Loving the Greek Life
An Intrepid Traveler Mystery, Book 1
In Death in the Aegean, when Stefanie Adams travels to Santorini and Crete on a much-needed vacation, she vows to embrace opportunities as they come. And how can a girl pass up sampling delicious Greek food? I know I can’t. In the city of Heraklion, Crete, Stefanie tries a typical Greek offering of dolmathes, or stuffed grape leaves.
Like Stefanie, I love Greek food. I found this recipe years ago, and at first was wary of adding cinnamon to a savory dish, but it blends in nicely and really adds depth to the flavor. I’ve had dolmathes with and without meat, but I prefer them with. I hope you like them, too. They can be served as a snack, side dish or the main event. Enjoy!
Dolmathes
Makes 30-35 stuffed grape leaves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Ingredients for rice stuffing:
1/2 lb. ground beef
2T olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 T. chopped dillweed
2 T. chopped parsley
1 cup rice
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Ingredients to Fill:
1/2 of a 16oz jar of grape leaves
Rice Stuffing (recipe below)
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Hot water to cover
In a large saucepan, brown beef in olive oil, then add everything except lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is done. Mix in lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Rinse the grape leaves and pat dry.
With grape leaf vein side up, place a generous tablespoon of rice stuffing at the base of leaf. Fold up from the bottom, then fold in sides and roll. Place seam side down in a 1-qt. casserole dish. Fit them in tightly. It’s fine to layer them if you need to. Repeat until you run out of leaves or stuffing. The dolmathes should be tightly packed in the pan.
Pour olive oil and juice of 1 lemon over them, then add just enough hot water to cover.
Cover pan with lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 60 minutes. Can be served hot, warm or cold.
When private banker Stefanie Adams takes a much-needed vacation to the Greek Isles, vowing to embrace opportunities as they come, instead of finding romance and adventure, she is suspected of murdering a bride who accused her deceased father of artifact theft. Unfortunately, the bride’s accusation also ties Stefanie, a former archaeology student, to the robbery of a newly discovered gold Minoan statue, the Akrotiri Snake Goddess. With two high-profile crimes to solve, Greek police are under pressure, and both crimes lead straight to Stefanie.
When her own life is threatened, Stefanie relies on her bank training for spotting potential criminals to identify which of her fellow travelers is the real killer.
The now-wealthy bridegroom? The elderly sisters with questionable connections who pop up in the most unexpected places? The popular travel blogger whose career Emma tried to ruin? The light-fingered backpacker with an eye on her valuable jewelry? Or could it be the flirtatious German tourist who is clearly after more than romance?
Caught up in a web of international intrigue, theft, and murder, Stefanie doesn’t know who to trust. Not everyone is what they seem, and as charming Thomas Burkhardt warns, Where Greed Leads, Murder Follows….
Buy Link (ebook available for pre-order now, on sale everywhere 5/19)
Readers, have you discovered any great foods on your travels? I'd love to hear what they are.
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