Just a little ole working gal, who loves food

Friday, February 15, 2013

Grandma's Cabbage Rolls

This is a recipe I have been meaning to try for quite some time now. I have never made cabbage rolls before...because my grandma always made them. And she made them perfect...so why even try? Well unfortunately my grandmother passed last year...and brought her recipe with her. We had talked about her teaching me how to make them but the time was never right. HOWEVER, she did talk to me about how she made them and her little secrets. She also showed my mother how to make them. So combining both our memories and trying to remember the flavours as best we could, we came up with this recipe. And I have to say...it was pretty bang on! So Grandma, your cabbage roll legacy lives on!



First take your cabbage and place it in a pot with about 1 inch of boiling water. Cover and allow to steam for about 5 Minutes.
Remove your cabbage from the steam bath and allow to cool enough so that you can handle it. Remove the cabbage leaves one by one and place in a pot of hot water. This will soften the cabbage enough to allow you to roll it. Set this aside while you prepare the filling.
In a large bowl combine equal parts Extra Lean Ground Sirloin and Ground Pork.
(About 1 lb of each)

Add 1/2 Minced Onion, 4 Minced Garlic Cloves, 1 Tsp each of Paprika, Cumin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Sea Salt and 1 Tbsp of Cracked Black pepper. Also add a dash of cinnamon!

Add about 3 cups of Cooked Rice. I know my grandmother used white long grain but I only had brown rice.

Combine the filling mixture well. Adding more spices if you feel it needs it.

Place some of the filling in the middle of a cabbage leaf. Fold the edges in first then roll.

 

Place all the cabbage rolls in an oven proof baking dish.

Now this was my grandmothers secret to this recipe. I used the Extra Spicy Clamato because I love cabbage rolls with a kick to them!

Pour the Clamato over the cabbage rolls until they are half way swimming in Clamato juice. Bake, covered in foil, in a 350F oven for about 1.5 hours. At the 1.5 Hour point I add 1 Large can of chopped tomato's over the rolls. Recover and bake for an additional hour or until the cabbage is pretty translucent.

There you go Grandma! My favourite dish you ever made for me!
 

54 comments:

  1. You do know that by 'cracking' the recipe you will now be required to make them for every.single.Christmas party right? :-)

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  2. lol..yep...my mom and dad already told me its a must that I make these!

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    1. Just thought I'd let you know that this is also an Italian dish, my grandmother made them for all of us to.
      My grandmother always told us to make them on New Years eve. and eat one at the stroke of midnight on New Years eve. and we would have good friends luck all year long, it's funny how traditions help remind us of family. Two us in the family were allergic to shellfish so she would blanch about a dozen or so Roma tomatoes, peel them, take about half of them and press them through a metal strainer to get the juice from them, then she would pour the juice over the cabbage roll, she would then take the rest of the tomatoes and crush them between her fingers along with the pulp from the rest of the tomatoes hand crushing them over the top and covering them like you, you could always tell she was making them because you could always smell them baking in the oven, I'll never forget those days, I miss you grandma. R.I.P. 💔

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    2. That sounds delish. My mom would pour a jar of canned tomatoes over them. I do the same now or crushed tomatoes.I love cabbage rolls.

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    3. My mother only used ketchup and she was always told she was the galumpkie queen! The BEST

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    4. This looks like a yummy weekend dish!!!

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    5. A lady taught me to put an upside down plate on them when cooking to hold them together

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    6. sure look s good

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    7. I aid , ok y lets cut paglad she gave me my dad' to see so many people really.like.these , better known as Pigs in a Blanket. My dad made.them, so about a year.or so.ago i called my very.dear cousin and got my fathers recipe .I made them so much , my husband said , well honey they are so very.good , but lets not make them for awhile . In other words , he was getting tired of them . Well i did stopped making them , but, i will make.soon .

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    8. We make them all the time at home and yes it was a New Year tradition with us as well

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  3. They were delisious

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  4. Good for you Jenn! Your Grandma would be so proud!

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  5. I can't wait to try this recipe today it looks so delicious my family love cabbage rolls I've never made it always bought store but but today I'm trying it thank you for the delicious recipe

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  6. I have made another recipe using 1/3of lg can V8tomato juice 3sm cans Hunts tomatoes sauce mixed together. I liked my Austrian(german)style by adding apple cider vinegar>1/4 cup add gradually to get your liking...PS Mine is stove top..large pot..left over chopped cabbage on bottom of pot,layer rolled stuffed cabbage on top of greens,pourV8mixture over Rolls,add vinager/optional Cook on medium-low for1-2hrs ENJOY

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    1. This is not about you! Comment on her recipe or don’t comment at all!

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    2. I use to make them for my ex ,him being Italian they were very similar but i added some parmesan cheese and speck ,the family liked them

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    3. My grandmother made them with sourkraut on bottom of pan and sourkraut on top and they were simmered on top of stove for hours

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    4. Do you cook them in a Dutch oven/lid on?
      I simply LOVE ❤️ the part where you cover the bottom of the pan with cabbage! TY for sharing❤️

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  7. In the fall, I buy the large farm fresh heads of cabbage. Throw in freezer. Thaw a couple days ahead, leaves are limp. Squeeze out extra water. Ready for your recipe. Good luck.🇨🇦

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    1. Nice tip thanks!!!!

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    2. I freeze my cabbage heads also, so much easier to work with, also, I make mine in my largest crock pot and simmer for hours, pour tomatoe juice and crushed tomatoes on top. Use mix of hamburger, Italian sausage, bacon pieces, salt,pepper,onion and garlic powder and cooked rice for my filling.

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  8. My mother took her recipe to heaven with her as well! This one is the most like hers that I could find, using the beef and pork combo and the juice. She added bacon slices to the top which I will do when making them this weekend. Thank you to you and your mom for cobbling this recipe together from your memories.

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  9. Thank you Jenn for Sharing your Grandma's Delicious Cabage rolls its really a Blessing your Grandma would be proud of you I'll give it a try it looks delicious Thank you Jenn

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  10. Looks real good,trying this recipes today .Thank you for posting it.

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  11. Just so you know Freeze you cabbage for a day or two the take it out and let it thaw the leaves become nice and tender also add cut up double smoked bacon

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  12. Oh my...this sounds delicious..thankyou for sharing...

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  13. Love stuffed cabbage rolls my favorite
    My grandma would use the leftover cabbage leaves to cover so it won't burn.But came out moist and delicious.

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  14. Sounds great!! Can't wait to try em out!!!!

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  15. Did you ever freeze your cabbage for several days let unthaw. Soft ready to separate no burning fingers. Works great.

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  16. I have been making cabbage rolls since I’ve been in my teens , I more often then not use ground venison , and line my pan with bacon, and cover cabbage rolls with bacon , it is a family tradition to have this dish at celebration feasts .I’ve never put cinnamon in my mixture , I’m going to try this next time I make them . Thank you for your recipe. 😊

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  17. My grandma never would have had all those expensive crazy spices in her cupboard. Obviously I'm a lot older than your mother and dad!

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  18. Grandma would never use Clamato, not even invented yet, always good brand of Italian chopped tomatoes w/ s & p. Also added allspice to her filling. So good. 🥰

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  19. Thanks so much for showing the recipe step by step. Your the first person I have found giving the the best details ✨️ 💕 Deb B.

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  20. Have not made cabbage rolls in years but I will be making them soon and I LOVE Clamato juice!!! What a great addition!!! YUM!!

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  21. This sounds mouth watering delicious. I cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you.
    And for the extra suggestions, thank you.

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  22. I'm goin to try it hope thy come out like thy look in the pictures

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  23. My polish american neighbor made delicious cabbage rolls. The filling much the same except she put her rolls on a bed of sauerkraut- then poured sauce of flavored tomato juice overall before baking. She always served hers with homemade bread. Very good.nice memories here too.

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  24. If you freeze the head of cabbage and then thaw it the leaves come apart and are soft….Rachel Ray

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  25. Thank you for your recipe. My best friend, my cajun Mother-in-law made awesome cabbage rolls. Unfortunately we were always going to teach me,but she passed away after 1 month of finding out she had very aggressive cancer. Your recipe sounds to be the closest to hers that I’ve ever been able to find. She also put small pieces of lemon peel in her meat mixture. Have you ever heard of anything like that? Thanks again to you & your Mom. God Bless!

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  26. I like to cut the thick part of stem out of the cabbage leaf.

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  27. Our family has made these for years. A couple things you could try. We do chop up the leftover cabbage and spread on the bottom to help with sticking, also we trim the thick vein off the cabbage leaves as it helps with them cooking and rolling. If you haven’t tried making them in a pressure cooker i would recommend, just fill the pot in layers, add your tomato soup or sauce on the top with sauerkraut and seal up the cooker. Once the cooker gets to pressure set a timer for 20 minutes. All done and very tender.

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  28. I made these it been a while plan on doing that this week thanks helping me refreshing my memory.

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  29. In the recipe cook time states 1 1/2 hours covered then to uncover and pour on the tomatoes and recover another 1 1/2 hours. So the whole cook time is 2 1/2 hours? Is that correct? Thank you.

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  30. My mom and grandma always cooked them in or on sauerkraut. Only way I cook them No tomato sauces!

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    1. My German landlady taught me how to make these using sauerkraut and no tomato product. So good with mashed potatoes .

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  31. Thank you for putting out this recipe.
    it's almost exactly like a dish my family has been making for years.
    We always knew we were home and safe when we could smell this cooking.
    We used a pressure cooker , until crock pots came out... I try to make rhis for my family no less than 4 times a year.

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  32. I learned a few tips when I was “rolling “ cabbage rolls with the ladies at my church. We used to make them for our Fall Suppers or to sell as a fund raiser. Firstly, tear off a large enough piece of parchment paper to line the bottom & sides of your roaster. Scrunch up this piece of parchment paper & then it will nicely fit into the roaster. This will prevent the juice or cabbage rolls from sticking or burning to the roaster. Tomato juice was always used but at home I’ve also added a can of tomatoes which I would crush with my hand. (We like our cabbage rolls nice & tomatoey). A splash of ketchup into your juice (which I would whisk in to the juice) never hurts as it also adds flavour to the final product. All or none of these additions can be used for additional flavour.

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  33. I made the cabbage rolls last evening!
    Today, they are fabulous! Thank you.

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  34. Thanks for all the tips ..i will be making these today …so many different variations…🙂

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    1. My Croation Grandma cooked the cabbage rolls only in saurkraut, they were called Sarmas. She and my Dad made our saurkraut, and they made sour heads of cabbage (fermented in the crock on top of the saurkraut). The leaves were used to wrap the sarmas. Delicious !!!

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  35. I have made cabbage rolls many times..I heard putting vinegar would give a little tartness and it did..I tried tomato juice, Clamato juice and all were good but missing something. I know many will think this is strange…but I was in the mood, but no tomato anything at home and too lazy to go to store, what I did have was 2 cans of Manwich…yep Manwich. So I used them for my sauce. Lo and behold, the flavors n the Manwich was just what the rolls needed. Delicious‼️. Now that is the way I make them all the time. Your stuffing recipe and Manwich.

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  36. My grandma made them also, no rice it's just filler for less meat, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can cream of mushroom soup and after it is done cooking take out some of the soup mix, let it cool then add that to some sour cream and pour over the cabbage rolls and let it cook for another 10 minutes it is sooo good

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