Brining Grape Leaves
Brining grape leaves is best done in the spring or early summer when the grape leaves are more supple but I just couldn’t resist brining up a few jars now. Brined grape leaves are used to make a Greek dish called dolmades and can also be used as a decorative accent under cheeses. They have an earthy, salty taste that is complementary to savory foods.
First pick your leaves, wash them and put them in stacks of about ten leaves.
Next make up your brining solution with 1/4 cup brining salt to 4 cups of water and 2 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid. The citric acid is important to acidify the brining solution and prevent botulism.
Once your brining solution has simmered for at least five minutes pack the stacked and rolled leaves in a sterile jar and fill to within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Related posts:
- Canning Tomatoes
- Making Pickled Beets
- Urban Homesteading: Harvesting Rhubarb for Scrumptious Muffins
Comments RSS You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
2 Responses to “Brining Grape Leaves”
Leave a Reply
Categories
Copyright Urban Farm Hub 2010 | Designed by Woonerfs
I am very excited about this post! We tried making our own dolmades a few weeks ago, but I didn’t have a good brining recipe. May I ask, where did you get this canning recipe? I have scoured canning books for a good recipe, but could not find any mention of grape leaves.
This is a recipe from the Greek side of my family. It works pretty well if the leaves are still pliable.