I’m starting a series of “Bistro At Home” recipes for D.C. Foodies. I hope to make simple bistro fare accessible (and of course more affordable) at home. Check out the recipes for this meal at http://www.dcfoodies.com/.
Stuffed cabbage is a dish associated with Eastern European and Asian cultures. It usually consists of cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of meat and grains, such as rice. Growing up in a Polish household, we called these golabki (little pigeons) pronounced ga-WOOM-key. Green leaf cabbage is stuffed with ground meat, either beef or a mixture of beef/pork/veal, and cooked with white rice which is seasoned with salt and pepper. The tomato based sauce can include tomato juice, sauce, puree, soup or even ketchup.
I have always loved golabki, even though as a kid I would peel the cabbage off and shove it to the side, hoping no one would notice (my Nana did). Now I embrace the cabbage and enjoy it as much as I do the meat filling.
Over the years since I have taken over making this dish for my family, my recipe has evolved as a mingling of me, my mom and Martha Stewart.
Unlike my mother and most other people,hey,mheyI do not cut the rib/vein out of the cabbage because I feel I can roll a perfect golabki with the cabbage leaf intact. To make sure that the cabbage, even the rib is tender, I braise the golabki low and slow.
My mother always used a combination of condensed tomato soup and ketchup for the sauce. I have tried changing this up with tomato puree and tomato juice etc. but I’ve decided the flavor of the original sauce suits me the best and is most evocative of my childhood memories of this dish. By the time the dish braises in the oven, the sauce tastes of the meat, vegetables and cabbage. It’s sum is more than the parts, so to speak.
Martha Stewart uses her mother’s recipe for stuffed cabbage. Being Polish, Mrs. Koystyra’s recipe closely resembles my grandmothers, except it has more flavor in the meat, with onion, garlic and green peppers.
Thanks to all of my influenes in developing this dish, I’ve come up with my favorite version of stuffed cabbage. I hope you enjoy it too.
Ingredients;
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup ketchup
1 large head green cabbage
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or meatloaf mix- ground beef, pork and veal
1 medium onion, fine diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped in food processor or grated
1 cup white rice, cooked
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 strips uncooked bacon
Directions:
For the cabbage
Core cabbage and place head in gently boiling water. Using tongs, remove leaves gently as they become loose and start to give. Transfer to collander to drain.
For the filling
Cook rice according to package directions. In pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and green bell pepper to pan. Sautee until softened but do not brown. Transfer to bowl to cool.
In a separate bowl, add meat mixture. Add eggs, rice and cooled vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Gently combine but do not over work the meat. In a small heated pan, cook a small patty of the meat mixture and taste for seasoning. This step is very important as you will not be able to adjust the seasoning of the filling once it is stuffed in the cabbage.
Once you are satisfied with the seasoning, you are ready to assemble. First, spread a small amount of tomatoe soup in the bottom of a baking pan. Take a cabbage leaf and place a small handfull of the meat mixture at the base of the leaf. Roll like a fajita and place cabbage roll seam down in the pan. Repeat until you have rolled all of your meat mix.
Spread the remaining tomato soup evenly over the top of the cabbage rolls, followed by the ketchup. Add 2-3 strips of uncooked bacon over top of rolls (optional). Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in on the middle rack of a preheated 300 degree oven. Braise for 2 1/2-3 hours, basting the rolls with the sauce occasionally.
Remove from oven and allow cabbage rolls to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
*This recipe has been entered into Habeas Brulee’s food blogging event “A Recipe From The Crease Of My Right Eye”
OK. So I got a little silly when making tomato sauce. What’s food for if not to play with once in a while?
If you follow along with me here at The Houndstooth Gourmet, you know that I’m a big fan of farmers markets and seasonal cooking. Last week, part of my market harvest was tomato seconds which I bought to make fresh tomato sauce using Marcella Hazan’s basic recipe. It’s more like a method than an recipe with exact measurements.
First, I cored the tomatoes and sliced them in half. Using a heavy pan, I cooked them covered, over medium heat for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. When the tomatoes were softened, I ran them through a food mill and returned the strained tomatoes to the pan.
Next, I added a peeled onion, cut in half, and about 5 tablespoons of butter (see Mr. Tomato Head above). This was cooked at a low simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Discard the onion before refrigerating or freezing.
I salted the tomato sauce throughout the reduction process, being careful not to load all the salt at the beginning because the sauce concentrates as it simmers away.
Nine tomatoes yielded almost 2 quarts of simple, delicious sauce.
Note: You can use canned tomatoes for this recipe, but avoid using tomatoes packed in puree. Puree tomatoes are cooked and this detracts from the fresh brightness of this tomato sauce.
Serving ideas: This sauce is great for gnocchi and pastas such as spaghetti or linguine. How about serving it with my meatballs? (good idea!) Serve with fresh shredded basil and grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese.
I’ve been making meatballs for like I don’t know…ever. When I was dating my husband Frank, he made for me and a few friends his grandmother’s meatballs. Come to think of it, I do believe that was the last time he cooked for me! Well, I was impressed and after we were married, we combined our cookbooks and loose recipes together. Handwritten on an index card was the meatball recipe, passed down from his grandmother to his mother and then to me.
Frank’s Italian grandmother took her cooking seriously. Her recipes were taught my my mother in law personally so her son would not miss her cooking. While not in person, I learned from her meatball recipe what makes the meatball turn out tender and savory. First, use fresh bread crumbs and milk/cream. No dried pre-made bread crumbs from a container. Next, use garlic salt. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about garlic salt whose flavor surpasses powdered garlic and salt. Perhaps it’s the blend whereby the ratio of garlic to salt is just perfect. All I know is that it works.
Here’s my recipe, inspired by grandmom, and made my own. They are tender, moist and delicious. Makes about 28 meatballs.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs ground beef, 80/20 lean to fat ratio
1 tbsp. each:
dried basil
dried onion flakes
dried marjoram
dried oregano
dried shallot flakes (optional)
pinch cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I used white bread with crusts, about 4-5 slices)
1/2 cups each:
half and half
milk
water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs gently beaten
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place ground beef in large mixing bowl. Add herbs, cinnamon, bread crumbs, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, half and half, milk and water. Gently combine. Do not overwork meat. Add salt and pepper. Mix throughout meat.
Into a heated pan, cook a small patty of the meatball mixture to test for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
Gently hand roll golf ball sized meatballs and place onto an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Treat surface with non-stick spray. Place meatballs at least one inch apart.
Place baking sheet( I used 2 half sheet pans)on racks set in the middle of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotates sheets upper rack to bottom rack and vice versa. Bake and additional 15 minutes. The meatballs should be golden brown.
Transfer meatballs into gently simmering marinara on stove top. Cover and continue to simmer on low for 30 minutes to an hour.
While meatballs are simmering, cook pasta according to directions. Drain pasta and portion into bowls. Top with meatballs, marinara, grated Parmesan cheese and parsley.
Mangia!
Ingredients:
2 large hierloom tomatoes
1 small onion
2 new mexico peppers
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. spanish paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Roast peppers over fire ( I used my gas stovetop by placing peppers on grate) or under broiler until skins are blackened. Place in bag to steam for 10 minutes. Close tightly so steam can not escape.Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds with pulp. Roughly chop onion. Remove skin from peppers (seed removal is optional depending on the heat level you want to achieve). If the skin is difficult to separate from the flesh, do this under cool water.
Place onions, tomatoes, peppers, cumin and paprika into food processor. Pulse until blended but not liquified. You want to retain texture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro and pulse 4-5 times.
