Lebanese Grape Leaves

My grandmothers recipe for

Place rice in a medium sized bowl and cover with 3 cups of cold water.

Let stand for 30-60 minutes.

Drain and rinse grape leaves in a colander.

Cut leaves in half removing the thick center stem.

Save five or six large leaves for bottom of pan- discard any extremely tough or ragged leaves.

Drain all water from rice.

Add lamb , salt , pepper , and cinnamon.

Mix by hand thoroughly.

Line bottom of large kettle or dutch oven with five or six large leaves to prevent scorching.

Lay a leaf flat on a plate , shiny side down.

Put approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of meat mixture towards bottom of leaf.

Roll in one edge to seal , then roll leaf up firmly but not too tight.

Place leaves in kettle in circular fashion leaving a small circle in the center for water to circulate.

When you have one full row on bottom of pan , slice two cloves of garlic over the top of the leaves.

Sprinkle with a little of the mint.

Continue rolling the leaves and layering them with the garlic / mint.

grape leaves, ground lamb, long grain white rice, salt, pepper, cinnamon, garlic, mint, lemons