tradition!

Growing up on Forestcrest Way, the tradition was that the first day of snow, Mom made cabbage rolls. The whole house would smell of tomatoes, beef-and-rice porcupines and steamed cabbage. It's a lot of bother steaming the cabbage, separating the individual leaves and rolling them around the porcupines, then simmering them in the tomato sauce. She'd do it every year. Tradition!

In the past years, i've followed the same tradition, to mixed success. The vegetarian cabbage rolls with red cabbage weren't a hit at all. The bulgur wheat filled cabbage rolls were less of a disaster but i still ate almost all of them. This year, we tried a new recipe and it was really good. Ok, Joe and i liked it a lot. Christian liked it ok. Alessandra at least tried the sauce over noodles. I will still be eating all of the left-overs but they're so good, i'm looking forward to it. The house smells great and the dinner is stick-to-your-ribs yummy! See recipe below and see what you think!


UNSTUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS (recipe as written)

1# ground beef
1 medium onion, sliced
1-2 t minced garlic
28oz stewed tomatoes
6oz tomato paste
2t dried parsley and oregano and sugar
1 small head cabbage, sliced thinly

saute first three ingredients, drain fat, add tomatoes and break up with potato masher (or spoon), add 1 1/2C water and remaining ingredients, bring to boil, then simmer 60-90 minutes

serve with mashed potatoes and green beans

LISI ADJUSTMENTS:

1. used Morningstar Grillers pre-cooked veggie meat for ground beef
2. used 28oz tomato puree (opened wrong can!)
3. served with rice or boiled egg noodles instead of mashed potatoes
4. mixed in sour cream at table to give dish a bit more fat and creamy texture

yummy!!!