I love warm weather and that is probably one reason why Southern California is my home.  My favorite time of the year is when the weather turns, the vegetation starts to bud and the beginning of wonderful stone fruit and berries!  This is also the time when my allergies kick into high gear so that part is not fun. When our grapevine starts to have leaves, I enjoy picking these fresh, tender leaves to make stuffed grape leaves (dolmas).  

This was another recipe that my Lebanese neighbor, Madeline, taught me in Pasadena. She showed me how to make the vegetarian stuffed grape leaves.  Over the years, I've tweaked the recipe to my family's liking so I would say that this recipe is based on the traditional recipe with a few alterations.

My family likes the refreshing taste of lemon so these dolmas tend to be very lemony! Sometimes I would make vegetarian dolmas.  Other times, I would add ground meat to the stuffed grape leaves.  Another friend taught me how to incorporate small meat chunks into the dolmas, but the resulting taste was not worth the amount of work that went into finely cubing the meat so I have resorted to just using ground meat. However, this friend did add some allspice to the meat that gives it a unique and different taste.  I have kept the addition of allspice with a few  additional spices that I think give an interesting flavor: ground cumin and coriander.

One time, I accidentally left the boiling pot of stuffed grape leaves unattended and the water evaporated, caramelizing the grape leaves.  It was not burnt but caramelized. The rice was cooked and the texture was firm. The family really liked the caramelized leaves, firm rice texture and accentuated lemony taste.  It is now a goal to achieve that wonderful, delicious combination every time I make dolmas.

Tips for making stuffed grape leaves. (dolmas)

Grape leaves.

If you have a grapevine in your garden or have access to a friend's grapevine, pick grape leaves that are tender.  Young leaves are lighter in color than older leaves.  The younger leaves are more tender.  If you are cutting fresh leaves, use a pair of scissors and cut the leaf right at the base of the leaf without the stem.  This saves you time from not having to remove the stem later!

Fresh leaves do require washing and blanching to make them tender and workable.  Avoid piercing the leaves during the washing and blanching process.  After blanching, place leaves in a bowl of cold water to inhibit further "cooking."

If you do not have access to fresh leaves, bottled grape leaves soaked in a brine are readily available in some ethnic markets.  Rinse and soak the leaves in water before use.

Rice.

I like using short grain rice that is NOT sticky.  I do not soak the rice in water. The rice is soaked in the salt, tomato, lemon juice mixture to absorb the flavor and rehydrate somewhat.  This also helps prevent the stuffed grape leaves from splitting and bursting open.

Ground meat.

Meat is optional.  However, if you like protein in your dolmas, any ground meat of choice will work.  It is better to add cooked ground meat into the rice mixture as it has less of a tendency to develop the "foamy substance" when boiling which is not harmful to the body, just not visually appealing!

Remove as much of the fat rendering as you see fit before adding it to the rice mixture. The fat does give the dolmas taste but is definitely not healthy in very large quantities!

Filling the stuffed grape leaves. (dolmas)

Since I like the taste of dolma to be somewhat tart and lemony, I allow the rice to soak in the lemon and tomato juice rather than water.  

Wrapping the stuffed grape leaves. (dolmas)

Boiling the stuffed grape leaves. (dolmas)

When boiling the dolmas, arrange the stuffed grape leaves in the pot so that they will not unravel during the boiling process. Pour the remaining tomato, lemon juice mixture into a measuring cup with sufficient boiling water and oil mixture to make up the needed liquid for cooking the rice.  Place a plate on the top of the dolmas to keep the stuffed grape leaves in place.  Start timing after the water has reached a rolling boil.  If you have excess water left in the pot after cooking, remove the lid and allow the water to boil off.                                                         

To caramelize the outer edges of the leaves after cooking, allow the oil  to saute the leaves when the water boils off and you will be able to hear the sizzle!  If you prefer to have soft leaves, you can line the pot with grape leaves to prevent the dolmas from caramelizing.

Once the dolmas are cooked, allow them to cool before removing from the pot.  An easy way to remove the dolmas is to place the serving plate on the pot and flip the pot over. The stuffed grape leaves should transfer to the serving plate intact.

Let me know how your dolmas turned out in the comment section and whether you tried to caramelize the leaves!