In our backyard we have three different kinds of grapes and therefore, a lot of grape leaves. Our grape leaves start growing around the middle of May. Our grape leaves start to grow about 2 or 3 weeks before the actual grapes start growing. Therefore we decided to make a dish out of the grape leaves themselves. The dish that my mom made is Dolmas. Dolmas are stuffed grape leaves.
Dolmas are usually served with yogurt. The word dolma actually comes from the Turkish verb “to be stuffed” and the Turkish noun “stuffed thing.” Dolmas are eaten a lot in the Mediterranean as an appetizer. You have to make sure that the leaves that you use for wrapping are young and tender. Dolmas are usually a type of party food because they aren’t all that big, and they are usually stuffed with things like grains or cheese, they can also be stuffed with dried fruit and nuts. The Dolmas that we made were stuffed with cheese, and did I mention they were SO GOOD!!!
The other night my mom went out into our backyard and picked a dozen or so grape leaves to make dolmas with for dinner. The first thing she did was she took them into our house and put them in a bowl with some ice water for a half hour. There are two reasons why she did this: the first reason is to clean the leaves and the other reason is to keep the young leaves crisp. After the thirty minutes she drained the leaves and dried them off really well. Then she lightly brushed each leaf with olive oil. In a little bowl she mixed together some chevre cheese and black pepper. Then she rolled the grape leaves up around this mixture. Be careful when you are rolling your dolmas up because they tend to tear and break. When she was finished rolling the grape leaves she put the now assembled dolmas in the broiler for a minute and a half. Then she took them out and let them cool, and served them with dinner. They were so good. They were nice and crispy on the outside and salty and creamy on the inside. Yum!
Tags: Appetizers, Chevre Cheese, Cookin Dolmas, Dolmas, Eating Dolmas, Grape Leaves, making dolmas, Preparing Dolmas
