Okay, as requested, here's the recipe that I use for making either stuffed cabbage leaves, or cabbage casserole.

1/3 cup regular rice(white or brown)

1 large head cabbage

1 egg

3/4 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. chopped onion

dash of pepper, salt

1 16 oz can tomatoes, undrained

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon Hungarian paprika

Dairy sour cream (light is okay)

Cook rice and set aside. Cut core out of cabbage, run hot water into the hollow to help remove 8 outer leaves (If making rolls). Chop remaining cabbage (about 6 cups) and place in a 12 x 8 x 2" baking dish (or use a round one, we're not fussy!), sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cut about 2 " of heavy center rib out of reserved leaves. Boil cabbage leaves until limp, about 3 minutes, drain, set aside.

Combine cooked rice, egg, ground feef, 1/4 cup onion, 1/2 teasp. salt and pepper, mix well. Place about 1/4 cup of mixture in center of each leaf, fold in sides and roll ends over rice. Place rolls, seam side down, on top of chopped cabbage.

In a bowl, mix tomatoes and sauce, along with Paprika. (you can add chopped cooked bacon if you like, about 4 slices) Pour over rolls. Cover and bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 F. Serve with sour cream. Serves 4.

I have been told that if you just put the head of cabbage in the boiling water, it's much easier to peel the outside leaves off as they cook and omit a couple of steps that way.

On the other hand, I just omit those steps entirely, chopp up the whole thing, layer the meat/rice between two outer layers of chopped cabbage, pour the tomato stuff over the top and bake it. Then I save a LOT of steps. And it tastes just as good.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Answers

This sounds yummy!!!! Thanks julie

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Thanks Julie. I think I'll go pick a head this afternoon for tonite's dinner!!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Since WHEN have you been making this? I've never had it. I thought you couldn't tolerate cabbage? Don't you love sharing a board with family members? :-P Maybe you can make some when I come up.

I would think that head cabbage is easier to chop than the leaf kind. Or do you just put it in the food processor?

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Yeah, well, whenever one of us visits the other, like we spend any time cooking and not running the ridges! (shop-shop, click-click.) Actually I started making this back when I was still with LCW. Raw cabbage is what nearly killed me. If I cooked it it was okay. Now I just have to make sure I don't eat too much cooked cabbage at a time either. Joy has SUCH a job to do on this forum, Moderator AND watching out for her family --

I usually just knife-slice. Whack the head in two and cut it sort of like I was going to do sauerkraut. Food processor works too. If the leaves are big, I just roll 'em up and snip with a scissors. Whatever works. Once it's cooked, it looks fine anyway.

As an aside to the recipe, just what IS ground 'feef' anyway? It was supposed to say 'beef' (would you believe I just typed that in with the same typo?). And the other part of the onion unaccounted for in the recipe goes in with the tomatoes on the topping.. Oops.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Oh Joy and Julie, you two are such treasures!!!! And, hey Julie, you're a present or past Lutheran too? Mom was in LCW for years and years when I was growing up, we were ELCA though, we thought the Missouri Synod folks too "far out there" and "wild", I guess that is why I appriciate Garrison Keillor's humor so much, you got to be a Lutheran to truely understand it!!!

Thanks for the recipe, I'll use it just without the "feef"!!!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Oh, I'd forgotten about LCW meaning Lutherans. Julie is referring to the name of a stable where she used to keep her horses. Ha ha, that's how we keep time, by where the horses were! We are half Swedish though, so we know about casseroles and all-white food!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Yes, but Joy didn't mention that we used to attend the Lutheran church too. No creamed peas on toast tho. I very nearly did get kicked out of the church tho for arguing philosophies with the minister tho.

I think maybe you have to be Midwestern to get Garrison Keillor -- friends on either side of the country wrinkle up their noses when I mention that he's funny. They just don't get it. But a lot of 'em didn't get 'Fargo' either while we were laughing ourselves ill.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

And another thing!!! Got leftovers of the casserole? Put it into beef stock for soup! (and sometimes I cut out yet MORE steps and just put the ingredients into a soup kettle with beef stock or boullion and make 'stuffed cabbage roll' soup and forget the baking!! I also up the Paprika to 2 T. because I'm nutty about it...)

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

Just wanted to tell you, Julie, tried the "cabbage casserole" last nite and it was to die for!!! I think the sour cream added lots of flavor to it. Most excellent! I also made some cole slaw which we ate the same nite and all I can say is.... good thing we were alone that nite!! Thanx for the recipe!

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001