Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmades)

I went to the aquarium yesterday! :D Finally, after 2 years! (I know that's not that long...)

Aquarium!

Have I ever told you how much I adore the ocean and the animals in it? For as long as I can remember I always loved the ocean. I don't know if it's because it has this wonderful blue color...or maybe because it's so mysterious yet welcoming. When I was small, the first thing I remember saying that I wanted to be when I grew up was a marine biologist. Seriously?! What kind of 6 year old knows what a marine biologist is, yet alone what they do! But apparently I did know and I really wanted to be one!

The only downside of it is that I don't know how to swim...and I'm pretty sure you need to know how to swim in order to work with marine creatures. Well hey! I can swim a little...but really, I'm not sufficient enough to do anything rigorous. I'm terrified of snorkeling...scuba diving is a little better, but still bad.

Anywho, I'd like to share with you a dish I made awhile back. It's a Greek(?) dish made from grape leaves, white rice, dill, mint, lemon, and ground meat. They're stuffed grape leaves!

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmades)

I went into my local market and saw fresh grape leaves so I thought to myself...I wonder what you use these for. Instead of asking people and looking up recipes before buying it, I just stuffed a bag with a bunch of nice  leaves. It was totally impulsive but when am I ever not impulsive. I always buy random food that I see...this is why I went home one day with a pound of fresh almonds and another day with prickly pear cactus fruit. When I got home I immediately looked up what you do with grape leaves and saw this recipe for stuffed grape leaves.

I've never actually eaten or seen stuffed grape leaves in person previous to making them so I didn't know how they would turn out. I didn't even know how they would taste. BUT they tasted amazing! I actually liked it better without the grape leaves though. It was kind of sour for me. I actually ate it again at a buffet when I went to Vegas and I think it doesn't get any better than this! The inside was amazing! I really didn't know that mint could be used for more than desserts and garnishes! It works perfectly with the dill!

Original Recipe

Stuffed Grape Leaves:

Makes about 25-30 parcels

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1/2 lb cooked ground meat
2 quarts chicken broth
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided
60 grape leaves, drained and rinsed
hot water as needed
1 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the rice, onion, dill, and mint for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Pour in 1 quart of broth, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until rice is almost cooked. Add the cooked ground meat. Stir in 1/2 of lemon juice and remove from heat.
2. Take one leaf, shiny side down, and place 1 teaspoon of the rice mixture at the bottom (stem) end of the leaf. Fold both sides of the leaf towards the center, roll up from the broad bottom to the top, and place into a 4-quart pot. Repeat with all leaves, leaving no gaps as leaves are placed in pot (to prevent from opening while cooking). Sprinkle with remaining lemon juice and with olive oil.
3. Pour chicken broth over all to cover grape leaves. Cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour (do not boil, because this will make the stuffing burst out of the leaves). Remove from heat, remove cover and let cool for 1/2 hour. Transfer to serving dish and serve.

Note: If you use fresh grape leaves dunk it in hot water for around 10 seconds so it softens up, but make sure not too long or else it will lose its nice green color.