The cabbage is a green leafy vegetable, which comes from Brassicaceae ancestors. Cabbage can be classified into three groups, i.e. herbaceous, dicotyledonous flowering plant, and biennial. It has a packed mass of leaves on its stem. Cabbage is generally green in color, but some genuses have red and purplish color as well.
The cabbage plant is also termed as heading cabbage or head cabbage. It is also known as abowail in Scotland, because of its round shape. In British English, cabbage is infrequently termed as “a loaf”.
Cabbage leaves usually exhibit a subtle, crumbly, waxy coating, which is termed as bloom. The acidic or sour flavor which is present in cabbage is because of ‘glucosinolate’. Cabbages are a rich source of vitamin B2 i.e. “riboflavin”. If you want to cook stuffed cabbage, then just follow the following instructions.
Things required:
- 2 Large head of cabbage
- 3 Cups cooked rice
- 2 Large onion, minced
- 2 Pound ground beef
- 1 Pound ground pork
- 1 Pound ground veal
- 2 Large can tomatoes
- Ham or bacon, whichever you have on hand
- Salt and pepper
- Sharp paring knife
- Large pot or slow cooker
Instructions:
- To cook stuffed cabbage, at first you will have to core the cabbage thoroughly before boiling it. Never eliminate the outer leaves of the cabbage. Now, boil the whole cabbage in a big container and add about four inches of water in it. When leaves become soft then transfer them into the larger vessel. If you are boiling the whole cabbage, then it will be around thirty to forty minutes. Remember the leaves of the cabbage should be soft after boiling, not soggy. Allow cabbage to cool down for few minutes, and after that peel the wide base of the cabbage leaf with the help of a paring knife. Discard the hard outer leaves of the cabbage.
- Now, mix ripe rice and chopped onion with ground beef, meat or pork. If you are not having one pound of ground meat, then you can also use another one pound of ground pork. The blend should be of around 3 pounds of meat. It is not suggested to done using ground beef alone, because it will be hard to cook. Add some spices to the mixture, like salt pepper and stir well. If the ham, which you are using, is salty then just decrease the quantity of salt in the mixture of meat.
- Place roughly one cup of the meat combination at the bottom of a leaf. Roll the combination in the leaf two times, then crease the edges of the leaves and keep rolling. After that, put the completed roll at the base of a large vessel or in a cooker on low flame. Keep doing this until the entire cabbage and meat combination have been finished.
- Now, place the tomatoes on the stuffed cabbage, scattering them uniformly. Put ham or bacon pieces over the stuffed cabbage and coat them by using the hard outer leaves of the cabbage, which you have put aside. Put the lid on the cooker properly.
- Boil the cabbage rolls for some time, and then lessen the temperature to a low flame. Cook for just about 3 hours, depending on the amount of the rolls you have prepared.
Tips and Warnings:
- Prepare the quantity of meat combination according to the mass of the cabbage leaf; stuff it to set aside for rolling.
- If you want, you can replace ham and bacon by kielbasa for your stuffed cabbage dish.
- Exclude the ham or bacon if required; but remember it increase the essence of the dish.