Sunday, November 22, 2009

Stuffed Cabbage



There are millions of ways to make stuffed cabbage. My mom was a busy mother of 2 but she did it the hard, long way.

When I started making it I had 3 kids, and I figured out a way to get the same taste as hers, but much shorter making time..... so here's MY way of doing it.

1 large head of cabbage

3 cans of Campbell's cream of tomato soup

1 rack of spare ribs, pork (cut in sections of 3 or 4 ribs)

1 large can of sauerkraut (gotta be the can, the large one, brand doesn't matter)

1 onion (chopped up in bits)

1 1/2 lbs of meat loaf mix.... beef, veal, and pork mixed together (you can use regular beef, but the outcome is hard, using the mix makes the insides soft and yummy)

In a large pot, put the pork ribs, cut up in sections, on the bottom of the pot. (these are the thin ribs with the bones, that's important since the bones get soft and you munch on them for the healthy marrow)

Take a sharp knife and core the cabbage, then put it in the microwave, and heat on high for 10-20 minutes.

(take out after 10 min. and remove softened leaves, and put back in again till more leaves are just soft enough to fold without breaking, they don't have to be cooked all the way) Keep doing this till you wilt all the leaves

In a bowl mix the meat loaf meat with salt, pepper, chopped onions. (no I don't use rice!!!)

Lay the wilted leaves of the cabbage down and put a good amount of the beef mixture at the bottom, roll the leaf, then tuck the edges in, and finish rolling.

Place each filled leaf on top of the ribs, seam side down

when you finish doing all the leaves, add the can of sauerkraut, fill with water to cover, and about 4 inch's over them. (also add any extra cabbage, chopped)

add the cans of tomato soup (un-deluded) Just pour on top, when it comes to a boil the soup will mix with the water.

Allow to boil at least 1/2 hour, then lower to a simmer, and keep cooking for 2 hours.

The hardest part is micowaving the cabbage, since you want nice whole leaves to wrap the meat.

There you have it, and be grateful, some of my mothers recipes are even harder to understand... like her Easter cheese, that simply says,
"put cheese in bag, put rock on top" That one took forever to figure out! GIGGLE

3 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

No rice in your cabbage rolls? Oooo, you make the fancy-shmancy DELUXE ones! They look delicious!

VintageSage said...

Ummm...YUM! These look delicious! I think I'm going to have to make it this week! I'm back...I think!! Lol! Cats are fine....now getting ready for a move. UGH! See my current post. Lol!

Hope all has been well Judith!

xoxo

Michelle

suzanne said...

I think the variations on cabbage rolls are almost endless. I use ground beef and/or pork, rice, and a can of tomato soup. Then cover the whole dish of them with strips of bacon and tomato juice. That's the way my mother and grandmother made them. And of course their recipes too were written for someone who already knew what they were doing. No instructions regarding time or temp. Just "cook until done". ?!!!