Dolmas, Recipe Emails, BB Creations, Elephants,

Wednesday, Denise of My Life in Retirement posted pictures of grapes and leaves. In the comments people we  talking about stuffed vine leaves. Dolmas in Greece. It reminded me of many years ago when Matt was working in a young offenders prison in the UK and one of his inmates was a Greek Cypriot. One day his mother visited and brought a whole casserole dish of Dolmas for her son and because her son liked Matt, he offered some to him who thoroughly enjoyed them. He was full of praises for them when he came home and I was jealous. A week or so later she visited again and brought a large casserole dish of them especially for Matt. They were delicious. We have made them ourselves a number of times but Matt always used to roll them, my fingers just don't work on something like that. I am not good on the fiddly stuff.

I was thinking last night about the emails I get which offer me "the best 36 chicken recipes" or "16 ways to cook fish" etc. etc. I mostly ignore them. If I want to plough through lots of recipe for something I can do it through Google, but mostly I don't. Please, present me with one or even two recipes a day, and that's quite enough thank you. Got one today for dozens of ways of cooking pork chops. Grrr.

I was delighted to see that Birgit of BB Creations tried the curried shrimp recipe I posted a few days ago. She said it was very good. She also said some very nice things about me. Thanks Birgit.

Just watching a programme about elephants, had to leave, getting to stressful. There is a group of orphans being led by a very young matriarch - 16 I think. All 7 of their adults were killed by poachers. One elephant is killed every 15 minutes. I could kill the poachers with no hesitation, it really upsets me.

Of course I had to include a recipe for Dolmas didn't I? Including a link to the website from which I copied the recipe. This has some good pictures of how to actually make the dolmas.

Dolmas

Dolmas or dolmades are very versatile; they can be eaten cold or warm. Traditionally dolmas containing meat are eaten warm with a yogurt sauce that is lightly flavored with garlic. Rice filled dolmas are served cold with a drizzling of lemon juice and olive oil. Dolmas usually have a combination of spices that are both savory and aromatic, a culinary practice of Arab origins.

8 oz grape leaves 1 jar, preserved grape leaves
1 1/2 cups rice
1 Tbs olive oil
1 onion medium, diced
2 Tbs pine nuts
1/4 cup currants dried
1/4 tsp allspice
1 Tbs mint fresh, chopped
1/2 cup parsley fresh, chopped
3/4 cup water
Sauce
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp sugar
4 Tbs lemon juice, fresh squeezed

1. To make the sauce: Mix olive oil, sugar and lemon.

2. In a bowl place cooked rice, currants, mint, parsley, and allspice. Mix well.

3. In a small skillet saute the onions and pine nuts in the olive oil until onions are translucent. Remove from skillet and add to rice mixture. Mix well.

4. Rinse grape leaves and pat dry.

5. Place leaf flat on a large cutting board.

6. Place a heaping teaspoon of the rice mixture near the bottom of the leaf.

7. Fold the bottom of the leaf over the rice, and bring the sides inwards following the guide you created.

8. Roll tightly to form a cigar shape.

9. Place seam side down in a skillet lined with the grape leaves.

10. Pour olive oil sauce mixture and water over the dolmas, and weigh down with a plate.

11. Cover and cook on low for about 40 minutes.

12. Allow dolmas to cool in the pan.

13. Transfer to a serving platter and refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving.

Yield: 40

Author: Analida's Ethnic Spoon

Have a great day