Porcupine Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
This is a take off from Joan Nathan’s Ultimate Stuffed Cabbage – couple a modifications….
Reduced volume –
one pound of ground beef;
half a head of green cabbage;
other items to suit.
Produced twenty stuffed cabbage rolls; original recipe with two pounds cites 24 stuffed rolls. I’m guessing my fork sized rolls are smaller, eh?
The meat stuffing – nothing particularly spectacular – mix together and refrig until ready to use.
(Pre-cooked and cooled) about half-cup of white rice.
One pound / 450 g fresh ground chuck – about 15% fat – raw
Half a medium onion finely diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Two tablespoons / 30 ml ketchup.
The sauce is the key to this dish:
One large onion thinly sliced, sweated down in (olive) oil
Then add
Two cups / 500 ml cored and rough chopped fresh tomatoes – juice/seeds/skins included
Salt and pepper to taste
Quarter cup / 50 ml ketchup
Quarter cup / 25 g light brown sugar
Quarter cup / 30 g raisins
Simmer about 45-60 minutes – use a stick blender mid-way to smooth out the sauce – but “zero lumps” is not required or recommended.
Add water as needed to maintain about two cups / 500 ml volume.
(add lemon juice just before pouring over cabbage – see below)
Dish Preparation / Assembly
Originally the recipe called for freezing the cabbage overnight; then a full day’s thaw.
I presume this is to “wilt” the cabbage leaves, thus enabling the “wrapped roll” bit.
Freezing/thawing the cabbage did not work; very bad idea. The thicker inner leaves did not cook soft; any leaf with a stem/spine required a sharp knife to cut and discard – inedible.
So, core / de-stem the cabbage, strip the leaves, blanch until soft the “ole fashioned way” in salted boiling water.
Preheat oven to 350’F/175’C
Spoonful of meat/rice mix, roll up cabbage; into 11x17 inch (28x45 cm) baking dish.
Add two tablespoons/60 ml fresh lemon juice to cooled sauce, pour over cabbage rolls.
Bake covered (alum foil) for 90 minutes
Uncover, check liquid level, add water/wine if needed
Bake uncovered additional 30 minutes.
The raisins add a zing to the sauce – DW has already scheduled this sauce for “chicken trials” – it is good.
This is a take off from Joan Nathan’s Ultimate Stuffed Cabbage – couple a modifications….
Reduced volume –
one pound of ground beef;
half a head of green cabbage;
other items to suit.
Produced twenty stuffed cabbage rolls; original recipe with two pounds cites 24 stuffed rolls. I’m guessing my fork sized rolls are smaller, eh?
The meat stuffing – nothing particularly spectacular – mix together and refrig until ready to use.
(Pre-cooked and cooled) about half-cup of white rice.
One pound / 450 g fresh ground chuck – about 15% fat – raw
Half a medium onion finely diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Two tablespoons / 30 ml ketchup.
The sauce is the key to this dish:
One large onion thinly sliced, sweated down in (olive) oil
Then add
Two cups / 500 ml cored and rough chopped fresh tomatoes – juice/seeds/skins included
Salt and pepper to taste
Quarter cup / 50 ml ketchup
Quarter cup / 25 g light brown sugar
Quarter cup / 30 g raisins
Simmer about 45-60 minutes – use a stick blender mid-way to smooth out the sauce – but “zero lumps” is not required or recommended.
Add water as needed to maintain about two cups / 500 ml volume.
(add lemon juice just before pouring over cabbage – see below)
Dish Preparation / Assembly
Originally the recipe called for freezing the cabbage overnight; then a full day’s thaw.
I presume this is to “wilt” the cabbage leaves, thus enabling the “wrapped roll” bit.
Freezing/thawing the cabbage did not work; very bad idea. The thicker inner leaves did not cook soft; any leaf with a stem/spine required a sharp knife to cut and discard – inedible.
So, core / de-stem the cabbage, strip the leaves, blanch until soft the “ole fashioned way” in salted boiling water.
Preheat oven to 350’F/175’C
Spoonful of meat/rice mix, roll up cabbage; into 11x17 inch (28x45 cm) baking dish.
Add two tablespoons/60 ml fresh lemon juice to cooled sauce, pour over cabbage rolls.
Bake covered (alum foil) for 90 minutes
Uncover, check liquid level, add water/wine if needed
Bake uncovered additional 30 minutes.
The raisins add a zing to the sauce – DW has already scheduled this sauce for “chicken trials” – it is good.