Ain't No Foolin' Around

[Trilby]

I am in desperate need of a tried and true Cabbage Roll recipe. No bull, no fancy-schmancy--just good, solid, EASY TO MAKE cabbage rolls. With really wholesome ingredients. Maybe even tofu. MAYBE. But, gotta taste really good and not like you're trying to hide something.

[Trilby]

PS even if you hate me you must respond to my heartfelt request--LIVES may depend upon it!

[Happy Monkey]

Ask these guys...

[Trilby]

once again, hm disappoints.

[wolf]

I honestly don't know if there are any good cabbage roll recipes.

[busterb]

Bri. I'll look at a few old books, but all I remember seeing took some work.

[Hoof Hearted]

Cabbage Rolls

12 cabbage leaves
1# ground beef
1/2c uncooked instant rice
15oz tomato sauce
1t salt
1/8t pepper
1/8t garlic salt
1 medium onion (I like Vidalia sweet onions) chopped (about 1/2c)
4oz mushroom stems/pieces, undrained
1t sugar
1/2t lemon juice
1T cornstarch
1T water

Boil water and let cabbage leaves stand in the water for 10 minutes until limp, remove/drain on plate w/ paper towels.

Heat oven to 350*.
Mix next 8 ingredients, but use only 1/2 the tomato sauce.

Place about a 1/3 cup of mixture at the stem end of each cabbage leaf and roll up, tucking in the sides. Place seam side down in a casserole baking dish.

Mix the remaining 1/2 can of tomato sauce with sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cabbage rolls. Cover and bake about 45 minutes or until beef mixture is done.

After baking, remove cabbage rolls to a platter and pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan, add the cornstarch and water. (mix the cornstarch and cold/cool water FIRST or you may get lumps) Boil for one minute and then pour over cabbage rolls.

*I haven't made this recipe, but I would see nothing wrong with adding the cornstarch and water to the tomato sauce, sugar and lemon-juice mixture and letting it all bake.
The less steps I have to take in cooking, the better. BUT, I've never used instant rice and I'd probably cook my (boiled) rice beforehand and add it to the recipe as usual.
hh

[lumberjim]

soonds leek a sock full o shite

[footfootfoot]

You can invent your own.

What tastes good with cabbages? Potatoes.
What tastes good with potatoes that wouldn't cause a problem with cabbages? some kind of cheese. sharp like cheddar or maybe parmesan.
What kind of accent? sour, spicy, tart, salty?

Do you want meat in there? that's gonna compete if it isn't done right. Maybe jsut a wee bit of gound beef, well browned with some salt.

mash the potatoes, grate some cheese into it, add some butter and salt if the cheese isn't salty enough. Capers go well here and add a note of sour.

Stir in the well browned ground beef. Carmelize an onion, finely chopped, add that to the mix. Maybe some pepper, but I'd skip it. You want your tang to come from the cheese. Maybe some thyme. this is your mix, what ever it is you should want to eat it plain, the cabbage is an extra which is holding it for you.

Whatever you do, I'd stay away from Betty Crocker. Tomatoes and Cabbage family don't really work and play well together.

I'm getting indigestion just thinking about cabbage and tomatoes.

Good luck.

[wolf]

I think it's a rule that the cabbage rolls have to be soaked in a bath of tomato sauce.

[wolf]

If you can't trust Food Network, who can you trust?

(Even if none of the on-air chefs have names ending in "ski.")

I might actually have a polish cookbook kicking around downstairs ... I'll see if I can find it tomorrow.

[Rock Steady]

GOsh? I thought cabbage rolls came on Sushi Boats? With some avacado? and Jack cheese? rolled up? A, like, fusion thingo?

[DucksNuts]

Too fancy Bri???

I dont use the fish sauce, but use Soy Sauce instead.


Ingredients

600 g Lean Pork Mince

500 g Cabbage finely sliced

1/2 cup Lime Juice

4 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

4 Red Chillies, chopped (optional)

6 Spring Onions, chopped

1 medium Spanish Onion, finely sliced

1/2 cup Pine Nuts

1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, grated

2 Tablespoons Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped

2 Tablespoons Fresh Coriander, chopped

1/3 Cup Light Coconut Milk

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

8 whole large leaves Iceberg Lettuce or Whole Cabbage Leaves

Method

1. Heat oil in frying pan, add Pork and cook until tender.

2. Remove pork from heat, stir in lime juice, fish sauce and chillies.

3. Combine remaining ingredients (except lettuce leaves) in a large bowl. Add pork and stir well.

4. To serve dish several spoonfuls of the pork mixture into lettuce leaves. Roll lettuce leaf and eat.


Other than that...

I just do Curried Chicken with peas wrapped in Cabbage leaves or

This One

600g minced beef
1 small brown onion, roughly chopped
1 cup cooked rice
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
6 cabbage leaves, blanched
2-3 cups tomato pasta sauce
1 cup beef stock
½ cup grated Romano cheese

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix the beef, onion, rice, egg, salt and pepper together.

Trim the cabbage leaves of the core and lay out flat as possible; stuff them with equal amounts of the meat mixture.

Pack the rolls into a suitable size baking tray and top with the pasta sauce mixed with the stock — cook for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, lift the heat of oven to 220C — sprinkle over the cheese and return to oven to brown the cheese.

Serve with green vegetables of your choice.

[Trilby]

Wow--great response, I thank ye.

Think I'm gonna try Emeril's pork and sausage cabbage rolls from the foodnetwork link kindly provided by wolf.

Thanks, all!