Stuffed cabbage is everything that Dorie describes: earthy and rustic. Many cultures have a version of it that goes back generations. Dorie’s version mixes beef, pork and rice and her mother-in-law’s secret ingredient: ketchup.
I have fond memories of stuffed cabbage in grad school. A Jewish professor served it on special holidays when she invited a group of us to her home. Her hospitality was legendary. In retrospect, the food was merely an afterthought. Dinner there evoked a keen sense of family tradition and community. Every bite warmed the heart and soul; it stayed with me till this date.
Remarkably, the stuffed cabbage is the link to those days when my palate was simple and limited. What I didn’t know then was how my food sense would evolve into the multicultural orientation it is today.
It’s tough to be objective about a dish which takes you back to a special place. My daughter asked me whether I’d make these stuffed cabbage again. She loves the flavor and asks a lot of questions. Besides, she saw how much work went into making the cabbage bundles on day one and assembling and baking them the next. Of course I’d make these again — more as a reminder and a connection to significant people in the past.
What I depart from Dorie’s recipe is the way I handle the cabbage leaves. I hack off the core of a head of savoy cabbage as much as I can and loosen the leaves from the base. Instead of dropping a couple of leaves at a time into boiling water as Dorie suggests, I proceed to steam the entire cabbage in a convection steam oven. It works. After about 20 minutes of steaming, the cabbage leaves, now flexible, can be peeled off individually. But the pieces are large, no trimming seems necessary. As it turns out, my assembled bundles look more like a large burrito, not cute rolls like Dorie’s.
(Post script — Here I’ve found a better way to handling the cabbage leaves. Once the whole cabbage is lifted out from the boiling water by piercing the core with a large fork, refresh with cold water. That makes the cabbage easier to handle. To peel off the leaves without damaging them, first cut them off from the core, then remove. When the leaves are wilted, they are easy to remove. If not, they will tear. The trick is you may have to return the cabbage to the boiling water (or the steam oven), and repeat the process a few times to dislodge all the leaves. The center cabbage leaves are too small for stuffing, shed and save them for the sauce.)
A friend of mine was surprised I baked the stuffed cabbages in the oven. I guess her family tradition is to slowly braise the stuffed cabbage on the stove top. Keep in mind, for long braising, cooking in the oven offers distinct advantages.
The oven approach mitigates burning on the bottom of the pot (which necessitates constant watching as the pot simmers on the stovetop) since oven heating comes from all sides at the same time. In addition, oven is a constant-temperature system as compared to the constant-energy-output system of the electric or gas stove. Apart from science, during the three hours these cabbage bundles baked, I got numerous errands done. Baking the stuffed cabbage, tightly covered in foil, in a large Dutch oven is clearly the convenient and efficient way to go.
The bundles are layered among the sauce, grated apples, shredded onions and cabbage
Stuffed Cabbage | Everyday Dorie
Ingredients
- FOR THE CABBAGE BUNDLES:
- 1 large head green cabbage — regular or Savoy
- 1½ pounds (680 grams) ground chuck
- ½ pound (227 grams) sausage meat — sweet, hot or a combination (or an equal amount of ground chuck)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped, rinsed and patted dry
- 2 shallots, finely chopped, rinsed and patted dry
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup (100 grams) basmati or other long-grain rice
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup (60 ml) ketchup
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
- FOR THE SAUCE AND ADD-INS:
- Two 28-ounce (794-gram) cans whole tomatoes, with their juice
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) unsweetened apple juice
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 onion, sliced, rinsed and patted dry
- 1 apple, grated
Instructions
TO MAKE THE CABBAGE ROLLS:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, pull off and discard any tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Turn the cabbage upside down and, working carefully with a heavy knife, cut out the core. I usually have to do this in increments — cutting out a divot and then going back in to cut away more. Pull off the outer 18 or so leaves (the largest on the head). Drop a couple of leaves at a time into the boiling water and leave them there for a minute or two, just until they’re softened. Shake off the excess water as you remove the leaves from the pot and then pat them dry.
Working with one leaf at a time, spread it out on a cutting board, with the outer part — the side where the thick center rib sticks up — facing up. Using a paring knife or a strong vegetable peeler, cut or shave down the thick rib so that it’s (kind of) even with the leaf and, most important, flexible — don’t worry about being precise. Set the trimmed leaves aside; they’re the ones you’ll stuff. Thinly slice the remaining cabbage — think thick-cut coleslaw — and set aside for the sauce.
Put the ground chuck and sausage in a bowl, add all the remaining ingredients and mix together as though you were making meatballs — be thorough, but try not to knead or work the stuffing too much.
To construct the bundles, lay a cabbage leaf inner (cup) side up on a work surface. Shape about ¼ cup of the stuffing into a little log. Place the log horizontally across the cabbage, keeping it within the bottom third of the leaf, and lift the bottom of the leaf up and against the meat — or over it, if you have enough leaf. Fold the two sides over the log and then start rolling the log up in the leaf until you get to the top. (Imagine that you’re making a burrito and the cabbage leaf is the tortilla.) Make the roll as compact as you can and secure the seam with a toothpick. Repeat with the remaining leaves and stuffing.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE AND COOK THE BUNDLES: Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F.
Open the cans of tomatoes and, using kitchen scissors and working in the cans, snip the tomatoes into small pieces (alternatively, you can break them up with your hands). Pour the tomatoes and juice into a large bowl and stir in the apple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt and cayenne. In another bowl, toss together the sliced onion, grated apple and reserved sliced cabbage.
Pour one third of the sauce into a large Dutch oven or a large ovenproof sauté pan with a lid. Cover with half of the apple mixture and top with half of the cabbage bundles. Repeat with half of the remaining apple mixture and the rest of the cabbage bundles. Finish with a layer of the remaining sauce and apple mixture. Cover with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit snugly inside the pot and against the ingredients (or seal the top of the pot with aluminum foil). Cover with the lid and slide the pot into the oven.
Let the stuffed cabbage cook undisturbed for 3 hours. Taste the sauce, which will be thin, and add more sugar, vinegar, salt or cayenne if you think it needs it. Then test a cabbage bundle to make certain that the rice is tender. If it isn’t — unlikely, but . . . return the pot to the oven until it is.
The stuffed cabbage can be served now or cooled, refrigerated and reheated when you’re ready — I think the flavors get even better after an overnight rest.
WORKING AHEAD: Make this a day ahead if you can. An overnight in the fridge gives you the chance to easily spoon off and discard any fat, and it gives all the flavors a chance to deepen.
STORING: You can keep leftover cabbage bundles and sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The stuffed cabbage can be frozen for up to 2 months packed in an airtight container. If frozen, gently thaw before reheating in a covered pot.
Notes
Adapted from: https://foodwinetravelchix.com/everyday-dorie-the-way-i-cook/.
3 Comments
Kim
January 14, 2022 at 2:23 pmOk, thank you! I love your tip on how to make prepping the cabbage easier…to me that was the hardest part! I have never made these so I just used a regular head of green cabbage and it was hard to get off full, large sized pieces. I will surely use your helpful suggestions next time! We were really surprised how tasty these were…I think the sauce was really delicious and certainly all of it was worth the effort. Good news is, we got two dinner and a lunch out of it, so yay!
Diane Zwang
January 14, 2022 at 6:19 pmSounds like you made a great alternative with steaming the whole head. I didn’t have any problems peeling off leaves one at a time on my Savoy head of cabbage. Sounds like you have fond memories of this dish.
steph (whisk/spoon)
January 18, 2022 at 12:26 pmI also had to deal with getting the leaves off the head differently, and appreciated the hands-off oven time. Glad these brought back good memories for you!