For Greeks, I understand that "dolma" can mean any variation of stuffed grapeleaves. I suppose that nailing down a singular recipe for them would be like asking for a burrito recipe. Most Americans are accustomed to seeing them as small (thumb sized) turd-like objects, generally cold, generally rice-filled, and a 50/50 toss-up if they have a sauce or not.
The TAFKAP family has been making beef ones at home for a LOOONG time. Ma & Pa TAFKAP went to Greece in the early 90's, and somehow convinced an Athenian restaurateur to divulge his recipe. Ever since then, we non-Greek TAFKAPs have been gorging our maws on beef dolma......This past weekend, I upped our game by using venison. This will be the only way I make them any more. Man are they good......
Simply stated, they're a small-ish wad of meat, wrapped in brined grapeleaves (available at the grocery store, or feel free to harvest your own), and baked in the oven for about an hour.
These are about to get wrapped in foil, then hang out in the oven for a while
As with meatballs, Italian "gravy", enchiladas, and other regional poor-folks food, these can be personalized as much as you'd like. The flavor profile for these is Mediterranean herbs and lemon. Anything you think is "Greek" will work well...we use basil, oregano, black pepper, and dill in the meat. So here's the "recipe", although it's mostly a guideline. The quantities proportion well if you want to scale down a bit. Mom's guideline is based on 3 lbs of meat.
Mix in a LARGE BOWL:
3 lbs of quality LEAN red meat
1.5 tsp EACH of any of your preferred seasonings
1 large white onion, roughly chopped (1/2" or so)
**1.5C of PARBOILED rice ---> 1.5C water, 1.5C rice, 1.5tsp salt, bring to a boil, simmer until rice absorbs water. Allow to cool**
Olive oil....use enough to smooth the meat mixture out. Appx. 1/3 C
Feel free to also use a bit of the brine from the jar of grapeleaves
Since rice absorbs a lot of moisture and flavor, season the rice well. IT should taste WAYY too salty in the pot, but in 3 lbs of meat, it blends nicely. Just don't forget to cool it off before mixing into the meat. So when all this stuff is mixed and well incorporated, let it sit for about an hour.
Onto the leaves themselves. The Krinos brand offers well-packed, larger sized leaves. The jar looks like this, even though this one is for olives
Rinse the leaves, squeeze them out, and sit down with a friend to start assembly. Wrapping is "easy", but takes some time to master. Overfilling is common, so figure eyeball the proper roll of meat for the leaves. This proportion is about right, even though the filling doesnt' ;).
The veiny side of the leaf needs to be the filling side, as the leaves curl inward when cooking. Here's a how-to video
The TAFKAP family has been making beef ones at home for a LOOONG time. Ma & Pa TAFKAP went to Greece in the early 90's, and somehow convinced an Athenian restaurateur to divulge his recipe. Ever since then, we non-Greek TAFKAPs have been gorging our maws on beef dolma......This past weekend, I upped our game by using venison. This will be the only way I make them any more. Man are they good......
Simply stated, they're a small-ish wad of meat, wrapped in brined grapeleaves (available at the grocery store, or feel free to harvest your own), and baked in the oven for about an hour.
These are about to get wrapped in foil, then hang out in the oven for a while
As with meatballs, Italian "gravy", enchiladas, and other regional poor-folks food, these can be personalized as much as you'd like. The flavor profile for these is Mediterranean herbs and lemon. Anything you think is "Greek" will work well...we use basil, oregano, black pepper, and dill in the meat. So here's the "recipe", although it's mostly a guideline. The quantities proportion well if you want to scale down a bit. Mom's guideline is based on 3 lbs of meat.
Mix in a LARGE BOWL:
3 lbs of quality LEAN red meat
1.5 tsp EACH of any of your preferred seasonings
1 large white onion, roughly chopped (1/2" or so)
**1.5C of PARBOILED rice ---> 1.5C water, 1.5C rice, 1.5tsp salt, bring to a boil, simmer until rice absorbs water. Allow to cool**
Olive oil....use enough to smooth the meat mixture out. Appx. 1/3 C
Feel free to also use a bit of the brine from the jar of grapeleaves
Since rice absorbs a lot of moisture and flavor, season the rice well. IT should taste WAYY too salty in the pot, but in 3 lbs of meat, it blends nicely. Just don't forget to cool it off before mixing into the meat. So when all this stuff is mixed and well incorporated, let it sit for about an hour.
Onto the leaves themselves. The Krinos brand offers well-packed, larger sized leaves. The jar looks like this, even though this one is for olives
Rinse the leaves, squeeze them out, and sit down with a friend to start assembly. Wrapping is "easy", but takes some time to master. Overfilling is common, so figure eyeball the proper roll of meat for the leaves. This proportion is about right, even though the filling doesnt' ;).
The veiny side of the leaf needs to be the filling side, as the leaves curl inward when cooking. Here's a how-to video
