Leaf Pulling & Dolmas

A good friend of mine is in school for viticulture, and while I was visiting her in Salem I ended up meeting a few of her classmates. One of them is focusing on vineyard management and had just come from a class on leaf pulling when we met. I know, right? Why didn't I go to school for that? 

Anyway, hanging out with a bunch of wine people I learned that right about now I should be pulling the leaves on my own grapevine. I'm a little embarrassed to post this pic, as my unruly grapevine is out of control. It was here when we moved in and has never been trained or seriously pruned as you can see. There are actually quite a few grapes hiding behind all those leaves.

Leaf pulling is important as it exposes the grapes to more sun. The plant also gets more air circulation so there's less risk for disease. I did more than pull leaves today because there was so much new growth on the vine, but even well trained grapevines benefit from leaf pulling. It's important not to pull too many as you need some leaves for photosynthesis, and you also need some to shade the grapes from intense summer sun. 

It's better to pull older leaves and base leaves. The base leaves aren't doing anything but taking up energy so definitely pull the first few at the base of each shoot. Right around now is the best time when the grapes are at about 50% of their full size and pollination had already occurred. Also, according to the experts, if your grapes grow N/S it's best to pull on the east side, and if they grow E/W pull from the north. 

Check out my newly exposed grapes. 

While I was pulling leaves I started thinking about dolmas. Hmmhmm...yum! So I saved some of the leaves, and took a stab at making my own. 

Young medium sized leaves are the best as they are still soft and haven't gotten too thick. Snap the stems off, blanch them, and toss them in an ice bath. 

They immediately turn the muted green I associate with dolmas. While the grape leaves are chillin' in an ice bath, you can make the stuffing, and go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350. You can put all kinds of things in your dolmas, but this is what I had on hand. I think they'd be good with some mushrooms, too. 

DOLMA STUFFING

-1 medium onion

-2 cloves of garlic

-1 1/2 cups cooked rice

-1 cup cooked lentils

-1/3 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts

handful of currants

olive oil

lemon juice

fresh dill, parsley, and mint

Saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil. Add the nuts and currants and then mix in the rice and lentils. Add the fresh herbs and remove from heat. Then squeeze some lemon juice over the mix (1 small lemon) and allow the stuffing to cool so it's easy to handle. 

Spoon about a tablespoon of stuffing onto a leaf. 

Fold in the sides, then fold over the top, and roll down toward the pointy end. Squeeze it together, and put in a pan with the seam side facing down. 

Fill the pan with some more water to steam them, drizzle a little olive oil, and squeeze some more lemon juice over the dolmas. Bake them for 40 mins. You may also want to put a plate or pie pan on top of them to keep them immersed in the water. Most of the water should have evaporated when the dolmas are ready. If you prefer, you can also steam them in a pot for about an hour instead of using your oven.

Serve your dolmas at room temp with more lemon!

We ate these as a meal with a salad, and they were surprisingly easy to make. Drew was a big fan, so we'll definitely have more of these again soon while we've still got a ton of recently pulled grape leaves.