Grape Leaves
I pruned my grape vines a bit. Some stray shoots had come out of the middle as will as the base of one of the vines. While the middle ones are just a nuisance, since they get in the way, the bottom shoots are likely a different variety, used as a rootstock. (All French varietal grape vines, and most American varietal grape vines are grafted onto disease resistant rootstock.)
The grape leaves (yaprak, in Turkish) are needed as the wrapper in making stuffed grape leaves (known as dolmades, in Greece), filled with raw rice and raw ground meat or other filling. Even though the rolled dolmades will be cooked, they don't come out very typical, if the grape leaves start out freshly picked. The store-bought grape leaves have usually been pickled in a citric acid brine, which alters their texture.
I'm out of citric acid. So I decided to try just a simple salt brine, to which I added some rice vinegar. A standard salt brine for everything in the world is:
For my small batch of leaves (stems trimmed to a nub, then well rinsed), I used 1½ cups of water, 1½ Tbsp of kosher salt, and 1½ Tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (for less acidity, and a softer taste than distilled vinegar).
If it starts to bubble, from lactic fermentation, then I'll leave it out on the counter for another week, prior to refrigeration. Otherwise it will just go into the fridge, until I gather the energy to roll some dolmades.
Bob
I pruned my grape vines a bit. Some stray shoots had come out of the middle as will as the base of one of the vines. While the middle ones are just a nuisance, since they get in the way, the bottom shoots are likely a different variety, used as a rootstock. (All French varietal grape vines, and most American varietal grape vines are grafted onto disease resistant rootstock.)
The grape leaves (yaprak, in Turkish) are needed as the wrapper in making stuffed grape leaves (known as dolmades, in Greece), filled with raw rice and raw ground meat or other filling. Even though the rolled dolmades will be cooked, they don't come out very typical, if the grape leaves start out freshly picked. The store-bought grape leaves have usually been pickled in a citric acid brine, which alters their texture.
I'm out of citric acid. So I decided to try just a simple salt brine, to which I added some rice vinegar. A standard salt brine for everything in the world is:
- distilled water 1 quart
- non-iodized salt ¼ cup
For my small batch of leaves (stems trimmed to a nub, then well rinsed), I used 1½ cups of water, 1½ Tbsp of kosher salt, and 1½ Tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (for less acidity, and a softer taste than distilled vinegar).
If it starts to bubble, from lactic fermentation, then I'll leave it out on the counter for another week, prior to refrigeration. Otherwise it will just go into the fridge, until I gather the energy to roll some dolmades.
Bob