Dolmathes with Avgolemono Sauce

There is a story behind these stuffed grape leaves. When I was in Illinois for the Red Shoe Run last year we were about to go to my Aunt Lisa's house when my my cousins Katie and Tara asked if they were making grape leaves. "Dolmathes?!" I said, "I love those, but no, they ordered pizza and salad." I've been wanting to make these for a while, but for one, I haven't been able to find grape leaves around here. I just recently remembered that snippit of conversation last April and decided to email my Grandma Bobbi, she would know where to get them. I received an email back with the recipe and warning to watch out for mail. A few weeks later I found a medium sized box on my front porch.

Inside was four 32 oz jars of grape leaves and two 16 oz containers of Laban (Really thick yummy yogurt to dip the dolmathes in).

 

And this note:

I have awesome grandparents. Thanks Grandma Bobbi! Love ya!

I decided to use a slightly different recipe that uses baking instead of steaming or boiling on a stove top. Partly because my kitchen is tiny and my mom's kitchen is only half there due to construction. The baking seemed a lot easier. Also, I LOVE herbs and spices and this recipe had a ton of flavorful ingredients.

I brought all the ingredients over to my mom's house yesterday and we mixed, stuffed, cooked, and chatted.

I got this recipe from a blog (whom I give full attrition to) who might have gotten the idea from another blog and both their pictures rock so go check them out too.

Dolmathes with Avgolemono Sauce

Ingredients:
1 jar grape leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 pound lean ground beef (or lamb)
1/2 cup Arborio rice (or regular long grain rinsed a few times)
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)
1 lemon (zest)
1 bunch of green onions (sliced)
1/4 cup dill (chopped)
1/4 cup mint (chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
* chicken stock
2 eggs
1 lemon (juice)
 

Directions:
1. Separate the grape leaves and place them in a large bowl.
2. Cover the grape leaves in boiling water and let soak for 20 minutes.
3. Drain the water and rinse the leaves a few times.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
7. Mix the onions, garlic, ground beef, rice, tomato puree, feta, lemon zest, green onions, dill, mint salt and pepper in a large bowl.
8. Place a grape leaf on a flat surface with the vein side up.
9. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the leaf and fold the sides over the filling and roll the leaf up. Repeat until all of the filling is used up.
10. Place stuffed grape leaves into a baking dish in layers and just cover with chicken stock.
11. Bake in a 375F oven for about 1 hour.
12. Whisk the eggs in bowl over a small pan of simmering water until frothy, about 3 minutes.
13. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while whisking.
14. Add some of the liquid from the baking dish and continue whisking until it thickens.
15. Mix most of the avgolemono sauce into the dish with the dolmades reserving some for garnish.
16. Serve the dolmades garnished with the reserved avgolemono sauce and some chopped dill and or mint.

 In Pictures

Boil the leaves

 Rinse leaves thoroughly in colander

 Saute Onion/Garlic

 I love fresh herbs

Chop everything and put ingredients up to pepper in a large bowl. We doubled the recipe and did 1 pound beef and 1 pound lamb, doubling everything else along the way.

 Mix it all together

Stuff Grape Leaves - Here is a small tutorial

 Then place in a casserole dish

 Cover in broth - we used beef broth. The rice will absorb this as it cooks in the oven.

 After the dolmathes are cooked, it's time to make the avgolemono sauce. Whisk well - you don't want the eggs to be scrambled.

 Should thicken up like so.

  Pour the sauce over the Dolmathes

 

 Thoroughly coated.

 

These weren't complete without a ridiculously healthy squeeze of lemon over the top and of course some thick yogurt to dip them in.

What I Learned:

1. There are many names and spellings of these stuffed grape leaves and I wanted to know why so I did a little research:

Dolma comes from Dolmak and means "stuffed thing" or "stuffed vegetable".

Dolma could be any stuffed vegetable - stuffed zucchinis, tomatoes, etc.

Dolmades is the Greek/Ottoman spelling and supposedly Dolma is the singular version of the word

Dolmadakia is another Greek Spelling

Dolmathes is yet another spelling of the word

So call them whatever you want I guess - Stuffed Grape Leaves is probably the most accurate but that doesn't tell you what it's stuffed with. My research also said that meat stuffed are served hot and vegetarian stuffed are generally served cold.

2. On the thought line of Etymology it struck me, "Could foot ottomans be related to the Ottoman Empire that made Dolmades?" Seems that this is where the term came from. From THIS SOURCE.

Later in the Eighteenth Century, footstools began to be found in a “reclined” position with legs placed “up” on the stool.  This position was associated with the Middle East, being the preferred style of the Ottomans who then ruled much of Eastern Europe. Some commentators think the word “ottoman” was derived from the Balkans which was under Ottoman influence at the time. Others attribute it to courtiers in France who on returning from trips to Ottoman controlled countries furnished their palaces in styles of the east and the phrase “ottoman” became shorthand for “footstool”.

 Curious.