I wish I had pictures of his face when he tried tonight dinner... :)
We had stuffed cabbage. Homestyle. :)
One thing to know first is that cooking at home is an investment. If you usually eat out and have nothing to cook at home the first month or so will cost more than eating out (on the dollar menu for example) but than it's SO MUCH CHEAPER (and better).
So our cupboards are full of spices and cooking goods (like flour, cornmeal, sugar, oil etc.) and I won't count them as expensive for my recipes because I bought them months ago, and they last for a very long time...
The only pricey ingredient is the beef.
So here we go:
Delicious homestyle stuffed cabbage:
serve 4 persons (hungry)prep: 20 min
stove top: 15 to 30 min.
* items are not necessary
1 cabbage
1lb ground beef
3 slices bread + a little bit of milk (or broth)
1 onion
*2 carrots
a quart of broth (beef, chicken, veggies... a couple flavoring cubes can do the trick, I use frozen chicken broth from when we have roast chicken)
salt, pepper
seasoning, at your taste(garlic, herbs..) I used: 2 tablespoons ketchup or bbq sauce, 1 of mustard, a spoon of smoked paprika and one of chili powder)
1. Separate the cabbage leaves, keep them whole.
You won't be able to use the middle yellowish small leaves. I just save that piece for a later soup. Or you can cut it small and add to the broth.
2.Boil them 8 minutes in the broth.
3. In the meantime, dice carrots and onion very small, saute them in a pan.
4. dice the bread, add some milk (or broth) on top, just enough to make it wet and mushy.
5. Mix the beef and bread, salt, pepper, seasoning, onion and carrots. Mix it well. (I use my hands)
6. Take the leaves out of the broth, put them all in a plate. Put aside about a bowl of broth. I added a cube of flavor in that bowl. You can use the rest of the broth for a later soup.
7.Put a little bit of stuffing in each leaf, roll the leaf around the stuffing, put the stuffed leaf in a pot (with or without some butter in the bottom). Put the stuffed leaves very close together.
Mine were so tight I couldn't fit a fork between them... I put about 15 on the bottom layer (and only 3 on top). the closer the better, that's to avoid the use of thread around the leaves, annoying to put on, annoying to take off, IMO just a waste of time and energy...
8. Pour your special bowl of broth on top, cover and let it simmer for 15 to 25 min. It's cooked after 15 min, but the extra time makes it juicier... yum!
Ready to eat! With rice and tzatziki.
quick tzatziki:
one peeled cucumbered, grated.
8 oz plain yogurt (greek if you can, but regular yogurt is cheaper)
salt, pepper, cumin powder (a small spoon)
additional seasoning to your taste ( I add a tiny bit smoked paprika and coriander powder).
Mix all together. Chill while cooking the cabbage.
Serve as a sauce, on top of the stuffed leaves, or as an appetizer.
3 comments:
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment today. I know it was such a silly post, but i really wanted a chance to get to know my readers a bit. So thanks :)
As you may know, my family made the decision to go natural with our diet, so i completely understand what you mean about the initial cost at first. But, you are so right that after that expense, it is so much cheaper (and healthier!) to make it yourself.
Very intersting recipe. Not sure the kids would try it if I told them it was cabbage. Maybe if I say "lettuce"????
The stuffed cabbage sounds good but I also am pretty excited to read about the tzatziki sauce recipe. I love that stuff. I guess I always thought it had more stuff in it.
Thanks.
Yum! I've been trying to eat healthier lately. My 20 month old loves all things vegetable and is a fan of cabbage (Yes, I won the non-picky eater lottery). I think I'm going to put this on my menu for this week. One thing I've found with eating healthier is that it is MUCH easier for me when I do the menu for the week.
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