Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 125 grapevine leaves, fresh strongly-preferred
- 4 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1/3 cup finely-chopped dill
- 1/3 cup finely-chopped mint
- 1/3 cup finely-chopped flat leaf parsley
- 5 large spring (green) onions, finely-chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, try to avoid Chinese origin
- 1 cup uncooked arborio rice, rinsed
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tsp. freshly-ground allspice
- 1 tsp. freshly-ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
- 2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) Greek olive oil
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 clove roasted garlic (TFD change, use crushed garlic for classic recipe) mashed with 4 drops ouzo (HIGHLY optional TFD addition, omit if you so prefer and substitute one clove crushed garlic mashed with ouzo) - use an eye dropper
- ***
- For cooking:
- 3 Tbsp. (45 mL) Greek olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
- chicken stock, preferably homemade
- ***
- For the Hirshon Avgolemono sauce:
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 Tbsp. flour
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) very hot chicken stock from the pot
- 1/2 tsp. Chios mastic freshly-ground with 1/2 tsp. sugar (highly optional TFD addition, omit for classic recipe and just use regular sugar instead)
- 1 tsp. freshly-ground dried wild thyme flowers (optional TFD addition, omit for classic recipe)
- ***
- Lemon wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare your vine leaves. Whether your vine leaves are fresh or brined, wash them well. Keep to the side any leaves which are severely torn.
- If you are using jarred leaves, follow the directions on the jar. If you are using fresh vine leaves, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add your vine leaves into the pot and boil them for about a minute or two. Your vine leaves are ready when they have changed color from a vibrant fresh green to more of a khaki, or olive green (pictured above).
- Drain your vine leaves, and drop them immediately into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process, and to cool them. Once they have cooled, drain them in a large colander. They will likely be a jumbled up mess at this point. Take each vine leaf individually, open it up, and stack them, one on top of the other, onto a dish.
- Prepare your filling. In a very large bowl, mix all the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Select a vine leaf and lay it on a plate in front of you, rib side up and with the stem end (you will have removed the stem) down toward you. Drop 1 Tbsp. of filling near the stem end. Begin wrapping, first folding up, then folding in one side, and then the other. Continue this way until you have a tight, taut roll. After each one, examine it to ensure that you do not see any filling poking through. If you do, unwrap, and repeat.
- When your filling is all used up, if you still have vine leaves left over, you can freeze them for future use by rolling them tightly together and wrapping them in plastic wrap. Place them in a freezer bag and when you are ready to use them, defrost them overnight in the refrigerator.
- Take a pot which is large enough to hold your dolmades. Add 3 Tbsp. olive oil to the bottom of the pot and line it with vine leaves (if you have any which are torn, this is a good place to use them).
- Boil enough stock in a separate pot or kettle. As soon as the stock has boiled, pour it into your pot with the dolmades. You will need enough boiling stock so that the dolmades are completely, and just barely, covered.
- Take a heat-proof plate, which is slightly smaller than the circumference of your pot, and lay the plate on top of the dolmades. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil. When the stock has come to a boil, lower the heat to a medium low and cook for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Periodically check on your dolmades to ensure that they are still covered with stock. If they are not, boil some more stock in a kettle, and add to the pot to cover the dolmades. Check your dolmades for doneness by tasting them. They are ready when the rice is cooked. Remove from heat.
- For the sauce: in a small bowl mix together lemon juice, mastic sugar (if using) and thyme (if using) and flour. Mix with ½ cup stock from the pot. Mix well until not lumpy, and pour this over the dolmades. Gently shake the pot so that the lemon mixture coats all the dolmades.
- Dolmades are best served at room temperature. Serve with lemon wedges.