Valeries Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

Steps:

• For the sauce: Heat oil, then cook onions and garlic until soft. Add 8 cups water and stir, then add tomato puree, sugar, raisins, salt, pepper and citric acid and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.
• For the filling: Meanwhile, mix beef, eggs, onion, peppers, rice, garlic powder, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup water in a bowl by hand until well blended. Work in breadcrumbs until mixture is firm. Roll the meat into logs approximately 2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. Refrigerate while preparing cabbage leaves.
• For cabbage leaves: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Place entire cabbage in pot, core-side down, until outer leaves are softened and easily removed. Remove the outer leaves, then replace cabbage in water until next leaves can be removed. Continue in this manner until you have about 30 leaves.
• Lay a few leaves flat, overlapping them, to make a piece big enough to enclose a ground beef log inside. Place a ground beef log on top of the leaves. Roll the leaves up from the bottom, turn the sides in and continue to roll up. Repeat with next leaves. Place on cookie sheet until all logs are rolled.
• Transfer rolled leaves to a 12-by-10-inch baking dish and pour the sauce over the top. Bake, 1 hour 30 minutes.

Steps:

• For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Remove the entire core of the cabbage with a paring knife. Immerse the head of cabbage in the boiling water for a few minutes, peeling off each leaf with tongs as soon as it s flexible. Set the leaves aside. Depending on the size of each leaf, you will need at least 14 leaves.
• For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, onion, breadcrumbs, rice, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add 1 cup of the sauce to the meat mixture and mix lightly with a fork.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To assemble, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Remove the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a small paring knife. Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup of filling in an oval shape near the rib edge of each leaf and roll up toward the outer edge, tucking the sides in as you roll. Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce. Add more sauce and more cabbage rolls alternately until you ve placed all the cabbage rolls in the pot. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish tightly with the lid and bake for 1 hour or until the meat is cooked and the rice is tender. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Stir together the oil, vinegar, mustard, shallots, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper in a large salad bowl. Add the cabbage, parsley, chives, oregano and thyme and toss to coat. Let stand at least 15 minutes or refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Rub the inside of a 3-quart round soufflé dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the cabbage leaves for 2 minutes to soften (they will continue to cook in the oven). Gently nudge them into the water with a large spoon if they float to the top during cooking. Drain and set aside.
• Pulse the garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the celery, carrot and red onion and pulse until finely chopped, scraping down the sides as necessary.
• Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil with the vegetable mixture, thyme, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool. Reserve the skillet.
• Pulse the cremini and shiitake mushrooms in batches in the food processor until finely chopped. Heat the reserved skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil with half of the mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened and the liquid has released but has not completely evaporated, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the cooked vegetable mixture. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, remaining mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Transfer to the bowl with the cooked vegetable mixture and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add the brown rice, parsley and eggs to the vegetable mixture, and stir to combine well.
• Layer enough of the cabbage leaves to cover the bottom and up the sides of the souffle dish in a single layer, overlapping as needed to fill any visible gaps. Use the larger leaves, as the veins are more pronounced; the bottom will be the presentation side after it is cooked and flipped over.
• Gently spread about 1 2/3 cups of the mushroom mixture in the bottom of the dish in an even layer on top of the cabbage leaves. Evenly spread 5 tablespoons of marinara sauce over the mushroom mixture. Cover with a layer of cabbage leaves. Repeat with another 2 layers of mushroom mixture, marinara sauce and cabbage leaves, until all of the mushroom mixture is used. Reserve the remaining marinara sauce for serving. Tuck the final layer of cabbage neatly into the sides, gently pressing down all around to compact it.
• Tightly cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the cabbage is tender and the rice is cooked through, about 2 hours. Remove from the oven, but do not remove the foil. Allow to cool and set for at least 1 hour.
• Remove the foil and gently invert the stuffed cabbage onto a serving platter. Serve with the reserved warmed marinara sauce.

Steps:

• In a 4 or 5-quart saucepot, cook ground beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes or until beef is cooked through, drain any fat.
• Stir in rice mix, water and allspice.
• Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low.
• Cover and simmer 10 minutes; stir.
• Top with shredded cabbage and press down gently.
• Pour spaghetti sauce over cabbage.
• Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until cabbage is just tender.