Dolmas - Harvesting grape leaves

I wandered past the grape arbor and noticed the grape leaves were big enough to harvest.  Terry had lamb in his freezer.  Dolma season!  We cut leaves, blanched them, and filled them with lamb, rice, onion, and spices.  Let the rolling begin.   You put a dab of filling in the middle, fold the top and bottom over it, then roll the whole thing up like a cigar.  (I can spot the ones I rolled.  Terry’s looked a whole lot more like cigars – but he did train as a chef so…   Mine look more like Lau Lau.  Okay, it’s not a competition.)  Then top with spiced up chicken stock (you could use lamb) and onto the stove top to simmer for awhile.  They were pretty good, (I forgot the salt though. This comes from talking while cooking.  Multi-tasking issues again,) though we both agreed the leaves were a little tough.  Terry found recipes using a slow cooker – which I’ll try next time.
Tabouli at 12 oClock, Dolmas, Lemon Potatoes, Hummus, Tzatziki at far left, olives and flatbread.




The recipe is from Almost Turkish which has helpful photos of rolling techniques and directions for blanching fresh grape leaves.  Link below. I used chicken broth rather than water but otherwise followed the recipe. 

stuffed-grape-leaves-with-groundmeat.html

There was a fun Greek restaurant in downtown Portland where I first tried Lemoni Patatas - which are amazing.  The lemon flavor permeates throughout the potato.   I found a particularly good recipe which follows.  There were no Yukon gold or any other decent waxy potatoes available so I used a thin-skinned white which was a tad mushy.  Go for the waxed ones if all possible. 

Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins Servings: 6
Ellinikos Lemoni Patatas (Greek Lemon Potatoes)
By Anthony Gougoutris on May 06, 2004

Ingredients
3 lbs yukon gold potatoes or 3 lbs other waxy potatoes, peeled.  (I poked them all around with a fork then blanched them briefly in boiling water.)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used 1 TBL. fresh oregano)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth or 2 cups lamb stock (I used homemade chicken stock and thereby deprived my dogs of their kibble juice.  Mean, mean me.)
Directions
1. Peel potatoes and cut them in half (from medium size potatoes, quarter if large).
2. Let them stand in water while preparing sauce.
3. Combine all other ingredients in a gallon size"zipper" bag, and shake to combine.
4. Dry off the potatoes, and put all of them in the bag and let marinate for 2 hours.  (I made them        
    the night before)
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
6. Put the potatoes and marinade in a large casserole, preferrably a white pyrex, approximately 13 x
    9 x 3 oval.
7. Roast for 1hr 10min, turning occasionally.
8. There should be plenty of sauce left over after roasting.
9. You can put these under the broiler for 5 minutes to crisp them up if you prefer.

It was a fine meal. I always enjoy Terry’s company, but never more than when he’s stroking my ego praising my cooking. 
















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