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10:05 pm
December 14, 2010
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Today i fixed stuffed cabbage but I have seen stuffed grape leaves and I have seen canned grape leaves in the store. Does anyone know how to preserve or process grape leaves for stuffing. The sausage recipe that I used today was loukanika which is a pork lamb mix of Greek origin.
12:15 am
February 10, 2009
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Blanch in very salty water, shock in ice water, drain and pat dry, then freeze is how a neighbor lady always did it. She said canning was too much trouble. When she did can them, she still blanched them, then covered them with brine with quite a bit of lemon juice in the jar, but I can't tell you how much. Surely there's directions on line… I suspect the lemon juice was her personal taste, and you could use vinegar too, but they were awfully tasty!
10:23 am
December 14, 2010
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Thanks, Bucky. I read on line that they were put up in a strong brine but the acid is a good addition for inhibiting clostridium botulinum.
10:49 am
February 10, 2009
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I've been thinking about this for the morning, mostly while out trying to tire out my 6 month old Aussie on his walk (run for him since he never quits!)
I didn't really pay much attention to details back then, I was young when I was around her, and she froze them more than canned them like I said, but the brine was salty and very lemony, and I can't see lemon juice as detrimental, so … while I don't think it was as much as half lemon… maybe a quarter or 1 to 4 so that would be a fifth? Anyway, they were good! Like I said, she mostly froze them, and I remember her doing it in the early summer, so the leaves were of a good size, but not huge and tough. They were the only people in the neighborhood who had grape vines in their yard, it was before we moved out here in the country, where I consider myself to really have grown up. and I remember being very excited to tell her that WE had grape vines TOO after we'd moved!
I never did any of this myself mind you, but I was always happy to be out in her garden with her and probably annoying her with questions! 
Our neighborhood was about half Polish, and half Italian, with one German family, one Irish family, and one Greek family! Probably others too, but these were the VERY German, Irish, and Greek families where there was a Grandmother or such who carried on tradition in a big way. You'd hear lots of Polish and Italian swearing in the summer when the windows were all open! Another detriment to the education of our youth! Air conditioning and closed windows!!! Neighbors today don't share near enough dirty laundry, so kids don't learn how to pretend they don't know stuff, and how to cuss in other languages either!!! I remember very well being taught that no matter what we hear that way we do NOT talk about it! I know, stray thought huh?
11:58 am
December 1, 2009
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I've heard of using grape leaves too. what do they taste like? Are they then sour and better than cabbage rolls or nothing like them? Just curious.
12:02 pm
December 14, 2010
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Also it is nice to know that all families have squabbles and yell at each other once in a while. I my neighborhood you would think that all my neighbors are out of town all of the time. I rarely see any of them and mostly as they are getting ready to go somewhere or just getting home.
I have some wild grapes in the backyard and come spring I shall harvest leaves to expand my menu.
Thanks
1:20 pm
October 10, 2009
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Marymac it is hard to describe the taste of grape leaves. They taste rather "green" but when stuffed with finely ground lamb, pine nuts (pignola) and a touch of cinnamon, then rolled and steamed with some lemon on top they are divine.
2:54 pm
June 1, 2010
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The landlord family for my first apartment out of college made dolmades, or dolma. In prnciple, "Mom" disapproved of single girls out on their own. However, whenever she made dolma, she sent a plate down to my apartment! Lucky me!
Mamawolf is right, the clearest way to describe grape leaf taste is 'green.' When "Mom" and daughters and friends made this dish, the grape leaves (grown in the back yard) also had a distinctive lemon flavor.
Their ethnic origin was a history lesson. "Mom," born in the early 20th century, claimed to be from Mesopotamia! I finally figured out the family was Kurdish and refused Iranian, Iraqi, or Turkish affiliation.
3:27 pm
December 14, 2010
Online
A recipe that I read yesterday called for poaching filled grape leaves in chicken stock. Then whisking 3 or 4 eggs foamy slowly adding the juice of 3 lemons. Next making sure that there was at least 2 cups of the cooking liquid boiling add a ladle full to the eggs while whisking (as you do when making custard sause with hot milk) then adding the egg mixture back into the cooking liquid and cooking until thickened but not to boil or the eggs will curdle and the sauce will break. I don't recall the seasonings.
3:53 pm
December 14, 2010
Online
I keep on reading and learning how ignorant I am. I googled "dolma" and amoung about a million other hits I got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolma
4:51 pm
February 10, 2009
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Wow, just WOW! That's a LOT of information! I've only ever had the grape leaf kind poached in chicken broth, then chilled and served as a finger food at get togethers! And yeah, mostly the filling has been lamb and rice, with lots of parsley and probably other herbs in there too, then served as a finger food, generously coated with an olive oil and lemon dressing…
I wonder if a similar thing could be done with some of the very small inner leaves of cabbage since right now, the only way for us in the chilly north to get grape leaves would be to go to a specialty or ethnic shop and buy them. I might be willing to just to see what they're canned in, but the cabbage leaves actually sound kinda interesting too!
Since from what that Wiki article says pretty much any stuffed veggie is a dolma, I guess almost anything goes!
5:26 pm
December 14, 2010
Online
What I found interesting was the wide range of wrapping materials and fillings that were used. kale and collard leaves are mentioned I would suppose the chard, spinach, beet, would work one reference mentioned cooked and cooled filling in raw lettuce.
8:34 pm
June 1, 2010
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okay now, cooked filling in lettuce wrap…we've moved to Thailand, Korea…
9:28 pm
December 14, 2010
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This method seems to be eurasianin its scope and there are regional variations from sweden to egypt and from france to the philippines
10:15 pm
October 15, 2011
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My Palestinian ex-mother-in-law usually used the canned grape leaves; I occasionally see them in the store and always grab them when I see them. She would sometimes get some leaves from a friend who grew grapes and I didn't see how she prepared them for stuffing, though I do remember her telling me that the younger, smaller leaves were more tender. Here's her recipe for stuffed grape leaves: soak canned leaves in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and dry on paper towels. Saute 1 chopped onion until soft, then combine with 3/4 lb. extra-lean hamburger or ground lamb, 1 c. cooked rice, 3/4 t. allspice, 1/4 t. garlic powder, 2 t. dried parsley, 1 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Roll up leaves, egg roll style, with about 1 T. filling each. Save a few torn or very large leaves to cover the bottom of a pot, then layer the stuffed leaves on top. Sprinkle with the juice of 1 lemon, cover with water and place an inverted saucer over the dolmas to keep them from floating. Cover the pot and simmer 1-1 1/2 hours; let cool in pan, then drain. These can be eaten cold or at room temperature. This recipe is for a small jar of leaves; for a 16 oz. jar, I triple the filling recipe.
I've had lots of stuffed grape leaves and this recipe makes the best ever. Thanks, Ida!
10:49 am
March 3, 2011
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Yay for this!! I love dolmas and we have grapes in our backyard, both wild and domestic. I will absolutely have to try to make these instead of having to wait until I am at the local grocery store where they have them on the salad bar. I am always sure to put a couple on my salad when I pick up a quick lunch there but it's very pricey so it doesn't happen often.
1:01 pm
December 14, 2010
Online
This is a very good photo essay for making dolmades.
I am looking for a listing of recipes such as I have found for chutneys. There are hundreds.
7:14 pm
May 3, 2010
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I like dolmas but my favorite way to use grape leaves is for Vietnamese grilled beef in grape leaves. Similar to dolmas but no rice and the rolls are grilled or broiled and dipped in nuoc cham, usually with a crisp lettuce leaf and a daikon-carrot pickle or two. (I grill 5 or 6 on a skewer for ease of handling.) Bottled brined grape leaves are hard to find at the store around here so I put up a few jars every year or so in order to be able to make .
There are several methods for preserving grape leaves. The art of home canning: Economy in the kitchen by Angelo Sorzio includes directions for processing grape leaves in the pressure canner, Georgeanne Brennan's The glass pantry: Preserving seasonal flavors has a recipe for preserving grape leaves in a brine solution then processing in a BWB, and one of Euell Gibbon's books (Stalking the wild asparagus, maybe?) has directions for salting and layering grape vines in a jar or crock to preserve.
I put mine up in a salt water and lemon juice (or citric acid) brine and process pints in a BWB for 15 minutes. Young grape leaves are best — I try to get them picked and put up before the end of June. And while my first preference is to pick leaves from our garden grape vines, I have used wild grape leaves, too. They tend to be fuzzier so I pick them even earlier. After blanching, I either roll the leaves together (like rolling a cigar) and put several rolls together in the jar or I fold them sort of like folding an envelope and stack layers in the jars — then I pour the hot brine over, seal and process.
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