Grape Leaves Stuffed with Rice (p. 90)

I've never been a huge fan of stuffed grape leaves, not because of what's stuffed inside, but because of the flavor of the actual grape leaf -- it's just not really my thing.

This recipe kind of changed my mind on them, and I enjoyed the end result, although I wasn't very good at stuffing or rolling the leaves.

The preparation for the stuffing is pretty easy -- just sauté minced onion and scallions in olive oil until soft, add in pine nuts until golden, and then stir rice, tomatoes, salt, and pepper in to the mix. Pour in some hot water, cover, and cook until the rice begins to soften. Then just stir in some allspice and currants that had plumped up in hot water and set aside for a bit.

The grape leaves need to be rinsed out before using them to get rid of the brine that they were packed in. Once rinsed, lay them out flat with the veins facing you.

Place a spoonful of the stuffing in each leaf and then roll it up. I made that sound so easy, didn't I?

Place them all together snugly in a pan and cover with water and lemon juice. Place a plate over the stuffed grape leaves to keep them submerged in the water, and slowly steam them for about a half an hour.

When I went to get them out afterwards, a bunch of mine just totally fell apart. Maybe I didn't wrap them tightly enough?

Anyway I lost over half of them because the stuffing just fell out, but these were still tasty.

grape leaves -- $4.99

onion -- $1.03

scallions -- $.99

rice -- $2.65

Total Cost of Grape Leaves Stuffed with Rice: $9.66