Lamb and Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe – Mihshi Waraq Inab
Sep 26th, 2010 by lane
It started with a hummus sandwich. Austin’s local sub shop chain, Thundercloud Subs really began my voyage into Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. As a child I was hardly an adventurous eater, a habit that only slowly began to change in my early 20’s. For my entry to challenge #2 for Project Food Blog 2010, I prepared Lamb and Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves to showcase my ability by tackling a classic dish from another culture. This is probably about as far out of my comfort zone as I can imagine. I have never cooked or witnessed any form of lamb being prepared. Outside of a restaurant, I’ve never seen a grape leave. I love taking on new ingredients, and believe cooking is all about taking your fundamental building blocks and combining them to build truly great flavor in different and inspiring ways.
To start my background information, I went to the best source I could find. My dear college friend, Christina, married a man of Lebanese descent. Last fall, when I embarked on my homemade pita experiment, the best recipe by far was adapted from their staple cookbook. They lent me their copy of Lebanese Cuisine, which has had 13 editions and is largely considered one of the classics for this region. There aren’t any pictures, but thank goodness for bloggers, right? In the next five years everything ever created in food to date surely will have been prepared, reviewed, photographed and covered by a food blogger. (wink)
The first challenge in the project was locating the grape leaves. I found them at Central Market, though I’ll admit it did take me two trips through the store. They were located in the pickles and olives section, next to some canned dolmas. Dolma is a word of Turkish etymology meaning stuffed vegetable – frequently grape leaves. The Lebanese name for this dish is Mihshi Waraq Inab, but the dish is made similarly under many names in the entire region, from Greece to Egypt to Iran to Armenia and everywhere in between. The origination of this dish is muddy at best, likely due to it’s birth in a region known as the cradle of civilization.
I like to think of stuffed grape leaves like Middle Eastern Sushi. I thought the filling had a fabulous flavor, slightly citrus, slightly salty, and was blown away by the delicate texture of the lamb. Somehow combining ground lamb with rice and a few seasonings, wrapping and covering with water, then cooking for a short time, didn’t seem possible to create such a flavorful dish. I do think my wrapping skills could use a little practice to gain a tighter, more compact roll, and possibly they could have been cooked longer to yield a slightly more tender leaf. Next time, I’d probably try to seek out fresh grape leaves just to taste the difference.
Lamb and Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe – Mihshi Waraq Inab
adapted from Lebanese Cuisine by Madelain Farah
1 jar grape leaves
1 c. uncooked rice
1 lb. ground lamb
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 c. lemon juice
Pour rice in a strainer, then rinse until water runs clear. Drain then pour rice into bowl. Add lamb, cinnamon, allspice, 1 tsp kosher salt and 12 turns pepper, then use hands to thoroughly combine.
In a 3 qt sauce pan, use a few of the torn grape leaves to cover the bottom of the pan. This will prevent the stuffed leaves from sticking. In a large bowl of hot water, rinse grape leaves and soak for a few seconds before filling. Spread a grape leaf flat with the shiny side facing down.
Then place a small amount of filling in the center bottom of the leaf. Roll the bottom leaves up, then roll the side leaves in to create a packet.
Continue rolling towards the top of your board to create a tight cylinder.
The notes in the recipe I was referring to indicated that if you just covered your stuffed grape leaves with water, all the water would be absorbed when ready. This was definitely not the case for me, even with extra cooking time, so I’m going to note the next picture – as how *NOT* to place your stuffed grape leaves. I’d advise trying to line the whole edge in a ring – with a base of each cylinder touching the outside of your saucepan. The key here being to have as many stuffed grape leaves as possible with as little room for water to go.
After you’ve placed all the stuffed leaves, sprinkle the surface with a little kosher salt, then place a plate on top to hold them in tight rolls. Cover, heat on medium for 15 minutes, then add lemon juice. Cover again, then continue heating another 25 minutes. Serve Warm.
Happy Eating!
Hats off to your prowess! They look wonderful and do have many nice ingredients to create the marvelous scent and taste that you describe. As I always say, bonne chance ma petite! Since Lebanon is a Francophonie, I’m sure many of your Middle Eastern readers will recognize GOOD LUCK. Love, Mommy
Yummy! Those grape leaves look delish! You have one of my votes and good luck to you.
Thanks Gina!
Love! Been eating dolmas all week – and too scared to try! What a fabulous post – good luck, dear!
Delicious! Lamb is one of my favorite meats and this looks like a great new recipe for me to try!
Thanks for visiting Jazz Rules! What’s your favorite way to eat lamb?
Hello from a current Austinite! I saw the word “Austin” and was very excited…although it seems you now live in Dallas?
Great idea! I’ve never attempted to make dolmas before!
so daring-love your post!
Hi Sarah, thanks for visiting. After 10 years in Austin we headed up I-35 to Dallas 4 years ago. But I’ll always miss Austin!
Thanks for visiting Emma!
You did a roll up also. I can never have enough of these. Thanks for your vote and mine is on the way. Buena Suerte…Good Luck!
Thanks Norma!
Great post! Looks delicious. Love stuffed grape leaves. I voted for you!
Good luck! =)
You can check out my PFB post at :http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/864
These look beautiful! I have a grape vine in my yard, so I’d love to try this with fresh grape leaves. I voted for you, good luck with the rest of the challenges!
this looks delicious 🙂 Good luck with project food and you got my vote for this one! Feel free to drop by 🙂 Good luck and best wishes for making to the top !! WOOHOO
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
I love stuffed grape leaves. Yours look fantastic. My mother-in-law makes a Bulgarian version around Christmas time! Good luck with round 2!!!
I LOVE stuffed grapeleaves. My grandmother makes a Lebanese/Syrian hybrid version that looks very similar to these, but is cooked in tomato sauce. Good luck in round 2!
We have recently discovered a love of lamb. This looks great.
Great job on the stuffed grape leaves. I originally was going to make this recipe for PFB, but couldn’t find the grape leaves. I’m glad I changed my menu or I would have been competing against your culinary skills 😉 I tried lamb for the first time last week and absolutely loved it. I love trying new things through this challenge, don’t you? Congrats on the successful outcome of your dish. I look forward to what you will be offering in the next challenge. You have my vote and thank you for sharing this recipe. Once I find grape leaves, I will definitely give it a try!
Great job on this post! Good luck in the competition!
Ahh! Dolmades! One of my favourite things to eat! There’s a little corner store around the corner from my house where I buy them (perhaps too often…). Dolmades = my vote!
I love lamb, and a buddy from High School is Lebanese, and his mom’s lamb grape leaves were awesome. This looks just as good, I wish I could taste them.
You got our vote (and ours is here, if you’d like to see: http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/957 )
This could be the recipe for me to turn me into a lamb fan! You’ve got my vote, hope we both make it to the third round.
Stuffed grape leaves is one of my favorite, favorite foods! I always have to have it when I go to Mediterranean restaurants. Sending a vote your way from your burnt shrimp toast friend.
For your first time making grape leaves, your wrapping skills look great. Nice work!
My husband’s grandma would be proud of you! Your grape leaves look amazing! Great job on this challenge, you’ve got my vote!
Looks good. I may try steaming these in a contraption.
You did a great job on these! I have never cooked lamb either but I have eaten these many times. They look delicious! Good luck in this round!
I love grape leaves and I’m totally spoiled because my mom makes them for me. Thanks for the great tutorial! You have our vote.
Hi, I’ve been making lamb and rice stuffed grape leaves at Christmas time for about 40 years. I was looking for a recipe just to get a better idea of how many lbs of lamb I would need and thought that your recipe was the closest to what I do. Was taught the recipe by my ex-mother-in-law, whose husband was of Syrian decent. The only difference in mine, is I use instant rice and no cinnamon, but do use allspice. I also place the bones and srcaps from the leg of lamb, on the bottom of the pot. This year I bought a 4.7 lbs leg of lamb and did my own grinding, which yielded approx a little over 3 lbs of meat. I will use a jar per lb. I will also use your addition of cinnamon and kosher salt. I also add a little garlic. Thanks for your posting!
Happy Holidays!
Susan
Wow Susan! Your own grinding, I am so impressed! Merry Christmas and thanks so much for enjoying!
Hi!! Grape leaves have been a favored recipe in my family forever!! I am born in NYC but currently reside in Beverly Hills and tomorrow I am teaching my neighbor how to make lamb and rice stuffed grape leaves. I was interested in seeing other recipes to get an idea on a lamb to rice ratio compared to mine. I cook without weights or measure, just by my heart, memories and that “feeling”, always excited to pull the first one out of the pot to test it’s flavor and to see if the rice is tender.
I always add pine nuts to my mixture that I slowly toast in a pan with toasted sesame oil. I promise you it makes such a delicious addition, you should try it! I also use the lamb bones to add flavor to the steaming process by placing them at the bottom of the pot, adding leaves then covering with water and a plate to weight it down. I also mix into the meat and rice a little lamb stock to add depth to the filling and a bit of moisture for the raw rice to cook tender and flavorful.
I make a pot of Persian rice, a chick pea and red onion salad, labneh seasoned 2 ways for dipping and an assortment of olives, Arab breads, babaganoush and hummus. I am hungry already for tomorrow’s dinner!!
Thanks for sharing your recipe, sounds so yummy too!!
Stefanie