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Stuffed Cabbage Adventures

Mise-en-place. Took a few hours to get here.

So, during this time of global pandemic, I've been focusing my cooking efforts on shelf-stable foods that don't use special ingredients. Cabbage is definitely a great buy right now --it is versatile and will keep for awhile. It is great for soup, slaw, and....stuffed cabbage.

You might know it as "cigares au chou" or "golabki/golumpki" or "halubki/holumki" or "krautrouladen" OR....cabbage rolls. I've never attempted to make these, so I texted the BFF (Katie (aka @ProfWhoCooks at Cook the Book Fridays) and asked her if she had a go-to recipe. She texted back this recipe from Dorie Greenspan.

So there's something you have to know. I'm a bit of a lazy cook. I don't tend to cook things that are overly involved, due to a lack of both time and inclination on my part. But given that options for procrastination on work-related stuff are limited these days, I read the recipe and figured---well, let's go for it.

A few notes:

1. Removal of cabbage leaves. It is a pain. Do NOT try to remove the cabbage leaves PRIOR to giving the cabbage a quick dip in some boiling water. After several curse-filled attempts at removing leaves, I finally took a cue from Pinterest and dumped the entire head of cabbage in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. This made the leaves just pliable enough that I could roll them off. You'll still need to go slowly and exercise some patience. Keep your fingers close to the cabbage so that there is a minimum of tearing. Keep the water boiling---the inner leaves are probably going to need another dunk to get them where you want them. When it comes time to trim the main ridge/vein/stem -- use a very sharp paring knife. AND, especially right now, we recommend paring AWAY from yourself. The ER does not need a visit from you and your bloody finger.
Steamy cabbage leaves, ready for trimming
2. Filling of cabbage leaves. It is easy. I do wonder about all the various recipes out there that say to roll things "like a burrito." What do burrito recipes say? Likely not "roll like a spring roll" or "roll like a golumpki." Cultural commentary is everywhere.

 If your leaves are pliant enough, don't worry about trimming them---just tuck it in and hide it.

3. The sauce.  Hmm.
Substitutions matter. I did not have apple juice. I did not have brown sugar. The unsweetened apple juice was not a problem --- I pureed actual apples with some water. The brown sugar, on the other hand, might have made a difference. I used "natural" granulated sugar which doesn't have the molasses effect of brown sugar (and before you ask -- no, I didn't have molasses either).  With the grated apple and the sugar, I found the sauce to be too sweet. I think next time I'll "savory" it up with some Worcestershire or something.

4. The filling. EXCELLENT. I used North Hollow Farm 100% beef and sausage from Babette's Table. Good meat makes a difference, but use what you have access to and can afford--that's why this is a good recipe. And Dorie Greenspan's recipe is great --- a little bit of cayenne goes a long way.

I took the recipe's advice and ate them the next day after cooking. My house smelled amazing (3 hour cooking time in the oven) and they were ABSOLUTELY wonderful the next day for dinner. They reheat well. I had extra stuffing that is now in the freezer for a future stuffed peppers project.

Stuffed cabbage, as utilitarian as it might sound, is a lot of work. But the payoff is worth it.

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