Cabbage Rolls

I don't know how I could even begin to put into words my love for cabbage rolls. Even as a kid I had a thing for them. Of course back then I discarded the cabbage and ate only the inside and the sauce. Oh how foolish we are in our youth! Now, I devour every single morsel of these tasty concoctions; and sigh with pleasure as I do so.

Recently I've tried to tame the craving with occasional trips to Babushka's. Their's are pretty darn good. But I wanted to have some for dinner with leftovers that I could freeze and have them right at my fingertips. I haven't made them for years because they are a bit time consuming. They're definitely an act of love. Ah, the things we do for love.

I think I may have mentioned before that Bob and I receive produce from Green Bean Delivery. Every two weeks we get a box delivered with fresh produce, and occasionally other goodies that we've order. It really is fun. And we have begun to eat vegetables that I probably wouldn't have considered before. But I digress.

In our last GB box we had a gorgeous head of cabbage. I knew the moment I laid eyes on it that it was destined to be made into cabbage rolls. Call it serendipity, call it fate. Call it a craving if you will. Whatever you want to call it, I'm going with CABBAGE ROLLS!!!

I had saved a recipe for them on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-cabbage-rolls/detail.aspx. Now of course I fiddled with the recipe a tad, and the results were crazy good if I say so myself! I served them with mashed potatoes. We feasted on them last night and have plenty packed away in the freezer for future suppers. Oh yum!

Cabbage Rolls
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

15-18 cabbage leaves

2 cups cooked and slightly cooled rice
2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
drained sauerkraut (optional - we love it!)

Sauce:

2 -15oz cans tomato sauce
4 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp & 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (maybe a little more)
2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for glass dish).
2. Bring a large, wide saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add cabbage leaves and cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until softened; drain.
3. In a large bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground beef,  cooked rice, onion, garlic, egg, salt and pepper, along with 1/4 cup of sauce. Mix thoroughly.
5. Divide the beef mixture evenly among the cabbage leaves. Roll and fold, placing seam side down in baking dish. If needed, secure them with toothpicks.
6. Top each roll with a spoonful of drained sauerkraut. 
7. Pour the remaining sauce mixture over the top. Cover with foil. 
8. Bake for 60 minutes.

You can thank me when you've recovered from your food coma :-)