Yia Yia's Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

The classic, handed-down through generations, Greek family recipe for the greatest food you will ever encounter.

Ingredients:

1 jar grape leaves (or 20-30 fresh leaves, parboiled to soften; remove any long stems)

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef or lamb

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup mint leaves

1/2 cup raw rice

1 egg

Chicken broth (enough to cover dolmades in pot)

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Egg-Lemon Sauce:

3 eggs

Juice of 3 lemons

Directions

Combine beef, onion, mint, rice, egg and salt & pepper. If using leaves from a jar, drain the brine from the grape leaves and rinse under cold running water. With stem end facing you and vein side up, place about 1 teaspoon meat filling on the leaf. Fold the stem end up to cover the filling. Fold the sides in and roll.

When all leaves are stuffed (if you run out of leaves, you can made naked "porcupine balls" to finish off the meat mixture), pack the rolls tightly in a pan, seam side down, in layers, and carefully pour the chicken broth over them to cover them all. Put a heavy glass pot lid or plate on top to keep the dolmades from opening. Simmer approximately 40 minutes. Take out the glass lid and remove from heat.

Egg-Lemon Sauce:

In a blender, beat the egg until frothy and add the lemon juice. While still blending, slowly add enough hot broth from the pot to fill the blender. (Yia Yia wisdom: adding hot to cold keeps the mixture from curdling). After blending, carefully pour the mixture onto the dolmades, which are still in the pot. Put the pot back onto the hot burner and heat uncovered on low temperature until (this is the tricky part) you see the mixture "bloop" once (if the egg sauce does boil, it will not be foamy, but this only affects the looks; taste is the same). Then remove from heat and serve right away—with lots of bread for sopping up the delicious sauce. Best eaten with a greek salad.

This is a dish best served to your family directly from the pot. If you can't bear to put the pot right on the dinner table, you'll have to dish out each portion from the stovetop.