Stuffed Cabbage With Three Cheese Recipes

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place cabbage head in freezer and freeze overnight. Remove from freezer, thaw and peel away leaves.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine the beef, egg, onion, rice, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Take a small handful and form into a small roll or ball. Place into the center of a cabbage leaf. Fold the sides of the leaf over and roll the ball up into the leaf. Place seam side down in baking dish. Continue until all of the filling is used up.
• Mix together the soup with a 1/2 can water; pour over stuffed cabbage.
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour; baste often with the sauce.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Using a paring knife, remove center core of cabbage. In a large nonreactive stockpot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add cabbage and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until outer leaves are bright green and tender. Lift cabbage from water, and remove outer leaves. Return cabbage to boiling water, and repeat brief cooking and removal of leaves until all leaves are cooked. Reserve 2 cups cabbage cooking water. Trim thick center vein from bottom of each leaf. Reserve four large outer leaves to line bottom of pan.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until golden and tender, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl, combine onion mixture, rice, beef, pork, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, green pepper, and celery. Stir to combine.
• Add about 1/3 cup rice filling to one cabbage leaf. Fold sides of cabbage over filling, and, starting with the stem end, roll the cabbage up. Repeat with remaining leaves and filling.
• Line a 5-quart Dutch oven with reserved outside leaves. Transfer stuffed cabbage leaves to Dutch oven.
• In a large bowl, combine tomato puree and the reserved 2 cups of cabbage cooking water. Pour some of the tomato sauce over cabbage to almost cover. Sprinkle apple over top of cabbage leaves. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a gentle simmer; cover. Cook for 1 hour or until cabbage is very tender, adding additional tomato sauce as needed.
• Place sour cream in a small bowl, and ladle in about 3/4 cup of tomato sauce from the cooked stuffed cabbage rolls. Whisk to combine. Add sour cream mixture back to Dutch oven, and stir to combine. Serve with additional sour cream.

CABBAGE-STUFFED CABBAGE WITH BLUE CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut deeply around the core at the base of the cabbage but do not remove it. Immerse the cabbage in the boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes, then use a strainer and large fork to remove it from the water. Peel off as many of the large outer leaves as come off easily. Return the head of cabbage to the water, boil for a few more minutes, remove from the water again and repeat until you have 8 leaves. Drain on paper towels.
• Halve the remaining cabbage and remove the core. Cut the halves into wide ribbons and gently squeeze out any remaining water. Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the leek, juniper berries and 1 tablespoon of water and cook over medium heat until the leek is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the cut cabbage and cream, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Put 1/2 cup of chopped cabbage and 1 cheese cube in the center of each leaf. Roll up the leaf, folding in the sides as you go. Steam the cabbage rolls until heated through, about 10 minutes, and serve.

OLD-FASHIONED STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large saucepan, combine the ground beef with the onion and 2 cloves of the garlic; cook and stir to break up the meat until the beef is browned and the onion and garlic are tender; drain well and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together the beef mixture, the cooked rice, mustard, egg, and salt and pepper until combined.
• Cut out the core end of the cabbage and remove and discard some of the exterior leaves. Then carefully remove 8 whole perfect leaves . Soak the leaves in hot water in a large bowl until they are limp and pliable.
• Chop half of the remaining cabbage and add this to the beef and rice mixture. Roll up about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in each cabbage leaf. Reserve any remaining meat mixture. At this point, preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Then, in the same large skillet, sauté 2 cloves of garlic in the olive oil until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the tomato puree, diced tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Simmer this sauce for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Then remove and discard the bay leaves.
• Place the stuffed cabbage rolls in a Dutch oven or large casserole. Top the rolls with any remaining meat mixture. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over all.
• Cover the casserole and bake for 80 to 90 minutes or until the cabbage rolls are tender.
• Serve the stuffed cabbage with the sauce. Enjoy.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt it generously.
• Core the cabbage. Gently peel away the leaves to expose the heart (by heart, I mean the ball of more yellowish leaves at the center which are too tightly packed to bother prying apart). Cut out that core of inner-most leaves and shred to add to the stuffing. Cut the thick ribs out of the remaining leaves (they will look like you've stolen a sliver from a pie). Set aside.
• Blanch the cabbage leaves for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain, and refresh under ice-cold water. Drain and pat dry with a towel.
• Break the bread into crumbs in a bowl, pour over the milk and set aside to soften. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet and gently fry the onion and shallot until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped cabbage, mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the bread and cook until the milk has evaporated. Stir through the quatre-epices and season generously with salt and pepper. Add this mixture to the sausage meat in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Make a small ball and fry it in the frying pan. Taste it to check the seasonings. Adjust as needed.
• Lay a tea towel on the counter with a piece of cheesecloth or muslin large enough to wrap the cabbage in. You're going to reconstruct the cabbage, but with layers of stuffing between the leaves. So, first lay down the large outer leaves, in a circle, slightly overlapping with the prettiest side out. Spread over a layer of stuffing. Lay over another layer of leaves and repeat the action. Continue until you have run out of leaves. Pull up the edges of the cheesecloth, like a bag, and twist, as if making the head of a puppet, to shape the cabbage into a round loaf shape. Tie a string around the beard of cheesecloth where it meets the cabbage ball, to secure the package. The cabbage can be prepared to this stage in advance, refrigerated and then cooked before serving.
• To cook: Steam the cabbage over water or good chicken stock (about 2 cups/500 ml of it) for 45 minutes. The flavor from the stuffed cabbage will drip into the water or stock and give it the most amazing flavor. When the cabbage is done, boil down the cooking juices and serve a spoonful around each wedge of cabbage in a soup bowl.