Grape Leaves

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) jar grape leaves

1 lb ground beef or lamb

1 cup long grain white rice

2 tsp salt

1 small onion, chopped fine

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lemons

1 aluminum pie pan

Directions:
Put rice in a medium sized bowl and cover it with 2 cups of cold water. Let it stand for 30-60 minutes.Drain and rinse grape leaves (otherwise they will be slightly sour).Drain all of the water from the rice.Mix rice, meat, salt, pepper, allspice, chopped onion, and cinnamon. Mix by hand at least 5 minutes.Begin with one grape leaf, flattened out on a surface:Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture onto bottom of the leaf
Starting from the bottom of the leaf, roll the mixture up into the leaf, folding in the edges.Don't fold extremely tight, because the rice will expand slightly.Poke several holes into the disposable aluminum pie pan, then place pan bottom-up into the kettle.As you roll the grape leaves, place around the pie pan in a circular fashion.When you finish the 1st layer, top with a squeeze of the lemon and a pinch of the minced garlic.Repeat for all layers until the meat mixture is gone.Place a heatproof plate over the top of the leaves- plate should leave a little room on the edges.Fill kettle with water over the top of the plate.Cook on top of stove on high heat until it begins to boil.Lower heat to medium so that water does not boil over and continue cooking.Total cooking time after it starts to boil is 15-17 minutes.Carefully drain water from kettle, then remove plate and let cool.