Cabbage Rolls

These are a great meal for a cold night. They take a bit of work and they are a hard sell for kids but they are really satisfying and kids don't know anything anyway. I like to get my aromatics going in a bit of bacon grease to add another flavour into the mix of the sauce. I also like to garnish with a little feta cheese both for the saltiness and the colour. In the pic above I may have gone a little cabbage crazy as there is shredded cabbage in the salad as well. The reason for this is that as you get going here, you'll quickly realize that a full head of cabbage is quite a bit, so you'll need a backup plan for the leftover.

Gather the Good Stuff

1 head of cabbage - immediate outer layers removed
500g ground pork
3-4 strips of bacon - diced into small pieces
1 egg
2 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
1 each - carrot, celery stick, onion - diced
3 green onions - diced
Garlic to taste - 2 - 3 cloves
1/2 - 1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup chicken stock
100-200g Feta cheese
1 cup cooked white rice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Putting it all Together

1. Fill a large heavy pot of water half filled and bring to a boil. The pot needs to be large enough to hold your head of cabbage. Also get the oven heated to 160C / 320F

2. Cut the core our of your head of cabbage and discard

3. When boiled add the entire head of cabbage to the pot and allow to boil for 8 minutes turning once

4. After 8 minutes remove the head of cabbage and set aside to cool for 5 -10 minutes

5. Meanwhile mix your pork, green onions, nutmeg, egg, rice in a large mixing bowl and mix well with a fork. Add salt and pepper as desired. Optionally here you can also add Parmesan cheese / feta cheese

6. Heat your heavy pot again with a little bit of vegetable oil over medium heat

7. When hot fry your bacon pieces until the fat has rendered and the pieces are crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve most of the fat in the pan. If there is too much, drain some off, but not all

8. Add aromatics to the pot and fry in the bacon fat for at least 10 -15 minutes until well softened. Add garlic and fry for another 2 minutes

9. Meanwhile peel off 8-12 outer leaves from your cabbage head and reserve for filling

10. Evenly fill the cabbage leaves with your meat / rice mixture and roll tightly

11. Make sure you are stirring the aromatics every so often. After the garlic has become fragrant add the 1 cup chicken stock to deglaze the pan

12. Add crushed tomatoes to the vegetable mixture and stir well. Season well with salt and pepper

13. Gentle nestle your cabbage rolls into one layer into the tomato / veggies mix in the pot

14. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer

15. Cover and place in the oven for 1.5 hours

16. There's a lot of moisture in there so you may need to remove the rolls and boil the sauce down a tad if it's cooked through but too soup. Ideally it should be thickened up when it come out of the oven

17. Transfer rolls to a serving platter and garnish with Feta cheese and parsley

Comments

Chicken Paprikesh

One thing we all appreciate about chicken is how nicely it can be transformed into something awesome and in pretty short order. This dish certainly fits that bill. It won't take you much more than 25 minutes to prepare and I'm confident how pleasantly surprised you'll be with the work / reward ratio of this dish. Key things to focus on are using a good smokey paprika and making sure you take the time to brown the onions well.

Gather the good stuff:1 Tbsp butter or better Chicken legs and thighs. Enough to fill a big pan. 2 or 3 Yellow onions - sliced. 1 Tbs of paprika. I use smoked but you can use regular paprika as well 1 cup chicken broth at room temperature1/2 cup sour cream Putting this together Cut your chicken into thighs and drumsticks. Pat dry and salt well. Meanwhile slice your onions and set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy pan on medium high heat . Fry chicken skin side down for 5 minutes or until skin easily lifts off the pan. Flip chicken and fry for another 3…

Loco Moco

The first time I had this I was on the big island of Hawaii and I had never heard of it before my now wife and I walked into a small diner in some tiny town that I can’t even remember the name of. I do remember that we had both had too much wine the night before and this particular menu item jumped right out at me as something that might help with that. I’ve since learned that this is the quintessential Hawaiian comfort food and if you decide to make it, you’ll appreciate why.
Key things to look out for: How you season the patty is going to greatly colour the dish. I like Cajun spices but you do you Don’t wipe out the pan in between the patties and the gravy. The fondant is exactly what you’re after when making a good gravy

Gather the good StuffPatties
Ground beef - enough for a few small patties. Probably about 400g or so. I like them on the thinner side but you do you Cajun seasoning to taste Garlic salt to taste Black pepper to taste 1 egg Gravy 1.5 cups beef broth 2 tbsp soy sauce …

Ma Po Tofu

If you have ever been to Asia you've likely come across this dish at some point. There's a thousand variations but all with a few key ingredients that really bring out the flavour that we are looking for here. I make this when it gets cold where we live. The heat and spice of this dish will bring you right back to life. If you want an authentic version, you're going to need to make a stop at an Asian grocer. The ingredients you'll find in a standard grocery store won't work nearly as well. Especially the Do-Chi and the Dou-ban-jiang which are crucial to getting this right.
Gather the Good stuff 300-400g Tofu. (Don't use super firm tofu, you want it a little soft). Often, especially at Asian grocery stores you can find a variety called Silken Tofu. I happen to think it is perfect but you do you. 100-200g minced pork (you can substitute beef as well)1.5 Tbsp Dou Chi - Little fermented asian black beans. 1 Tbsp Doubanjiang (or for the spicier version La-doubanjiang…

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