OK, today was my first attempt at making cabbage rolls but I'm wondering.... how do you stop the cabbage from tearing after it has been blanched? I still rolled them but not as tight as I'm sure they should have been. Maybe the bext time I shouldn't blanche the cabbage like I was told to do? Any ideas???
Maybe you just cooked it too long? Blanching implies just a very brief hot water bath, followed by cold to stop the cooking.... ? Get a bigger cabbage with thicker leaves??
I only blanched it for 2 minutes and then took it out and put it into cold water (but it was in the cold water for a bit while I blanched the rest of the cabbage). First attempt, it wasn't too bad and they were AWESOME !! :lol: I actually found something the boys didn't care for (the cabbage itself, the filling they loved)
I've never found a way to do it without tearing the leaves. Which is why I now make cabbage roll casserole in my crock pot. All the flavor, none of the mess or hassle! When I make them this is the recipe I use: 1 head cabbage cut into 1 x 2 pieces 1 lb ground meat 1 onion chopped 1 egg 1-2 cups of rice (I don't measure so use your best judgement) 2 cans of tomato soup 1 can tomato paste water salt, pepper, garlic powder using the ground meat, onion, egg, and rice make meatballs then mix the tomato soup, tomato paste, and water to get the consistency like tomato gravy pour a little sauce in the bottom of the crock pot, add some cabbage, then some meatballs, then more sauce, then cabbage, and meatballs, and sauce...until it's all used up. Cook on low for 8 hours and serve with mashed potatoes
Mine don't usually tear, I blanch mine for 5 minutes. Use 2 slotted spoons to remove them from the boiling water very carefully. Then let them cool before stuffing them. I don't use an ice bath. I usually blanch my cabbage leaves that morning then make stuffing mid afternoon then place them in the fridge until time to bake. I have also chopped the cabbage & mixed it with the 'stuffing' and baked it and also made 'stuffed cabbage soup' all from the same basic recipe. It's really just a matter of presentation. (I find my boys eat the casserole and soup better than the 'funny looking' rolls LOL)
Yes, Brenda it's basically the same recipe, and it tastes exactly the same, just takes less effort and time! And I don't have to burn my fingers on hot cabbage leaves.
My dh LOVES these, especially with a hot pan of cornbread. I've never blanched the cabbage leaves and they still turn out soft. I also bake in a covered casserole. I use half ground beef and half ground pork for my filling, all the rest is the same. I have used the filling to make stuffed peppers and it wasn't horrible. I will say Birbitt that layering hot lasagna noodles has the same effect on fingers
When I make cabbage rolls, I take all the leaves and place them into a large pot. Then I cover them with cold water and bring the water to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, I remove it from the heat and dump them into a collander. It makes them limp enough to work with, but they don't tear.
I'm going to try and adjust this. My kids would balk at the idea of CABBAGE, and Carl would balk at the idea of MEATBALL :roll:. So I may try and take all those ingredients, mix them together and dump them in the crock pot, without cabbage, and not forming them into balls. I think it sounds GREAT as is, but trying to please the family....
just over lap where the tear is, fill in with smaller leaves, I cut out the thick vein part of the cabbage and just over lap that part.
