Harvesting and Preparing Grape Leaves

I show you how I harvested and prepared my grape leaves and then stuffed them to make a delicious meal. Stuffed grape leaves are a popular dish in Greek and middle eastern cooking. You can buy them for stuffing but no need to if you grow your own grape vines. Their flavor is mild with a little tang that goes very well with many different fillings. All varieties of grape leaves are edible but Thompson Seedless are one of the best. it takes some time to make stuffed grape leaves but it is worth it. Give them a try!
Thank you for watching!

[@darleneh7740]

Thank you for sharing this video ❣️

[@XjtBA]

I love Stuffed Grape Leaves. Here is an old recipe I’ve had from Greek friends from over 40 years ago. These are simmered over the stove. Enjoy! 50 vine leaves, fresh or canned 2 chopped onions 1-1/2 lbs. ground round or ground chuck 1/2 cup (1 stick or 125 grams) butter 1 TBSP salt fresh ground pepper to taste 2 TBSP chopped parsley or mint leaf, or half and half (love the mixture of both) 3/4 cup uncooked rice ------ 5 egg yolks 1/2 cup water 3 to 4 TBSP fresh lemon juice Boil water in big saucepan. Add vine leaves and leave in until softened. Cut off the stems. Drain the leaves as you go along. Saute onion in butter or margarine. Remove frying pan from fire and add meat, salt, pepper, parsley and uncooked rice. Mix well. Place a big spoonful of mixture on each leaf, shiny side down; fold over once, then tuck in sides and fold once again. Arrange all close together in a saucepan until they look really crowded, row after row. Place saucer or another saucepan on top of the dolmades or they will open up while cooking. Add 1-1/2 cups warm water and cook gently for one hour (I cook for 1-1/2 hours). Make sure water doesn't boil off completely; add a little if necessary. SAUCE: Beat egg yolks and add the cold water little by little, beating constantly with a whisk. Add lemon juice in a slow steady stream while beating. When vine leaves are ready, drain but save the broth, and add to the beaten yolks slowly. Put over low heat and stir for 10 minutes. When thickened, pour the sauce over the dolmades and serve.

[@marlopuk]

thanks for the recipe and video, you wouldn't belive but I have two vines growing in London and i had always wanted to use the leaves to make dolma but had never done until now. I followed your harvesting and preparation and I made some wonderful dolma, which I enjoyed with my family. I think I will be able to harvest some more before the autumn set in.

[@mariemcknight9622]

Mario Lopez hh

[@Gardeninggirl1107]

Absolutely delicious! A boyfriend from my college days was Greek and his Mom made all sorts of wonderful food, she made these and they were unbelievably wonderful. Thank you so much for showing how to make them, you are a very creative cook and I really appreciate how you showed each step.

[@ersinbeli7563]

Gardeninggirl1107 it’s Turkish food bro

[@Gardeninggirl1107]

@@ersinbeli7563 it's actually both - Greek & Turkish. They share lots of the same cuisine - just change up the filling, etc.

[@CCbalconygarden]

Wow! That's really great...I had never seen stuffed grape leaves made before. Looks awesome!

[@thefigtreeguy]

Look at the size of those leaves! Beautiful!

[@DaleCalderCampobello]

I have a wild vine that is high up an old pine tree. When the leaves in the hoop house are big enough later on I hope to give this a try. They look so good.

[@activehashmi]

Great...never tasted it before..right now i am going to harvest grape leaves from my home's lawn..Cant wait to taste it..Thank you so much..Shukran yaa habibi

[@imtethered1]

Looks delicious! I just planted my first grape in my greenhouse and hope to try this in the future. thank you for the great video!

[@julieparker4045]

Thanks for the demo, you make it look easy enough to try.

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Mmm, I love Greek food! (Lol, really I love all kinds of foods) I know what you mean, we have a friend who is Iranian and he makes these with a meat, onion and tomato mixture and they are so good that I can't even describe them in words. The filling possibilities are endless but it takes some skill to make them taste that good. Thanks :)

[@RivetGardener]

Real nice! I got plenty of grapevines along my fenceline, I might try this soon. Thanks for sharing.

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

They are called "Dolmas". I bet you had some delicious food in Greece :) I am not sure if they would need another vine to cross pollinate with. I only have one Thompson Seedless vine and it does form grapes but I also have other varieties so not sure if that is why. Thompson Seedless are the variety that are used for authentic Dolmas because of their size and flexibility. Thanks for the comment and for watching!

[@TnT_F0X]

Not ANY variety... wine grapes for example like Concord grapes have white backs because the leaf is thicker and has more woody tissue. They're edible, but unenjoyable. I just got Einset and Himrod varieties, both are WAY more flexible, but the green seedless varieties seem the best, they're fully green on both sides, no white, so they'd be the most tender... Which is why I couldn't make homemade grapeleaves for 30 years even with a 100 year old grape tree. Hope this helps, your video is helping me harvest my first big tasty leaves soon!

[@MartyFRsfNE]

Looks delicious.

[@Nadia-du8vb]

This looks amazing. This Palestinian gives you a big thumbs up 👍🏼 where did you find the plant? I want to grow my own grape leaves.

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Lucky you, i was only able to harvest 30 or so leaves from my vine. This is a good time of year to pick leaves, before they all get tough. They are real good and something different for us since I don't have Greek food often. Thanks for watching :)

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Thanks, They are really good!

[@elysejoseph]

Oh, I love stuffed grape leaves! I don't have grapes yet, but that's on my list :) Take care my friend!

[@Epicmed1c]

Do you cook the rice totally before wrapping? I didn’t understand that part. I’m going to make Birria rice grape leaves!

[@scientificexplorergirl3374]

What a great idea! Is there an ideal time to harvest the grape leaves (i.e. can you harvest them throughout the summer of only before the grapes begin to ripen)? Thanks!

[@RainbowGardens]

All of that makes me think of when I visited Greece a few years ago. Instead of salt, I used lemon to season food. What is the name for stuffed grape leaves? I used to buy them about 20 years ago at a little market and they were always great. I had no idea what I was eating then...I learned what it was years later... Looks delicious. I want to plant grapes at our new place. They grow wonderfully there. Is Thompson best? Do I need to plant it with another variety? Thanks

[@Nadia-du8vb]

Dolma in Greek /Turkish and Warek enab/dewali in Arabic

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

I have dreams of having a long fence of just grape vines one day :) Thank you for watching!

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Lol, these do take quite a bit of time to prepare. The process is similar to making tamales. Hopefully, next year my vine can spare more leaves and I can make a bigger batch. Hope you are doing well, healing and feeling better than ever, take care my friend.

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Thank you :)

[@activehashmi]

healthy and tasty,,:)

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

I hope they turn out well for you. I liked them very much! Thanks for the comment :)

[@ManabuFarms]

I will have to try this as part of my 30 days but my grape leafs are way smaller, so we will see how it works out

[@Silverchord1974]

And do you know of a better organic pesticide that works better than neme oil?

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

After seeing what you made for your day 15 dinner, I am sure they will be delicious anyway:) thanks for watching!

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

I let this grape vine grow up into the cottonwood tree so I hope it doesn't harm the tree. It was hard to distinguish the leaves apart at first but as I started searching for grape leaves I was surprised by how far it has grown. I guess I made it easier for the birds to eat the grapes, lol.

[@shadowofjuniperhill]

Thanks, yes, they are best before the grapes ripen as the vines are still growing and producing more leaves. You can still eat them when they are old but the stems that go throughout the leaf will likely be stringy and the leaf tough even when cooked. Somewhere between May to early July depending on your zone is the best time to pick them. Thank you for watching :)

[@ladraode9dedos409]

Good one, better still with lamb or beef or pork mince....

[@ersinbeli7563]

*TURKISH FOOD* 👍👍

[@jimu3465]

instead of a layer of potato use green pepper it gives it a really good flavor

[@SA-xt1gd]

How to you get that soury vingeary taste?

[@Leisurelistsb]

Did you put cooked rice or raw?

[@AS-io3lt]

The rice are cooked

[@rhondabaroli2683]

I not a team player today : ) but I trying well this patient hot head is mad because I gotta hear everything thru the Grapevine Poo poo lol ! Gn media

[@mellyz601]

Thin leaves my favorite. You should not boil much.

[@theelement3065]

Ablacım Olmamış.

[@ritarichardson3881]

Looks delicious.

[@Silverchord1974]

We get those little A&$hole June bugs out here, and they eat the leaves. Neme oil is a good deterrent, but does it effect the edibility of the leaves?

[@ahamatmabrahman]

Yesterday I paid a fortune for a pack of vine leaves in brine , then today I helped a freind in her garden '' It's full of grap vines . not many people grow grapes in UK . Not sure if I should eat them since they are in a city garden ?

[@thecraftguy21]

I work in the fields in California year round picking and getting the vines ready for harvest ....I’m going to try this recipe !!!!! 🍇