My beloved cousin Nabila, bint 'ammi, sent me a recipe for stuffed cabbage which I haven't had a chance to cook yet myself. In the winter when most vegetables are out of season, cabbages are plentiful in the markets. Nabila is a busy mom and electrical engineer in North Carolina - I don't know where she finds time to make stuffed cabbage! Thanks, ya habibti.
1 head of cabbage
3 pounds of ground beef
2 cups of rice
1 head of garlic
3 teaspoons dried mint
Salt and Pepper to your taste
1 potato
1 lemon
1. In a big pot boil water and put the head of cabbage in it. Half cook the cabbage leaves, peel them apart when cool, and slice each leaf down the center of the stem to make two pieces.
2. Mix the uncooked rice and the meat, add pepper and salt
3. Wash the potato, cut into slices, and place it in the bottom of the pot so it will protect the cabbage from burning while cooking.
4. Put some of the meat and rice in a line in each half leaf of cabbage. Fold in edges, roll up, and place into the pot. Repeat until all cabbage is used. Put chopped garlic in the pot in between the cabbage rolls as you layer.
5. Fill the pot with water, salt generously, and heat. When the water boils, put it on low for about 35 minutes (or little bit more) and let it cook.
6. Mince 5 gloves of Garlic with salt and dried mint, add squeeze lemon juice, wait until the cooking is almost done. Put garlic/mint mixture on top of the cabbage and cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Turn the cabbage rolls out carefully onto a platter, leaving the crusted bottom layer of potatoes on top. Or serve the rolls individually from the pot.
Please note - many measurements here are "to taste."
Here's a stuffed cabbage recipe from an old cookbook, archived at Al-Mashriq.
Clifford Wright is a very meticulous cookbook writer and recipe collector, and had a Lebanese mother-in-law. His stuffed cabbage recipe is here.
And yes, the Dove is posting recipes again, in hopes that a little "malfoof mehshi" will nudge the universe into producing signs of hope.
I like the idea of adding lemon, I might try that.
Here is my recipe:
http://www.jeffsrecipes.com/2006/01/22/recipes/main-dishes/stuffed-cabbage-golumpkis/
Posted by: jeff | January 25, 2006 at 08:53 AM