"Stuffed Grapevine Leaves" by Michaiah S.

 

Coming from a multicultural family, I have always been intrigued learning various dishes from my family. Not only that, I love to learn about other cultures and their dishes. For instance, on my dad's side, he has a half-sister who is of Palestinian descent and has shared many of her family recipes with me. One of my favorite dishes that she has shared with my family and I are stuffed grapevine leaves. When I was little, I was hesitant to try this dish out for the first time. I found it odd and different eating a grape leaf. It's funny how I didn't even know that it would become one of my favorite dishes.

 

My aunt has been teaching this recipe for as long as I can remember. I only ever make this dish every once in a while when I visit my aunt. When we make this tasty dish, my siblings, cousins, and I all work together with my aunt to cook it. I love making grape leaves because it does require a lot of help in the kitchen, and it's a way my family and I can talk to connect and catch up. I want to share this recipe rather than a recipe from my own culture because it can be interesting to learn about and explore other cultural food other than your own. You can discover new things that you would have never thought you could ever imagine liking. I recently visited my aunt last month, and she was glad to hear that I was going to share this recipe. I recommend that you invite your friends or family over if you are planning to make this dish. It requires more than one person to make this dish which is another reason why I love it so much. Spending time with those you love is very important. I hope that you all enjoy this dish as much as I do.

 

Ingredients:

 

●     40-50 grapevine leaves

 

●     1 cup white rice (washed and drained)

 

●     ½ lb. ground beef

 

●     1 ½ tsp. Salt

 

●     ¼ tsp. Pepper

 

●     ½ tsp. Cinnamon

 

●     2 Tbsp. butter

 

●     Water

 

●     Juice of one lemon water

 

Tools needed:

 

●     Large mixing bowl

 

●     Measuring cups/spoons

 

●     saucepan

 

Instructions:

 

●     The first step is to make sure if you bought grapevine leaves preserved in a jar, you need to soak them in cold water for an hour and replace the water several times. By soaking the leaves in water, it will help to eliminate the extra salt on the leaves. If the leaves have been purchased fresh, let them soak for ten minutes in hot water so that they can soften.

●     Next, you will get your large mixing bowl and mix your white rice, ground beef, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and butter ingredients.

●     You would then lay a single grape leaf at a time on a flat surface with the stem side facing you after mixing and put around a teaspoon of the mixture you made just above the leaf stem. Then add another teaspoon of the mixture if the leaves are larger. Be sure not to put too much mixture on the leaf as it will cause the sides to seep out while cooking.

 

●     Once placing the mixture above the stem of the leaf, you are going to roll it into sort of a hotdog shape. To do this, you will fold both sides of the left and the right side of the leaf inward, then after that, roll it forward. I kind of think of it as you are making a burrito if that helps. You fold in both sides, then roll upwards. You also want to make sure that you are rolling the grapevine leaves tightly and not loose.

●     After rolling up a grapevine leaf, you want to place it in the saucepan. When making the grapevine leaf rolls, you want to put them in a circular direction by first placing the stuffed grape leaves around the pot's edge, making your way to the center. Once the first layer is done, you can layer the rest of the stuffed grapevine leaves on top and repeat the same circular process.

●     After all the stuffed grapevine leaves are in the pot, you are going to sprinkle them with lemon juice and fill the pot with water until the water is just above the top layer of the grape leaves.

●     Then you will bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it cook for forty-five minutes with the cover on until the leaves are tender.

●     Finally, they are ready to eat after cooling.