that are good to go with them.
We made them tonight with tzatziki, and they were damned good. My wife did the rolling. She has more patience than I do for detail work.
The one little teaspoon of cracked red pepper adds a nice kick to them. It's amazing how far it goes.
Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmades)
Ingredients:
1 cup onion, diced very fine
1/2 cup green onions (scallions), diced very fine
1 pound ground round or other good ground beef
8 or so tablespoons uncooked rice (I use Zatarain’s)
8 or so tablespoons uncooked bulgur (I like Arrowhead Mills organic bulgur wheat)
1 Tbsp or so of olive oil
1 can tomatoes, drained and seeded, diced very fine
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
30 or so bottled large grape leaves (may need part of another jar depending on brand)
Cooking spray
About 4 cups of chicken broth (I make it with Better than Bullion)
1 large lemon, juiced
Instructions:
1. Dice/chop onion and green onion very fine, or use food processor to mince. Combine with beef, rice, bulgur, tomato, black pepper, red pepper, salt, and oil.
2. Rinse grape leaves under cold water; drain and pat dry with paper towels. Remove hard stems, and discard.
3. Rolling Technique:
A. Place leaf flat in front of you with stem-stub at bottom and pointed up. Place about a tablespoon of meat mixture near lower center of leaf and form mixture into a cylinder shape that fills about ½ to 2/3 of width of the leaf.
B. Fold 2 opposite side points of leaf inward toward center, over the filling. Fold bottom of leaf up and over filling. Roll leaf upward, keeping the wrap snug and tucking edges in as needed to keep a snug wrap, jelly-roll fashion. Repeat procedure with remaining grape leaves.
4. Place stuffed grape leaves close together, seam sides down, in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray.
5. Add chicken broth and lemon juice. If you have leftover grape leaves, place them over the stuffed leaves like a cover. They are good to eat too. Slowly bring to a simmer.
6. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes. Carefully remove stuffed grape leaves with tongs and place on serving platter.
Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients:
32 oz. container of plain yogurt
Cucumber: peeled, seeded, and diced fine (salt and drain in sieve to reduce water)
Mint leaves, chopped fine
Garlic powder (to taste)
Black pepper, fresh cracked (to taste)
Kosher salt (to taste)
Olive oil (about 2 Tbsp.)
Lemon juice (about one squeezed lemon)
Directions:
Drain the yogurt in refrigerator for about an hour, using a sieve and paper coffee filter or paper towels over a bowl. Discard drained water.
Add other ingredients and whisk together.
Taste to get oil and lemon juice balance to liking.
Let sit in refrigerator for ½ hour or so; adjust seasonings
Dill Sauce (if you ever get tired of tzatziki)
Keep broth in Dutch oven after you remove dolmades
Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water
Whisk cornstarch mixture into broth; bring to a low boil; cook for 1 minute.
Stir in about 6 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Posted on 1/11/15 at 12:26 am to Twenty 49
i dont know if its just my computer but some of your directions are off to the side of the pics kind of out of place
eta: looks to be my computer thats messed up
eta: looks to be my computer thats messed up
This post was edited on 1/11/15 at 12:33 am
Posted on 1/11/15 at 12:34 am to Twenty 49
Whats the difference between that and a dolma?
ETA: Never mind....looked at your recipe title. Why not call them by their proper name?
ETA: Never mind....looked at your recipe title. Why not call them by their proper name?
This post was edited on 1/11/15 at 12:37 am
Posted on 1/11/15 at 2:51 am to Zappas Stache
quote:
Why not call them by their proper name?
Who has final say on the proper name? To me as Lebanese, that dish is called "wara' enab."
Posted on 1/11/15 at 3:03 am to Twenty 49
Thanks for the recipe and pics, been wanting to do this.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 4:16 am to Twenty 49
I'm not a fan of stuffed grape leaves, but those are very impressive and appear to be well seasoned.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 6:37 am to Twenty 49
That looks amazing. We used to get these at Cat Cora's Greek restaurant in Disney World and they were awesome. Haven't seen them anywhere else.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 7:40 am to jordan21210
Looks great. Might try these with some ground turkey that I have on hand.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 8:29 am to Twenty 49
Looks great! I might have to try this with my son's girlfriend, whose father is from Lebanon.
PS - What's the name of your granite?
PS - What's the name of your granite?
Posted on 1/11/15 at 8:32 am to Darla Hood
quote:
PS - What's the name of your granite?
how's it coming?
Posted on 1/11/15 at 8:36 am to Coater
We reserved some slabs in Baton Rouge yesterday, but I am second guessing myself like crazy!
Brown Fantasy quartzite.
Brown Fantasy quartzite.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 9:22 am to Twenty 49
Those look amazing...well done.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 9:25 am to Darla Hood
quote:
Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves (recipe w/ pics)
We reserved some slabs in Baton Rouge yesterday, but I am second guessing myself like crazy!
Brown Fantasy quartzite.
Just go with poured cement counters
Posted on 1/11/15 at 9:31 am to Darla Hood
quote:
What's the name of your granite?
Typhoon Bordeaux. Installed about a year ago in a complete kitchen remodel.
We picked it based on a slab on the showroom floor. Fortunately, a manager warned us that the slabs they were getting now were lighter and did not look quite the same. We looked at some of the new ones and hated them. They searched around and found some old ones in Texas and sent us pics. We went with them.
It's best to see your slabs in person. The colors can be hard to assess even in photos.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 9:35 am to Twenty 49
Looks awesome! One of our favorite dishes also, so. I will definitely try these.
Question: if you freeze them, I guess you do that after they're cooked? Any tips on freezing and reheating?
Also, was that Greek yogurt you used in the tzatziki?
Question: if you freeze them, I guess you do that after they're cooked? Any tips on freezing and reheating?
Also, was that Greek yogurt you used in the tzatziki?
Posted on 1/11/15 at 10:23 am to Dorothy
quote:
Any tips on freezing and reheating?
We just put them in tupperware, top with some wax paper, and snap the lid on. Put in freezer.
Thaw them out in fridge. Gently heat in microwave.
quote:
Also, was that Greek yogurt you used in the tzatziki?
It began as regular Dannon, but I put it in a sieve lined with paper towel and let the excess water drain for an hour or so. That made it thick like Greek yogurt.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 12:52 pm to Twenty 49
That looks great. I love stuffed grape leaves
Posted on 1/11/15 at 3:27 pm to Twenty 49
A couple of tips from my Lebanese so:
Try ground turkey instead of beef. It gives the grape leaves a smoother texture.
Also, you need to add cinnamon to your seasoning blend that gets mixed into your meat. Traditional grape leaves require only cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, and lemon juice, but I find that a little Cajun seasoning and garlic powder really makes them sing.
Also, the tomatoes are completely unnecessary.
Try ground turkey instead of beef. It gives the grape leaves a smoother texture.
Also, you need to add cinnamon to your seasoning blend that gets mixed into your meat. Traditional grape leaves require only cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, and lemon juice, but I find that a little Cajun seasoning and garlic powder really makes them sing.
Also, the tomatoes are completely unnecessary.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News