Buy Frozen Grape Leaves

I may not have learned to cook until after I was married, but I learned to stuff and roll grape leaves when I was probably only 12 years old! This recipe is a near and dear to my heart, and truly a labor of love.

buy frozen grape leaves

Now, carefully fold in the sides and roll it like you would when making a wrap. I recommend cutting all the stems first, then laying out four leaves a time on a cutting board to create a faster rolling process.

Next I use a deep pot for cooking the warak enab. I start by layering the pot with olive oil, sliced potatoes and/or tomatoes. Then I add the stuffed and rolled grape leaves over them and repeat the layers.

In Middle Eastern cuisine, grape leaves are a staple ingredient used to wrap and stuff a variety of dishes, including dolmas, yalanci, and sarma. The process of stuffing the leaves with rice, herbs, and other flavorful ingredients is a labor of love that results in a mouthwatering and satisfying meal. Sadaf Foods' Grape Leaves are the perfect choice for this beloved tradition, as they are pliable and easy to work with, while also providing an authentic taste that will transport you straight to the Mediterranean.

Stuffed grape leaves are a common Middle Eastern dish and perhaps the most popular way to use grape leaves. The grape leaves are stuffed with a variety of things. Most commonly, an assortment of vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, onions, eggplant, and zucchini. The array of vegetables as well as the grape leaves themselves make this dish not only traditional and delicious but healthy as well.

Their selection of grape leaves is larger than some, offering three different brands of jarred grape leaves to choose from. Products include the more common Orlando Grape Leaves, as well as Yergat grape leaves, and Al Afia grape leaves. All are fresh and ready for baking.

One of their partners is a local gardener named Eva who grows a handful of rare and unique plants that Baldor is able to sell and distribute to a wide customer base. Her selection includes fig leaves, juniper berries, autumn berries, nettles, African blue basil, an edible flower mix, and fresh grape leaves. Unlike many other companies, the grape leaves are delivered untouched and not in a can or jar with preservatives.

This expert tutorial is all you need to make the best stuffed grape leaves or dolmas! These flavor-packed grape leaves are stuffed with a tantalizing mixture of rice; meat; and loads of fresh herbs and warm spices, then cooked in a bright lemony broth. I learned how to make stuffed grape leaves in my mother's Mediterranean kitchen many years ago, and I'm sharing all her expert tips and tricks with step-by-step photos to show you. Vegetarian option included.

Homemade dolmas are one of my personal favorites, they will always remind me of my mother's Mediterranean kitchen. I first learned to make them as a young teen in my mother's Egyptian kitchen. It's the sort of food that's more fun to make in groups. So, the ladies of the family would gather around our small kitchen table, stuffing and rolling grape leaves, while catching up on life. Great memories!

If you've tried dolams at your local Greek or Mediterranean restaurant, you're in for a treat! I'm about to show you step-by-step how to make the BEST stuffed grape leaves in your own kitchen for a fraction of the price. And you might want to grab a few friends to help you with this fun activity.

Now, you'll find many variations of stuffed grape leaves recipes, from Turkey and Greece to Lebanon, and Egypt where it's called Warak Enab (Grape Vine Paper.) Some recipes containing meat, others vegetarian. Some containing tomato sauce, others cooked in a lemony broth. I have yet to meet a stuffed grape leave, dolma, or Greek dolmades that I didn't love, but this recipe is my absolute favorite.

What's in stuffed grape leaves? In this recipe, grape leaves are stuffed with a tasty meat and rice mixture, seasoned with warm spices (allspice and cumin) and loaded with fresh herbs in the form of parsley, dill and mint. Then, once stuffed, the grape leaves are cooked in a tasty lemony broth.

Lightly oil the pot with some extra virgin olive oil, then add a few layers of grape leaves and top with sliced tomatoes. This protects the stuffed grape leaves touching the bottom of the pot from scorching.

Then place a small plate inverted on top (this helps keep them in place while cooking.) Boil the water or broth and pour over the grape leaves, arriving at the top layer and somewhat covering (about 4 cups liquid, maybe a little more.)

1. Soak The Rice in Water Before Using in the Stuffing. Two important ingredients of our grape leaves stuffing here are cooked ground beef and rice. It's important to rinse the rice well to get rid of excess starch which causes rice to be sticky. Then soak the rice for 20 minutes or until you can break one grain of rice by pressing it between your index finger and your thumb. This way, your rice cooks evenly as the interior of the grain actually cooks before the exterior looses its shape. (I do the same when I cook my Lebanese rice and Greek lemon rice, works every time!)

3. Roll tightly BUT allow for room for expansion. Roll the grape leaves tightly enough, so that they don't unravel or become undone while cooking, but again remember rice will expand as it cooks so don't fold too tightly or the rice won't cook properly.

4. Keep the Grape Leaves from Floating or Unraveling While Cooking. To do this, make sure the grape leaves are assembled in your pot with the seam-side down. Then, add a small inverted plate on top of the assembled grape leaves in the pot to help keep them intact and prevent them from floating while cooking. Once the liquid has been absorbed, you can remove the plate to finish cooking as instructed.

5. Let Cooked Grape Leaves Rest for 30 Minutes before Serving. I know, it's so hard not to immediately dig into those tasty grape leaves! But for best results, allow them to rest for 20 to 30 minutes so that any remaining liquids are absorbed and the leaves set nicely, plus they just taste better.

Since I published this post, I've received a number of requests asking for a vegetarian grape leaves recipe. I plan to put out a full tutorial on that, but here is essentially what you need to make this recipe vegetarian:

If you're lucky enough to find fresh grape vine leaves, by all means, you should use them to make these dolmas. To use them in this recipe, first be sure to wash them well, then blanch them in boiling hot water. Remove from water using a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to fully cool and drain. From there, you can use them as indicated in the recipe.

But, since these are stuffed grape leaves with meat, you can absolutely serve them warm as the main course with a side of Tzatziki (or plain yogurt) and Greek salad or tabouli! You can also serve them as a next to Greek lamb; grilled lamb chops; roast chicken; or Souvlaki!

This recipe is delicious with a nice accent of spices. I made them using 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef and 1 1/2 cups of sweet rice as I thought your ratio was too rice heavy. From another recipe I added some tomato sauce as I was low on fresh tomatoes.Otherwise followed recipe exact but added some Garam masala for another spice.They didn't last as they were too delicious.Two batches used up one jar of grape leaves.Thanks for the recipe.

Could I use the outer leaves of cabbage instead of grape leaves? I'm thinking the mint would give the cabbage an exotic flavor and marry well with the allspice and cumin.I'm trying this tomorrow. Now instead of tomatoes I might use potato or onion slices. I have only green tomatoes and they are strictly for fried green tomatoes which I'll serve with this dish. It will be a Southern variation.

If you love classic Mediterranean recipes like vegan lentil meatballs, spanakopita and briam, you're going to love today's recipe: dolma, also known as dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. Once you try this vegetarian dolma recipe, you won't bother to order it at a restaurant. And the best part? You can make a big batch and freeze them!

Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetables that is common through the Middle East and the Mediterranean. To make this classic dish, vegetables such as zucchini, tomatoes and aubergine (all staples of the Mediterranean diet) are stuffed with lamb or beef, rice and herbs or spices such as seven spice and cooked to perfection. One of the most popular types of dolma is stuffed vine leaves that are also called sarma in Turkish.

According to Wikipedia, stuffed grape leaves have played a role in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines for centuries. However, the exact origins of dolma (or, again, dolmades as the Greek call them) is unknown.

Turkish dolmas, known as yaprak sarmasi, usually contains a bit of tomato paste and pine nuts whereas the Greek version known as dolmades contains more herbs such as green onions and dill. It's important to note that in both cuisines stuffed grape leaved should be rolled into cigars.

This completely depends on the recipe and the region it comes from. The Iranian version known as dolmeh are made with meat, rice, and split chickpeas. Turkish yaprak sarma, on the other hand, is vegetarian and doesn't call for any kind of meat. The recipe we have here is for vegetarian stuffed grape leaves with rice which is a more popular variation.

There are two variations of grape leaves to use: fresh and jarred. Jarred grape leaves are ready to use since they've been marinated and blanched already. You can find jarred grape leaves in brine online or at your local Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Turkish store. If using fresh grape leaves, it's best to blanch them in hot salted water for a few minutes to soften them and make them easy to roll. 041b061a72