French Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place cabbage head in freezer and freeze overnight. Remove from freezer, thaw and peel away leaves.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine the beef, egg, onion, rice, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Take a small handful and form into a small roll or ball. Place into the center of a cabbage leaf. Fold the sides of the leaf over and roll the ball up into the leaf. Place seam side down in baking dish. Continue until all of the filling is used up.
• Mix together the soup with a 1/2 can water; pour over stuffed cabbage.
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour; baste often with the sauce.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Using a paring knife, remove center core of cabbage. In a large nonreactive stockpot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add cabbage and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until outer leaves are bright green and tender. Lift cabbage from water, and remove outer leaves. Return cabbage to boiling water, and repeat brief cooking and removal of leaves until all leaves are cooked. Reserve 2 cups cabbage cooking water. Trim thick center vein from bottom of each leaf. Reserve four large outer leaves to line bottom of pan.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until golden and tender, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl, combine onion mixture, rice, beef, pork, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, green pepper, and celery. Stir to combine.
• Add about 1/3 cup rice filling to one cabbage leaf. Fold sides of cabbage over filling, and, starting with the stem end, roll the cabbage up. Repeat with remaining leaves and filling.
• Line a 5-quart Dutch oven with reserved outside leaves. Transfer stuffed cabbage leaves to Dutch oven.
• In a large bowl, combine tomato puree and the reserved 2 cups of cabbage cooking water. Pour some of the tomato sauce over cabbage to almost cover. Sprinkle apple over top of cabbage leaves. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a gentle simmer; cover. Cook for 1 hour or until cabbage is very tender, adding additional tomato sauce as needed.
• Place sour cream in a small bowl, and ladle in about 3/4 cup of tomato sauce from the cooked stuffed cabbage rolls. Whisk to combine. Add sour cream mixture back to Dutch oven, and stir to combine. Serve with additional sour cream.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place the head of cabbage in a large pot over high heat and add water to cover. Boil cabbage for 15 minutes, or until it is pliable and soft. Drain and allow to cool completely. Remove the hard outer vein from the leaves.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the beef, rice, garlic powder and the egg, mixing well. Place a small amount, about the size of your palm, into the center of a cabbage leaf and fold leaf over, tucking in the sides of the leaf to keep meat mixture inside.
• Pile up the filled leaves in a large pot, putting the larger leaves on the bottom. Add the tomato juice, vinegar and sugar and enough water to cover. Simmer over medium low heat for about 60 minutes. (Note: Keep an eye on them, making sure the bottom of leaves do not burn.)

WHOLE STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Whisk egg white in a bowl; stir in kasha to evenly coat. Heat a small saucepan over high; add kasha mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until dry and kernels separate, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in boiling water and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until water evaporates and kasha is tender, about 8 minutes.
• With a paring knife, remove core of cabbage. Drop cabbage into a large pot of generously salted boiling water; cook until outer leaves turn bright green and pull easily from head, about 1 minute. Remove outer leaves; transfer to a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel. Continue boiling cabbage and removing leaves until 12 largest outer leaves are cooked. (Remove remaining cabbage and reserve for another use.) Trim the thick center vein from bottom of each leaf.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium. Add onion; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl along with cooked kasha; let cool completely. Whisk remaining egg and stir into kasha mixture with carrots, herbs, turkey, and flour. Season with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
• Line an 8‐inch bowl (measured across top) with a double layer of cheesecloth, leaving about 6 inches of overhang. Then line with the 6 prettiest cabbage leaves, overlapping slightly and allowing them to hang over top of bowl. Layer with one‐third of turkey mixture; top with 2 more cabbage leaves. Repeat layering twice with remaining turkey mixture and leaves. Fold in overhanging leaves to cover filling. Gather cheesecloth overhang and lift cabbage up, twisting to tighten into a secure round.
• Place tomatoes and 1 cup water in an ovenproof pot, such as a Dutch oven; bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Place stuffed cabbage, with twisted part of cheesecloth facing down, in pot. Cover, transfer to oven, and roast, basting occasion‐ ally with tomatoes, until a thermometer inserted in center registers 160 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove cheesecloth and slice cabbage into wedges. Serve with pan sauce, sour cream, and herbs.

FRENCH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Blanch cabbages 10-15 minutes, removing loose leaves as they fall off. Drain well.
• Blanch chard 2 minutes. Drain. Chop.
• Blanch salt pork 5 minutes. Drain. Chop.
• Heat butter in a skillet.
• Add salt pork and onion. Saute 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add chard, tomatoes, rice, peas, garlic and sausage.
• Spread out cabbage leaves. Remove inner core. Fill with mix, evenly.
• Roll up and secure tightly with toothpicks.
• Tie all in a large cheesecloth.
• Cover. Chill 2 hours.
• Place in a large pot. Cover with chicken stock. Season heavily.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce. Cover. Simmer 3 1/2 hours.
• Remove from stock. Un-wrap. Place in dishes.
• Top with a litle stock.

CHOU VERT FARCI (STUFFED CABBAGE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Using a sharp knife, cut off the stem end of the cabbage. Cut out the core of the cabbage.
• Bring a large quantity of water to the boil in a kettle. Add the cabbage and cover. Let it boil, turning the cabbage so that it cooks evenly all over. As the cabbage cooks, separate the leaves at intervals and cook from 10 to 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
• Heat the butter in a skillet and add the mushrooms and finely chopped onion. Cook, stirring, until onion is wilted and mushrooms have given up their liquid. Continue cooking until liquid evaporates. Add the finely minced garlic, half a bay leaf and half of the thyme and stir.
• Finely chop the livers or puree them in an electric blender or food processor. Add the livers and pork to the mushroom-and-onion mixture. Cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spoon and scrape the mixture into a mixing bowl. Let cool briefly. Add the eggs, parsley, bread crumbs, nutmeg and allspice. Add salt and pepper to taste and blend well.
• Lay out a large square of cheesecloth on a flat surface. Arrange six or seven of the large cabbage leaves in the center of the cheesecloth, the edges of the leaves slightly overlapping in a circular fan shape. The stem ends of the leaves should point outward and not to the center. Cover the middle of the circle of leaves with another large leaf.
• Spoon about one-third of the pork mixture into the center of the round layer of cabbage leaves. Spoon it almost but not quite to the outer edges of the leaves.
• Add another layer of slightly smaller leaves. Spread this with another third of the filling. Add another layer of leaves and a final third of the filling. Put the smallest leaves in the center of the final layer of filling.
• Bring up the edges of the cheesecloth so that the leaves and filling are returned to a whole cabbage shape. Press the large cabbage together compactly and tighten the cheesecloth all around. Tie the cheesecloth into a tight bag and cut off the excess cheesecloth at the ends.
• Select a heavy casserole large enough to hold the stuffed cabbage. Add the chicken wings and pork bones and cook, stirring, until nicely browned. Add the coarsely chopped onion, carrots, celery, whole clove of garlic, peppercorns and the remaining bay leaf and thyme. Cook, stirring, about one minute. Pour off most of the fat.
• Add the wine, chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the tomatoes.
• Arrange the cabbage tied side down and cover closely. Place in the oven and bake two hours.
• Remove the cabbage from the sauce. Untie and discard the cheesecloth. Arrange the cabbage on a baking dish. Return it to the oven and bake 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook down the sauce remaining in the casserole over moderately high heat five minutes. Strain the sauce, pressing the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Put the sauce in a saucepan. Blend the arrowroot or cornstarch and wine and add it to the sauce, stirring.
• As the cabbage bakes for 10 minutes, baste it occasionally with the sauce. Serve with parsleyed potatoes.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Make the Rolls:.
• Soak the cabbage in hot (boiling) water to soften (or freeze and thaw).
• Mix all other ingredients together.
• Separate the leaves from the head of cabbage carefully - you don't want them to rip. Cut out the bottom portion of the thick, central rib of each leave (but not too much). You're going to roll the cabbage leaves around the stuffing.
• Roll a portion of the meat mixture in each cabbage leaf. I roll up from the bottom (one fold), then the sides, and then the remainder of the leave from the bottom toward the top.
• For the Sauce:.
• Saute the onions in a large pot.
• Add apricots, prunes, raisins, lemon juice, one can sauce, 15 oz water, and brown sugar. Simmer 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 275 about 15 minutes before the end of the one-hour simmer.
• Cook the rolls:.
• Add the cabbage rolls to the sauce.
• Cover with the second can of sauce and 15 oz water.
• Dice any remaining leaves of cabbage and add to sauce.
• Bake for 2 hours.
• Add additional lemon juice to taste.