Stuffed Grape Leaves



INGREDIENTS:

grape leaves, fresh or bottled

1 cup uncooked white rice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lb onion, minced

1/2 cup raisans

(1 tsp coriander, which was my addition to this)

juice of 2 lemons

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat half the olive oil, fry onions until soft, add rice
and stir to coat.  Pour on a glass of water, add raisans and
cook until all water is absorbed.  Roll into grape leaves,
place grape leaves, seam side down, in a baking dish (close
together), add more water, oil and lemon juice and bake
at 300F for 1 hour.

2. Now, my changes: I use the bottled grape leaves, because
I like the extra tang from the pickling juice.  I also used
green onions (both white and green) instead of regular onion,
and used more of just about everything.

3. Heat olive oil, fry onions until soft, add rice and stir to
coat.  Pour on a glass of water, add raisans and coriander.  As
water is absorbed, add more until the rice is firm but no longer
crunchy.  (I've found that the one glass method tends to produce
crunchy/undercooked rice).  Roll mixture into grape leaves
(notes on rolling below) and pack like the bottom layer of a can
of sardines (or like the 12 bunnies in the bed...) with the seam
side down.  When the pan is full, add one or two fingers of water
(i.e. pour in water so the height of the water on the side of the
pan is the width of one or two fingers)  Squirt lots of lemon
juice on the little suckers.  Cover, put in 300F over and bake
for 1 hour.  The tops may get a little dry during cooking, but
will remoisten when stored in the refrigorator.

4. Note on rolling grapeleaves: Place your grape leaf flat, stem
end away from you, vein side up.  Place about a tablespoon or so
of mixture a tiny bit closer to you than the point where the two
side leaves branch off.  Fold the bottom over the stuffing toward
you.  Fold the side leaves in toward the center.  The stuffing
should now be surrounded on at least 3 sides.  Roll toward you
until you have a little cigar shaped packet.



Stuffed Grape Leaves