Canadian Diabetes, The Three Kretans,

This morning I am going to the CDA seminar called "What's Next" so that I can see what happens and what they tell people. It is designed for those who have just been diagnosed with diabetes and it is recommended that volunteers participate as part of orientation. As far as doing any volunteer work however, until they have me set up on their main programme, there isn't a lot I can do. This should take another couple of days apparently. After the seminar, the Administrative Assistant and I are going to lunch at the local Greek restaurant, The Three Kretans. I haven't been there for a long while and she has never been and no-one would go with her before. I am hoping they will have dolmadas available as they are one of my favourites. They make very good ones there. I expect our lunch will consist of mezes which are the Greek way of saying appetizers (to all intents and purposes), when you are in Greece, you can frequently make a full meal out of mezes, or you can have one or two and then you are invited into the kitchen to see what the chef or cook has prepared for the day. Each dish will be lovingly described telling you its ingredients and how it was assembled. You can then choose what you would like to eat and it will then be brought to you. In Canada they just have menus like everyone else although one Greek restaurant which used to exist in Brantford called Zorba's, served you mezzes and then you were invited up to a counter where the chef had all his meals for the night on display and took off the lids to show you what he had prepared. The chef there was once the chef on Aristotle Onassis' brother-in-law's yacht. So you know he was pretty good. We had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately they are no longer there. Matt has made dolmadas several times and they were very good. Below is a recipe from Recipezaar which you might like to try. They are actually not that difficult. You can find all kinds of recipes for them, with and without meat, with rice or with bulgur wheat. When Matt worked in the Borstal system in England, he was with young people. One young man was a Cypriot and one day on a visit, his mother brought him some dolmadas. They discovered Matt liked them and gave him some. The next time the mother came in, she brought a casserole full of them for him. He brought them home, they were excellent. We guzzled the lot. (grapeleaf courtesy of About.com, first dolmadas picture from Geocities Traditional Greek Food, second dolmadas picture from MyRecipes.com)

Dolmadakia (dolmadas)

Submitted by katanga | June 17, 2008

1 16 oz. jar grape leaves 1 large onion, minced 3/4 lb. ground veal 2/3 C. rice, soaked for 5 minutes in boiling water and drained 3 T. fresh mint, chopped a little fresh dill 1 t. salt 2 T. olive oil Chicken broth juice of one lemon pinch of cinnamon

Carefully unfold grape leaves and rinse under cold water. Pat dry. In a bowl, combine onions, veal, rice, herbs, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and oil. Fold in sides then roll up from leaf tip end. Arrange a layer of leaves in bottom of large frying pan. Place stuffed leaves very close together on top of leaves in pan. Pour enough broth over to barely cover stuffed leaves and sprinkle with lemon juice. Weight leaves with a plate. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer one hour. Let leaves cool in broth. Drain and serve. Have a great day.