Daring Cooks Challenge - October 2010 -Stuffed Grape Leaves/Dolma

It has been years since I made stuffed grape leaves, so this was fun. The Daring Cooks October Challenge was very well presented by Lori of Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness. I am so impressed with the information, recipe choices and photos of each presented challenge.

I was still in the States when this challenge was given, so I was able to bring back some grape leaves. One of the Daring Cooks mentioned that the hardest part was getting the tightly packed grape leaves out of the jar - how true! After reviewing the given recipes, others found in Fine Cooking and from the Forum, I took a little from each and created a filling to be served at room temperature. I soaked the leaves in boiling water and then rinsed several times in cold water. Nearly all of the leaves were of a usable size and were not torn and had no stems attached. Basically here are my ingredients:

Soaked basmati rice in hot water and then drained (did not cook it).
Toasted pine nuts

Currants soaked in white wine

Sauteed chopped scallions in olive oil and then added some minced garlic

Allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground black pepper were my spices

Lemon zest

Crumbled feta cheese

I had some Pomegranate Pear with Port Culinary Sauce in the refrigerator, so I reduced some it along with the white wine drained from the currants to a syrup.

I did not have dill or mint available, but did have some fresh fennel fronds.

The leaves rolled very nicely and I didn't roll them tight, so that the rice could expand. I layered them in a glass pyrex dish on a couple of torn leaves and some fennel fronds with pieces of lemon and garlic between the rolls. Then added water with lemon juice about half way up and covered with a piece of parchment paper. It was not necessary to weight them down. I baked them in a 375 degree oven for approximately one hour. The pyrex was a good choice, so that I could see them simmering. When cooled, I tasted one and it seemed a bit tart but not too salty. Perhaps I used too much lemon juice. I left them in the poaching liquid, which had mostly cooked off and refrigerated them overnight.

The following day, I presented them with a roasted red pepper slice and offered my homemade greek style yogurt drizzled with honey to each guest. That was a perfect accompaniment to offset the slight tartness. The tasters enjoyed the texture of the grape leaves and the spices seemed just right. This was a successful and fun Challenge for me.

Please check out Lori's blog: http://lipsmackinggoodness.blogspot.com/ and http://thedaringkitchen.com/ to see the array of stuffed leaves.

Thanks Lori!