My Thompson Seedless is growing nicely, and before the grape leaf skeletonizers and white flies hit, I thought I'd try and make use of some of the beautiful glossy green leaves it is putting out. For supper the other night, I used some of them to wrap a salmon filet, and cook it on the grill. It turned out so well, I thought I would share.
I picked six grape leaves about the size of my hand, rinsed them, put them in a bowl and poured boiling water over them to blanch them for a couple of minutes. Drained them, and dried them on a tea towel. I laid three of them out on a plate, "nice side down," overlapping so there were no holes. I then finely minced some rosemary, parsley, and garlic chives from the garden and mixed those up in a little bowl with some lemon zest, minced garlic, lemon juice and salt. I took a small salmon fillet (about 5 inches or so square and 1.5 inches thick), skinned it, laid it on top of my grape leaves, and then spread my herb mixture over the top of the fish. I put the other three grape leaves on top of the fish, and wrapped it all up like a parcel. I brushed the outside with olive oil, and then cooked it on the grill on high, with the lid down, for about 2.5 minutes per side. At 2.5 minutes per side, it was perfectly done to my taste, but my husband would have liked it done a little more, so you may want to adjust the cooking time. I was pleased to see that the grape leaves browned and crisped up nicely, and didn't come apart or stick at all. It made it very easy to grill the fish without any worries about sticking to the grill, and it came out extremely moist and flavorful. The crispy grilled grape leaves were a nice contrast to the moist fish. My husband really liked it too, and said he'd be happy to eat it again, which is saying a lot for a guy who isn't big into fish.
I may have to try freezing some grape leaves to use in this manner in the future; does anyone here try to preserve their grape leaves? If so, I'd be very interested in any tips you have.
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Sounds delicious! I would love to try this when my grape vine mature in the next couple of years.