The Daring Cooks' Challenge - Stuffed Leaves

Tess Mallos is the queen of all things Greek in my family so I could not stuff vine leaves any other way. We made a middle east feast to accompany them using her Baba Ganoush and Baklava recipes, as well as whipping up some Tzatziki to accompany the vine leaves and Le Gourmand's lamb skewers and thrice cooked oregano potatoes. Blairgourmand brought some middle eastern inspired prawns to complete the feast. Blairgourmand, Petit Poulet and Le Gourmand were in raptures over the vine leaves!

Our October 2010 hostess, Lori of Lori’s Lipsmacking Goodness, has challenged The Daring Cooks to stuff grape leaves. Lori chose a recipe from Aromas of Aleppo and a recipe from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food.

Apart from the difficulties of wrapping with some of the smaller leaves, this recipe was pretty hassle free. I would advise people not to overstuff their leaves (a lesson learnt by me many moons ago) in the wrapping stage as the rice will expand.

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES: (Source The Complete Middle Eastern Cookbook)
Filling:
2 lg onions, finely chopped
1/2 c olive oil
1 c rice
1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c currants
1 t ground allspice
2 T fresh dill, finely chopped
fresh ground black pepper

TO FINISH:
80 fresh or preserved grape vine leaves
water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1/4 c olive oil
lemon wedges & yoghurt for serving

1 In a pan, fry onion gently in olive oil until transparent. Add rice & stir over heat for 5 minutes. Add pine nuts, currants, allspice, dill, salt & pepper to taste. Cover & cook on gentle heat for 5 minutesw. Remove & leave aside.
2. Blanch fresh or preserved grape vine leaves in boiling water for 3 minutes, adding them in 3 lots. As each lot is blanched, remove to a bowl of cold water, then drain well.
3. Spread a vine leaf on work surface, shiny side down, and place a heaped teaspoon of the rice filling towards stem end. Roll once, fold in sides and roll into a neat package. Repeat w/remaining ingredients.
4. Line base of a heavy pan w/4 vine leaves & pack rolls, folded side down, in close packed rows. As each row is completed, place 3 thin slices of lemon on top before beginning next row.
5. When all rolls are in pan, top w/ 3 lemon slices & cover w/ remaining vine leaves. Pour 2 cups water and olive oil over rolls & invert a heavy plate on top to keep rolls in shape during cooking.
You may need to add more water - watch them,
6. Bring to a slow simmer, reduce heat, covery pan and simmer gently for 50 minutes. Remove pan from heat & leave until cool.
7. Carefully remove rolls to serving dish, discarding lemon slices. Serve at room temperature, or cover dish & chill before serving. Garnish platter w/lemon wedges & serve w/a bowl of yoghurt.