I'm confused......

BF doesn't (shouldn't) eat pork, but that is what you have been serving all week?

This weekend you are making either turkey thighs or something with fake meat crumbles? Do you mean stuffed cabbage? Where do the turkey thighs enter into stuffed cabbage? Are you cooking them in the same sauce?

And what are you putting the raisins in?

And

"Are potatoes a required side, even with brown rice in the stuffing, rye bread as an appetizer, squash soup and pear cake for dessert. "

squash soup and pear cake for dessert?

Do I need more coffee????? I am not following this!

Alexa

I'm just rambling. I had planned on making a pork loin roast, but made the mistake of making a "trial" one last weekend, not realizing BF and I would have to eat up all the leftovers, so now that's out. He can't eat a lot of it. I decided to replace the pork loin on the menu with stuffed cabbage rolls.

The menu is:
Mulled wine
Blue cheese spread on rye toasts
Marinated mushrooms
Squash soup (that's the best I can do)
Stuffed cabbage
Either broiled turkey thighs or turkey sausages
Potatoes--I know it's traditional, but . . .
Applesauce
Chopped salad
Pear ginger cake for dessert. At least that's what I was planning. I dunno, that seems like a lot of food. Maybe either baked pears or just some oatmeal cookies.

I can change out the dessert, soup, and sides, but I'm pretty set on the stuffed cabbage and turkey something or other. I did thighs once marinated in yogurt and spices, they were yum. Sausages would be a lot easier.

But anyway, I'm just wondering how to make the stuffed cabbages. (Among all the other things I'm wondering.) I always hem and haw with dinner party menus. I try to make them with at least some semblance of healthy food.

When I make stuffed cabbage it is usually the main dish. On the side if I have anything it is usually pierogies with sour cream sauce or cucumbers in a sour cream sauce. I have never thought to use it as a side dish because it is very filling.

I am polish and have never heard of putting raisins in stuffed cabbage. Maybe I misunderstood and you want to put raisins in the stuffing that is going with the turkey thighs?

I use regular old cheapy cabbage. Nothing fancy. Good tomatoes make all the difference in the sauce.

My usual filling for stuffed cabbage is a ground beef/ground pork mixture with the rice but you could just use ground beef or even no meat if you spice up the rice enough.

If your going to make turkey sausage. Try turkey kielbasa.

Good luck with your dinner party.

My stuffed cabbage is from a Hungarian Jewish woman....no pork in that, just ground beef....and I also serve it as a main course with a veggie as a side and salad and bread.
I think cabbage rolls AND turkey leg AND potatoes is huge over kill.
And why are you serving mulled wihne? Seems like a lot of sweet and spices with all else you have going on.
How about plain un mulled wine, the cheese toasts and mushrooms, soup, cabbage rolls applesauce chopped salad and bread or rolls of some sort and the pear ginger cake for dessert.
If you want I could post my recipe for the cabbage...but I hate to put out an unsolicited recipe.
Linda C

For the stuffed cabbages I'm going to use rice and fake meat crumbles which will stand in for the ground beef. I'm not sure how to season it, and the sauce. I have had stuffed cabbage of a sweet and sour variety, with raisins, although the memory is vague, that's why I posted this discussion. I am not wedded to the raisins. My "Laurel's Kitchen" cookbook has a sauce made of apple juice and vegetable stock and lemon juice and raisins. I could do something like that with lesco on the side. But I think tomato sauce is more traditional and will be better received. Maybe that's reason enough to leave out the raisins. I just thought it might be good with a sweet and sour vibe going. But I don't know what spices match that. Caraway and dill seem a little off for sweet and sour. Paprika and corriander?? Really not so much totally sweet and sour, just tangy.

Here's a link to a Stuffed Cabbage thread from a couple of years ago. Lots of different recipes.

Hope that helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stuffed Cabbage Thread - Dec '08

Some good ideas Linda. You're right, no turkey thighs, that's overkill, just maybe some sausages since the cabbage rolls will have no meat in them. I'm serving mulled wine because it is COLD up here! I could do hot cranberry cider with just some cinnamon and applejack instead.

Does your sauce contain apple cider vinegar and tomatoes? I think a good sauce is pretty critical for stuffed cabbages. Luckily I have some home canned tomato sauce I could start off with. It has celery, carrot and onion in it, but it's pureed.

This is Emeril's recipe, and it is really good.

GOLABKI, STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

1 small whole White Cabbage
2 tablespoons Butter
1 pound Ground Pork
1 pound Ground Beef
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Cup Chopped Onion
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Cups Cooked Long Grain Rice
1 Egg
ý Cup Chopped Parsley
2 15 ounce cans of Stewed Tomatoes
1 5ounce can Tomato Sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Core the Cabbage and place the whole head into the boiling water, core side up. Remove the individual leaves with tongs as they cook, and put them into a colander to cool and drain. Remove as many as you can. Set the remaining head aside to cool and drain.

Melt the Butter in a sauté pan, and add the Ground Pork, Ground Beef, Onion and Garlic, and sauté until the meat is completely cooked. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Place all in a large mixing bowl, add the Egg, Rice, Parsley and Salt and Pepper, and stir gently to combine.

Place approx. ý cup of the meat mixture at the base of the Cabbage Leaf and roll tightly, folding in the sides as you go. Place in a deep stockpot, layering closely. Chop the remaining head of Cabbage and distribute between the layers. Pour one can of Stewed Tomatoes over the first Layer. When all the Filling and Cabbage Leaves are used, pour on the second can of Stewed Tomatoes. Be sure there is plenty of headroom in the pot as the rolls expand as they cook. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for an hour, checking the liquid level frequently, adding Water or Tomato Juice if necessary. After the first half hour pour the Tomato Sauce over the Rolls. Finish cooking.

Remove to a large platter and cover to keep warm. Increase the heat to medium and stir the pot until the sauce has thickened. Taste to correct seasonings, and serve the Sauce on the side. These are definitely better reheated the next day.

I would definately lighten up your menu. No real need for an additional meat and carb, especially after a soup course, and in anticipation of dessert.

Wow, the thread archive goes back to 2008! I did save that old thread but meanwhile got a new computer and haven't transferred all my files (bad me!). I am saving it to my new computer, thanks Malna! Linda your recipe is on there! SOooooo many to choose from, what to do? Guess I'll have to make a couple of versions as the winter progresses! I think I'll forgo raisins this time since I am having a lot of fruit things--I forgot that the squash soup also has apple juice in it. I can serve a red wine I guess, isn't that OK to serve room temp.? I am so cold today, and I'm wearing a huge sweater and have my heat "cranked" to a whopping 68, which is a splurge for me.

If you want meat put it into the cabbage stuffing where it belongs, sausages on the side is overkill.
Mulled wine isn't really a before dinner cocktail hour with hors d'ouvres drink...it's for after ski or coming in after shoveling ior sitting down in front of a fire in the evening. But not really for cocktails. A nice room temperature red wine is plenty warming enough.
My recipe uses tomato sauce, brown sugar and the juice of a lemon or 2.
Linda C

Could I make the cabbage rolls with ground turkey or is that sacrilidge? BF doesn't eat beef either, and I sure don't. That's why I wanted to offer meat as a side. But I don't want to get a bad rap for serving weird veggie food to his son and son's GF. He isn't a total non-foodie but I'm not sure what he does or does not like. The cabbage roll suggestion was well received when I offered it.

Well...it might be sacrilegious in some circles, but ground turkey should work just fine :-)

I've never used it, but I'm a traditionalist.

I'm with malna.... I usually use ground beef or a combination of pork/beef but I think turkey would be preferable to the veggie cumbles in this instance.....

Alexa

Maybe I'll serve vegetarian kishke instead.
:)
Or maybe not. I'll save that one for Christmukah!
:)

I have made them with ground turkey. I added more spices and onions etc. I have also added long carrots to simmer in the sauce as a side. I mix rice with the meat mixture so no potatoes.

Another vote for ground turkey - I use it for all things "ground beef" :)

THANKS again for all the hand holding/help. The dinner was quite nice although a lot of work to get the house in order, so I simplified the menu quite a bit, plus I sort of had a headache all day. I had hot spiced cider (yum), lowfat cheddar cheese and crackers (BF's idea on the "low fat" cheese, an oxymoron if I ever heard one), low fat spinach artichoke dip, rye bread (from the store, not my bread machine), store bought and slightly doctored squash soup, marinated mushroom salad, cucumber and sour cream/scallion salad over torn romaine, and the cabbage rolls. Even though the pear cake would have been perfect, I just wasn't up to it so BF bought cheesecake and chocolate cake at the market.

I made something approximating Ruthanna's recipe, only with ground turkey flavored with 1 tsp. Penzeys Bavarian seasoning (I had to do something with it), and 1 TBLSP dried onions. The sauce was my home canned italian style tomato sauce (with carrots, onions and celery, but not italian seasoning), cider vinegar and a little sugar, and 1.5 tsp. paprika and dash or corriander. I mixed in a yellow squash, red onion and carrots with the sauce. I did it in the crockpot but finished in the oven with my braising pan. While I was starting the layering in the crockpot, and just had the first layer of tomato sauce in the crockpot, I went to move it with wet hands or something . . . and the crock fell off the counter, shattered into a gazillion pieces and splattered tomato sauce all over my kitchen. Luckily I had another crock from my last crockpot that the heating element went out on. But it took me considerable time getting off all the tomato sauce from the kitchen, especially from all the nooks and crannies in the radiator.

I'll be making these again, hopefully with less accidents.

OMG L - so sorry for your headache and for your accident! We Irish gals say it is "Murphy's Law" when things go downhill.

The menu sounds wonderful and I hope that you and Mr. Wonderful had a great time.

Wow - I'm sorry about your crock accident too.... but how fortunate you had a back up!

Sounds like a lovely meal and I bet BF and his son and son's GF were very happy, well fed and had a wonderful time.

Alexa

I have to say it was one of my nicer company dinners! Not everything perfect and homeade like I wanted, but I have to learn to aim lower, lol! Keep it Simpler!!

A definate endorsement for using ground turkey in the cabbage rolls. Very good flavor and texture for this dish, IMHO. Be sure to season it well though, since turkey isn't bringing as much flavor to the mix. I used Penzeys Bavarian Seasoning, which a friend gave me in a box of Penzeys mixes, but I haven't found much use for it. Also I put in dehydrated onions. I also used brown rice cooked in veg. broth, which has more flavor than white rice, IMHO. But I think what made the dish really good was my home canned tomato sauce. Unfotunately I only got three pints this season and the darn stuff took near half a day to make, lol! Sure wish I had made more! Next year I plan to get a new food mill to make it easier.

Now that I know they can be made in the crockpot, I'll be making stuffed cabbage more often. I really like to use the crockpot in my small kitchen, I can tuck it out of the way and then use my main cooking space for other things. This is especially helpful when I am making a big complicated meal for company. I just have to learn to be more careful when handling the crock. I can see that I might drop it again knowing how clumsy I am.

Oh, and I think I solved my problem with what to bring to my aunt and uncle's house for the long Thanksgiving weekend. But I'll make it with beef for them, they don't have gout issues. Lot's of OTHER issues, but not gout thankfully. I have a carrying case for my crockpot and I can just pop them in the oven to reheat or nuke a few at a time for lunch.

I found this thread earlier today because I was planning to make cabbage rolls, and I posted to the thread from 2008, but it didn't show up! It had the best info, but when I got home, I couldn't find anything here and had to look for stuffed cabbage recipes on the web. I ended up making something loosely based on a lot of recipes, but I was hoping to find Ann_T's recipe to follow. Anyway, I learned that using cooked rice is better for a quick meal than half-cooked, which is what I used and therefore had to cook longer. I also needed more cabbage than just one head, and so next time I will buy more - I used Napa cabbage, which I thought was the same is Savoy, but now I know that it is not. I also threw in some Korean chili flakes, just for fun, and the meat I used was ground turkey. Next time I will use two eggs instead of two, and I will also adjust the other ingredients. This was my first time for making this dish, and I can't believe it took me this long, as I really love it and plan to be making it on a regular basis now. I don't like the round head cabbage too much, but I love Napa cabbage. Should I try Savoy cabbage next time?

Lars

Love ,love cabbage rolls,heres how I make mine and I use beef.I pre cook cabbage it saves baking time,I take head of cabbage,cut arounfd the root,knob put whole head in hpot salted water,I mix gr chuck,about 2lbs,add chopped onion,chopped bell pepper,s&P,cooked rice,about 1/4 c.melted butter.Pull off cabbage leaves,grab handful make an oval, wrap a cabbage leaf around it roll it up.I always put ragu in bottom of pan,lay bundles in pour more sauce over them all. Bake 375 about2- 1/2hrs .I love it when you open them up and meat falls apart. My family loves it served with scalloped potatoes,corn mmNow thats comfort..

Since I am the only one in my house to eat cabbage, I never buy a whole cabbage. I adore stuffed cabbage but it's just not pratical for just me. As an alternative, I make meatballs out of the stuffing, lightly brown the meatballs, roast a few Brussel sprouts in olive oil then add the meatballs and Brussel sprouts to the tomato sauce and bake. Yum! I can also get my family to eat the meatballs with another veggie so I only have to cook one meal.