How do you separate cabbage leaves? I'd like to have a full leaf intact so it can be used to make rolls. But it keeps tearing apart since they are folded into each other in some parts.

Wa'il

BRING LARGE POT of water to a boil. Cut deeply around core at base of cabbage, but don't remove it. Immerse entire cabbage in boiling water 4 to 5 minutes, then lift it out with a strainer. Peel off as many outer leaves as come off easily. Return cabbage to water for additional softening and repeat until you have removed 12 leaves. Set aside.
hth,
bren

Very much so, thanks Brenda!

Wa'il

Are you celebrating Ukranian Christmas, if so........

Happy Ukranian Christmas!

Im not Ukranian, but I just realized now after reading your post, that we can have cabbage rolls on Atkins, but without the rice, do you have a good recipes for cabbage rolls, all of a sudden my mouth is watering for these!

Cabbage leaves need to be steamed or boiled a bit first, so they become soft and pliable without breaking. Here are step-by-step instructions from an article in the Los Angeles Times:


Start making cabbage rolls by bringing a big pot of water to the boil.

< snip >

By now the water should be boiling. Set the meat aside and turn to the cabbage. Use a small knife to dig out as much of the core as you can. It doesn't need to be either perfect or neat — you'll have another chance to clean it up later.

First make sure you've got something with which to rescue the cabbage — one of those Chinese "spider" skimmers is perfect — then dump the whole head of cabbage into the boiling water. It'll naturally turn core-side down. That's fine since that's the densest part and will take longest to cook. But what you want to pay attention to are the leaves on top. After about 5 to 10 seconds, they will soften and turn silky, slightly loosening from the head.

When this happens, remove the whole head from the water and rinse it briefly under cold water. Carefully peel back the cooked outer leaves, separate them from the head at the base and set them aside on a towel to drain. When you hit leaves that still have some crispness left, return the head to the water for more cooking. Keep repeating this process until you get down to the inner clenched fist of cabbage leaves, which will be so small, so thick and convoluted that no amount of cooking will make them right for stuffing. These you'll shred and add to the sauce.

To make the rolls, sort through the leaves, setting aside both the very biggest and the very smallest. You never can tell exactly how many leaves it will take to use up all of the stuffing mix, so have some in reserve. You want to start with the middling leaves so the rolls will be consistent in size.

When all the rolls are ready, place them in the skillet of tomato sauce. You want to handle them gently, so they don't spring a leak, but don't worry about squeezing them together in the pan — you'll need to in order to fit them all in. You can even stack one or two on top, if you like. Cabbage rolls are forgiving.

Lay some of the unused leaves on top to create a moist cover, slap on a lid and then stick the pan in the oven to bake. The rolls will take a while, so maybe you can catch some of that football game or, even better, a good book and a nap. Don't worry too much about the dish; honestly, have you ever heard of overcooked cabbage rolls?

< snip >

(If anyone's interested, the whole article is here), recipe ideas included.



Doreen

Another tip: The leaves on Savoy cabbage - the crinkly head kind can be separated without doing the water plunge thing. Either steam or boil the leaves until they are pliable.

So, what and when is dinner? I'll make tabouli!

Karen

I've soften them in my microwave as well (covered with plastic wrap). I take the core out with a knife (as much as possible), and as I remove leaves I remove more core.

I think it takes a little longer in the microwave than with the boiling water.

Chrissy, I'm not celebrating Ukranian Xmass, but I thought stuffing cabbage would be a great LC meal. I might stuff it with ground beef, green onions and shredded boiled eggs, and might top some of the rolls with cheese.

Doreen, thanks for the additional details.

Karen, I'm having left-over from my lasagna experiment with egg plants, which turned out to be mousakka! DUH! I should've known know that would be the outcome, but it was o.k. 'cept for too much salt, way more than I intended.

Tabouli! This reminds me that I still didn't deliver the lamb to you I keep running through those quantities in no time

Wa'il

LOL! That's fine Wa'il! I had forgotten all about it. A while back, I made braised lamb ribs and thought of you. In fact, everytime I cook something with lamb on the bone, I think of you.

I need to get to the Superstore anyway for giant sizes of cleaning supplies.

Hey! An idea! We - and other locals - should get together for a Community Kitchen cook-a-thon. Make large batches of stuff to freeze and split the cost! Nice to have something stew-y for winter.

Karen

Quote:

a Community Kitchen cook-a-thon

Great idea. You going to drive this til some response, Karen?

There's a really spicy nummy (technical term) meaty stew traditional in my family (all Dutch homes, I think); used to pour it over potatoes, natch, but VERY edible all on its own. Phonetically: ha-shay .

I'll have to dig that one up and post it. I just LOVE it. Been meaning to whip up some cabbage rolls, too. Winter sure does bring on these winterfood urges...

Tamarian's technique is what I use. I can roll 60 cabbage rolls with 2 heads of cabbage in under 2 hours.

If you stick a huge fork, like a big meat fork, into the cabbage core, and slice around like Tamarian suggested, it is easy to lift the whole cabbage out of the water to help pry off the leaves.

I also like to keep the leaves firm, as soon as they can be separated, take them out of the water. They are still pretty uncooked and look like big scoops. I find that helps to hold the meat inside.

You can convert a regular cabbage roll recipe into an LC one by:
omitting the rice, tomatoe juice and ketchup that gets mixed into the meat. Add and egg instead.

For the tomato sauce that they simmer in, use 1:1 of stewed tomatoes and beef broth (i.e 1 can stewed tomatoes, 1 can beef broth). I scrape the tomatoes off before eating.

I tried using the wrinkly savoy cabbage, but maybe I overcooked it because the leaves were very delicate and tore apart.

Nope! The limited time offer ran out!

Karen

I was missing one of my favorite sandwhiches. Roast beef dipped in Beef broth. So I softened some cabbage, got the leaves but because my cabbage was small. I made small rolls. I took good roastbeef, added some jack cheese with dill. a few mushrooms and rolled. I then heated up some beef broth (low salt and added some of my own spices) It came out great!.. the hot broth melted the cheese alittle... it was a bit messy but I found out the tighter the roll the firmer the.. 'sandwhich' roll

I have found a great way to soften cabbage. I have no idea where I got the idea. Put the whole head of cabbage in the freezer for a couple of days, then let it thaw. The leaves will be very soft except for right at the core. Works great for making cabbage rolls etc. You just need to remember to take it out of the freezer for thaw time!!

Glenda