Curly Dock Dolmades

Yesterday, I found a Curly Dock plant( well I'm pretty sure it's Curly Dock and not patience Dock). It was very similar to the other Dock I posted about , but the leaves were much longer and thinner.

 As I was by myself for lunch I decided to experiment. I remember seeing a recipe posted on eatweeds.co.uk for "Dock parcels"http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/dock-rice-feta-seaweed-parcels and as I had most of  ingredients in the fridge, I decided to try something similar. I had a bowl of leftover basmati rice from the day before's curry and a pack of feta cheese which was getting close to the use-by-date.I didn't have seaweed, but I wanted to produce a Greek taste as Dock has a similar taste to Vine leaves, so I substituted wild Greek Origano that I picked last year on a Greek island.Greek Origano is the best.

Collecting wild origano, thyme and savory

Ingredients

Curly Dock leaves

Feta Cheese(crumbled)

Basmati rice (cooked)

Origano

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chives

Blanch the Dock leaves in boiling water (less than a minute).

 Becareful the leaves become too soft very quickly.

Place leaves flat on kichen paper or clean tea towel to absorb water.

Mix rice, feta,origano with a little olive oil and press together to form filling for dolmades.

(I placed the leaves rib side down, as I thought they could be cooked a little more at the heating stage).

Roll up tightly and press in rice at the sides.

Tie up with chives (you could use slivers of leek or even cocktail sticks).

Heat in a little olive oil for a few minutes to seve hot, but they are good cold aswell.

They were delicious served with lemon and tasted very Greek (although real dolmades usually have minced lamb and other ingredients). I was so proud of my experiment I found more leaves today and made them again for my family.

They went down really well with everyone,  which is not always the case with my wildcraft creations! 

I have just found this really helpful post,(wish I'd found it earlier) which will give you lots of tips if you want to try making dolomades with dock or other leaves.They are traditionally made with wider leaves of sorrel or patience dock.
http://www.organicallycooked.com/2008/03/dolmades-leaves-stuffed-with-rice_09.html