Since I was a child I have picked grape leaves off the vine, helped to wrap them with a meat and rice stuffing and, of course, help to eat them. I even started the Graf Family Grape Leave club which basically means that at a family get togethers we, from youngest grandchild to oldest family person (me), enjoy a stuffed grape leaf meal.
My wife learned how to make stuffed grape leaves from my mother and has passed the recipe on to other family members and friends. There never was a set written recipe until a few years ago when friends asked my wife to write one down. She took one off the web and modified it.
This is grape leaf picking season in Wisconsin. I do not have to go far to pick grape leaves, which grow everywhere, since they grow in my back yard. Last week I picked about 100 in the backyard and froze them, and yesterday about 120.
However, this time I decided that I would make them by myself for friends coming over for dinner on a day when my wife works during the dinner hour. So last night I carefully went over the instructions with my wife and got the ingredients ready. I found out that the recipe at Stuffed Grape Leaves was not exactly how she makes them and made some notes on the recipe.
All was going well until I came to roll the grape leaves, a method I know very well. Normally we used leaves that are frozen, blanch them and roll them. However, I was using fresh-picked leaves that were dry, and found them not rolling tight. I realized the reason was because the frozen ones had been blanched in water and were wet when they were rolled and these were fresh but dry. So I sprayed them with some water and things went well as long as I carefully put them in the pot so they did not unwrap.
The dinner for friends and my son was a great success and the grape leaves taste good. I realize that I am making a big thing of this simple act of making stuffed grape leaves, but for me, it was a major boost in my confidence in cooking.
Soon I will modify the recipe at Stuffed Grape Leaves but in the meanwhile, get out in the yard and park and start picking grape leaves!
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