Stuffed Grape Leaves

I made these a long time ago but only just got around to posting them.  Whenever I make these I also like to make a bunch of other mezes because it keeps the meal interesting.  I think I also served baba ghanoush and spanakopita with this.  You can basically add anything you want to the filling.  I kept it simple by using just rice and ground beef, but you could certainly make this vegetarian (or even vegan, but you will lose a considerable amount of flavor if you use water instead of chicken stock to cook them).  

Ingredients

1 jar grape leaves

1/2 lb ground beef

2 1/2 cups rice (I used jasmine, but anything basic will work)

2 tbsp chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Several tbsp butter

1 quart chicken stock

I forgot to take pictures of me making the filling, but it's pretty self-explanatory.  Just brown the beef in a pan until cooked through, season with salt and pepper, then add the rice and parsley.  Note: the rice does not cook now, it will cook in the oven.  Also, this step can be done in advance.  Then, remove the grape leaves from the jar and let soak in a bowl of water for at least an hour (when you buy grape leaves they are soaking in a vinegar-y brine liquid and you want to dilute that as much as possible).  After that, just place a large tbsp of filling on top of a grape leaf, as shown above, and roll it up.  

You do this by first wrapping it from the bottom, then do both the sides, then complete the fold.  It should be done the same way you make a burrito so that the filling doesn't spill out the sides.  

Place them snug in a pan (you can have two layers if they don't fit), and pour chicken stock over the top until it comes about 3/4 of the way up the grape leaves.  

Dot the tops with a couple pats of butter, cover tightly with foil, and place in a 350 degree oven until the rice is tender.  For me, this takes about 1 hour.  

I also served these with a homemade tzatziki sauce.  I'll post the recipe for that soon.  I'm sorry that I didn't take any pictures of the finished dish.  I hope you give this a try.  Enjoy!