Dolmadakia With Avgolemono Sauce

Stuffed grape leaves with egg-lemon sauce, a greek dish. Can be used as a main dish, side dish or appetizers. Love this for dinner parties, showers, etc. If you like, you can also serve the dolmadakia cold later on without the sauce. However, do not serve the sauce cold and don't reheat the sauce. I have on occasion added 1/4 c raisins or 2 tbs minced black olives to the stuffing. Number of servings is a guess, because how many dolmadakia are in a serving depends on the circumstances (main dish, side dish or appetizer). Update: note on pan: although i've used a pyrex pan on an electric stove over low heat with success, there have recently been at least anecdotal reports that suggest this not be the safest method, and it may be safer to stick with a metal pan. I nowadays use a decorative oval copper pan i have.

Steps

Do not cook the rice , but soak it in boiling water 5 minutes and drain in a sieve.

Unfold the vine leaves and rinse under cold running water.

In a bowl , combine the the rice , onions , meat , mint , parsley , seasonings and oil.

Mix together with clean hands.

Form 1 tbs of the mixture into an oval shape , place on a vine leaf and roll up , turning the ends in to seal.

Repeat until all the stuffing is used.

Arrange stuffed leaves closely packed in layers in a small flame-proof baking dish.

Pour in the broth or water to cover.

Sprinkle with the juice of 1 lemon.

Place a heat-proof plate on top of the grape leaves to weigh them down.

Cover with foil , bring to boil , reduce heat and simmer 1 hour over very low heat.

Let the leaves cool slightly in the broth and remove from broth , reserving the broth.

Beat the egg yolks add the juice of the other lemon to the yolks.

Heat the yolk mixture , slowly adding some of hot broth from dolmadakia while heating.

Remove from heat , .

Ingredients

raw rice, grape leaves, onions, ground lamb, dried mint, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper, olive oil, chicken broth, lemons, egg yolks