Lamb and Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves.

I love this Mediterranean flavored dish of ground lamb and rice stuffed grape leaves. Here it is served with Tabbouleh, tzatziki, flat bread and Greek olives.

This is my own method for preparing this delicious and healthy dish. It's somewhat time consuming but well worth the effort.









You can buy the grape leaves in jars from the pickle department of most grocery stores. Some have the stems still on and some are wrapped so they are hard to pull from the jar. Look them over inside the jar and you can find one brand that is packed well and has nice full leaves. I like the ones that Sagaya and Natural Pantry stock, both local Anchorage stores. Try to avoid the big chain groceries as they are locked into the brand name suppliers of peppers and pickles and their grape leaves are a small and inferior part of their line.



Ground lamb is available usually in 1 pound  packages. 3 of those for each jar of leaves. In a large bowl, mix lamb and three normal handfuls of rice. Add several pinches of salt and garlic powder. Add cumin, curry or middle eastern spices if desired. Mix all this by hand- really get into the mixing and make 3 piles of mix. 




You can, instead, sprinkle some spices on each "finger" of meat/rice before you roll so parts of the batch will be a different flavor.

 Pull leaves from the  jar and spread out on a cutting board, trim stems and set aside any torn leaves for later surgery when you are rolling. At this time I usually hit the leaves with a squeeze of lemon juice for moisture. Separate leaves into 3 piles so the mix and leaves are easier to come out even.




Add some water to the lamb/rice and mix by hand like when you added the rice for a pile for rolling.

Spread each leaf, make a "finger" of lamb mixture 

and lay at the bottom.

 Roll into the leaf one roll and fold in the side ears.

Continue rolling and dip hands in water as you go to help hold the roll together.

When you get this method down you can lay out the leaves on a large cutting board and load them en masse.

Here you can sprinkle a batch with your choice of spices to vary the flavors.

You can use the ragged and torn pieces to "mend" small or torn leaves. Just layer them together and roll as before. 

Put a small amount of water in a pot and set a saucer up side down in it to keep the leaves from burning on the bottom. Put the saucer on top of the water so the cooking won't vibrate the saucer. 






Layer the rolls in the pot loosely. If you nest them tightly they expand slightly as they cook unevenly and tear apart when you remove them.



Peel a bulb of garlic and then peel the cloves by shaking first the bulb then the cloves in a glass jar. Smash lightly and nestle them throughout the pile. Here is a link to how to peel garlic the foodie way if you have to see it to believe it: Foodie way to peel garlic bulb and cloves.
Add more water to the pot about 2/3 way up. Cover and heat to boiling then reduce heat to slight bubbling. 

While the leaves are cooking, make some cucumber, garlic  yogurt sauce called Tzatziki . Smash and fine dice 3 or 4 of the garlic cloves.  Peel, seed and coarse dice a cucumber. Mix with a tub of Greek yogurt and add lemon juice, diced mint leaves or dill seed. Let this chill in refer while leaves are cooking.

Tabbouleh can be made from mix bought in the bulk food section. They will have measuring instructions. It mixes with water and olive oil then let set in refer. Add tomatoes, cucumber and maybe diced Greek olives. Use your imagination here.  

Check the top inner rolls in the pot for cooking progress. cut one open and taste. Remove from heat and drain when a middle roll rice is slightly under done. They will continue to cook for a bit. You can also dig down a bit to check a middle of batch leaves too. This timing may take some practice as each batch will have different cooking times depending on thickness of rolls, rice/meat mixture etc. Remove from pot with tongs gently including garlic and serve.

Serve with some warm Pita or flour tortillas. I like the ones from Mexico in Alaska available at Sagaya or their restaurant.
Bon appetite.