Stuffed Grape Leaves
Stuffed Grape Leaves

Hello everybody, it is Jim, welcome to my recipe site. Today, I will show you a way to prepare a special dish, stuffed grape leaves. One of my favorites. For mine, I will make it a little bit tasty. This will be really delicious.

Stuffed Grape Leaves is one of the most popular of current trending foods in the world. It is appreciated by millions daily. It is simple, it is quick, it tastes delicious. They are fine and they look wonderful. Stuffed Grape Leaves is something which I have loved my entire life.

Buy Healthy Food, Vitamins, Supplements, Personal Care and More at Vitacost®! These are grape leaves, stuffed with a tantalizing mixture of rice, fresh dill, mint and lemon. 'Yum' is the only one word to describe these. These can either be a main dish or an appetizer, depending on your appetite.

To begin with this particular recipe, we have to prepare a few components. You can cook stuffed grape leaves using 21 ingredients and 22 steps. Here is how you cook it.

The ingredients needed to make Stuffed Grape Leaves:
  1. Get Meat Filling Mixture
  2. Prepare 3 1/2 lb ground meat (turkey, beef, lamb, deer)
  3. Prepare 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  4. Get 1/4 tsp salt
  5. Take 1 cup brown rice, rinsed
  6. Prepare 2 tsp garlic, minced
  7. Make ready 1/4 cup onion, minced
  8. Make ready Grape Leaves
  9. Prepare 1 large jar of grape leaves (90 count)
  10. Get Sauce
  11. Prepare 3 cup chicken broth
  12. Get 1 quart Tomato sauce (Spaghetti sauce)
  13. Get 1/4 cup onion, minced
  14. Get 2 tsp garlic, minced
  15. Prepare water or more chicken broth
  16. Take Utensils
  17. Make ready 8 quart lidded stock pot
  18. Prepare 1 heat proof plate, cast iron lid
  19. Get 1 weight or cup of water
  20. Take 2 large plates
  21. Get 1 sharp knife

In this recipe, grape leaves are stuffed with a tasty meat and rice mixture, seasoned with warm spices (allspice and cumin) and loaded with fresh herbs in the form of parsley, dill and mint. Then, once stuffed, the grape leaves are cooked in a tasty lemony broth. Rinse well in cold water to wash away any brine. Use imperfect leaves for layering evenly in the bottom of the skillet.

Steps to make Stuffed Grape Leaves:
  1. Mix with your hand all the meat, onion, and rinsed brown rice, garlic, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup onion.
  2. Set aside. ( I use 19oz. Pkg ground turkey, a little more than a lb. of ground beef and ground deer meat. The combo to me makes it taste somewhat like lamb. I have used all ground beef. Use what you like best.)
  3. Open your grape leaves , drain, and pull out a bundle. This jar has three. It is a little tricky, don't worry if you tear some on the first bundle.
  4. Trim stems and large veins.
  5. Trim the stems from one bunch of grape leaves. ( I do one bunch and fill them, then move on to the next bunch )
  6. You may use as much or as little meat as you like, if you use too much it will be hard to fold and not come out like a neat bundle, don't worry just take out some of the meat filling and reroll.
  7. This is a large leaf. Some will be odd shaped or torn, set those aside until last. Pointed side is at bottom. Fold top down over meat.
  8. Fold sides in keeping leaf snug around meat.
  9. Roll down to bottom to make a stuffed tight bundle. Continue until you use your pile of grape leaves.
  10. Put the finished ones on a large plate. I do these a bundle at a time because I stand at the counter and my back needs a break every so often. If you sit at your table you may be able to work straight through. Stuff and roll til you run out of something.
  11. You will get large and small leaves. You can separate large and small when you trim the stems off.
  12. I had 14 leaves left when I ran out of meat. You could put these in a freezer bag, removing the air, and keep for a month in the freezer OR you can lay a few of them in the bottom of your large pot to protect your bundles from possible burning.
  13. Now we will assemble and get ready to cook
  14. Take a large pot with a lid, I use an 8 quart size. Layer 6-8 of your left over grape leaves on the bottom of pot. Since you can't stir while cooking, sometimes it burns a little if your fire is too high.
  15. Pour enough tomato sauce to just cover your leaves in the bottom of pot.
  16. Layer your bundles in a flat layer snugly. Repeat layering of bundles until you have put all stuffed grape leaves into pot.
  17. I had 3 layers, about 77. You want them snug because in the sauce they may float, open and your filling will come out. That is why in a few more steps we will lay a plate or weight on top of them.
  18. Pour the rest of the tomato juice, the onion, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, and the 3 cups of chicken stock over the bundles slowly.
  19. ***Place a small metal or plastic plate or cast iron lid ( I couldn't find mine) on top of the bundles with a cup of water if it needs some weight. My Grandfather did this with the stock pot smaller lid and a metal weight. ***I usually don't do this but a lot of recipes call for it so I thought I would try it this time.!!!!!! My plate and water were not heavy enough to stay in place while cooking. Cast iron or a steel trivot would work. Almost all stayed wrapped anyway.!!!!
  20. Use low flame. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer. Add more broth or water if the sauce gets below the bundles. We need to cook the meat and the rice and still have sauce left for when we eat them.( I didn't need extra water)
  21. Cook for 2 hours then check to see if your rice is cooked by cutting one in half and tasting. If not cook 30 minutes more on low. (I cooked mine for 3 hours because I was waiting for the hubby to get home, they were perfect, not overcooked at all and not burned)
  22. Serve with a little sauce spooned over them. Some buttered crusty bread and a salad.

Lay leaves, shiny side down, on flat surface. Dolmadakia, the Greek word for stuffed grape leaves, is one of the most iconic recipes of Greek cuisine and, although there are many varieties, the meatless version is the most common. Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves are my all-time favorite dish that I grew up eating and actually grew up helping my mom make! In Arabic, we call it "warak enab" which means leaves of grapes, and traditionally it's stuffed with rice and meat or rice and veggies. While this is the rice and beef version, I also have the vegetarian stuffed grape leaves recipe if you prefer.

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