Nikos Roussos and Georgianna Hiliadaki’s Dolmas Recipe

Ingredients
For the crispy vine leaves:

• 10 pieces of nice and whole vine leaves
• 1L simple syrup
• Zest from 2 lemons

For the dolmas mixture:

• 75g extra virgin olive oil
• 30g ham fat, melted
• 200g onion, brunoise
• 5g garlic, minced
• 110g fresh onion, minced
• 50g vine leaves (finely chopped without stalks)
• 280g quinoa blanched for 10 minutes
• 280g chicken stock
• 10g sea salt

To finish the dolmas mixture for serving:

• 1.2g white pepper
• 4g lemon zest
• 11g mint
• 10g parsley
• 10g dill
• 15g lemon juice, strained
• 150g yogurt lemon sauce (see below)
• 10g egg and lemon sauce (see below)

For the egg and lemon sauce:

• 220g whole egg
• 500g chicken stock
• 40g lemon juice, strained
• 1.2g white pepper, ground
• 6.2g salt
• 20g dill, chopped

For the yogurt lemon sauce:

• 300g egg and lemon sauce (see above)
• 75g yogurt
• 25g syrup

Method

For the crispy vine leaves:

1. Put the syrup in a big bowl and dip the vine leaves inside until completely covered in syrup.
2. Take the leaves out one by one and dry them well on both sides in kitchen towel/paper.
3. Sprinkle one side of each leaf with lemon zest.
4. Place the leaves on dehydrator trays, and wrap each tray with cling film.
5. Dehydrate at 55°C for at least 12 hours and use leaves directly from the dehydrator when needed.

For the dolmas mixture:

1. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and ham fat.
2. Add the brunoise onions, fresh onions and garlic and saute, ensuring that no colour develops on the vegetables.
3. Add the quinoa and saute.
4. Gradually add the chicken stock and salt to the pan.
5. Finish off with the vine leaves, stir and place the mixture in a bowl over an ice bath until cool.

For the egg and lemon sauce:

1. Place the eggs into a bowl and whisk them well.
2. Set another bowl over an ice bath and place the lemon juice, salt and pepper into this bowl.
3. In a pan, bring the chicken stock to a boil and then temper it with the eggs.
4. Return the tempered egg and stock mixture to the pan, and bring it to 79°C on the stove while whisking it constantly. Once the desired temperature is reached, remove it from the heat immediately and strain it into the bowl with the lemon, stirring until it is dissolved.
5. Strain the mixture again into another bowl, add the dill and then transfer the mixture into a squeeze bottle.

For the yogurt lemon sauce:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.

To finish off the dolmas mixture for serving:

1. Weigh out 600g of the dolmas mixture.
2. Add all the ingredients, mixing gently until well combined.
3. Keep in a bowl covered with cling film at room temperature until required for use.

Plating 

To serve each plate:

1. Place 50g of quinoa dolmas mixture in the center of the plate.
2. Place 3 dollops of the yogurt sauce on the quinoa dolmas mixture.
3. Cover with a crispy vine leaf.

Recipe courtesy of Nikos Roussos and Georgianna Hiliadaki’s at Funky Gourmet Restaurant, Athens.
Image courtesy of Katerina Avgerinou.

Nikos Roussos and Georgianna Hiliadaki Chef Feature