cooking question

[Duane Meissner]

Sorry this isn't specifically wine related...
Do any of you have experience cooking with grape leaves? If so, are all grape leaves edible? We have wild mustang grapes growing all over the place down here. Didn't want to poison myself without asking someone first.

DM

[This message has been edited by Duane Meissner (edited 08-21-2003).]

[Innkeeper]

Duane, methinks that all grape vines that produce edible or crushable grapes have edible leaves. Any good Greek cookbook in a Borders type store or library should provide one or more to research for excellent recipes.

[stevebody]

They should be edible but will probably be even more fibrous than the ones sold in Greek delis. Boil some water, salt it, and blanch the leaves in the boiling water for about a minute or two. That sometimes softens the ribs. Whatever you do, DON'T try to make grape leaves anything more than a wrapper for something with a pretty bold flavor. They're not all that interesting on the palate but complement a lot of things well.

[winedope1]

Duane- I cook grape leaves all the time. Don't use any larger than your fist and you ought to be fine. Larger than that they get a little tough. I stuff them and cook them at a low simmer for several hours. I never use the jar preserved leaves because of the brine used. Good luck! PS- happy to pass on recipe if desired!

[This message has been edited by winedope1 (edited 08-20-2003).]

[Georgie]

cookbook! cookbook! cookbook! Repetition is the key to learning....

[Duane Meissner]

Thanks for the responses. I'll try it sometime and let you all know how it goes. Anyone have any favorite stuffing ingredients?

DM

[winedope1]

tomatoes,rice, lean ground beef or lamb, and allspice, cinnamon, onion, salt and pepper.