Recipe - Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

20 lg Grape leaves from a jar,
available in some
supermarkets and most
specialty food shops
One fourth cup Plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup Finely chopped onion
2 Garlic cloves, finely
chopped
1 Cinnamon stick
One half cup Longgrain rice
3 tablespoon Currants
3 tablespoon Toasted pine nuts
One half cup Chopped fresh mint
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
1 Three fourths cup Chicken stock
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice

Rinse each of the grape leaves well, snip off the stems and pat dry. Set
aside, stacked on a plate and covered with plastic wrap. In a skillet heat
2 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderate and cook the onion until soft.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the cinnamon stick and the
rice, stirring to coat and combine. Stir in the currants, pine nuts, mint,
salt, pepper and One half cup of the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook
until all of the liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally. Remove the
skillet from the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and discard. Allow to cool
completely.

Place a grape leaf smooth side down with the stem end toward you on the
work surface. Place a tablespoon of the cooled rice filling near the stem
end and fold in the sides of the leaf over the filling. Beginning with the
stem end roll up the leaf, not too tightly because the rice will continue
to absorb liquid and expand in the next cooking step. Repeat process for
remaining grape leaves. Transfer the dolmades to a skillet just large
enough to contain all of the dolmades in a single layer. In a bowl combine
the remaining chicken stock and olive oil with the lemon juice. Pour the
liquid over the dolmades, adding additional water if necessary to just
barely cover with liquid. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook, covered,
until tender when pierced with fork, about 30 minutes. Remove skillet from
heat, uncover and allow to cool. Serve warm, at room temperature or cool.

Yield: 20 dolmades

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL8901 Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #651 by
"Angele and Jon Freeman" jfreeman@netusa1.net on Jun 30, 1997