Tonight we're invited to our monthly supper club with friends, and the theme of this month's club is "the last supper". It's bittersweet because we have quite a few members and friends who are leaving us at the end of this month for greener pastures, but such is life. The idea behind this event is that it's our last supper together, and we should bring what we would want to eat if it was our last supper ever. Well, that's really a tall order to fill if you ask me, so I settled on one of my favorite summer appetizers that included tzatziki since I had a request from a friend for a great tzatziki recipe.
Dolmades are the Greek word for stuffed grape leaves. They can be made with meat or without, and can be eaten hot with avgolemono sauce (egg-lemon sauce) or cold either plain or with tzatziki (my favorite way to eat them!). Tzatziki is a yogurt based dip with cucumber and garlic.
I'll start with the tzatziki first. It's best to start the prep for this the day before, since you need to let the cucumber and yogurt strain. The ingredients you need are:
2 cucumbers
1.5 containers Fage Greek Yogurt (each is 17 oz.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
4-5 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
The night before you intent to serve the tzatziki, you should strain the yogurt and cucumber. You don't technically need to use Fage brand yogurt, but it's authentic Greek yogurt (they sell it in Greece!) and is very thick and creamy. I actually found straining it didn't release much liquid, so you can get away with not straining it. If you use any other yogurt though, definitely strain it. The secret to good tzatziki is to get rid of excess water from both the yogurt and cucumber! Therefore, I also used full fat yogurt for the sake of taste!
Start by washing and peeling the cucumbers, and cutting around the core of seeds if you don't get a seedless one. I placed a colander over a pot, and grated the cucumber directly into the colander. When done, I squeezed the grated cucumber with my hands to release as much liquid as possible. I then patted down with paper towels, and laid some at the bottom of the colander, putting the grated cucumber on top. Sprinkle with salt, and put in the fridge over night. Another secret to tzatziki is salting the cucumber, not the yogurt. So add what you need here, and don't put more once you've mixed it in!
Next, I put a mesh sieve over a pot and emptied the yogurt into it. This went in the fridge overnight as well.
The next day, I put the yogurt and cucumber together in a large bowl. I originally used 1 container of Fage, and there seemed to be too much cucumber for it. I luckily had another container in the fridge and added half of it. This was the perfect amount. Add 3, 4, or 5 garlic cloves to your yogurt mixture. I have a tool that squeezes the garlic out, and I used 5 medium size cloves. If you don't have this tool, puree it in a food processor. Tzatziki in Greece is VERY garlicky; so add garlic at your discretion! Top it off with 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 Tbsp. white vinegar, and mix with a spatula. Voila! Delicious home-made tzatziki at your fingertips! You can garnish with dill or an olive, and serve with bread, french fries, or dolmathes.
Next comes the recipe for the dolmades. I made them with just rice and herbs, and they will be served cold with the tzatziki. The ingredients you need are as follows:
2.5 cups white long-grain rice
1 large onion, I used Vidalia onion
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. dried mint
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup olive oil
2 lemons
1 large jar grape leaves
salt and pepper
Start by chopping the onion, parsley, and basil. I pureed them together in a food processor. Put a medium saucepan over medium heat and put in half the olive oil. Saute the pureed onion, parsley, basil, and dried mint for 3 minutes. Then add rice and stir for a minute. Add 5 cups water, juice of 1/2 a lemon, add salt and pepper to taste, cover saucepan, and lower heat. Let rice mixture simmer for about 10 minutes or until ready.
Meanwhile, empty the jar of grape leaves and rinse and dry them. Be careful when handling the grape leaves; the last thing you want is torn/broken leaves! Once the rice mixture is done and cooled, you can start assembling the grape leaves. This takes some time and patience! Put about 1 Tbsp. filling in a grape leave, fold in the edges and roll. If some leaves are extra large, you can cut them in half and make two out of one, just make sure to adjust your amount of filling. Place your rolled grape leave seam down in a large saucepan, sprayed with cooking spray so they don't stick to the bottom. Arrange them in the pot, piling the stuffed grape leaves on top of another, until all leaves are done. Then pour the rest of the olive oil on the grape leaves, and the rest of the lemon juice (1.5 lemons), and enough water to cover half the grape leaves (about 3 cups). Put a plate on top of the grape leaves so they don't float away while simmering, and put the pot on low heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. You can check the domades for tenderness, but I find 1 hour is more than sufficient.
Now, using an oven mitt, remove the plate from the pot to reveal your delicious home-made dolmades! Carefully take them out one by one. They are hot and fragile and at great risk for breaking, so be careful! I arrange them in a dish and refrigerate until I'm ready to serve them with tzatziki since I like them cold. This recipe made about 50 dolamades (I cut some leaves in half), but only 40 are making it to the Last Supper tonight. The rest ended up in the 'broken' pile or in my belly, where they belong :)
I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know if you like it!
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