Stuffed Grape Leaves

NoName12345's Note:

I didn't mark a "cuisine" for these, because they're a real Heinz 57! Dolmades are Middle Eastern/Greek, but these are my strange variation. Most people don't know, that you can pick your own grape leaves early in the spring, while they're tender, and just pickle them in water and vinegar - there's nothing special about the grape leaves you buy in the store. They reheat just fine in the microwave.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 2

Yield: 10.0 rolls

Filling

• 8 pickling onions (aka silverskin)
• 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• ¾ cup dry brown rice

Other ingredients

• 16 -24 pickled grape leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Filling:.
2. Cook the rice. While it's cooking, mince the garlic, and chop the onions. Fry them in about two tablespoons of the olive oil, at a low temperature, in a large pan. Cook until the onions begin to turn golden brown. Chop the cranberries and the sunflower seeds finely. Mix the cranberries, sunflower seeds, and dried mint into the onion mixture and cook for about one more minute. When the rice is done, add it to the onion and garlic mixture. Mix it all together to ensure it's evenly blended, then remove it from the heat.
3. To roll the grape leaves:.
4. Lay a leaf out flat, with the protruded veins upwards. Scoop about one heaping tablespoon of filling into the centre of the leaf, and begin by folding the bottom two "flaps" over the filling (the flaps are on either side of the stem, at the base) Fold the sides in, and then firmly (but not too tightly, so as to avoid ripping the leaves) roll up the "top" flap of the leaf. Continue this process until all of the filling is gone. The amount of leaves you use, and amount of filling per leaf will depend largely on the size of the leaf. If you have some leaves with holes in them, or that are just too small to roll, you can overlap them so as to still make use of them.
5. Lay the stuffed leaves into a large, flat skillet with a lid. Pour the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over them, and leave, with the lid on and the temperature very low, for about ten minutes, or until very warm. At no point should the leaves be cooking, we're just heating them up.
6. Eat!