Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls

We go to St. Patrick’s Day parades on the Saturday and Sunday before St Patrick’s Day each year.  Last year, I made Cabbage Rolls (Lots of Work) with some of the cabbages we caught.  This year I wanted to make something less labor intensive and here it is.  I spent about 40 minutes prepping and then it bakes in the oven for 1 hour.  It is delicious!  Good enough for a dinner party with friends or family.

 Ingredients:

• 1 ½ heads of cabbage
• 1 lb. ground meat
• 1 ½ C. cooked rice
• ¼ C. olive oil
• 1 onion, medium, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ t. thyme
• 1 (15 oz.) can of tomato sauce
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilis
• ½ T. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ T. sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• ½ t. black pepper
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 2 C. Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Remove the core of the cabbage and cut into bite size pieces.   Rinse under cold water and strain.
3. In a Dutch oven, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat and add the cabbage, stir well to cover the leaves with the oil and allow to cook for 15 minutes or until the leaves are wilted.
4. In a skillet, brown the ground meat until brown and then drain.  Reserve.
5. In the same skillet, sauté the onions with half of the olive oil over medium heat until soft.  Add the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
6. Add the tomato sauce, Rotel, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, Creole Seasoning and the ground meat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the rice to mixture and stir until incorporated well.
7. Spray a 13’ x 9’ baking dish with cooking spray.
8. Place half of the cabbage in the baking dish cover with half of the meat/rice mixture, and then the other half of the cabbage and then the other half of the meat/rice mixture.
9. Seal the baking dish with foil.
10. Bake for 45 minutes and then remove the foil and cover with the cheese.
11. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered.
12. Allow to set for 10 minutes and then cut into squares to serve.

Tips and Tricks:

• This is great recipe for those St. Patrick’s Day cabbages.
• This tastes great the next day, but it does NOT freeze well, so eat up.

Cabbage Rolls

We caught a lot of cabbage at the St. Patrick's Day parade this year.  I have wanted to make Cabbage Rolls using Dirty Rice for the stuffing, so this was my opportunity.  I used the cabbage I had, but a recipe of Emeril's calls for the Savoy cabbage, the leaves are bigger and easier to roll.

  Ingredients:

• 1 head of Savoy cabbage, 16 nice leaves for rolling
• 4 C. Dirty Rice
• 1 T. butter
• 1 C. onions, chopped
• 1 (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 T. apple cider vinegar
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• ½ t. black pepper
• 1 C. cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Remove the core of the cabbage and place the whole head in a large pot of boiling water
3. Remove after 3 minutes and place in a large bowl filled with ice and water
4. In a medium sauce pan, sauté the onions in the butter over medium heat until tender
5. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, allow to simmer for 1 hour
6. Cut the heat , add the cream and stir well, reserve
7. In an 13’ x 9’ baking dish, ladle 1 C. of the tomato/cream sauce in the bottom of the pan
8. Roll ¼ C. of dirty rice in each leaf of cabbage and place the rolls seam side down in the sauce, cram all the rolls together side-by-side in the pan
9. Ladle the remaining tomato/cream sauce over the rolls
10. Seal the baking dish with foil
11. Bake for 1 hour
12. Serve hot!

Tips and Tricks:

• Follow my link to get the Dirty Rice recipe.  You only need 4 C. for the cabbage rolls, so just make ½ of the full recipe. I make the Dirty Rice the day before and refrigerate it, so it dries out.
• I use a bag of frozen chopped onions for this recipe.  A 10 oz. bag is 2 C. of onions.

Braised Red Cabbage

We went to Oktoberfest this year and we were disappointed in most of food we ate, but not with the "red cabbage".  I set out to find a recipe that gets just the right bite.  This is the one we like.  It is a Guy Fieri recipe, tweaked.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of red cabbage
• 2 T. butter
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced thin
• ½ T. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• ½ T. kosher salt
• 1 t. black pepper
• 1 t. ground allspice
• 1/3 C. red wine
• 1/3 C. apple cider vinegar
• ¼ C dark brown sugar

 Directions:

1. Cut the cabbage in half and then into ¼ in. slices
2. Rinse the cabbage in a strainer
3. In a large Dutch oven, heat the butter on medium heat and add the onions and saute until tender
4. Add the cabbage, apples, salt, pepper, and Tony’s
5. Cook covered until the cabbage starts to wilt, about 15 minutes
6. Remove the cover and add the red wine, vinegar, and brown sugar
7. Cook for 10 minutes with the cover on
8. Remove the cover and allow the liquid to reduce by half or more
9. Serve cabbage with a slotted spoon to drain excess liquid

 Tips and Tricks:

• If you don’t have allspice, you can substitute ½ t. ground cinnamon, ¼ t. ground cloves, and ¼ t. ground nutmeg,
• When cutting the cabbage, be sure to cut out the hard, white heart of the cabbage.

Smothered Cabbage with Pickled Meat

This is another one pot meal.  My Mom and Dad liked making meals that could be made in one pot.  If you don't like cabbage, you might still like this dish.  The cabbage becomes sweet when it is cooked down.  The way we make this there is a bite of meat with every bite of cabbage. YUM!

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads of cabbage
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into semi-circles
• 1 lb. pickled pork
• ½ C. vegetable oil
• 1 T. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• ½ T. kosher salt
• 1 t. black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat and add the onions and sauté until limp
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
3. Add the sausage and pickled meat and fry off
4. Cut the cabbage in half and then into bite-size pieces
5. Rinse the cabbage in a strainer
6. Add the cabbage and the salt, pepper, and Tony’s
7. Cook covered until the cabbage starts to wilt, about 1 hour
8. Remove the cover and cook for an additional hour, or until the cabbage begins to brown

Tips and Tricks:

• You don’t need to add water.  The water from rinsing the cabbage will be enough.
• The amount of time you cook the cabbage depends on how you like cabbage.  We like to cook it until it is very soft and starts to caramelize.  You can adjust to make yours the way you like.

Asian Crunchy Slaw

I have about three different recipes from three different people and they are all similar, but each one changes a few things.  This is a combination of those recipes.  This a great dish for a picnic or pool party.  It tastes best cold, but it can be left out because it has no mayo.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of coleslaw mix (green and purple cabbage and carrots)
• 1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped
• 2 packs of chicken flavored ramen noodles
• ½ C. of sliced almonds
• 1 C. of sunflower seed kernels
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 2 T. sesame oil
• 1/3 C. rice vinegar
• ¼ C. vegetable oil
• ½ C. dark brown sugar
• 1 t. black pepper

Directions:

1. Place coleslaw mix, green onions, and sunflower seed kernels in a large bowl
2. Heat a skillet on medium heat and toast the sliced almonds until lightly brown, then add to the bowl
3. Add the crushed ramen noodles to the bowl (see tips and tricks for my hint)
4. Whisk all the other ingredients together in a separate bowl, including the flavor packets from the ramen noodles
5. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well

Tips and Tricks:

• To crush the ramen noodles, place in a Ziploc bag and roll a rolling pin over the noodles until they are in bite size pieces.  If you don’t have a rolling pin, use a mallet or even a coffee mug to crush the noodles.
• Don’t be tempted to add SALT.  The flavor packets from the ramen noodles are full of salt and extra salt is NOT necessary.
• Sesame oil can be found on the international aisle of the grocery store.  It spoils quickly and you won’t be using much, so keep in the refrigerator to extend the life of the oil.

Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw

This is a recipe from the Neelys.  I have tweaked it a bit.  This is a great side dish when grilling.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of coleslaw mix (green and purple cabbage and carrots)
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
• ½ C. mayonnaise
• ¼ C. Creole mustard
• 2 T. apple cider vinegar
• ¾ C. sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1 t. black pepper
• ½ t. cayenne pepper

 Directions:

1. Place coleslaw mix  in a large bowl
2. Whisk all the other ingredients together in a separate bowl
3. Pour the dressing over the coleslaw and mix well
4. Refrigerate for at least two hours

 Tips and Tricks:

• This is so yummy on a pork sandwich.
• We have added 1 C. of sunflower seeds to this recipe, when we want the saltiness and crunchiness of the nuts.