Grandmas German Cabbage Rolls Food

GERMAN CABBAGE ROLLS (KRAUTWICKEL)

Steps:

• MAKE THE MEAT FILLING:
• Saute chopped Onion in bacon grease over medium heat until glossy and transparent,
• Soak the bread in enough water to thoroughly wet it and make it soggy and waterlogged. Then squeeze out the excess water and set aside.
• In a large bowl set the meat, maggi sauce, eggs, cooked onion, and soaked bread crumbs.
• Pour all the dry meat filling ingredients over the meat and mix by hand like a meatloaf.
• TEST THE FLAVOR:
• Pan fry a small bit of meat until done to test for flavor. If you need to adjust the seasonings do it now and mix again by hand.
• Set a large pot on the stove 2/3 Full of water. Bring to boiling while shaping the meat rolls.
• Shape into 3 x 2 inch sausage shapes. Set Aside. You should get about 18 to 20 meat rolls.
• COOK CABBAGE LEAVES:
• Set the cabbage into the boiling water and as the leaves soften and get tender.
• GENTLY pull the leaves off with tongs one at a time as the cabbage cooks.
• USE ONLY THE BIG LEAVES. (you may need two heads of cabbage to keep the leaf size large.)
• Lay the leaves on a large paper towel to drain.
• Soften the large tough vein of the leaves with a meat mallet so the leafs will roll.
• FOLD THE CABBAGE ROLLS:
• Lay the leaf out on a large flat surface like a table or cutting board.
• Set a meat roll INTO THE CENTER of the leaf.
• Fold the cabbage leaf up from the bottom to cover the meat roll.
• Bring each side of the leaf up and over the meat.
• Now roll the cabbage roll up to the top of the cabbage leaf.
• Repeat for all leaves until the meat rolls are used.
• TIE THE CABBAGE ROLLS
• Using Kitchen Twine tie the rolls up and knot them on each end (per Video).
• This is all done with one continuous piece of twine as shown so the rolls can be evenly browned without falling apart. So make sure they are well secured.
• BROWN THE CABBAGE ROLLS:
• Set your frying pan on medium heat
• Add 2 Tablespoons of Peanut oil (or your favorite high heat safe oil).
• Brown the cabbage rolls on ALL sides for best flavor.
• Simmer the cabbage rolls 40 minutes with 4 cups of beef broth and 4 cups of water.
• MAKE THE GRAVY:
• Remove cabbage rolls to serving platter or large casserole dish leave the broth in the pan.
• Whisk together the dry ingredients and add water to make a loose paste.
• Pour into the beef broth and whisk over medium high heat until boiling.
• Boil while whisking two minutes or until thick as you like.
• SERVE:
• Cut the strings and remove from the cabbage rolls.
• Pour 2 cups of the gravy over the cabbage rolls.
• Pour the remaining gravy into a gravy server and serve on the side.

GRANDMA'S GERMAN CABBAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Core the cabbage and put in a large microwave-proof bowl. Add 1/3 cup water and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 20 minutes, remove soft leaves and continue microwaving until all the usable leaves are soft. Stack the leaves as you remove them and cover.
• Mix the filling ingredients in a separate bowl and get your large casserole dish out. (You may need another small casserole dish).
• Place filling near the base of each cabbage leaf and roll up, placing seam side down in the casserole. Crowd the rolls as much as possible. Continue until you are out of filling.
• Spoon the tomato soup over the rolls evenly.
• Bake at 300-325 degrees for at least 2 hours, covering when they start to brown.
• I've guessed at the serving sizes since Grandma didn't tell me! And cabbage rolls do take a long time but are worth it all.

CABBAGE ROLLS, GRANDMA'S RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. Steam or microwave the cabbage leaves until tender. Let cool. Cut out a 2- to 3-inch wedge of the tough stalk from the bottom of the leaves, taking care to leave the rest intact. Set aside.
• 2. Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven with vegetable (I use olive) oil and place over medium heat. Add onions and toss to coat. Cover and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomatoes, garlic cloves, and water. Simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 3. Meanwhile, stir together the ground beef, sausage, diced onions, salt, pepper, garlic, egg, tomato paste, and rice. Divide meat mixture into 8 portions. Place each meat portion at the curled tip of a cabbage leaf. Fold the top of the leaf down over the stuffing, fold the sides of the cabbage leaves in toward the center, and roll up to enclose the filling.
• 4. Place cabbage rolls seam-side down in a deep, heavy pan, skillet, or Dutch oven. Top with the tomato sauce. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat about 1 ½ hour. Depending on how close together the rolls are and how big your pan is these may take up to 2 ½ hours. If you double the recipe it is better to cook them in two batches. It is very important to be sure the meat is thoroughly cooked.

GREAT GRANDMA'S STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Core head of cabbage by cutting around the core and removing as much as possible. Boil large pot of water (fill pot only 1/4 or 1/2 full -- when boiling put cabbage into water and cover with top. Leave cabbage in water and every so often as leaves loosen up remove leaves and place in collander in sink to cool -- when all leaves are removed turn off water and throw away -- (if you have any little pieces of cabbage left at end of core, you can save them to place on top of leaves if you would like.
• In a large bowl mix cooked rice, ground meat, onion, garlic, raw eggs 1/2 can tomato sauce and oregano and a little pinch of kosher salt. Mix well with your hands --.
• Spray 9 X 13 inch pans with Pam. Take cabbage leaves and fill with 1/4 to 1/2 cup meat mixture (depending on how big hour leaves are). Place with seam side down in pans -- Turn oven on 350 degrees. Make up sauce (depending on how many rolls you get from your cabbage and how much sauce you want,you can use between 4 to 6 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes for your sauce), if you like cabbage rolls to have more sauce, you can add a little tomato juice to your sauce. Pour sauce over top of rolls. Sprinkle with kosher salt over top of rolls.
• Bake uncovered to 2 1/2 hours or until browned on top, you may need to add a tomato juice to them once in a while so they do not dry out --.
• Freezes well.

BIEROCKS (GERMAN HAMBURGER- AND CABBAGE-FILLED ROLLS)

Steps:

• FILLING: In a large frying pan, cook the cabbage and onion together until the cabbage is completely softened and golden.
• This process can be hastened by adding a half-cup of water (or so) and covering the pan, but eventually cook all the liquid off before proceeding.
• Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, if desired.
• In a separate pan, brown the hamburger.
• Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, if desired.
• Mix the cabbage/onion with the hamburger thoroughly.
• You may complete this part of the recipe in advance,refrigerating until needed, or just before you are ready to assemble the rolls.
• DOUGH: In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast.
• In a saucepan heat milk, sugar, butter and salt just till warm (115-120 degrees F) and butter is almost melted; stir constantly.
• Ad to flour mixture; add eggs.
• Beat at low speed for 1/2 minute, then three minutes at high speed.
• Stir in as much remaining flour as you can mix in with a spoon.
• Turn out onto a floured surface.
• Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total).
• Shape into a ball, and place in a greased bowl; turn once.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour).
• Punch down and cover; let rest 10 minutes.
• ASSEMBLY: Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, and a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
• Cut into squares of 3 inches by 3 or 4 inches by 4.
• By the spoonful, place some filling mixture into the center of each square, apportioning all of the mixture among the squares.
• For each, bring the two opposite corner ends of the dough square up to meet one another, then do the same with remaining ends and pinch them (all 4) together with your fingers.
• You will see that you now have open slits along the diagnals; pinch these together as well, making a seam of each.
• Water on your fingertips will facilitate them staying"glued" together.
• The end product should be a square with a seam running from each corner to the center where all four are joined.
• Set the squares on a baking sheet (if you had trouble keeping the seams closed, you can flip them over so that the seams are against the baking sheet, thereby keeping all the filling in place and making a nicer presentation).
• Let raise 30 minutes.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 °F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.