The barn property is just lousy with grapevines. They're *everywhere*. Some of the vines climb 30 or 40 feet up the trees that line the woods.
We frequently make jelly with these in the fall. One of these days I'd like to try making wine with them!
I just love collecting stuff from around the barn and the fields and bringing it to the table.
I've long enjoyed Mediterranean food and I've been eating stuffed grape leaves for years. Last year I decided I'd collect some grape leaves from around the barn and stuff them! I gathered really nice new soft leaves and ... failed miserably. As soft as the leaves were they were too "springy". I didn't realize I still had to blanch such soft leaves. They were hard to handle and completely self destructed as I proceeded. I got discouraged and said screw it.
This year I decided to try again!
So I gathered a big bunch of fully grown adult grape leaves.
I trimmed the stems. Here's a trick for trimming stems:
I blanched them for 5 or 6 minutes and then put each one between paper towels to dry.
This is mostly about procedure. Lay the blanched leaf face down on the work surface and cut a little notch in the center where the main stem is. Spoon in a little stuffing. Fold the bottom lobe of the leaf up.
Then fold it over. Do the same thing on the opposite side.
Then just roll them up. So easy!
Here's another trick. Line a skillet with grape leaves. Lay the stuffed grape leaves seam side down on the grape leaves lining the skillet. Cover with chicken broth and put a plate over the stuffed grape leaves. This keeps them from floating in the chicken broth and becoming undone. Bring the chicken broth to a gentle simmer. Keep a gentle simmer going. If it gets going at a rolling boil the stuffed grape leaves will pop.
They're done in 20 or 30 minutes.
About the stuffing.
I stuffed my grape leaves with lemon rice and walnuts. With a generous pinch of oregano. I like them cold so I left them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
You can stuff your grape leaves with all kinds of things. Rice variations are common. You can stuff them with lamb or pork or beef. Think Mediterranean and think Greek.
For my lemon rice I mixed lemon juice and lemon zest with water and used equal parts liquid and rice added to sautéed onions. This left the rice undercooked because it finishes cooking in the chicken broth inside the grape leaf. I thought oregano gave it a Greek twist. Oh, these were just delicious. Parsley would have worked. Mint would probably have worked too.
One can use a lot of imagination and get very creative with this.
As a matter of fact, I even took my leftover stuffing and mixed it up in a bowl with peas and chopped mint.
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