Stuffed Grape Leaves
Stuffed Grape Leaves

Hey everyone, it’s Drew, welcome to my recipe site. Today, we’re going to make a special dish, stuffed grape leaves. One of my favorites. This time, I will make it a little bit unique. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

Stuffed Grape Leaves is one of the most favored of current trending meals in the world. It’s easy, it is quick, it tastes delicious. It is enjoyed by millions daily. They’re fine and they look wonderful. Stuffed Grape Leaves is something that I have loved my entire life.

These Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves (Warak Enab) are made with a spiced ground beef and rice mixture - a delicious Mediterranean dish commonly served as an appetizer! Learn how to make stuffed grape leaves with meat and rice. 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. 'Stuffed Grape Leaves' is one of the most popular Turkish dishes.

To get started with this recipe, we must first prepare a few ingredients. You can cook stuffed grape leaves using 21 ingredients and 22 steps. Here is how you can achieve 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. Make ready 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  4. Make ready 1/4 tsp salt
  5. Take 1 cup brown rice, rinsed
  6. Get 2 tsp garlic, minced
  7. Take 1/4 cup onion, minced
  8. Take Grape Leaves
  9. Get 1 large jar of grape leaves (90 count)
  10. Prepare Sauce
  11. Get 3 cup chicken broth
  12. Get 1 quart Tomato sauce (Spaghetti sauce)
  13. Make ready 1/4 cup onion, minced
  14. Get 2 tsp garlic, minced
  15. Make ready water or more chicken broth
  16. Make ready Utensils
  17. Get 8 quart lidded stock pot
  18. Take 1 heat proof plate, cast iron lid
  19. Prepare 1 weight or cup of water
  20. Get 2 large plates
  21. Take 1 sharp knife

These vegetarian stuffed grape leaves (yalanchi aka sarma) are Mediterranean favorites! With a vibrant herb and lemon-infused rice filling, they are perfect as appetizers, snacks. 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.

Instructions 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.

Simmering the stuffed grape leaves in the lemon really balances out the potential heaviness of the meat and rice. The herbs and lemon really make these dolmades great! Are stuffed grape leaves bad for you? Grape leaves are both low in calories and high in fiber. They also have high amounts of vitamin A and vitamin K.

So that is going to wrap it up with this exceptional food stuffed grape leaves recipe. Thank you very much for your time. I am confident that you will make this at home. There’s gonna be interesting food at home recipes coming up. Remember to bookmark this page on your browser, and share it to your loved ones, colleague and friends. Thank you for reading. Go on get cooking!