Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

 Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
printable version

My mother was Greek and I have memories of Greek food combined with visits to or from my grandmother.  I also remember a few times we attended a Greek festival in San Antonio (where we lived).  One of my favorite pictures of my daughter is when she's about 2 and dancing at that festival.

So my mom, apparently, cut this recipe out of the newspaper (when ground beef was $0.63/lb). The article was covering the 12th annual Greek Food Festival and included a recipe for Dolmathes and also Tiropetes.  (My husband doesn't like cheese or anything with filo dough so I didn't make the triangles and have no pictures but include  the recipe on the printable page.)

I read this recipe a few times while I was planning meals.  It didn't occur to me until I was actually making it that we didn't cook the meat or rice.  In any recipe like this I worry about the rice cooking completely - I've had bad experiences in the past.  I cut back the rice from 2 c. to 1 c. to help make sure it cooked well.  Plus, I'm trying to cut back on grains so the less rice I consume the better.

1 cup of olive oil just seemed ridiculous to me - so I used approximately 1/2 a cup.

The recipe called for 1/2 a cube of butter.  I wondered if they meant half a pat of butter, like I used to see in a restaurant when I was little.  I believe they meant 1/2 a stick.  A stick is a rectangle, not a cube.  Technically I think it is a cuboid or a rectangular prism.  Thankfully the recipe clarifies that it is 1/4 c. which is, indeed, 1/2 a stick of butter.

I know from experience making waffles and muffins that if you add melted butter to cold ingredients it will almost instantly solidify.  But if you melt the butter and then let it cool it gets stiff.  So, I let the meat be room temperature and heated the tomato sauce to help equalize the temperature.  It worked well.

I did not use fresh herbs - I'm not sure if this is what they meant by "dry".  I also used less dill and mint - maybe about 2 tsp. instead of the 1 TBSP because I know some of the people who would be eating this feel like those spices are too powerful for their palates.  I was pretty generous with the parsley although I probably came nowhere near the 1/2 bunch - not sure what the actual equivalent would be but parsley is on my list of healthy spices so I try to use it as much as possible.

My mom taught me the best way to mix meatloaf is with your hands.  This seemed like a similar situation.

All mixed and ready to roll.

I was surprised at how easy it was to find grape leaves.  Well - between my usual four grocery stores (HEB, Sam's, Target & Walmart) Walmart had them.  I was using grocery pick-up that day so I didn't have to hunt for them myself.  The jar is much bigger than it looks in the picture.  I used less than half the jar.  What to do with the rest?  I plan to give it and the original copy of the recipe to my daughter so she can enjoy her grandmother's recipe as well.

I was intrigued by this topper in the jar of grape leaves.  It appears to hold the leaves down so they stay moist in the liquid.  The jar had writing on it that was not English.  It did not appear to be Greek either - perhaps some sort of Middle Eastern - do they use different letters?

I was also surprised at how big a grape leaf is!  This leaf is spread out in an 8x8 Tupperware (which, coincidentally, my mother gave me).

I planned to do all the wrapping and then actually cook the dolmathes a different day.  So I worked in the Tupperware in which I was going to store them.

When I ran out of room in the box I worked on the lid.  The leaves were very easy to work with!  Much easier than cabbage leaves which I have used for a similar process.  And the benefit with grape leaves is you don't have to boil them to soften them.

All wrapped up and ready to put in the fridge.  I stored them on their side so that more fit in the box without worrying about a double layer of flatly placed rolls being too tall to get the lid on securely.

On cooking day I remembered to line the bottom of the pot with extra leaves.  I used the largest pot I have which is a Magnalite brand that my mother gave me.

The dolmathes still looked moist and well-kept 24 hours later.

They all fit nicely in this 5 qt. pan.

The recipe reads like you should put the plate and then pour the broth.  As I wrote earlier, I was concerned about the rice cooking sufficiently so I wanted to make sure the liquid was not prohibited from reaching the grains because of the plate.  So I poured in the broth and placed the butter first.

I used a Corelle plate that, actually, I think my mom also gave me.  It is the only one I have in this pattern.  I have one other pattern and then I bought two solid white.  They are smaller than a dinner plate, more like a salad plate.  I used to serve my child's food on them, in case they fell or were thrown they were less likely to break but are still able to be microwaved and dishwashed.  We also have a bunch of small bowls from this line that come in so handy for individual servings of applesauce, dips, chips, and lots of other things like giving the cat a bit of milk.

I used a temperature setting like I would for rice - high until it started to boil then turn down and put the lid on.  25 mins. later I took off the plate and removed one dolmathe.  I cut it open on the Corelle plate and made sure the rice was cooked.  It was!

  

I enjoyed these as much as cabbage rolls.  Added benefits - less gas.  I was curious if the extra fiber from the grape leaves would affect them on the exit but I noted no unusual effects.  Others in my house unrolled the leaves and discarded.  The leaves added more texture than taste.