Thursday, October 11, 2012

Yesterday was Cabbage Roll Making Day!

Since my rolls were so good last week, I decided to buy another cabbage and make more.  You can’t have too many in the freezer.  Now I have four pans – should get me through the next few months.  Cabbages this year are huge – last year, not so much.  Here are my suggestions for making tasty cabbage rolls.

First, I cut out the core as much as possible.

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I have a 20 quart stock pot – perfect for a very large cabbage, making soup or a large amount of spaghetti sauce for freezing.

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Cabbage is submerged in water with a carving fork in the core so that you can hold it in place while cutting off the leaves. 

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Using tongs, the first leaf is carefully removed.

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A small knife is used to cut the leaves from the core as they soften.

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My mixture – equal parts of uncooked ground beef, ground pork and cooked rice.  I also add salt & pepper and a finely chopped onion.

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The spine is filleted from the leaf.  It leaves the leaf whole – much easier to roll without a slit in the middle of it.

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Then the meat mixture is place over the spine.

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Roll from the bottom, then tuck in the sides.

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First one is done and in the pan.  If I have them, I use aluminum lasagne pans.  They are deep and a good size.

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They are finished and almost ready for the oven.  I  then dilute tomato soup, pour it over the rolls, and cover with tin foil.

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Placed in the oven at 375F for two hours.

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They are done.  And they were soooo good.

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I’ve made these for years and I do believe I finally have it right!

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